My Favorite Personal Finance Blog Posts From Making Sense of Cents in 2017

2017 is almost over, can you believe it!? As the year comes to a close, it seemed like a great time to round-up all of my favorite blog posts on Making Sense of Cents from the past year in one easy spot so that you can check them all out.

I have divided all of my blog posts into the following categories:

1. Money saving tips

2. Debt tips

3. Money management tips

4. Make money blogging

5. Make extra money

6. Income reports

7. Life, motivation, and inspiration

8. Travel

Also, I started a private community group in 2017 for readers of Making Sense of Cents. If you want to improve your life and your financial situation, join here and let’s all help one another out!

My private group has already reached over 8,000 members and continues to grow. We can’t wait to hear from you!

You can join the private support group here.

Enjoy these personal finance tips!

My most favorite

Okay, so in case you just want to see my absolute favorite Making Sense of Cents articles from 2017, I have included those ones first:

1. How I Successfully Built A $1,000,000+ Blog

2. I’m a Female Breadwinner! I Earn Much More Than My Husband – So What?

3. Why Is Talking About Money More Taboo Than Sex?

4. Why would you make $100,000+ a month and live in an RV?

5. Should People With High Incomes Be Allowed To Shop At Thrift Stores?

6. How I Paid Off $40,000 In Student Loans in 7 Months

7. The Best Debt Payoff Stories – These Six People Paid Off Over $400,000 in Debt!

8. How This 28 Year Old Retired With $2.25 Million

9. 15 Reasons You’re Broke And Can’t Save Money

10. How I’ve Earned $434,698+ From One Online Course Without Webinars Or Spending Money On Advertising

11. The Less You Own, The Less That Owns You

Money saving personal finance tips

1. 50 Easy Ways To Save Money – Start Saving Thousands Each Year

2. Challenge Everything! Are You Wasting Thousands of Dollars On These 14 Things?

3. Frugal, Cheap, or Thief? Are You Smart With Money Or Actually A Thief?

4. Why Is Talking About Money More Taboo Than Sex?

5. How To Save Money Fast

6. 11 Tips For Renovating An Abandoned 115 Year Old House On A Budget

7. How To Save Money In The Summer And Still Have Fun

8. 20 Ways I Saved a 20% Deposit To Purchase My First Investment Property At 20

9. You Don’t Need Everything – Do You Know The Difference Between Wants And Needs?

10. 50 Things You Can Do Right Now Instead of Spending Money

11. 10 Budget Recipes and Cheap Easy Meals You Should Try

12. How to Drink the World’s Healthiest Beverage for Pennies a Cup

13. 5 Unhealthy Habits That May Be Hurting Your Health And Costing You Money

14. Does bringing lunch to work actually save money?

15. 10 Budget Lunch Ideas and Cheap Easy Meals You Should Try

Related personal finance tip: Sign up for a website like Ebates where you can earn free CASH BACK for just spending how you normally would online. All you do is click on a store that you want to shop at (they have TONS of stores, such as Kohls, REI, Toys R Us, etc.), and just shop how you normally would. Ebates makes a commission for referring you to the store you just shopped at, and they give you some of that money back as a thank you. Plus, when you sign up through my link, you receive a free $10 cash back! My Ebates review: Money Saving Tip – Use Ebates For Free Cash Back.

Pay off debt tips

1. How I Paid Off $40,000 In Student Loans in 7 Months

2. How This Couple Paid off $204,971.31 in Debt

3. The Danger Of Normalizing Your Debt – Stop Living Like Everyone Else

4. Financing Furniture- A Disaster Waiting to Happen

5. The Best Debt Payoff Stories – These Six People Paid Off Over $400,000 in Debt!

6. How This Family of 6 Lives On $53,000 a Year (with $22,000 of that going towards their student loan debt)

7. How This Family Moved To The “Hood” and Paid Off $120,000 in Debt

8. How We Paid off $86,000 in Debt in 5 Years – with 7 Kids!

9. How I Paid Off My $400,000 Mortgage In 7.5 Years, Before I Was 32

10. Know Your Rights When Dealing With Debt Collectors

11. How I Paid Off $77,000 In Debt In One Year And 10 Months

12. How I’ve Paid Off $29,000 In Debt By Living In a Van

Related personal finance tip: With Credit Sesame you can get your credit score for free, with no catch. It doesn’t hurt to check, so you have no reason not to know your credit score. Your credit score can affect whether or not you are approved for a loan, whether you are hired at certain jobs, your interest rate, and more. It’s relatively easy to raise your credit score, so you should start doing so today! Read How Your Credit Score Affects Your Life + Credit Sesame Review.

Money management tips

1. How This 28 Year Old Retired With $2.25 Million

2. Why I’m Not Sad That I’m Frugal – Frugal Doesn’t Mean Boring

3. 15 Reasons You’re Broke And Can’t Save Money

4. The Power of Meal Planning – 6 Reasons Meal Planning Will Change Your Life

5. The 7 Money Mistakes That Shaped My Life

6. Cutting College Costs: Understanding The Cost And Value Of Your Degree

7. How To Get Rich: The Steps To Build Wealth Now

8. 56% Of Americans Have Less Than $10,000 Saved For Retirement

9. How to Live Like Carrie Bradshaw Without Going Broke

10. 7 Lessons I Learned From My Short Sale

11. Great Financial Lessons My Dad Taught Me – Money Doesn’t Have To Make Your Life Miserable

12. 6 Important Questions To Ask Yourself Before Buying A Home

13. 28 Money And Life Lessons I’ve Learned

14. Is Debt a Relationship Deal Breaker?

15. What To Do When Your Partner Is Horrible With Money

16. Reaching Early Retirement Through Dividend Growth Investing

17. Could Not Having A Budget Destroy Your Finances?

18. Here’s What I Learned From Working For Millionaires

19. How I Retired In My 30s – From Ugly Crying To Retiring Just 10 Years Later

20. Should People With High Incomes Be Allowed To Shop At Thrift Stores?

21. Change Your Life By Saving Just $1 More Each Day – How Much Should A Person Save Each Month?

Related personal finance tip: Personal Capital is a great resource that I highly recommend. They provide financial software somewhat similar to Mint, and it is free as well. Personal Capital is much more detailed though, so between the two, I would definitely choose Personal Capital. You can track your net worth, your cash flow, your portfolio, your investments, and more. Personal Capital pretty much picks up in the main area that Mint is not the greatest in, which is investment planning. Read Personal Capital Review – An Easier Way To Manage Your Finances.

Making money blogging

1. How I Successfully Built A $1,000,000+ Blog

2. How I’ve Earned $434,698+ From One Online Course Without Webinars Or Spending Money On Advertising

3. Blogging Changed My Life – Could It Change Yours?

4. Here are 5 great blogging freebies!

5. Why and How I Make Time to Blog With 3 Kids 3 and Under

6. 5 Ways I Made My Blog Go Viral – 2,000,000 Views A Month In One Year!

7. My Complete List of Monthly Expenses for a Multi Million Dollar Blog

8. How I Grew My Blog from $0 to $17,000 per Month in a Year as a Stay at Home Mom

How To Start A Blog FREE Course: With this free email course, I show you exactly how to create a blog, from the technical side (it’s easy – trust me!) all the way to earning your first income and attracting followers. Each day, for seven days, you will receive an email in your inbox that will help you create a successful and profitable blog, all from the very beginning. You can sign up here.

Make extra money

1. 12 Work From Home Jobs That Can Earn You $1,000+ Each Month

2. 65 Ways To Make Extra Money

3. 43 Extreme Things People Have Done To Make Money

4. How Melissa Made $40,000 In One Year Flipping Items

5. How To Make Money By Becoming A Cooking Instructor

6. 10 Real Ways To Make Money In A Day (or a Week!)

7. How Jenn Makes Over $10,000 A Month With Her Online Store In Less Than 10 Hours Per Week

8. How to Make Extra Money with a Flea Market Booth

9. How To Spot Work From Home Job Scams And Avoid Them At All Costs

10. The Important Reasons You Need Multiple Streams of Income

11. How This 29 Year Old Is Building A Real Estate Empire

12. Should you get an MBA if you want to start your own business?

13. 7+ Ways To Make $500 By The Weekend

14. This Successful Entrepreneur Went From Welfare To Earning Millions – Interview with Kimra Luna

15. How To Teach English From Home And Earn $14 to $26 An Hour

Income reports

1. How I Made $979,321 In 2016 – My December Online Income Report and Annual Wrap Up

2. My January 2017 Blog Income Report – $139,233

3. How I Made $160,211.27 in February Blogging

4. How I Made $130,856.35 In March Blogging

5. How I Made $131,448.35 In April While Traveling Full-Time

6. How I Made $120,104.93 In May Working From Home

7. How I Made $121,861.28 In June While Sailing to Beautiful Islands

8. How I Made $110,897.33 In July 2017 Blogging

9. How I Made $135,110 In August 2017 Blogging

10. How I Made $113,267.08 In September 2017 Blogging

11. How I Made $136,829.30 In October 2017 Blogging

12. How I Made $110,656 In November 2017 Blogging

Life, motivation, and inspiration

1. I’m a Female Breadwinner! I Earn Much More Than My Husband – So What?

2. The Less You Own, The Less That Owns You

3. Are You Making Your Life Difficult? 18 Ideas To Simplify Your Life in 2018

4. Stop Comparing Yourself To Others And Live Your Own Life

5. Less is More: Guide To Becoming a Minimalist

6. 5 Great Benefits Of Being An Early Bird And How You Can Change

7. 9 Ways to Live an Extraordinary Life

8. 59 Things To Do Instead of Watching TV So That You Can Take Your Life Back

9. The Busy Person’s Guide On How To Be Healthy

10. How To Stay Focused, Get Stuff Done, And Be Successful

11. Every Dog/Cat Deserves a Home But Not Every Home Deserves A Pet

12. 15 Habits That Are Hurting Your Happiness

13. My Search For A Better Work Life Balance

14. For Those Who Want Life To Speed Up – Are You Dreaming Too Much About Tomorrow?

15. Create a Life You Don’t Need To Escape From

16. How To Reach Your 2018 Goals

Travel

1. How I Run A Business While Traveling 365 Days a Year

2. How To Travel On A Budget And Still Have The Time Of Your Life

3. 11 Reasons to Choose RV Life

4. Our 10-Day Sailing Charter Around The British Virgin Islands

5. I’m Tired Of Living In A Motorhome!>>> This is my favorite travel-related post for 2017 🙂

6. How To Camp For Free, Even In Beautiful and Desirable Places

7. 9 Lessons I Learned From Traveling Around the World

8. How I Saved $45,000 In Three Years To Create A Life Of Travel

9. How This Successful Family Of Four Makes Travel Blogging Work For Them

10. Should you go on vacation if you have debt?

11. How To Make Extra Money By Renting Out Your RV

12. How This Couple Does Van Life with A Baby (and a dog!)

13. Why would you make $100,000+ a month and live in an RV?

14. How This Couple Bought an $11,500 RV, Traveled To All 50 States, and Built A Thriving Business

15. Common Full Time RVing Questions Part 2 – Don’t You Hate Each Other Yet?

Related tip: My preferred way to travel is to stay in short-term rental vacation homes such as Airbnb (this will give you a $40 Airbnb coupon code for your next stay). Airbnb vacation home rates are usually comparable or cheaper than a hotel, plus you usually have more room and there is often a kitchen as well. Also, if you have a lot of people going on vacation with you, you can split a house for much less than it would be for everyone to get a hotel room. Read my Airbnb review The Many Positives Of Using Airbnb Plus a Coupon Code For Your Next Vacation!

One last thing. My sister runs a great blog called FITnancials. Here are some of my favorite blog posts of hers:

1. Free Resource Printable Library

2. 6 Educational Tools That Helped Me Become A Full-Time Blogger

3. The Harsh Reality of Owning a Fitness Blog

4. How I Make $3,000+ Per Month With Sponsored Posts

5. How To Take Control of Your Life and Stop Making Excuses

6. 9 Insanely Good Reasons to Get Rid of Facebook

7. 4 Things I Learned From Being 60+ Pounds Overweight

What are the best personal finance tips that you received in 2017? What was your favorite blog post from my blog or someone else’s?

#Budget #Debt