Day 2771 – A Lesson In Marketing From Past Jennilyn’s Mistakes

Posted on February 10, 2017 by 365 days of marriage

I’ve been relying on income from freelance sources for some or all of my income for over 12 years now. I’ve learned so much since I started, from how to use my photography gear, to how to use different editing software, to how to code a website, to how to market. You know I regularly check my previous year’s posts on Facebook. I see soooooo many statuses with me saying “like my Facebook page,” “check out my website,” in so many words, my Facebook feed screamed “BUY FROM ME!!!!!!!” I am so embarrassed by past Jennilyn. I’ve learned you don’t get raving fans from shoving your wares down potential clients throats. You get raving fans by sharing great content that is important to them. I sure hope I learn this lesson from past Jennilyn as I jump into new ventures. I hope I am more concerned with getting my messages to people that need to hear it than trying to get everyone to listen.

What about you, have you ever made a really embarrassing marketing mistake in your past?

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Day 2768 – Marriage Tip – Have An Emergency Fund

Posted on February 7, 2017 by 365 days of marriage

Yesterday was quite the day! I took our car to the mechanic because of an indicator light. Come to find out, we needed work that was a few hundred bucks. Finished up, stopped by a good friend’s house.

Had lunch with another good friend.

After lunch, I discovered my indicator light came back on. So back to the mechanic I went. They figured it out, and I left with another bill adding another hundred or so. After the events of the day, I kept thinking about something that has radically improved our marriage – an emergency fund.

After our truck was totalled, we got a hefty check and that was our emergency fund for a while. Unfortunately, it also became our fun fund and our bills account. So we went from a good 6+ months of an emergency fund to less than 2, probably even closer to 1. While we were on our summer trip, we started to listen to the financial peace seminar by Dave Ramsey. One of his biggest things is having an emergency fund. Hearing this was a great reminder for us. While we are also investing in Bret building a real estate investing business, we’re also trying to build our emergency fund up again. Since we’re back up to over 2 months, it’s a real comfort when something goes wrong. Driving to the mechanic, I thought, well, if something major is wrong, we have the money saved to take care of it. A few years ago, a day like yesterday would have been extremely stressful to our marriage. There would be anger, disappointment, and discouragement.

As I thought over the day, I was just struck at how powerful having that emergency fund is. It took us time to do it, it’s not a quick thing to do, but it should be a priority. Trust me when I say, it has a HUGE impact on your marriage. There are lots of ways to save money, and cut your bills back. One thing that helps us is an account on Mint. Seeing how much we ACTUALLY spend on things and not what we think we spend is extremely helpful….and surprising. Fun Jen and Bret fact – we spent over $400 on Dunkin Donuts since we started tracking our spending on Mint. Funny enough, we really started spending when we moved here. Darn you Dunkin within 3 minutes walking distance!

What about you, do you have an emergency fund? Are there ways you can cut back your spending so you can build it up? Let me know below!

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Day 2763 – How To Turn A Terrible Day Into A Great Day

Posted on February 2, 2017 by 365 days of marriage

The past week has been one of the better weeks I’ve had in a really long time. Lots of things are clicking, new habits are forming, I’m super positive and motivated, I haven’t struggled with depression/sadness/downness too much. I’ve been meeting my goals. It’s been fantastic.

Until this morning.

Friends, I have a deep down angry side. It doesn’t come out often. But when it does, watch out. This morning, Bret asked me to print something for him. It didn’t work. I started throwing things (mainly because they were on top of the backup printer), I said lots of bad words (and I’m not talking “shut the front door”), and after Bret left (without the needed print), I was still seething. Just plain angry.

I’m big into trying to figure out the why of things – why did I snap? Why am I down? What was my trigger? Etc. I’m pretty sure this morning was just about the printers giving me trouble. But I knew I had to snap out of it. I do have jobs to do after all. One of the things I’m trying to do is have quick responses to my consistent negative thoughts. For example, when I stress about money and think no one will ever pay me for anything ever again, I have the total that I made in wedding photography over the years. The other day, I created a playlist on Spotify with some of my favorite and most uplifting songs. I also have a ton of quotes surrounding my workspace.

So while I was stewing in this anger, I thought, I HAVE to get this under control. I did some stretching/yoga, took a shower, and had a cup of coffee and put together a digital puzzle, while listening to my playlist. As I listened, I started to sing along. I found myself thinking of ways to handle work tasks and projects I have on my plate. I added notes to my to do list. I felt joy rising. I felt encouraged. I am so thankful to past Jen for putting these things in place. I am also so thankful for Rend Collective and Thrice for songs that feed my soul and set my heart ablaze for life and Christ. Bring it on day!……not really, leave me alone day! 🙂

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Day 2761 – You Will Never Change…Unless You Actually Do

Posted on January 31, 2017 by 365 days of marriage

The past week or two has been filled with much reminiscing.

We made a video about how I was NOT a minimalist when I first met Bret, which caused me to look at many old photos of my old room.

I have decided that I am more of a month to month goal setter, thus I have been figuring out what I did well and what I failed completely with my January goals (spoiler – no soda drinking was a win! Writing every day was a utter failure.).

I purchased a great book that has me thinking about things.

I regularly look at my “On This Day” on Facebook. On January 31, 2009, I filled out one of those silly “25 random things you didn’t know about me” things. Here’s 20. “I own nearly 500 movies and tv shows on dvd. Most of them were purchased for under 10 bucks.” I read this number and immediately emailed Bret, telling him the 2009 number and the 2017 number (44). I ended by saying “Who says you can’t change?”

Have you ever thought, there’s NO way I can change? Or there’s NO way they will ever change? It’s so easy to put someone in a category and keep them there. She never does the dishes, he never puts his laundry in the hamper, she’s always negative, he’ll never get a better job, I’ll always be poor, I’ll never get out of debt, I’ll never travel, I’ll never get in shape.

Even though I can take a look at my current life and think, wow, I have changed, I forget just how far I’ve come. I urge you to keep a record, somehow, somewhere, of your life. Your fears, your achievements, your joys, your lows. Have it saved somewhere you can regularly look back. I’ve had the luxury of oversharing on Facebook, so much so that I have a very detailed list of my life.

So if you’re stuck thinking you’ll never change or your spouse will never change, take heart.

I went from well over $50,000 in debt, to $0 debt with money saved.
I went from hoarder with tons of stuff, to minimalist with a lot less.
I went from getting migraines 3-4 times a week because of my diet, to maybe 1-2 a month.
I went from being an alcoholic for nine years who was arrested, to a sober person for over two years and counting.
I went from someone who dreamed about writing a book, to someone who did.

These three shelves don’t even show all of my old DVDs…wow.

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Day 2760 – The Tale Of Chasing Dreams – or – Tools Of The Titans Is Going To Change My Life

Posted on January 30, 2017 by 365 days of marriage

I’ve blogged recently, non-recently, and way oldly about the The 4-Hour Workweek
(* Affliate link) by Timothy Ferriss and how it changed my life. When I heard of his new book, Tools Of The Titans, I was beyond excited. It was in my hold requests at the library for weeks. I finally got a copy last week and even just a few pages in and I knew it would be another life changing book. Last night, I was skipping around and reading different sections to Bret. I ended up looking at the recommended books in the back (p.s. be still my reader’s heart at this list!) and thought, huh, it would be cool if I could highlight all of the books I’ve read. I thought of how I would take notes and mark it the heck up. At about 8:40 p.m., I thought, I have to buy this book now. I know I’m going to, why wait? I looked up stores that had it and found a local Barnes & Nobles. I knew I had a giftcard, so chaos ensued. I tore open my purse to find said gift card.

Then began a discussion with Bret, “is this a purchase that I should make right now?” We are trying to be very purposeful in where we invest our money. We have some pretty big dreams right now, and those dreams will take money. We’re trying to take every purchase captive and spend wisely. After checking the prices online and realizing, yes, we will both be gaining much from this book, it’s a good purchase now. I ran out of the house, leap in the car, and headed to the bookstore. I was met with many green lights, easy left hand turns, and little delay.

I arrived at the book store with joy in my heart, I had arrived with a few minutes to spare. I nearly floated to the door, only to be met with an employee shaking his head at me. My face took on that of utter disappointment, and I honestly almost cried. I pulled out my phone and saw I still had three minutes. I looked back up and the employee opened the door and said I had three minutes. I nodded and began my fast walk through the store. At last, I found my book. I tore it from the shelves, and rushed to the check out. I was paying when the announcement that the store was closed came over the speakers. I voiced my deep thanks to the employee still at the door and my heart rejoiced within me. I had my book. I could barely wait to get home.

Once I got home, I immediately started highlighting the books I’d read. After that, I knew it was time to start reading, finally. I started highlighting and realized, crap, I need to figure out a system for how I read this book. I came up with a highlighting system! Different colors mean different things so then I can quickly skim through and find what I need.

As you can see, I have already utilized my system! I am so excited to start the journey through this awesome resource. It was also a really neat experience to leap for joy to buy a book. I buy so few books, that this was a big deal!

Have you ever had a similar experience buying a book?

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365daysofmarriage

Simplicity in Marriage, Christianity, Travel, Business, Life

Category Archives: Life

Day 2771 – A Lesson In Marketing From Past Jennilyn’s Mistakes

Day 2768 – Marriage Tip – Have An Emergency Fund

Day 2763 – How To Turn A Terrible Day Into A Great Day

Day 2761 – You Will Never Change…Unless You Actually Do

Day 2760 – The Tale Of Chasing Dreams – or – Tools Of The Titans Is Going To Change My Life