7 Quick Tips For Blogging On The Cheap

How to run a blog frugally with 7 quick tips for blogging on the cheap. You can start and grow a successful blog for little or no money.

I am starting to see a trend among large bloggers that blog as their business, selling other bloggers how to courses and services. Some of these courses are very expensive, hundreds of dollars. In those courses you will probably be advised to spend a lot of money on your blog in order to make money. I am not devaluing these classes but instead I am going to share how you can run a blog for free or for a very small investment.

I have been blogging for about six years. At first for fun, but in the last couple of years, as a small part time business/hobby. But whatever your goal, just know that if you are a frugal blogger or downright cheap like me, you can start a blog without spending much or how to start a blog for cheap.

7 Quick Tips For Blogging On The Cheap

1. Starting out or even staying on a free platform is fine. Not only fine but doable. I have been on blogger from the beginning.
     -Don't dive in and pay for hosting if you aren't sure blogging is for you. You can start out on blogger and switch later if you decide that is for you. I know several very successful bloggers who are on blogger and run their blog as a business that catapulted them to big success in other areas. Start out blogging for free or on a cheap blogging platform.

Many folks think you can't run a blog on a free platform but I will say this, I have never ever once had my blog go down or be missing. Many who pay for their servers have this issue and that can be very stressful. There are benefits to all platforms.

2. You don't have to have an expensive camera to take good photos for your blog. I take most of my photos with my Nokia phone and edit them. If you can edit, you can make your pictures pop. There is always time to move up to a big expensive camera later.

3. You don't need to pay to edit photos. I love Picmonkey and use there free version for all my pictures.

4. You don't have to pay for an expensive email service for a while. I used feedburner forever and though it is not popular, it worked. I just subscribed to a blog I found through feedburner today. So some folks are still using it. I know subscribers are important so you can go with a bigger company right away. I use Mad Mimi now and love it. It is free up to a certain point and then very reasonable after that.

5. You don't have to pay for a domain right away. If you are just testing the waters and want to see if blogging is for you, or you want to blog as a hobby, go ahead and use something like blogger. I didn't buy my domain name for three years. Once you do you can find a very reasonable option. I use GoDaddy.

6. Don't pay for automated social media scheduling at first. Or ever if you don't want to. Here's why:
     -Build your blog up first. You need content to share so in the beginning, focus on building up your content and leaning SEO. Write good posts that will get good page ranking on Google and that is free and worth more than anything because those will be your evergreen posts that will bring you traffic for a long time.
    -When you want to dive into paid services for social media sharing and scheduling, try the free trials at first. I have found those I like and those that don't work for me by trying them for free. I started with Boardbooster (affiliate link) using their free trial. After I saw how quick it was growing my Pinterest followers, I decided to sign up for the paid program when my free 30 day trial was over.

7. Blogging takes time. I know we all hear of those that skyrocketed to a billion page views in a year but for the rest of us that is not reality. Stick it out. It may take time, a LONG time, without the results you were hoping for.

According to Rand Fishkin, CEO of Moz,  "If you can stick it out for years without results and constantly learn, iterate and improve, you can achieve something great", (buffersocial, 16 Top Tips From Blogging Experts for Beginners.

I love this. It is how I have evolved over the years. Keep at it. Hone your voice, discover who your audience is and find your niche. Read and study as much free blogging advice as you can. I try to read free blogging articles every couple of days. There is so much out there for FREE. Don't pay for it unless you really want to. Just know you don't have to.

Looking Ahead To 2016 - Goals Not Resolutions

We went to my sister in law's 70s themed New Year's Eve party. Don't ya love the glasses hubby is wearing? They were my dad's and I remember him wearing them way back in the 70s. I was going for some big disco hair. Not sure I acheived that but it was great fun as usual. I always dance way more than I should and pay for it the next day. I say keep dancing as long as your body will let you.

I had to share my sister in law's 2016 glitter bottles. Aren't they fun? Even the menu was 70s themed party food from fondue to Chex mix.

2015 proved a year both rewarding and challenging. My kids are all well and successfully facing the challenges of career and college educations. They are thriving. My oldest has finally accomplished her dream of a job in a hospital as an RN. She will be a med/surge oncology nurse on three twelves. No more visits to people's homes where nurses cannot control their environment. As her mother I am so relieved she is done with that phase and will be in a hospital now. What is asked of home-health nurses is really incredibly risky. Many patients are great but some require these nurses to go into areas that are not safe. Anyway off my soap box and so happy for her.

My other girls are good and working and doing well in school. Parenting is hard and does not happen in a vacuum. You have to be present, in their lives, faces, business but also let them fail and learn how to fix things on their own. Your kids need you to be their parents, not their friend. It is hard and you have to stay the course. The rewards are worth all the work ten fold.

I do not share as much about the family here these recent years but I do like to offer encouragement to others if I can. My husband is well and now working locally all the time with no travel. That was an adjustment but a positive one. I love being able to lean on him more for the day to day things. I was alone a lot for 24 years of marriage and raising kids when he had to travel for work. That was hard on both of us but is behind us now. Yay!

My goals for 2016:

1. Family - Continue to be home and the homemaker I love being. Cook more from scratch and get back on healthier meal planning. Spend more time working on planning for Q's homeschooling days and do more field trips with her. December is always very busy and pushes hubby and I a little too hard. I would like to take more time for rest and down time. I often feel I cannot just sit and do nothing.

2. Myself - Walk more. Daily or almost daily walking and twice weekly yoga. My hubby has plantar fasciitis and yoga is one plantar fasciitis exercise he can do without aggravating his foot pain. Get a better handle on changes that are occurring in my own body with aging and being a woman. We all know what that means. Spend time dealing with each change as much as I can so that I stay feeling well.

3. My Spouse - This is something I really want to focus on. Parenting and the pressures of aging parents takes a real toll on a couple and I want to spend more time having fun with my husband and working on our relationship. Our marriage is good but can always be better and he really gets me, know my needs and I want to focus on him more.

4. Blogging - Continue to grow my blog and to focus on writing. Maybe work on an e-book. I still like blogging and enjoy it but I may never grow very big as I allow the pull of my family to keep me busy and away from the computer. I like this and the balance feels good to me. I am seeing my page views grow slowly but that is okay. They are growing. I love this outlet and that I can work from home sharing what is most important to me. Blogging is a great creative outlet for me and challenges me to keep up if just a little, on the computer.

I want to wish you all a Happy New Year! I pray for more peace in our country but not sure what the future holds. Seems turbulent times for sure. Thank you so much for visiting and following along with us.

The Future Of My Blogging

Sitting here with Mr. Pumpkin Head pondering the future of blogging. 

My laptop died and because I needed a new dryer, I held off and used an old computer of my daughter's. Finally, I ordered a new laptop and it was so beautiful and shiny but lo and behold, the space bar did not work. Can you believe that? Clearly no one checks these things before shipping.

So now I will look for a computer good for blogging. I am in the range of less than $800, preferably less than $500. If you can suggest a good laptop you are happy with for a reasonable price, please let me know in the comments.

Laptop Down

The picture says it all. Laptop down. I admit I had something to do with it, but eventually she gave up the ghost. So looking for a new one. Any suggestions?

What You Will and Won't Get from Sunny Simple Life

I have been blogging for four years now and boy has it changed. I still love this hobby and have no plans to stop but I thought I might take a minute to share what my blog is and is not.

I see so many beautiful blogs out there full of great info and gorgeous photos. I enjoy looking daily for new blogs and at my favorite old ones.

But alas, I am a simple gal and this blog is about simple living. You will not see professional looking photos or gourmet food. I take my photos mostly with my phone and sometimes with my Canon.
You won't see printables or graphics created by me cause I am computer challenged.
I probably won't be giving away a $100 gift card anywhere cause if I had a $100 gift card I would probably go shopping.

What you will get from Sunny Simple Life is a glimpse into my home.
Simple posts on cooking, keeping house, gardening and of course my chickens.
I love you no less for my simplistic posts and maybe I will eventually end up in the old fashioned blog category gone the way of the dinosaurs, but as long as I have something to share, I will prepare simple posts about simple living.

BECAUSE... I have found that the simpler I keep things in my life, the happier, calmer and more content I am and that has to go for blogging too. So what do you think? Is there still a place for simple basic blogs?

A Proper Blogger Thank You

I want to take a minute to thank a couple of very sweet bloggers who have helped me spruce up my blog. First, Dawn from Creative Cain Cabin was so kind to help me clean up my buttons and made me some cute new ones.

And last week, Kathy from Kathy's Cottage made me a cute new header that is exactly what I wanted. Simple with some color and a chicken.

Thank you both for spending time to help me. I am such a newbie with all this stuff. I can barely edit a photo let alone work with layering graphics and all that entails.

Let me just say that based on some of the comments I have been given, we need an online class to do these basic things. I know you can Google most things but an actual class geared toward bloggers who want to learn to do some of these things themselves. I have not seen anyone out there offering this and trust me I have been doing searches. I see a possible niche untapped.

For now my blog will stay on blogspot. I know lots of folks are switching but I just don't think I could handle the mental strain of the changeover and the hiccups afterwards and I am not sure why I need to. Maybe that will change as it seems to be where a lot of bloggers are going so there must be some reason. 

And So a New Year Begins

It was a wonderful day to start the New Year. We gathered with family and friends to celebrate one of my girl's birthday. Just before our guests arrived when the house is set and waiting.

I was going to buy some flowers but decided to use beauty from the yard. Gathered warm hued candles and ripe oranges from the garden. Why not think of unusual but no less lovely items to grace our tables.

It has been a year of changes for us. Some very good, some I resisted but have learned to adapt to and thrive. It has been a year of some good changes personally and I think as a woman ages there is a freedom you gain. Time has lent us enough wisdom to know what we really want out of life. There are things I will never waste any time or energy on ever again. You are older and know what your focus is and what brings you the most peace and happiness. None of us knows what lies ahead and what the coming year will bring but I am so thankful to have my life really centered on what is best for the family and for myself. Here I am. What you see is what you get as they say. Thank you so much for another year of friendship and support. You all find a way to confirm what I am thinking and feeling. A group of women drawn together by a love of home.

It Takes All Types, of Bloggers That Is

Yesterday, I read a post from Sheila over at Notesongs. It really caused me to think. She had a 107 comments so far, so it appears it had a lot of people thinking. She was reacting to an e-mail from a reader about how she portrays herself on her blog. Too happy. Maybe not real enough.

Really? Someone took the time to point out that she is too happy on her blog. Here is my thoughts on that if you care. Where have we gone that this is a bad thing. I sort of look at blogs as magazines. Something for entertainment, maybe a little advice here and there but something to enjoy. I am sure there are all manner of blogs out there but I prefer the positive homey type of blogs. That is what I write about.

Isn't the world full of enough ugly. T.V. is now mainly UGLY. Ugly behavior, lets laugh at people on a show, drunk, rich, poor but all acting terribly rude and vile but we call this T.V. I cannot watch much with my kids and we are not better off for this. So what is wrong with making one's own personal blog a lovely place to visit? The world needs more lovely if you ask me.

I think there is room for all of us and each one of us has to determine our own rules for OUR blogs. Someone may have a husband that doesn't want much shared or is going through a sensitive time in one's family. Maybe you put it all out there and things you share are helpful to others. That is great but another person may not be comfortable sharing . That is fine too. I am a firm believer that it is your blog, your rules. People will read or not read based on what appeals to them.

There is no one RIGHT format for blogging other than you have to post or you have no content. That is it. We all have something to give. My personal rule is this: If my husband or children might be embarrassed or uncomfortable reading what I posted, then I don't. That is just what works for us and what I blog by.

Perhaps none of this needed to be said by me but it was on my heart. If you are a blogger, blog what is comfortable and enjoyable to you. If you begin to blog for others, then you will probably stop enjoying it and we don't want to spend a lot of time doing something we don't enjoy. There is enough of that, like picking up dog poop and cleaning toilets. I digress. Thanks for hearing me out if you made it this far. Have a great weekend!! I would love to hear your thoughts.

Praise for Imperfection

Lest anyone out there think this blogger tries to portray the perfect life, I am here to show you how imperfectly I run this house. I know no one really thinks I do anything close to perfect but a reality check is always a good thing. Keeps us all grounded. 

I woke up to a dog with some funky skin thing going on. She is better after a bath and some medication but I spent the better part of an hour bathing dogs, washing dog beds and mopping floors. 

But alas the house still requires cleaning and laundry to be folded.

Dust bunnies of hair build up fast in this house. Shoes lie about until one of the kids does shoe duty. We are bad at kicking off our kicks wherever.

 I still haven't finished painting all the molding put up LAST year. I think I win the prize of being behind on projects.

I ate some of the leftover cake every day this week until it was gone. Help me I am weak.

I am now off to the dentist as my little one had one of her teeth shoved back up into her gum when the swing hit her in the face. It never ends, I am always putting out fires but at the end of the day if we are all still standing then none of this matters and life is still good. Not perfect but very good.

Linking to:
Wow Us Wed.
Raising Homemakers
Handy Man Crafty Woman

Trick to Use Flash Indoors

If you are like me and have a dark house and find you just sometimes need flash, I wanted to share with you a tip I found online a long time ago and use often. When you need a flash and just can't get around it, take a white 3x5 card or like me just a white envelope laying around and hold it right in front of the flash as you take your picture. It adds the much needed light without all the washed out looks and shadows.

Below is the photo I wanted. The light outside was making the shot indoors dark but the flash trick added what I needed.

Okay here are the three untouched photos so you can see the difference.

First is the photo using the trick. Pretty good and not all washed out.

Now without the flash. The light behind prevents my ISO from picking up the indoor light. I have not mastered that end of photography yet. So I rely on this trick. But you can see clearly too dark.

Now here is a shot with the flash uncovered. You can see it is washed out and has those funny shiny spots and shadows. Try it next time you need some light indoors.

Linking to:
Fun Stuff Fridays
Sat. Night Special

Regaining Control of My Blog

You may have noticed a few changes on my header. I am thrilled. I loved my old one but didn't really own it as they say.

I have been on a mission to get full control of my blog. Over a year ago I decided to try and make my blog cuter and not knowing much about headers and html, I hired it done. I loved the header she created but she did all the work of implementing the changes and had the images in her Photobucket account. One day I woke up and my whole blog was a Photobucket warning, you know the one. She did update her account but I have been anxious to have ownership of my header and the account it is in.

The blog designer I used had moved onto other things and I was at a loss as to how to do the changes and in came Brenda and Claudia. Without my even asking, they came in and helped me figure out how to get the old header out of my html and my new one in. Brenda sent me many mock ups and Claudia walked me through some learning steps on the phone. I am so indebted to them. We are all busy yet they took so much time to get me through all this. Thank you dear blogging friends for your kindness. I owe you.

Anyway, I am dragging this out but I want to share this experience with you so that you all know that if you hire someone to help you with your blog, be careful to make sure you have the headers and such in your photo accounts as well as knowing how and where the items were placed on your blog. We invest a lot of time in our blogs and to have parts of it disappear and you not having control over it, is a nightmare.

I know there are lots of great designers out there but if you are going to use them keep my struggle in mind.

Linking to:
SNS 120
Show and Tell Friday
Your Thriving Family
Get Schooled Saturday
Sat. Spotlight
Sunday Blog Love
Seasonal Sundays
Nifty Thrifty Things
BNOTP
Barn Hop
Organize and Decorate Everything
Women Living Well
Trans. Thurs.

Blog Updates

Displaying samplers in country primitive decorating ideas.

I love this adventure of blogging. I mean I really do love it. So fun and such great friends I have made. With all that is going on around here I always carve out time to blog and blog hop as it is such an uplifting hobby. It has made me a better house keeper as well. Now I think more of my home as my little jewel and I like to keep it picked up more so it is pleasing to myself and my husband.

Anyhoo on to the updates. I am so excited to have been asked by Brenda at Cozy Little House to take part with her and two other bloggers in a new series called Thrifty Living 2012. The series will start next week. You know if you have read my blog at all that frugal living is a passion of mine. I did not always think this way but when I left my job of 18 years when my little one was born three years ago, we had to start living on one income in a very expensive part of the country. This should be great fun but also useful I hope to others who will read the series. We are all women coming from different view points on our journey of frugality.

Sunny Simple Life


And secondly, I wanted to let you know that I have a facebook page and have had some fun making friends over there but I occasionally like to share deals I find and will start listing those on my facebook page. Come see me over there and say hi.

That's all for now folks. What are you all up to today? I have to go pick up some glasses for my hubby and hit the market for a few of the weekly deals. I am only shopping the store deals this week as I am pretty well stocked and want to keep my grocery spending low for this week.

Shelly's Place Part One

This is the very first Christmas tour at Bliss Cottage, owned by my friend Shelly. She has extensive collections of vintage items all through her home.

You are in for a treat. I said I would do some posts just to show you all the visual treats at Shelly's house and here is part one. Shelly is the sister in law of Patty at Lemon Lane Cottage. They are all just the best. So thankful we have become friends. Okay on to the tour. This is just the kitchen folks. There is so much to look at here that it takes time to take it all in. Now this gal is a collector but let me tell you she is thrifty. So many of the cute things you see are from yard sales and thrift shops. We all want to go shopping with her to find her good places and glean some of her collecting skills.
Okay on with the fun. It was getting dark so some of my photos aren't the best.
This cherry valance she found at the thrift store. Can you believe that?

She already collects in red so adding Christmas is perfect.

She finds things and paints and modifies them to her colors. Her husband also helps her create some of her shelves and is very handy so she is one lucky gal.

Her attention to detail is fabulous. I wish you could all see it in person. So fun.

We think she needs a blog so she can share her place all year long. It is as cute decorated for everyday too.

Her Christmas tree in the kitchen. Next time I will share the sitting area and dining room. Isn't her place fun? Thanks Shelly for generously sharing your home with us and for letting me take so many shots and share it on my blog.

A Perfect Saturday

This weekend I had a wonderful day meeting and playing with some fellow bloggers. Sweet Patty from Lemon Lane Cottage invited me to tag along with her and her sister in law on a little road trip down to meet another blogger I know many of you will know, Maryjane with The Beehive Cottage. What a fun day. First we made a stop at Patty's sister in law's house. What a treat. Shelly is not only one of the nicest people ever but her house is just eye candy you can't believe. Think of the cutest cottage you have ever seen in red and white. I just couldn't take it all in it is that cute. I didn't take pics because we were in a hurry but oh how I wish I would have. We want her to start a blog to share her darling home. You would love it as much as I do I am sure. Shelly it's time!! Share your home with us!!!

Anyway we headed down to Murrieta to Ivy Street Market where Maryjane had her vintage cutie trailer and all her wonderful vintage paper goods. We shopped and chatted and she is just the sweetest, warm lovely thing ever. She gifted us each with some wonderful items from her goodies and we were just overwhelmed with her generosity. We hope to see her again soon so we can get together and visit. If you haven't seen her darling paper goods you can visit her etsy shop here http://www.etsy.com/shop/beehivecottage?ref=em.

And the day kept getting better. As we were visiting with Maryjane who would we see also visiting the little trailer but Kris from Simplify. I was thrilled. She hugged us all and went along with us for lunch and we had the best time getting to know her. I am good blogging friends with her so to see her and give her a hug was wonderful.

Last Patty, Shelly and I went to the new Hobby Lobby for the first time. Patty and I had not been yet so it was so exciting. Boy was it packed. They have so much in there it is overwhelming. I wanted to post pics I took but I had my old camera and for the life of me cannot find the cord I need to upload my pics. I am already having one of those weeks. You know the kind, if you think of all you have to do you might cry. Yep one of those. At the end of the week we are heading out of town so I have to throw packing into that.

Thanks so much Patty for including me and to Maryjane for our wonderful gifts and to Shelly for sharing your home with me and to Kris for showing up at the perfect time so we could meet. Blogging has opened such a lovely group of women to me that I otherwise would never have met. I love you guys!!! I wish I could meet all my blogging friends. That would be so awesome!!

A Thankful Friday

You know when you have been worrying about something and then that worry is finally lifted how you realize how feeling good really does feel? That feeling of just not having a weight on your chest? A weight you had learned to live with. Now it is like you can take a full breath. Have a good night's sleep. 

Well I am there. I can take a full breath and slept like a baby last night. I had had some tests done and yesterday I got good news. I was literally shaking waiting for the doctor. Stress does a number on one's body. I woke for the first time in weeks feeling rested. Amazing. That is how I feel.

Dinner just tasted so good. BLTs, well turkey ones, tasted so good. The laughter at the table sounded so lovely, the girls arguing didn't phase me a bit. I could appreciate it as the normal hum of life.

Today I am going to take my girlies shopping for Halloween costumes. So fun! I love how excited they are even as teens to get a costume and dress up for the parties they are attending. So this will be a good season of fun and I will savor every good, bad, happy, grumpy, quiet and loud day ahead. Have a wonderful weekend everyone. Thank you all for stopping by and always brightening my day with such kind words. I know you are all busy and I appreciate the moments you take to leave me such nice comments. I know all bloggers feel that way.

Different Views

Peaceful gardening.

Did you see Brenda's post this week? I love her weekly Blogger tip posts. Went out to the garden to try some of her photography tips.

Fresh picked produce in a very OLD bowl.

Same subject from different angles is what she recommended. 

I had fun just zooming in and out. Laying on the grass like I was all official.

With summer heat the garden is waning a little but that is okay. I like to stay indoors during the heat of the day.

Then every evening I come out with my youngest usually for dessert in the yard. That is when I take a stroll through the garden and water my pots. A nightly ritual I do enjoy.