How My Blog Changed My Life: J$ from Budgets Are Sexy

I’m so excited for another edition of my new series, How My Blog Changed My Life. This time we have a badass rockstar who is changing lives, inspiring others, and not boring you to tears with old, tired financial advice. Who am I talking about?

J$ of course! J. Money blogs over at BudgetsAreSexy.com, a personal finance site that tries not to put you to sleep. A commenter once said he was “the Miley Cyrus of finance,” and while he’s pretty sure this wasn’t a compliment, he very much took it as one 😉 Jay also runs a project called Rockstar Finance where he scans over 150 articles a day to find the best three to share with people. It’s a great way to find tips and learn about other awesome financial bloggers out there. You can learn more about J. Money and all his projects here: jmoney.biz

I can personally say that J. Money has changed my life by featuring some of my articles on Rockstar Finance. In addition, he has been a great friend and support. And he’s just plain cool. So let’s see how HIS blog changed his life.

1. What was the inspiration for starting your blog?

I kinda had two: 1) To pay attention to my money more, and 2) To be more productive with my time. A few months prior I had gone out and bought a $350K+ house on a whim when I meant to rent a 2 bedroom apt (hah!), and at the same time I was really tired of wasting my time at work on sites like Youtube and MySpace (double hah!). So after stumbling across these so-called “personal finance” blogs and realizing they were just normal people online sharing stories and tips, I thought what the hell, I could do that too! So I just gave it a shot and now here we are over 6 years, and 7 million views, later still going strong 🙂

2. What has been the most challenging part of having a blog?

Probably that the more successful you are, the more time it takes to maintain everything. In the beginning I’d spend maybe 20 mins a day putting out an article and responding to my 1 fan (probably my mother), and then as the years and the blog grew, it slowly became an hour a day, and then two, and then 4 and now sometimes even 12. What started as a blog eventually became a business, and every small business owner knows you wear multiple hats to keep things going from marketer, to operations, to accounting, and everything else in between. And the bigger it gets the more *other* opportunities come your way as well. All good things for sure, but all things that still take up handfuls of hours, and sometimes away from your friends and family.

3. In what ways, direct or indirect, has your life changed because of your blog?

Oh man, I can’t even express to you how different my life has been because of this blog. I’ve learned more in these past handful of years than I have my entire life put together, and every single day I pray to the heavens above for giving me this opportunity – it’s been amazing. Here are a few of the most drastic changes due to my blog:

– I became self-employed
– I met every last one of my best friends and business partners online
– I co-founded a charity that raised almost $100,000
– I launched, sold, and shut down another 12-15 projects
– I’ve made somewhere close to a half a million dollars

To say I didn’t see any of this coming would be an understatement 🙂

4. What have you learned from blogging?

I learned that nothing’s ever permanent – for the good, and the bad – and that you have to take advantage of every last opportunity that comes your way as you never really know what’s around the corner for you. There’s been times I’ve made over $20,000 in a weekend with my online projects, and others where I only made $2,000 a month – that all has to support a growing family of 4 in an expensive part of the country ($2k is more than awesome as a side hustle of course, but not so much a job-job). So being able to manage your money is key in life, and especially when you’re out on your own.

I also learned that anything’s possible as long as you’re CRAZY passionate about it. It’s one thing to dream and wish for things, but a whole other to actually create a plan and then pour in the hours to make it happen. There’s a reason we’re not surrounded by full-time bloggers or business owners, or even millionaires all over – it’s hard as $hit to pull off! But it IS possible.

5. What advice would you give to new bloggers who are thinking of starting a blog?

Just do it!! Channel your inner Nike and make it happen TODAY. You may not fall in love with it, but the barriers to entry are so low that it’ll literally cost you nothing to find out, and maybe a few hours of your time.

The better question to think about is what opportunities you could be missing out on if you DON’T start your blog? In the beginning that’s all it will be – a blog about money (or whatever) – but it has the chance to be so much bigger and affect so many more people down the road. Not only yourself, but the hundreds/thousands/millions of others coming to you to learn and improve their lives with you. And that’s just what the blog itself offers. There are things that can happen outside of it too like friendships and collaborations and media requests, new blogs, new companies, new freelancing work, book deals, speaking gigs, and on and on and on.

It’s hard to imagine now because it seems so far off and you’re always thinking “it could never happen to you,” but I’ll tell you this much – it’s going to happen to *somebody!* So why the hell shouldn’t it be you?

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Melanie

Melanie Lockert is the founder of the blog and author of the book, Dear Debt. Through her blog, she chronicled her journey out of $81,000 in student loan debt. She is also the co-founder of the Lola Retreat, which helps bold women face their fears, own their dreams and figure out a plan to be in control of their finances. She is passionate about empowering women, helping others get out of debt, and focuses on the intersection of debt and mental health. Every September she organizes a Suicide Prevention Awareness Blog Tour, to help share resources for those struggling with debt and suicide. In addition to her love of personal finance, art and music, she is also a karaoke master and a cat mom to Miles and Thelonious.

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