The Biz Idea

Thoughts and Ideas percalting in my head. It’s time to get them out on paper. Wanna her what pours out?

I joined the The Yakezie Challenge started by Financial Samurai. It’s been great, as it strengthens my knowledge for how to grow a blog or to acknowledge what it takes to monetize on a blog (community, networking & consistancy in writing is a must).

Don’t get me wrong, I write my personal finance journey because I love my blogging friends, I need to hold myself accountable for my finance journey, and if I can help anyone out from my trials & tribulations then that is great! But, it is also nice to have the minute extra income to help pay down my debt, buy an extra Christmas present, or help to catapult other ideas or giveaways.

But for me, this challenge has also made me realize I don’t want to quit my full-time job to write personal finance related content, as it is not my passion. I believe you have to have passion or a strong desire to continue building your empire or one might as well not pursue it.

Looking for Inspiration

Recently, there has been a couple of outstanding posts that have smacked me upside the head by speaking my tune with the whole, “What I want to do with my life”.

Ryan from Planting Dollars wrote a great inspirational piece about Warren Buffet’s mind called, I Always Knew I was Going to be Rich. Ryan says, “it all started in his mind and with his unwavering belief”. I think we should all possess this unwavering belief.

The second, written by Moon from Experiments in Passive Income, was a featured guest post at The InfoPreneur called, “Clamping the Noise In your Head: Learn From My Mistakes. She says, “As youngsters, we have more passion and less care for details and consequences.” As kids, we didn’t research a subject to death and then not complete our task. We just did it. Maybe that’s the key, just get up and hustle our worth.

I bring these two post up because 1) laugh all you may, but I have always believed that I am going to be rich and 2)it is time to just get up and do it!

I tell my husband all the time, I am suppose to make it big. I feel it. And it’s not due to winning the lotto, but by hard work built by my hands. Then, I realize that I am not getting any younger. Either I am going to do it NOW or I will crash with resentment.

So with all this above, here is…

What I did realize

My 2 1/2 – 3 years of blogging and Financial Samurai’s challenge made me realize I want to beable to quit my 9-5 job to monetize on producing my own product and getting it out there with the helpful use of social media. I know what it takes now to get the ‘word’ heard on the internet by many people.

Many of you, keep hearing me yap about Vegan, Vegetarian, Raw Food, etc… This my passion. I can write about this for eons.

It’s time I lay out my plan to you. Keep in mind it is still a work in progress and only the beginning of my empire (Muahahahahaha…).

The Rough Draft

I was always been fascinated with Mr. Roger’s show because of the factory tours. I love watching how things are made. It has always fascinated me, still to this day.

I want to create my own product with my own factory.

Forward on…

Intially, I was thinking about starting small, due to lack of capital, by starting a raw-vegan blog and writing eBooks to accrue funding. But, it is not my intentions to make the internet my main focus. I want to make my product a focus.

I decided, I am going to keep busy by coming up with my branding material, my merchandising designs and testing products. All the while building up a business plan, applying for a licenses and small business loans, etc…

And my blogging will take you on my journey. Of course, mixed in with our getting out of debt journey and Menu Plan Monday.

Now, if I can just stop talking the talk and start walking the walk. Whatchya think?

Menu Plan Monday: Weight Loss Happy

How is this Vegan thing going? Great! I’ve been having oatmeal or cereal with almond milk for breakfast. Healthy snacks of carrots & hummus, grapes, popcorn or soy yogurt. Lunches and dinners consists of baked potatoes with lemon pepper & broccoli, salads & soup, Indian food & brown rice, black bean tacos… It’s all good.

Don’t get me wrong. I’ve been on automatic pilot, at work, with putting milk in my oatmeal and then saying, “Doh!” But, I am not going to beat myself up over it. Eating Vegan is change that takes time. However, I have replaced the milk at home with Almond Milk and the family loves it! Works great in all my cooking, too. Small changes to make a healthy difference.

Want to know what else?

Well, if you don’t I am going to tell you anyways. I’ve lost 4.5 pounds this week! And yes, my meals filled me, I didn’t go hungry, and I feel great! So, I am not giving up this Vegan Kickstart anytime soon.

Financially, my vegan meals don’t costs us anymore than normal. I buy more produce and canned beans. Doesn’t cost me so much, so far.

This week’s meal plan

• Sunday: Ultimate Veggie Burger, mashed cauliflower, and a green salad. Dessert: Raw Cacao Walnut Fudge
• Monday: BBQ Veggie Skewers, leftover mashed cauliflower, and tomato-basil soup
• Tuesday: Easy Vegetarian Tacos w/ Mexican Jumping Bean Slaw with Vegan Sour Cream
• Wednesday: Eggplant Parmesan, mashed potatoes, and mixed greens salad w/ Balsamic Vinegarette
• Thursday: Teriyaki glazed salmon (non vegan night), brown rice, and broccoli
• Friday: Eat out
• Saturday: St. Patty’s Day/Surprise B-day Party

I know many of the recipes call for eggs, cheese or milk. But I use Earth balance for butter, omit the eggs (with no problems), use Almond Milk… there are ways around it.

To find more great menu plans, visit Orgjunkie.com

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February’s Net Worth

So, has everyone made their New Year’s Plans???

I can’t believe that February is already crossed off the calendar. POW! Gone. Just like that.

This month’s financial outlook was good for our family. We are finally settling into a routine on paying bills now that we changed our household financial system and have gotten used to the new due dates from the personal loans we used for consolidating our credit card debts.

I have also automated most of my bills; the student loans and personal loans. I am still thinking of automating the rest of my bills, but want to see how these 3 bills on automatic work for me. I’d be happy not to need to worry about what bills to pay each week.

Family Debt Total

Change in Family Debt: +$1,034 – YEAH!! The figure is a reflection of the Mr. and Mrs. combination of debt.

Assets

Cash in Banks: Is an average amount. No change in that for this month.

Investments: N/A – I have no investments

Retirement: +$947 – YEAH! Consider I kept seeing stocks go down, this is a nice change for this month. My work puts 7% of my income into my 403(b). Then, I have $100 biweekly deducted pretax each paycheck.

Auto: -$590 - For some reason the Hyundai doesn’t hold it’s value. I don’t know why. My car has 85,000 miles on it and I have had no problems with it, as I keep in maintained. I like my car for fitting into tight parking spots and its gas mileage.

Liabilities

Credit Cards: $0 And it’s going to stay that way!

Car Loan: +$326 – Would be more, but the interest takes a huge bite out of it. Do you see the balance of my car loan? Do you see the Kelly Blue Book Value? Do you see my big financial blooper?

Student Loans: +290 – Small as the total may move down, I LOVE to watch it go bye-bye!

Personal Loans: +259 – All those credit card balances rolled up into 2 personal loans. This is also a combination of Mr. and Mrs. debts. But since I took out the loan in my name I put it under my Net Worth sheet.

February’s Net Worth

-$21,829 with a positive change of $1,867. Woo Hoo!

 

Menu Plan Monday: 21-Day Vegan Kickstart!

This week is the start of the 21-Day Vegan Kickstart. I am looking forward to it! I plan on following the menus guidelines but with some revisions, as to stay in sync with my family’s meals.

Why am I doing this?

Well, some of your hear me tweet that I want to start a Veggie Business. It partly has to do with this idea (will expand on it more later). Next it is to explore aspects of better health. Then, because I love my fruits and veggies. This type of diet is perfect for me. Finally, I want to see if doing a vegan diet full-time with a family of carnivores is possible; sort of a research project for me.

This Week’s Menu Plan

Breakfast(s): Muesli, Granola, Oatmeal, and Mango-Strawberry Smoothies
Lunches: Hummus & Veggie Pita Sandwich, Brown rice w/ Tadka Dal, Salad & Veggie Soup(2).
Dinner:

• Sunday: Baked Potato topped Veggies & Lemon Pepper. Side of vegan chili
• Monday: Crockpot Cauliflower Curry (I didn’t get to make this last week. Omitting Chicken and adding Cauliflower), brown rice, and Boondi raita
• Tuesday: Black bean tacos and Carrot & Red Pepper Soup
• Wednesday: Pasta with a simple vegetable marinara and a mixed greens salad
• Thursday: Ultimate Veggie Burger, Mashed Cauliflower with roasted garlic, Veggies
• Friday: Out to Eat. This will be interesting to see what I order

This week’s weight loss: *tisk* 1 pound

I guess it’s good I am still on the losing side. No, I did not get exercise in to the days. Which is my culprit for not shedding more.

What’s on Your Menu?

To find more great menu plans, visit Orgjunkie.com

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