After finally finishing our major renovations in 2018, 2019 was a spending-spree. Our house had been under renovation for pretty much three solid years – bathrooms (hall and master), kitchen and dining rooms, the nursery, our boy’s room, paint and baseboard throughout the house…add in having a baby in there…now I could finally take some time to decorate!

I bought second-hand furniture to refinish and fill our empty space, pictures to fill the blank walls, and rugs to cozy things up. I bought curtains, seasonal throw-pillows, baskets to organize, faux-flowers for vases…and on…and on…

I would buy things without a real plan for where they would go, and when they didn’t work out long-term they would get stuck in the closet or basement. I didn’t buy just enough to fill the space – I would buy more than I needed “for later,” or because I “liked both and couldn’t decide.” It was ridiculous.

Having recently had a second baby, I also bought lots of new clothes to better suite my body and style. I frequently went thrifting with the kids just to get out of the house. I usually ended up buying all sorts of “treasures” I really didn’t need, as well as toys for my son as his little treasure finds. Many of my treasures sat in the basement, unused, and are still there. I bought way too many Starbucks’ lattes in my sleep-deprived desperation as we drove to the thrift store or to Homegoods.

One could argue that a few of those purchases were justifiable – it’s good to have properly fitting clothes after having a baby, furniture for one’s house, and so on. Our budget and our storage space, however, were the worse for wear by the end of the year.

I felt guilty, embarrassed, and burdened by “stuff.”

My husband was tired of reminding me about the budget and wondered where all the stuff was going to go. It all felt out of control.

While some of the shopping and spending were necessary, it was a habit and a way of coping with a challenging time of life. I was overwhelmed by figuring out how to deal with a toddler and a baby and to be honest, I was dealing with postpartum depression as well. Shopping was an escape – a way of temporarily removing myself from a seemingly impossible reality – even if the budget, housework, and my relationships suffered.

I finally reached a breaking point. I won’t go into detail, but just know I was in the depths of despair and something – anything – had to change. With encouragement from my family, I made changes, sought guidance, and things began to improve. I was not as reliant on shopping and Starbucks runs to put me in a better state. Even though it was no longer therapy for me, however, I was still very much in the habit of buying things…

Then along came Covid-19 and stay-at-home orders – shopping trips came to an abrupt halt. Uncertainties about the economy ceased online spending. All unnecessary purchasing stopped completely. The spending spree was over…

…and it was surprisingly freeing.

That reset of just a few weeks changed my habits and my perspective.

Don’t get me wrong, I still enjoy shopping and Starbucks, but my reasons for doing so have changed. It is no longer mandatory “therapy” for this [still-sometimes-sleep-deprived-and-stressed] mama. I got the assistance I needed, I broke my habit, and found other outlets. Instead of constantly spending, I focused my efforts on blogging, photography, and creating content and printables. I started an Etsy shop to sell my creations and perhaps earn back a little of what I had spent. I learned to better use what I have – to be more creative or to simply do without (that’s okay too in a lot of circumstances!). Plus I learned how to make my own iced coffee and lattes at home.

Our house is pretty well filled now and there is no reason to purchase more furniture, wall hangings, or rugs. Spending has become pretty much necessity only, with the occasional thrift store outing thrown in, and those are kept within budget.

It’s amazing how much creativity flourishes when we are forced to work with what we have. It’s beautiful how one’s contentment can change when we realize it’s okay, perhaps even better, to do without certain things.

Limiting one’s resources brings forth solutions otherwise not imagined.

Shopping one’s own home results in finding long-lost items or seeing objects in a new light and with new potential. No longer harboring the guilt of over-spending or the burden of being weighed down with more “stuff” is liberating.

So is it wrong to have things? Not at all! The good things we enjoy in this life are gifts from God. They are to be used for our good, the good of others, and to God’s glory. We are thankful for the good things we are given. However, when those objects take over our lives and hurt our relationships, those good gifts have turned into burdens or even idols.

I encourage you to be honest with yourself.

Are you over-buying and over-spending? Has shopping become more than just fun? If yes, dig deeper. If you feel your spending habits are just that – a habit – try going on a spending-free break for a few weeks.

Ask a friend to hold you accountable, remove shopping apps from your phone, remove your credit card information from sites like Amazon (if you have it saved) so you can’t just push “buy now.” Intentionally schedule other activities to fill your time – go on a walk with a friend, sign up for a community service activity, cook a fun new cuisine you’ve never tried. Check out free parks and places around town that you’ve never taken the time to see. Stop putting off organizing your sock drawer. Start cleaning out your closet and basement and make a donation pile. Take it immediately to the donation center. Be sure to use curbside drop-off so you aren’t tempted to shop inside.

Give it several weeks and see if that doesn’t change your perspective and habits. You just might find other interests you never knew you had. You might discover that long-lost stash of fabric in your basement and take up sewing again. Who knows?!

If you feel your behavior has a deeper root – psychological or emotional – please seek assistance. It is well worth it. Medical and psychological treatment are also gifts. Depression, addiction, trauma…the list goes on…are all real issues that need attention and treatment, whether that be therapy, medication, or a combination of things. There is absolutely no shame in seeking assistance. No one would neglect a broken arm or persistent chest pain, and no one should neglect mental and emotional health either.*

Through this all, I was also brought to the realization that I had neglected time in God’s Word and prayer. It’s not that those hadn’t existed at all, but they had taken a backseat to other things and I definitely think God was using all of this to show me what I had been neglecting. Not only was I using shopping as an escape from life, but I was using it to try to fill a void that only Jesus can fill.

I hope that if you are going through something similar that you find encouragement in this post. Stuff is just that – stuff. The newness and thrill wear off in time. Stuff cannot make us truly happy, treat our underlying medical issues, or fill voids that we have inside of us.

Bad habits can be broken. Perspectives can change. Healing can take place.

Seek the assistance and support you need. Ask God for guidance, forgiveness, and strength through it all. Break that habit.

We can do without things. We can work with what we have. We’ll be even better off for it.

Live in Simplicity and Gratitude.

Let Creativity thrive in this newfound Freedom.

* I am not a medical professional. Anything written in this post is purely my opinion from personal experience only. The content on this site is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition.

To say I’ve learned a few things in the last year would be an understatement. I had no idea what I was getting into, and although I continue to enjoy the blogging process, there are definitely some things I wish I’d known going in!

Here are the top 5 things I’ve learned this year. I hope this is helpful to anyone considering starting a blog and interesting to anyone wanting to know what goes on behind the scenes!

1. It Can Be Increasingly Time-Consuming.

Priorities – set them before you even begin.

Blogging can easily start out as “I’ll write a post here and there after the kids are in bed” and morph into an all-consuming, “I can’t go to bed because I have to get this newsletter written!!” sort of animal. It’s really one of those things that can keep pulling you in deeper, especially if you’re a perfectionist.

Writing your post, editing your photos, planning your next project – it all takes time and adds up. Decide up front how much time you can actually invest in blogging and set limits. Unless it is your full-time job, sometimes you just have to remind yourself that it’s a hobby and good enough is good enough.

My family and responsibilities come first, so my blogging and projects generally get squeezed in during nap times or after the kids are in bed. In order to be able to do more with the blog, however, I began staying up way too late night after night until I finally ran myself into the ground and was under the weather for days. I finally realized that I had put blogging and social media ahead of my physical and mental well-being. Please don’t make the same mistake!

2. You Can’t Please Everyone.

While this is true in all of life, the internet and social media have a way of magnifying it. Not everyone will like your content or like it all the time. Not everyone will like you and your personality. People may like you until you share one post in particular and then *poof* they’re gone. Someone may follow you for a while and then lose interest.

All of that is normal and okay. Even in real life we naturally gravitate towards certain people more than others because we “click” with them and share interests. Let the others go – would you really want people hanging around who didn’t want to be there?

If you stay true to your interests, your personality, and your areas of expertise, you will naturally attract people with similar interests who want to hear what you have to say and will support and encourage you.

Oh, and if you offer freebies for subscribing, just know that some people will subscribe, get the free stuff, and flee the scene. It’s just the nature of it. How do I know? I am shown stats for each subscriber – I can see when someone subscribes at 8:55pm, opens the welcome email (for the password), and unsubscribes at 9:00pm. It’s irritating, but to be expected when you offer free stuff.

3. “Build It and They’ll Come” Isn’t Necessarily the Case.

It’s true – content is king. You have to have good content to build a following and make people want to come back for more. However, they have to be able to find your blog in the first place!

This is where many factors come into play – everything from using “tags” (key search words) to being active on social media.

I highly recommend reading up on key words that search engines like Google use (just search for “key tag words blog” or similar – there is a ton of info out there). Use strategic words when tagging your blog posts to have a better chance of appearing in search results. Get on Instagram and/or Facebook and make your blog an official page. Use those social media platforms to direct people back to your blog. Pin your blog post images to Pinterest and use powerful descriptions to be found.

The more platforms you use to get yourself “out there,” the more opportunity you have to direct people back to your blog. Some people may stumble upon your blog naturally, but generally it takes effort on your part to be found, at least in the beginning.

4. You Need to Decide Your “Why”

Why are you doing this?

That is a question with which I still bumble around at times. It’s usually a mix of, “for fun,” “to be helpful to people,” “as a creative outlet,” etc. Somewhere in there, however, is a desire for my blog to succeed. Don’t we all want to succeed in what we do? I think that’s pretty normal and healthy to a point.

What does that mean, though? I have no idea. One person’s idea of success may be to have one million followers and have their YouTube videos go viral. Another person’s idea of success may be to have anyone subscribing at all.

You can’t focus on numbers. Use the analytics to see what is working for you and what isn’t, but don’t get hung up on the stats. It is tempting to focus on the number of Instagram followers you have, the number of email subscribers, or how many hits you have on your site every day, but it will drag you down and get you off course.

If you get caught up in having people follow/unfollow, subscribe/unsubscribe, you will begin to lose the enjoyment and spark that made you start blogging in the first place.

Certainly keep your audience in mind and take helpful cues from them about what is and isn’t working, but stay true to your purpose, your personality, and your goals for blogging. You have something unique to contribute – have fun with it!

5. Blogging Has “Hidden” Monetary Costs

Technically you can blog for free, but if you hope to have certain capabilities or reach a certain level of “professionalism,” it will cost you financially.

Let’s start with the website itself.

You can get a WordPress site for free, but your webpage will be [yourblogname].wordpress.com, and you will need to choose from standard design templates. If you’re okay with that, then you’re set! If you’re looking for a more professional website name (a regular .com), then you have to subscribe to at least a “personal” subscription level ($4 per month) and pay for domain hosting (I got mine free for the first year, but this year it is costing me $18 for the year). Not too bad – $48 last year and $66 this year for a hobby I enjoy.

More advanced WordPress subscriptions range from $8 – $45 per month. In a nutshell, the more you pay, the more custom you can make your site and the more you can analyze how your site is performing. WordPress is the only website builder I’ve used, but I know there are plenty of others out there – Squarespace, Wix, etc.

So you want to send an emailed newsletter…

I use Mailchimp for creating and sending my newsletters. It is free, but once again that comes with some “buts.” With the free version, you are limited to one audience list which cannot exceed 2000 subscribers, you cannot schedule your campaigns, and there is no personal support from Mailchimp (just the tutorials and FAQ). This is not a big deal if you have fewer than 2000 subscribers and don’t mind pushing the “send” button when it’s time to send your newsletter. I use the free version and it meets my needs fine. I do wish I could schedule my emails, but it’s easy enough to write them ahead of time and then push “send” from either my computer and the handy Mailchimp App on my phone (which is also free!). I’m honestly not sure what I’ll do once I reach 2000 subscribers (not there yet!), but I’m looking into other options as the first paid subscription level of Mailchimp only allows 500 contacts (weird, I know).

Paid plans range from $9.99 – $299 per month and add more features like scheduling your emails, 24/7 support, A/B testing (which is basically just comparing how your emails do based on different factors like day and time you send them, format, etc.), more analytics, etc.

Okay great, we have a free newsletter service, right?

Not really.

First, U.S. law requires that every email you send to your email list (subscribers) contain a physical mailing address where you, the sender, can receive postal mail. This is part of the CAN-SPAM Act. I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t send my home address to several hundred people I’ve never met. Just not a good idea. Thus, you need to find a real, valid mailing address to use (e.g. your brick and mortar store, a PO Box, your In-Laws’ house…ha, just kidding about that last one). I opted for the PO Box. Rental rates vary by location and box size, so you’ll need to check with your local post office to get a quote.

Second, emails are only good if people actually open them and read them. People can only open and read the emails if they are received and don’t get stuck in the spam box. I recently changed my email address from a free gmail account to a G Suite account.

Why? Because as I learned the hard way, mass emails sent from a generic gmail address are generally sent to spam boxes. Using a general gmail (or other) address will not necessarily guarantee that your newsletter will end up in spam, but it’s a lot more likely than if you have a personal site email like [myname]@hymnsandhome.com. In the “mind” of spam filters, this gives it more credibility (among other factors). Of course this costs money. A basic G Suite plan (which is all you need) is $6 per month. All in all, it’s one of those things that’s not absolutely necessary, but if you’re going to go to the trouble of writing newsletters and building an email following, it’s worth doing.

How about photo editing?

The Adobe Lightroom App is free for iPhone and works exceedingly well. I use it constantly. Again, however, if you want to be able to use it on your computer (like if you’re uploading photos from your DSLR or just want to easily access your edited photos on your laptop), you have to pay for a subscription. It will cost $9.99 per month (or $119.88 per year at the time of this post). You can get around this with the free version by air-dropping your photos between devices to be able to edit them on your phone, but I personally found it to be a pain after several months, so I gave in and subscribed.

Another spot you might find yourself investing is in the purchasing of photo editing presets. You can certainly edit your own photos and make your own presets (which I actually encourage you to try), but there are plenty of presets out there that can help, with varying costs. I’ve purchased a few of them, but find myself ditching them more and more to have better control over my editing. No two spaces are the same, so it’s really difficult for a preset to meet everyone’s needs and have all photos turn out well. If you are just delving into photo editing, though, they can be a helpful starting spot.

[This is not factoring in any equipment you might choose to purchase, such as lenses, tripods, etc.]

And graphic design?

I love Love LOVE Canva.com! It is awesome, even at the free level. I use it all the time to design everything from pieces of my website to Instagram stories. They offer so many great templates that are ready-to-go for social media, and even at the free level they offer a good number of fonts and stock graphics. So what does a paid plan get you? Things like high-resolution downloads (PDF print-ready quality), images with the background automatically removed for you, automatic resizing of your designs, and tons of free images, templates, and “extras.” I find it to be totally worth the cost, especially for creating my printables. If you’re new to this, however, definitely try the free version for a while and see if it meets your needs. They also have a free app (though I found it to be just a little buggy).

Advertising?

Though I have not tried it yet, I know you can also spend good deal of money advertising your blog, shop, or social media account.

Whew, that was long! In short, you can blog for free, but you can also invest some pretty serious money in it! It totally depends on the level you’re trying to achieve!

I hope you found this helpful or at least interesting, whether you’re considering starting a blog or you were just interested in what goes into the blogging process! My goal was to be as honest and transparent as possible.

Thank you to each and every one of you for your support and encouragement! I’m still learning and enjoying this blogging endeavor, and can’t wait to see what the next year has in store!

Have any questions? Leave me a comment below and I’ll try to help!

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