Hi there!
Welcome to my blog 🙂
My name is Liz and I started this blog back in 2020 as an escape from work and to document my financial journey. Mainly so I could stop spending unnecessarily, increase my savings and start building actual wealth.
I felt like a fish out of water starting something that was new and unfamiliar, but fast forward to where I am now and I have learnt a tonne of valuable information that has set me on a clear path to reaching my personal finance and blogging goals.
If you are looking for tips on how to save more money, make extra money to build wealth and improve your current lifestyle, then you’re in the right place. My blog aims to deliver on those without overwhelming you and setting clear and simple goals to meet.
Through my own personal experience and knowledge, my goal is to help you build a healthy relationship with money without having to give up your favorite indulgences. I believe life is there to enjoy and the best way to achieve happiness is to have a healthy work/life balance.
A BIT ABOUT WHO I AM
I’m an ambivert, which is someone who has a balance of introvert and extrovert features. I never thought of myself as a full on introvert or extrovert, but somewhere in between. Basically I love being social at times, but also enjoy my alone time and chilling out and doing things on my own terms.
A few of my favorite things to do is drink coffee while working on my blog, read about personal finance and earn free gift cards to treat myself. Because life is for living right?
REAL LESSONS LEARNED IN PERSONAL FINANCE
I was born and raised in a humble household and was never taught about budgeting, investing or taxes. I learnt all these myself. But being told to simply save hard and work hard for things I wanted in life has helped create the person I am today.
I’ve learnt how to live frugally, manage my money, budget and save money properly.
This includes learning how to create a budget for beginners to help save for medical emergencies, social life, family life and super importantly, retirement!
Making money both online and offline from almost nothing has always fascinated me. I love blogging and learning about all the different ways you can make a living from home. I push myself every single day to make sure I’m set up for retirement and comfortable with my finances. My dream is not to become filthy rich as that doesn’t interest me. But to have the freedom and knowledge to work on my own terms and make a living for myself without having to go to a 9 to 5 job every day.
I seriously started with nothing and made some pretty stupid mistakes with my money back in the day. Things like impulse purchases and spending unnecessarily on things I thought were making me happy, but I was really trying to fill a void in my life.
After searching for the best ways to manage my money, taking advice from financial experts and making simple yet effective changes in my life, I’m finally seeing the dollars go up. I’m also a happier and healthier person after resetting my relationship with money.
WHY I STARTED THIS PERSONAL FINANCE BLOG
Not long after graduating from college and starting work in the corporate world, something started to niggle at me. I started to dread going to work every day and resented the fact that I worked for someone else’s company on their terms. I’d lie awake at night thinking about working for myself and escaping my job.
Everyone I talked to about these wishes of mine thought it was a crazy idea to leave a well paying job and couldn’t understand why I’d want to give it up. Especially for something like “online business”, which didn’t sound like a secure way to make a living.
But after reading up and learning all about personal finance bloggers building real wealth, I felt motivated and inspired to start my own blogging journey.
Personal Finance topics that interest me and that I relate to most are:
- Paying off Debt
The more I researched and learnt about personal finance bloggers slashing debt, fixing their relationship with money and building real wealth, the more I wanted to do the same. Especially as some bloggers were earning staggering amounts per month with their blog!
Reading all about their personal growth journeys was so inspiring to me, and really motivated me to start my own money making blog.
Fast forward some time and I finally bit the bullet and started this blog. It’s safe to say I haven’t looked back! I’ve learned and continue to learn so much valuable information that has me set on a clear path to financial freedom.
Blogging was completely foreign to me and out of my comfort zone. It’s taken a lot of time and patience to get to where I am now with many hiccups along the way. But I see these as periods of growth and valuable learning experiences that help me move forward.
The honest truth about blogging is that it’s not easy! There is so much to learn and isn’t some get-rich-quick rubbish where you’ll be a big successful blogger in a week or two. It takes time, fierce dedication and a mountain of patience to start seeing growth.
My friends and family have been supportive but a little skeptical about me blogging for a living. I get it, it’s not steady income in the beginning like you would have in a traditional 9 to 5 job. I also had no proof this was even going to be a success! All I had was sheer determination and stubbornness to make it work😜
Now they can see the growth from my blog themselves and are even feeling inspired to do something similar and start a blog of their own!
If you’re interested in starting your own blog and want to learn exactly how to set it up as a complete beginner, you can head to my blog post here where I show you everything step by step.
Finally, once I let go of the small voice inside me telling me I’d never make this thing work and it’s all a pipe dream, that was when I started to see real progress. This in turn made me want to keep going and not give up! If I had listened to that voice then I’d be stuck at the same job that was making me miserable day in day out. I wouldn’t have learnt about all the amazing opportunities there are to make a living online outside your 9 to 5.
I’ve learnt that if you want something bad enough, you’ll find a way to make it happen. That doesn’t mean it will be a breeze and you won’t have to put in the effort, in fact it’s the opposite! But if you truly want something in life you will find a way to get it and learn that nothing is completely out of reach.
ABOUT SIMPLY SMART CENTS
Simply Smart Cents’ main goal is to help readers find the best ways to save money, pay off debt, earn money and stop living paycheck to paycheck.
Other topics covered in this blog are budgeting, frugal living and building wealth. And given the interest in learning how to start a blog I also teach readers how to blog and make money from home.
FOLLOW ME & CONNECT ON PINTEREST!
You can follow and connect with me on Pinterest right here!
Disclaimer: Please note that the content on my blog does not constitute financial advice and should not be taken as professional advice. All opinions are my own based on personal experience that I share with my readers. To find out more, please read our Privacy Policy page.