How to Save Money for your next Travel Adventure
You’ve been wanting to go somewhere on your bucket list whether it was a trip to Paris or a cruise in the Caribbean but you still don’t have enough for it?
Travel is something a lot of people would love to do, but certain circumstances prevent them like financials, work and kids, but if you plan and save for travel, it will happen.
Travel doesn’t have to be expensive, but I have to admit, it can be a lot when you have more than 2 children to bring with you.
International traveling for example was a lot for our family of 5 this past summer because 1 plane ticket cost more than my two week salary at the time. Not to mention the expenses when we were in Philippines and South Korea.
Travel tips to:
Philippines: It was a lot less than the U.S. prices when it comes food, taxi and experiences.
South Korea: It cost about the same for U.S. prices for pretty much everything.
Here are some ways that you can save money for your next adventure.
- Automate your savings. Get the digit.co app. It’s an app that you link your bank account to the app. Based on your goals in Digit which you can create, it analayze how mich you have and then automatically transfer funds to it. you can also set a limit.
- If you don’t want to use the app, you can always manually transfer money from your own checking account to your savings.
- Acorns is another app somewhat like digit except for its an investing app. Invest in stocks, roth ira. They now offer a debit card where you can add money for spending.
- Have a Roth ira, (Vanguard) you can deposit $ into a Roth and you don’t need to pay taxes on what you contributed just on the earnings.
- There’s always the old fashion way-stash your cash in a secured place in your home. Personally i don’t do this because we don’t live in a gated community although we do live in a safe area in Las Vegas.
Saving money is hard for most people especially me because I love to shop online. I’v learned that automating your savings was the best way to save.
I’ve tried the Dave Ramsey Financial Peace University on my own without the course and I could barely do Step 1, which was to save $1,000 in my emergency fund, I was only able to save $750 and then had to use it for emergency and random stuffs.
I read the reviews and see it all over Instagram how these ordinary people were able to be debt free and it inspires you to join the community of Financial Freedom.
I am on my way to financial freedom I was close to $30k in debt in 2015 to now less than $4k in 2019.
I will share a post of series on my road to financial freedom beginning in 2020.
If you are interested in taking your life back, changing your life and family’s life, you can check out Dave Ramsey Financial Peace University here.
Why I started Blogging and why you should start a Blog?
I was one of those people who would Google “how to make money online” or go on Pinterest and search for things I am interested in. A lot of the search results would come up that people recommended to start a blog as a way to make money online.
Disclaimer: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission at no extra cost to you. All opinions remain my own.
Honestly, I have made some money online with my iPhone apps thru Panel, Swagbucks and random survey sites. I also dropshipped products from Amazon to ebay and selling my graphic designs on etsy.
One day in 2018, I decided to put some thought in the blog niche and domain name and came up with Journeyadventure.org I started blogging as a side hustle to earn extra income to travel and eventually to do it full time and quit my corporate job. Well, I ended up quitting my 9-5 corporate job before I actually made an income from blogging. I have had my blog since 2018 but it’s really been a month and still no income report but I’m not giving up. I’m still learning and want to keep going.
My first strategy was I wanted to do everything organically (no paid advertising) within 30 days, although I am getting noticed out there, I am not reaching the potential numbers I would love to have. I decided I am going to invest in more time and also paid courses to achieve my goals. In every business, you have to invest and take risks, it’s a part of being an entrepreneur. If it were easy, everyone would be doing it.
When I was working full time, I would only edit my site or write a blog when I felt like it. Of course, it won’t work to earn an income if you’re website or blog doesn’t have any content for anyone to read or look at. I couldn’t promote it either because I barely had anything to show.
I’d write in my notepad that I will write 1-2 blog post a week but that never happened. I was one of those who procrastinated but when I finally left my corporate job, I have all time in the world, well not exactly because I am watching my two children during the day. I can say that I have more time to work on my site and write and design more just like I wanted to.
If you’re reading this, you probably should start a blog too.
Here are 3 tips why you should start a blog.
- If you’re interested in starting a blog, pick a topic you are interested in or have experience, not only will you enjoy writing about it, you’ll be able to easily write it. Make sure there are people interested in that topic, so you’ll need to do some research.
- Pick a few social media platforms to advertise it. I chose Pinterest, Instagram and Facebook. I am a visual artist so those are the platforms where most of my target audience will be. It’s not easy to promote yourself especially if you’re new. Most of us have that fear of thinking that you’ll be criticized negatively and so forth. We all start at zero, but you’ll never know unless you put yourself as a brand out there.
- Be consistent. Publish a blog post weekly. Promote your blog or website on social media. Always keep learning. With technology growing and changing rapidly, we must also learn and grow with the tools and platforms we are using.
Pros
- You can write what you’re interested in.
- You could help someone with a problem
- It’s informal writing
- Creative way to express yourself & your thoughts.
- Earn an income
Cons –
- can be time consuming to write and edit
- cost you money on domain, tools, courses
The Pro’s definitely weigh out more than the Cons and if you’re interested to start a blog, click this link to get started.
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How To Take a Flat Lay Photo | A Step by Step Guide
You’re on Pinterest or Instagram and you see these amazing photos of these styled fashion or beauty products? You click like or pin it to one of your boards. Raise your hand if thats you. Well that’s definitely me! Two of my favorite social media platforms is Pinterest and Instagram. I love photography and fashion and today I decided to do a flay lay photography session using my own clothes, shoes and accessories.
Since I’m working from home now, I don’t really go out much and don’t know what to do with my nice clothes and shoes, so I came up with the idea to make use of them by taking photos.
I am more of behind the lens type, so you will hardly see any photos of me on my site. I was already on Pinterest savings those images on my fashion boards so why not be on those bloggers who takes photos of them.
I first started out doing flat lay with my food photos. Food photos gets a lot of views and likes so if you’re into food, that category will do well on a lot of social media platforms especially on Instagram.
Here are my steps to take a flat lay photo.
Step 1: Prepare the table for your outfits and find a spot in your home with lots of lighting. In this photo session I used my ottoman and chair to layout my clothes and shoes. I love modern decor so I bought these faux fur blankets in an off white color at Ross as the backdrop for less than $15.00. You can buy them anywhere online and in store. I chose to do faux fur blanket instead of a white board because I see a lot of Pinterest images with that faux fur blanket and those photos get a ton of repins.
Step 2: Look into your closet and prepare your outfits. you could do more or less, i picked 7 because theres an outfit for each day of the week. i recently did a home project in October and reorganized my closet. currently i share my closet with my husband so therefore i had to store some in boxes and drawers. A girl can never have too many clothes or shoes.my closet is organized by colors so it is easier for me to choose what i want to create an outfit.
For the outfit I choose is an outwear such as a coat, jacket or vest, blouse or shirt for the top, jeans or leggings for the bottoms. You can always add accessories like some jewelry, a bag or scarf to your flat lay. I wanted to keep it simple for now since I had my two little children in my living room while I did my flat lay photography. Also the weather in Las Vegas have always been cloudy and gray so I need to work with the lighting so that part was challenging. You would definitely like to take the photo where there is a lot of natural light.
Step 3: Start shooting from above with your dslr or smartphone. i stepped on my couches while i did the photos. you could use a tripod but i choose not to. you will also want take more shots not just 1 or 2 photos. 5 or more of the same shots is good.
Step 4: Photo editing. i like to edit with apps using Vsco and Canva and these are free to download. they do have a paid version which is awesome if you’ll use it a lot.
I use the presets in VSCO and then I would adjust here and there. You also want to know what look you’re going for. I like white, pink, black and white so those are the filters i go for.
There are filter examples you can find on google and Pinterest. i do a keyword search “ vsco filters “or “how to make your photos brighter”. I go on Canva (I have the pro version which i pay $12/m). I highly recommend this app for all business owners and influencers including bloggers. It is very well worth it since I use it everyday to build my online business.
Tip: People respond to brighter photos more than dark ones and when you create a nice photo collage.
Step 5: Posting on social media. Once you have your favorites edited, its time to post. If you’re using Instagram, use all 30 popular hashtags (I like to look for 500k to 1M+ hashtags) as well as using my own hashtags that are relevant in each post, if you’re on pinterest, know who who you’re target audience is and write a catchy title and description.
Tip: If you need help coming up with title and description, one of the best ways is to search on pinterest and see what others type in for their flat lay photos. The best thing about pinterest is you can direct link to any website, affiliate link, blog, Instagram profile, Facebook page or Youtube channel.
Flat lay photography is also one of the best ways to build your brand or blog, grow your social media following, become an influencer without you or other people having to be in the photos.
This type of photography does well in social media, so why not try it and see how it will work for your brand or business.
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How to Make Money Online with Pinterest
You downloaded the Pinterest app and saved all your favorite pins on your categorized boards, but did you know you can make money online with Pinterest?
Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission at no extra cost to you. All opinions remain my own.
I’m not sure when Pinterest started but according to google it was launched in March 2010. it was almost 10 years ago. I remembered my coworker from the Mirage hotel job I had talking about this app. At that time, I had own an Motorola Android phone and I’m never going back to android because of their software. I loved it at first because it was customizable and you can add more GB buy inserting an SD card but I’ll stick with my Apple iPhone XSMax. I’ve always been an Apple fan, but we’re not here to talk about that.
What is Pinterest?
Pinterest was first conceptualized in December 2009 by cofounders Ben Silbermann, Evan Sharp and Paul Sciarra. The first prototype was launched in March 2010 and made available to a small group of colleagues and family members. … Retail companies use Pinterest for advertising and style trending according to Wikipedia.
Owner: Pinterest, Inc
Launched: March 2010; 9 years ago
Available in: 27 languages
Users: 291 million active users
Why do I love Pinterest?
Pinterest is my #1 app next to Instagram. Why? It’s visual, provides you inspiration and ideas and the best part is you can save those pins on boards somewhat like a vision board.
When I saw the numbers of my monthly viewers on my account, I switched to have a business account because I had a Shopify website at that time selling fashion apparel and accessories.
I was very active on the app everyday whether I was on my breaks from work or when I’m home till late at night pinning like a crazy lady.
I checked my analytics and I was like WOW, there’s a lot of people looking at what i’m pinning. I didn’t think you could make money online with Pinterest until I started reading all these blog websites I found on Pinterest.
Last year I decided to start a blog. I didn’t know what niche because I had so many interests so I narrowed it down to my top 3 and I choose travel & lifestyle.
I was always reading these blogs about how you can make money online with Pinterest and I came across with creating pins with affiliate links. I was thinking about what type of products will I promote, how will I promote them and can you really make money with affiliate marketing?
I did more research on youtube and it turns out yes, you can make money online with Pinterest through affiliate marketing.
In general, you can make money online with affiliate marketing pretty much anywhere whether it’s on your website, social media accounts, youtube and also your email.
I wanted to share the 3 Easy Steps to Make Money online with Pinterest that you can make today.
- Sign up with an affiliate program like Amazon or Clickbank. Btw, they are free to sign up, all you need is your email address and your account for your cash deposit.
- Create Pinterest graphics on Canva, which I highly recommend even if you’re not a designer. I love this app! You want it to be eye catching with a title and description. Don’t forget to put #ad on description if you’re adding an affiliate link. I like to create 3 pins with the same information but change the elements such as the text, photo and shapes.
- Pin it to multiple boards that are relevant and that’s it. Most pinners require at least 10 pins a day and I also recommend to have 10-15 pins a day.
Everyday, I’ll log on to my affiliate accounts and see if there were any clicks or purchases and it turns out it’s working. People are clicking the links.
The thing about Amazon is you can promote a ton of products and people will buy it, however, those links are good for 24 hours.
With Clickbank, their products have higher commissions, so you could make 1-2 sales a day and it could be $100+ on 1 product.
It’s always about the ad and the time you post this pins. The content that you create will drive people to click the link and eventually make a purchase.
Start Pinning and make some money online today!
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Best 10 Designer bags for Travel
You love to travel, you love designer bags, so why not get a designer bag to travel?
Designer bags are highly priced because of their quality and style. Did you know they are also an investment? There are less expensive branded bags that have the same style as the luxury designers but they don’t last very long and you’ll end up replacing it with another one. You don’t need to splurge every month, as for me, since am I collecting these luxury items, I like to purchase one every 3-4 months which is within my budget. If I had no budget, I’d be buying every month. What can I say? I am a girl who loves nice things.
How did I get into these designer bags?
When I was in high school, I was influenced by mom and aunties who would wear these high end designer handbags that you would only see the rich and celebrities have on tv and magazines.
Journeyadventure.org is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com
When I finally got a good paying job, I invested in my first Gucci bag then moved on to other accessories like wallets and sunglasses. My favorite brand during that time was Gucci and I still do but I really am into french designers like Louis Vuitton and Chanel.
Till this day, I still have that Gucci bag and in very good condition. It is a waist bag which is great for traveling, however it is not enough space for my things like my wallet, makeup and camera gear.
As the years passed by, I’ve upgraded to more designer bags such as Louis Vuitton and Chanel. I would love to buy things new, but they come with an expensive price tag, so I opted to purchase a pre-loved bag which is a better term for “pre-owned” which means previously owned; used or secondhand.
If you’re like me, buying a pre-loved designer bag is affordable and still in style. Honestly, no one will ever know the difference unless it was extremely worn out. These designer brands are very popular with celebrities and have excellent quality therefore are highly priced, but these accessories are really an investment. Last year I decided I would start my designer collection of bags, wallets, sunglasses and jewelry.
I think of them as an investment because if you ever wanted to resell them, you can and for a very good amount. There are a lot of sites to sell such as Tradesy, Fashionphile, Mercari, Poshmark, Ebay to name a few.
Depending on where you are traveling and what type of traveler you are.
Here are the types of bags that are best for traveling.
- Backpack– a bag with shoulder straps that allow it to be carried on one’s back. This is my must have bag for traveling especially since I do a lot of family travel. A backpack is perfect for someone who’s always on the go and carrying on extra accessories like camera gear, water bottle and those who travel with kids.
- Crossbody bag–a type of bag having a long shoulder strap intended to be worn diagonally across the body. This is also my must have bag for traveling for easy access to my credit cards, cash and my cell phone. When I did international travel, this was something I had to have the most because I wanted those valuable things close to me instead of my backpack.
- Satchel bag–a bag, often with a strap. The strap is often worn so that it diagonally crosses the body, with the bag hanging on the opposite hip, rather than hanging directly down from the shoulder. These bags may be slightly larger than a crossbody and is perfect when you go somewhere to a nice restaurant or sightseeing.
Here are the Best 10 designer bags I recommend to travel.
- LOUIS VUITTON Monogram Palm Springs Backpack MM
- CHANEL Caviar Quilted Business Affinity Backpack Black
- PRADA Saffiano Lux Medium Tote Cammeo
- GUCCI GG Supreme Monogram Small Messenger Bag Black
- CELINE Smooth Calfskin Nano Luggage Black
- GIVENCHY Shiny Lord Calfskin Mini Antigona Black
- VALENTINO Vitello Medium Rockstud Tote Black
- SAINT LAURENT Smooth Calfskin Classic Monogram Kate Tassel Chain Wallet Grey
- LOUIS VUITTON Monogram Speedy Bandouliere 30
- CHANEL Calfskin Quilted Cambon Wallet On Chain WOC Black
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Blog Photography Tips
You have a blog, but you also want to add some pretty or cool photos on it?
So where do these bloggers get them?
It’s not hard these days to add some nice photos to your blog because a lot of photographers upload them online for free of personal and commercial use. I know because I am one of those people. I don’t consider myself as a professional yet but more as an enthusiast photographer.
Disclaimer: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission at no extra cost to you. All opinions remain my own.
Some of the stock photo sites that I contributed are pexels.com and shutterstock.com
If you do a google search for stock photos, you can definitely find a lot of sites to get free and premium stock photos.
I’ve read a lot of blogs and their photos are usually what makes me go to their site and wanna read more. I am drawn to a lot of bright, white and pink photos because that is the theme I have for this travel and lifestyle blog site. For my stock photo site on www.aj7screative.com, it’s a cohesive theme and I chose those color palettes because my target audience is mainly female creative entrepreneurs.
As a blogger, you need to choose something that is who you are and also your target audience. If your blogging about health and wellness and your target audience is both female and male, you definitely dont want something pink all around with pretty pictures. You would definitely go with pictures that show someone exercising and neutral color palette that appeal to both men and women.
As a self made graphic designer, I usually like to take my own photos for my blog. When I am limited on time, I’ll see some really nice stock photos and use those instead.
Here are some of the blog photography tips that can help you improve your skills.
Tip 1. If you own a smartphone, the camera is pretty awesome. You don’t need a DSLR to take some nice photos. If you don’t know much about your camera smartphone, I do recommend you do some research on youtube videos on using your smartphone camera. I’ve learned so much after watching a few videos and now my photos are instagram worthy.
Tip 2. If you own a DSLR, that is also a great camera to use for your blog. I own a Canon DSLR and it can also record videos in high quality so you can do a vlog for your youtube channel if you have one. You also want to make sure you have a tripod so it stabilizes your camera. Most of the camera brands now have an app to connect your camera so you can view them on your phone after you take a photo.
Tip 3. I have been using Adobe Photoshop for so many years but with the evolve of apps such as Canva, Desyner and all these other awesome apps to edit your photos directly on your phone, I decided to take a break from Photoshop on my Macbook. Using the apps, saves me so much time especially when I don’t feel like logging into my laptop.
Tip 4. Lighting. A picture with a lot of natural light will make it 10x better. Not only will you have to edit less, a lot of people respond to brighter photos than darker ones.
Tip 5. Take as much photos as you can and edit the ones that are your favorites. My favorite apps to edit is VSCO and CanvaPro. You can also edit the photo using your smartphone’s editing tool, but I like to use elements such as adding text and shapes to edit my photos.
The best tip of all, is always have Fun when you take photos. We always want to get that money shot but photography is art and when you create, you should be having fun.
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How I balanced my work + life
Last Friday was my official last day of working at ATI. Its been over 5 1/2 years of full time office work plus being a mom to 3 kids.
I always knew I wanted to be a working mom but WAHM (work at home mom) or Momprenuer( mom + entrepreneur) about 7+ years ago because the internet was growing and alot of people were sharing their stories that its possible.
In 2012-2013 i went to spa massage school because i wanted a career change and spiritual life change. I wanted to be able to help people heal and I still do. one of my dreams is wanting to own a spa and make it a franchise prefer in Asia.
I started my massage business in 2013 and provided services part time up until September 2014 when i found out i had my 3rd child.
Ever since then I never had energy to get back to it and got comfortable in my Ati office job until october 2019.
The lessons I learned in my business-
- I never had a business plan, a plan b or c if A didnt work out
- I gave up too soon –
- I limited myself to certain clientele.
- I took some easy way out- I was afraid to fully market myself as a licensed professional.
- I should have prepared financially. I got cash in my bank account or in my hand everyday but i didn’t save or invest it instead I spend it so quickly.
I had to learn these lessons so I could prepare for this new chapter in my life.
It was difficult to leave a comfortable salary with benefits, however, the working hours and my passions/interests was not ideal for the lifestyle I wanted which was to work less and live more on my values.
My values have changed as I grew older and my kids needed me. I wanted to take care of my health,although i stopped being active after having Jaselle and Jj, i wanted to make my health a priority when I left.
I still wanted to be a morning person and so I decided working out in the morning is best and I feel so much better.
For some people, working out later in the day is better, i highly recommend a morning workout. I think you will feel better throughout the day and have more energy.
Spending time with people you love, doing the things you want most is better than making alot of money.
Everyone wants to make alot of money or at least have a lot of it in the bank account.
Time is valuable and you can always make $, you may not have the amount you want, but you can never make more time. Once the time passes, its just a memory.
I’ve been working since I was 16 and i chose to work at a young age because i wanted to buy the things my parents didnt want to buy for me growing up.
I’ve always worked and over the years you find things youre interested in but a few things stuck with me and it was always in design and computers.I had some side hustle jobs with it, but it was more of a hobby because I had to work to pay bills- car, rent, gas, utilities and whatever bills i had, kids needs. with the internet growing and what is possible to do what your passionate about and making a living from it.
I’ve decided to pursue it consistently but also work part time for my husband company-finance area.
I have alot of interests and so I never get bored because of who I am. I chose to always be learning and improving. To live creative and the kaizen way.
With all that said, how do you balance your work and life?
- if you can quit your job and have some cash for 3-6months expense, pursue your passions, if you want or need to stay at your job, that is fine too.
- Define your values. What are your values in life? family? health? savings/investments? relationships? career? whatever it may be, id focus on your top 3.
- Always take time for yourself and then schedule time for your values. whether its your family, your health or career.
Tools + Programs used:
WordPress-
Apple iPhone xs max-
Apple magic mouse 2 –
Apple Macbook –
My Top 5 Travel accessories
Winter is finally over and spring is almost here.
My favorite season of the year is Spring. Why? Here are my 3 reasons
- my birthday is in spring
- warm weather – best weather of all
- i like to travel during spring and summer because i like the sun and water.
Its been awhile since I last posted and let alone in a coffee shop aka SB.
If theres one thing in the world i could do right now, it would be to travel around the world with my family and meet new people in those new places.
I’ve been waiting for spring to come especially my birthday because I always want to travel out for my birthday, my last trip was in 2017 and I was about 5 months preggers with my 3rd and last child. As much as I would love to spend my money and travel, i decided to focus those 2 years on doing something I’ve never done ever. paying off loans. I am so close to paying it off but circumstances got in the way, i wasn’t disciplined like i should have been but i am determined to pay it all off this year in 2019.
For the past 3 months, I’ve been writing down my list of travel accessories because I am finally going out of the country after 12 years. when it comes to accessories i like to buy quality and luxury items well because they look good and last longer. I know most people they don’t care for that, but I do.
My top 5 travel accessories:
- travel backpack- i really like leather look but also luxury brand. >>>
- travel clear jars – for lotion, shampoo, conditions >>>
- carryon w/ wheels >>>
- travel pillow >>>
- tote/crossbody bag – large enough and light to carry my essentials – phone, charger, camera, wallet, makeup etc. >>>
These are essential accessories even if its for the weekend.
Even if I am just going to another state for the weekend for my birthday, its always an adventure because California is large and I’ve never been to alot of places there. I have been waiting to get out of vegas and travel. I think Vegas is ok to live but I always want to get out of this place that I live especially if you’re the type of person who grew up near the ocean for most of your life. I don’t like to swim much now that I’m older, i just like to relax at the beach.
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