Parafiks - A Personal Finance

Where to Sell Used Baby Gear: 12 Top Places to Try

Are you wondering about the best places to sell used baby items? Parents know how fast baby gear accumulates. One minute you’re stocking up on newborn onesies; the next, your child has outgrown them all. Babies grow quickly, and clothes, toys, and equipment that were essential in the early months soon become unnecessary. Instead of … Read more

10 Meatless Monday Recipes Worth Trying This Week

My 10 Budget Recipes roundup was a hit, so I’m back with 10 Meatless Monday Recipes You Should Try. Food is one of a family’s largest monthly expenses, which is why I strongly recommend weekly meal planning. If you’re searching for new, easy, and budget-friendly Meatless Monday recipes for yourself or your family, these ideas … Read more

Start a Remote Cleaning Business That Earns $100K+ Annually

Are you looking to learn how to start a remote cleaning business? Remote cleaning businesses offer a flexible, scalable alternative to traditional cleaning companies. Instead of performing the cleaning yourself, you coordinate independent contractors who carry out the services. This model reduces overhead—no equipment, payroll taxes, or workers’ compensation for you—and makes it possible to … Read more

Ask Me Anything: Live Q&A Session With an Expert

It’s been a while since I last hosted an Ask Me Anything here on Making Sense of Cents. Ask Me Anything is exactly what it sounds like — you can ask me anything. If you’re unsure where to start, here are some topics I often get asked about and am happy to discuss: Personal finance … Read more

How I Started a Business With No Money: A Practical Guide

Want to learn how to start a business with little to no money? When I launched my business, I didn’t have a formal plan, a nest egg, or prior website experience. What I did have was determination and a willingness to learn as I went. That was enough to get started. If you’re dreaming of … Read more

30+ Proven Ways to Boost Your Income and Earn Extra Money

Do you want to learn how to increase your income?

There are many ways to boost your earnings — from side income and passive income ideas to strategies for earning more at your current job.

I’m passionate about helping people learn how to increase their income because I’ve seen how dramatically it can improve quality of life.

I used these methods to pay off nearly $40,000 in student loans in just seven months. I combined multiple approaches, including taking online surveys and launching this blog.

Increasing your income often has a greater impact on your overall finances than budgeting alone. When I worked to eliminate my student debt, cutting expenses only went so far — to reach my aggressive payoff timeline I had to earn more.

Are you deciding between Gelato, Printify, and Printful for a print-on-demand business? Print-on-demand (POD) platforms let you sell custom products online without holding inventory, buying printing equipment, or handling fulfillment. You upload a design, list the product in your store, and when a customer places an order the POD provider prints and ships it. This … Read more

How We Retired in Our 30s with $1 Million and Now Travel Full-Time

Are you interested in early retirement? Today’s interview features Kristy Shen, who reached financial independence and retired at age 31 with a $1,000,000 portfolio.

You may recognize Kristy from the blog Millennial Revolution, a well-known resource in the FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early) community. In this interview she explains how she and her husband achieved early retirement and how they manage life after leaving full-time work.

In this interview you’ll learn:

How they determined how much to save for retirement
What motivated them to retire early
Whether they live comfortably now
How much time they spend traveling and what it costs
The careers they held before retiring
The sacrifices and difficult choices they made

This conversation is packed with practical insights and actionable guidance for anyone considering an early exit from the conventional career path.

Enjoy!

Note: If you want to retire early and travel the world, tools that aggregate and clarify your finances can be very helpful. Empower (formerly Personal Capital) is one such tool that lets you view all of your accounts—banking, investments, mortgage, credit cards—on a single dashboard, which can make planning and tracking your finances easier.

Related content:

What Is Financial Independence, Retire Early?
Boldin Review: Is This the Best Early Retirement Planning Tool?
12 Passive Income Ideas That Will Let You Enjoy Life More
13 Best Early Retirement Books
How I Retired At Age 30 with $500,000
How We Travel Full-Time On $1,400 Per Month

According to the Motley Fool, the average American household carries a range of debts: roughly $7,630 in credit card balance, $11,244 in student loans, $8,163 in auto loans, and about $70,322 in mortgage debt. Those averages can be misleading because they include people with no debt at all. If you look only at households carrying … Read more

How I Earned $5 Million Online Working Just 10 Hours a Week

For years I worked between 60 and 100 hours a week. I slept little, rarely saw friends and family, and had almost no time for myself. It was exhausting, and I knew that pace wasn’t sustainable. When I thought about the life I wanted to lead, I realized I needed to change.

When I began this blog, I was juggling a full-time job, earning a master’s degree, and blogging in every spare moment. I didn’t start the blog to make money — I started it to track my finances — but I devoted whatever free time I had to growing it. Reaching new readers, building an additional income stream, and connecting with other bloggers felt rewarding and motivating.

It felt good to work, but I was burning out. Even after I left my job to blog full-time, I still worked more than 50 hours a week. Over time, I realized that the way I worked needed to change if I wanted to reclaim time and enjoy life. I wanted to travel more, spend time with loved ones, and simply relax sometimes.

Rethinking how I used my time wasn’t easy at first, but looking back I see how different my life is now. I earn a very comfortable income while working far less: my business runs mostly on autopilot and I work about 10 hours a week. As a new mom, that balance has been invaluable. I can’t imagine having my daughter during the early, chaotic days of blogging.

It’s been about a decade since I started Making Sense of Cents. In the beginning I had no idea what I was doing and spent countless hours learning and experimenting. Those long weeks were part of the journey that made everything possible. Today my business runs smoothly and I’ve earned over $5 million online. I still write posts and respond to reader emails, but many tasks are automated or handled by others. That frees me to spend meaningful time with my daughter, travel, and enjoy life.

I’ve learned a lot over the last ten years. I’ve achieved financial independence and crafted an ideal lifestyle: roughly 10 hours of work per week and the rest of my time devoted to family, travel, and personal interests. Because people are often surprised to hear how little I work, I wrote this post to share practical ways you can save time and shape your life to match your priorities.