L Bee and the Moneytree - Positive Self Worth. Positive Net Worth. Positively Fun.
L Bee and the Moneytree

How to Make the Most Money from Your First Home Sale

by / Home Ownership / 0 comment
Virgent Realty + How to Make the Most Money from Your First Home Sale

As emotional and stressful as buying a first home can be, there is something pretty much everyone agrees on – the importance of making as much as you can off your first home sale. Contrary to popular belief, selling your first home doesn’t have to be expensive. In fact, with just a few savvy steps you can ensure you’ll make money off your first home. Here’s how:

Prioritize Projects

If you’re living in a home that isn’t your forever home and it needs some work, you’ll need to ensure that any renovations or upgrades are approached with the money mindset of an investor. (This is one of the mistakes I made that I wrote about in this post!)

Although our homes are very emotional to us, making “emotional” renovation decisions doesn’t always positively “impact the bottom line” in terms of resale value. Sure, you may want to completely re-do the master bathroom to make it the Pinterest-worthy retreat of your dreams, but will it overprice your home for the neighborhood?  (more…)

A Learnvest Review (+ Why It’s My All-Time Favorite Money Tool)

by / Money, Saving Money / 0 comment
A Learnvest Review about Why It's My Favorite Software

I’m almost 30 and still single, but I’ve been using Learnvest for nearly six years (since 2011, baby.) That’s a year longer than I’ve been blogging and after all this time it’s still my all-time favorite financial tool. For those who are looking for new tools to help manage their money, I thought an honest no-holds-barred Learnvest review would be helpful. But really, it’s more like a love letter than a review, but keep reading to find out why I love it just oh-so-much.

How I Found Out About Learnvest

Flashback to 2011 when I still a financial train wreck, but I was really starting to get serious about managing my money better after overcoming my rampant shopping addiction.  I was googling basic financial terms like “how to start a budget” and “how to pay off debt” and I stumbled across several FREE Learnvest courses that I devoured in one sitting.  (more…)

6 Splurges Worth the Money

by / Money / 14 Comments
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With the holidays approaching (and the havoc this can wreak on your budget) it’s easy to say I’ll be in super saving mode from now well into January.

Since the theme of this month is “What We Buy with Our Money,” I thought it would be fun to talk about splurges – those things you know you shouldn’t buy, the ones that don’t comfortably sit in the budget, but you love (and buy) them anyway.

I don’t think personal finance sites write enough about splurging.

It’s not good to indulge in them all the time – but if we’re not enjoying our money…why the heck do we work so hard?

Sometimes splurges aren’t worth the money, but every so often you’ll luck upon a splurge that’s both decadent and a great value.

Here’s what I deem to be the best purchases of my year.

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4 Days to Side Hustle Success – A FREE Email Course on Starting A Side Biz

by / Money / 1 Comment
4 days to side hustle success - a complete course on starting your own size biz!
Click Here to enter the FREE Side Hustle Success E-Course!

It is no secret that I love Side Hustles. I think they’re amazing. I think everyone should have one. I think that they can really make a huge difference in everyone’s financial life. After all, who doesn’t want to make more money?
But it can be pretty tough to get started. Maybe you don’t even know what kind of side hustle you want to start! Well worry not, because L Bee has got your back. I’ve had what feels like a million side hustles, made a ton of mistakes, and want to use that experience to teach you how to make your side hustle successful in just 4 days.
Interested? See what you can expect by checking out the day-by-day breakdown below. Hope to see you in the FREE course!  (more…)

8 Time-Saving Apps that Give You Back Your Day

by / About L. Bee, Budgeting, Entrepreneurship, Saving Money / 3 Comments
Never feel like there are enough hours in the day? See what apps can help you make the most of your time.

The original title of this post was “The five apps I use to run my life,” but that felt a little hyperbolic…and also made me look like a lazy piece of sh*t. So instead, I’m highlighting apps/technologies I use and love that put more time back into my day.

I don’t have as many demands on my time as others, but I still run a thriving business, have to take care of myself, and try to make time to socialize – so I think no matter what our situation (kids, family, career, whatever..) we could all use a little extra time back in our day.

And since this month is dedicated to where we put our money and why – I thought it’d be nice to get a little peek into some of the things I think are really worth the dollar.

I firmly believe time is money, and since time is our most valuable asset, it’s important we outsource where we can.

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I Made Myself Look Pretty for 30 Days (Here’s How It Made Me Feel)

by / 30 Day Challenges / 11 Comments
A 30 day challenge - getting dressed with hair and makeup for 30 days. Completely changed the way I feel about myself!

I haven’t done a 30-day challenge in a hot minute, (read the one from February here…)which is sad because I love them so much. As I’ve stated before, I think they’re fun and a great way to really focus on learning something new or shaking up your routine. This time I tackled making myself look pretty, but it had some stiff competition.

So, I was trolling for new “30 day challenge” ideas and I had a few at the top of my mind:

  • I could give up drinking (eeee, unlikely)
  • Try working out every day for 30 days (even more unlikely)
  • Try meditating once a day for 30 days.

But when I pick a 30 day challenge, I’m looking for something that can have a BIG impact on my personal life, career, or financial routine…preferably all three! So, I instead turned to my outward appearance.

I was frustrated with how many people told me I looked “tired” when we met up because I wasn’t wearing mascara, or a friend commenting “You’re dressed up!” when I wore jeans instead of yoga pants.

I knew it was out of control. I just didn’t want to admit it.

So instead of not drinking, working out, or meditating I decided to take on the task of actually making myself look good for the world for 30 days.

I’d been feeling like a horrible slob as of late and had a lot of negative feelings about my physical appearance.  I wondered what would happen if I committed to getting dressed and made up every day, regardless of where I was going or what I was doing. Here’s how it went.

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Getting My Budget Back on Track with Wela

by / Budgeting, Saving Money / 4 Comments
budget back on track

*Thanks to Wela for sponsoring this post!

 

You probably remember me mentioning Wela, an Atlanta FinTech company that offers a revolutionary app for budgeting, saving, and investing. (I like to think of it as Learnvest and Betterment having a handsome baby with a debonair southern accent.) Back in May I entered into partnership with them where I tracked my finances within their app for one month – the goal being to ramp up my savings and identify how much I needed to set aside for each goal.

I had a lot of success using the platform – particularly for setting aside money to make my big (unexpectedly early) move in late August. Because Wela had helped me to set a budget for the goal ($2,800) I knew how much I needed to save to make it happen. Even though the timeline of the move changed– I was ready with the funds I needed and knew how to make it happen. (Thanks Wela!)

But then life got chaotic – I had new bills, new expenses, a new location and all on top of continuing to run the business. I forgot about Wela, well, I forgot about every part of my finances for a little over two months because I had other things to worry about.

So, when I logged back into my free Wela account, I was bracing myself for the worst.

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How to Start a WordPress Blog with HostGator

by / Income Reports, Side Hustles / 2 Comments
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Even though I’ve been blogging about personal finance for 4+ years now, the most questions I get around what I do are “how do you make money blogging?” and “I’m thinking about starting a blog, any advice?”

So for those of you who want to be masters of your own economy, here’s a quick and dirty tutorial for getting started with your own blog. I’m recommending HostGator as the hosting service of choice, so the tutorial below is for that system, but set-up is basically the same across any hosting provider you choose to go with.

After having lots of problems with Bluehost, however, I am now exclusively recommending HostGator (for those who want to try out blogging and don’t have very big sites, and would like to be budget friendly), BigScoots (my provider for this website) or WPEngine (the cadillac of hosting – they literally do it all for you, but you get what you pay for!).

Since BigScoots and WPEngine are a bit more expensive (especially for those who are looking to experiment or “try out” blogging) I picked HostGator as a lower cost alternative.

Click here to get your own self-hosted blog with HostGator for just $2.92 per month using my special link, and then come back here for step-by-step set-up plus my tips for creating an effective, money making brand that fulfills you creatively. You can cancel your hosting with HostGator at any time.
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Ready to get started? Here’s how to start a wordpress blog with HostGator.

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September Online Income Report – $8813.46 in September 2016

by / Income Reports / 8 Comments
online income report

 

Even though $8.8k in online income is nothing to sneeze at, I really, really wanted September to be my first five figure month of the year. No dice. But some other very exciting stuff has happened (and is in the works!) that I can’t wait to share with you in the coming months.

For those who are interested, here’s how my income has progressed over time (and most importantly, this year.)

I’m excited because after a slow summer (4 & 5k months in July and August) that my income is back up to near where it was in the Spring. Here are the details. (more…)

The 7 Day Money Cleanse – A Free Money Course to Whip Your Finances into Shape

by / 30 Day Challenges, Budgeting, Debt, Entrepreneurship / 2 Comments
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Have you ever done a juice cleanse? I have a free money course that is the equivalent of a juice cleanse…except it’s for your bank account 🙂

I’ve attempted a juice cleanse a handful of times with varying degrees of success. Even though I don’t enjoy skipping meals (my #hanger force is way too strong), sometimes drinking healthy veggie juices is a good reset for my system after a decadent holiday season, big vacation, or a night of partying.
So why am I telling you about my juicing habits?
Well, I think you can “reset” your money system in a similar way. Doing a money cleanse can help you get your finances back on track while setting yourself up for future success.

By the end of the “cleanse” you should have: a budget that works, clearly defined savings goals, a debt payoff plan and be on your way to making more money. It’s all completely possible and I’m going to show you how.

Want a sneak peak of what you can expect in The 7-Day Money Cleanse course? Take a look below to see what you can look forward to!

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