Money Saving Secrets Blog | Tag Archive

Get Started Blogging- Week #8 Earnings & Expenses

Filed under Get Started Blogging by Jennifer Billy on October 31, 2011 at 8:59 am {no comments}

If you have just joined in on the blogging series, you can go HERE to catch up.

This week I am going to continue on our topic last week about monetizing your blog and talk about your legal responsibilities that comes along with that. I am only going to be touching on the basic here. I am not an expert in the law so if you have any questions or concerned please consult a lawyer or accountant.

Disclosure Policy

The first thing that you are going to need to do is add a Disclosure Policy. The FTC requires you to clearly state your relationships between manufactures or products you write about. You can be fined for not doing this. I have added a Disclosure Policy page as well as add a statement at the end of any post that contains an affiliate link or review. Not only is this a law but it is also ethical to let your readers know that you may receive compensation for promoting a product. If you need help writing this, go to DisclosurePolicy.org. Just fill in your information and they will create a policy for you to add to your blog.

Privacy Policy

You are also required to have a Privacy Policy on your blog to let your readers know how information is collected on your blog. You will need to do this to be in line with state and federal laws as well as for Google AdSense regulations. I got help writing my policy from AaronCook.com.

Taxes

You are also going to be responsible for reporting and paying taxes on the income you earn from your blog. I do recommend finding a tax consultant to help you with this. However, you are going to want to have a system in place to help tax time easier. Make sure to keep a record and receipts of all expenses. This includes all your hosting and domain fees as well as anything else that goes into running your business like, internet expenses, cell phone and mileage. You will also need to keep tract of all your income. Companies will only report your earnings and send a W2 if you make over $600 with them.

I have an accordion file labeled monthly that I place everything in. Then at the end of each month I tally everything up and log it. I also have an ING Direct Electric Orange Checking Account that I use for the business. If you sign up HERE, you will get a $50 bonus after making 3 card purchases in 45 days. If you have not done already, you are also going to need a Paypal account. Many companies will send payments to your Paypal as well as take payments.

This Weeks Homework

~Add a disclosure policy

~Add a privacy policy

~Get a system set up for taxes

~Keep adding to your blog!

Make sure to share your blog with me so I can follow you!

This post may contain affiliate links, which means I may receive compensation in the form of money or credit. By clicking the link you are helping to support Money Saving Secrets Blog.

Making Money OnLine- March Stats!

Filed under Making Money On-Line by Jennifer Billy on April 1, 2011 at 4:45 pm {one comment}

Goal: Make an extra $1,500 this year, which will be used towards savings. That means I will need to be putting $125 a month into my ING Direct savings account.

Money Made So Far: $200.97
Amount in Savings: $0

March
Affiliate Sites & Advertising(from blogging)- $290.75
Surveys- $60.59
Sponsored Tweets- $.72
Mr.Rebates- $6.13
ShopatHome- $10
BigCrumbs- $.26
PayPal (cash back from debit card)- $.46
Interest from Savings- $.04
Total: $368.23

Total for Year: $569.20

Amount Deposited into Savings: $251.31 ($123.69 short)
Amount Deposited into Checking: $25

This post contains affiliate links, which means I may receive compensation in the form of money or credit for promoting the link. However, I will never endorse anything that I do not believe in. I do not personally take advantage of every deal I post, I am trying to save money also, so if you ever come across something that doesn’t seem legit, please inform me right away. My top priority is helping you save money, not me making money.

Join me on Facebook and keep up to date with exclusive Facebook offers!

Making Money- February Stats!

Filed under Making Money On-Line by Jennifer Billy on March 1, 2011 at 4:33 pm {no comments}

I have been inspired by Andrea over at CentsSaved to make a consistent effort to make some extra money on-line. I have mentioned earlier this year that I had a goal to have a 3 month emergency fund put away by the end of the year in an ING DIRECT account. Well I am going to help fund this through the extra money I make on-line.

I am going to aim for $1500 this year. So that means I will have to make $125 a month. I am also going to work at having $250 in gift cards to use towards gifts.

Here are my results so far this year:

January
Affiliate Sites (from blogging)- $96.86
Sponsored Tweets- $.44
Mr.Rebates- $4.40
PayPal (cash back from debit card)- $.10
Total: $101.80

Gift Cards
Swagbucks- $5 Amazon

February
Affiliate Sites (from blogging)- $42.15
Sponsored Tweets- $1.08
YouData- $.97
Mr.Rebates- $1.27
PayPal (cash back from debit card)- $.20
Surveys- $53.50
Total: $99.17

Total for Year: $200.97

Gift Cards
Total for Year: $5 Amazon

So I am almost $50 short in reaching my goal. Hopefully I will make up for it through out the year.