People always ask me why I blog. I work a full time job, I am going to school and trying to start up a new career in real estate while continuing to grow in my current company. Blogging is another added responsibility , yes, but I blog for a lot of reasons.

Job Change

I began reading blogs this time last year because in a way, I felt unfulfilled. I had spent four and a half years in college, graduated, had amazing internships and moved across the country. But I was a nanny. Not that there is anything wrong with being a nanny but I’m not the most maternal person. I’m not cuddly or comforting so it wasn’t the best fit for myself. I wanted to do more and writing was what I loved to do.

Finances

Beside not feeling completely fulfilled with my career, I also was sitting on a lot of debt. I was making enough money to get by, pay my bills and make some pretty amazing meals (no Ramen dinners for this girl) but I wasn’t paying down my debt. I didn’t know where to even begin. I said my bill each month, on time, and then used my credit cards again until they were maxed out again. I needed a change. A change in my job, a change in my bad habits, and a change in my daily routine.

Staying Accountable

One of my favorite things that attracted me instantly to PF blogs were the monthly goals everyone sets for themselves. I am one to have a great idea but then I tend to get a little lazy with things. Putting my goals and ideas out there for the internet world to see meant that I had to actually go through with at least a few of these goals I was setting. It also taught me that I don’t have to hit every goal every month. If I do then great, but if I don’t, that just means I am human and life happens.

I’m Not Alone

The most important reason I started blogging was because I finally saw I wasn’t alone. My boyfriend and I tend to surround ourselves with pretty “privileged” people. Many of our friends were living at home, rent free, grocery and utility free. Some even still had gas card from their parents. I felt like we were outsiders. No one could relate to what we were dealing with and when we said we couldn’t go out because of finances, our friends didn’t get it. When I started blogging and reading other blogs I saw that many of the bloggers are just around our age and in the same situations we are in… and it’s okay. 

With Labor Day in the books, schools have started throughout the country. Last week I took my first class in preparation to take my real estate exam in the beginning of 2015. Going back to school made me kind of miss it. I never thought I’d say I miss sitting in a classroom and listening to a professor talk for a couple hours a week, but I did. While I am taking my classes for my real estate exam in California this semester, I still everyday work hard at continuing my education when it comes to freelancing and blogging. I got my degree in Journalism but when I was graduating, the art of Journalism was changing. Newspapers were slowly fading out of traditional paper news and moving into mobile and web base news. Shorter stories, more up to the minute reporting and blogging. In honor of the new school year, I thought I’d make a list of classes students should take if they plan on being a freelancer. Continue reading →