This is a question that I get asked pretty often and I even ask myself this from time to time. There isn’t any one size fits all answer to this but basically, I blog because I like to share with people. I started blogging because others encouraged me to share some of what our family was going through at the time. We had a lot going on as we had more than doubled our family in less than 3 years and we had begun homeschooling.

I really had no idea where to start and WordPress just happened to be the first site I found and I went from there. I had previously started a small page when we had started our huge garden and ‘homesteading’ adventures in another state but it was lost when we relocated and I was never able to find it again.

Recipes and Life Updates

I also needed a way to post recipes as some of my kids were getting older and moving out and they had lots of questions about recipes and different things. I would pass along whatever they needed and then post it on the blog so they could find it again if they needed it later. That blog also became a place where my friends and family could go to get recipes and little life updates.

Our blog was very helpful when the COVID pandemic hit as we could keep up with family updates and such while still staying home. I was pregnant during the pandemic and that pregnancy was a little stressful so it was nice being able to post updates and such where our family and friends could see them easily. Those updates helped me share some of what was happening with our family, our daughter’s birth and NICU stay, heart surgery, and then chemo treatments.

Now, things are settling down a bit and we are trying to find the new normal as the whole world around us has changed so drastically over the past few years. We have been posting about EVERYTHING and ANYTHING partly because I get a lot of questions about different topics and I figure that if one or two have those questions then there may be others with those questions. I’ve got so many fun things planned and things that have really been helping our family that I want to share about those too… who doesn’t like to share exciting news with their friends or tell them about a new recipe they tried?

I don’t have a big circle of friends and never have really because I really do like to keep to myself a bit… an introverted life blogger-kind of an oxymoron there. I really don’t have the time for going out or visiting other people right now either so I blog about what I would tell my friends and family if we were all together.

What about the money?

I post a lot of information and resources and I don’t charge anything because I know how it is to need something and not be able to afford it. I also know how it is to want something and not be able to afford it. Neither of those are feelings that I want to put on someone else.

All that we have asked for were ‘donations’ to the ‘Tip Jar’ which has never happened or if someone felt inclined to do so then they could check out one of our AMAZON WISHLISTS for items that we have had our eye on but we don’t ever expect anyone to pay for anything on this site.

I had never really used a WISHLIST before Shyanne but someone suggested it for her virtual baby shower (thanks to COVID) and it worked out wonderfully. During Shyanne’s chemo treatments many people sent her items from the WISHLIST and they blessed us so much. While most of the items they chose were things for her, many things were sent for the other kids at home which helped them to not feel so ‘left out’ which was a big issue we dealt with during that time.

There have been a few times when we have received anonymous packages and we THANK YOU right now if you have ever sent anything from the WISHLIST as it was truly appreciated.

There was a point in time when my blog had started to pick up and I was being approached by many affiliate/sponsorship agencies and such. I had attempted to move the blog to another hosting platform so that I could use the blog to generate some income but that went horribly wrong. Things didn’t transfer and things got lost somewhere during the transfer. IT WAS A NIGHTMARE! I ended up just staying where we were (here) and didn’t worry about the income part of it… yes, a little extra income would’ve helped but I figured that it wasn’t meant to happen at that time and I don’t feel like that will happen soon I just never know what God has in store for us so we just try to take everything one step, one day at a time.

I do pay an annual fee to keep the blog going as I had upgraded the blog during the time I was looking into doing more promotional posts but since I like some of the features I haven’t downgraded back to the free site… I may do that in the future though. Any gifts we receive from Amazon do help to offset the cost though.

Yes, you do see affiliate or referral links sprinkled through some of our posts. These are usually for items and services that we use and love and we only share them to help offset the costs of LIFE. Some companies offer us a free week/month or service for referrals or they give us a gift card for the items that we are already purchasing and sometimes they give our friends a discount too… they should never charge you anything extra to use our link or referral codes. The links that we use have never amounted to very much income at all even though I had hoped that they would at least pay for the blog fees.

My payment comes in the form of comments from others about how they enjoyed reading a post, how a picture brightened their day, or a recipe that they tried and loved. It truly makes my heart happy to know that we were able to share something with someone that brought them a little joy or delight.

Yesterday we read an article talking about the fact that we are indeed in the ‘End Times’ and I think that is so true by everything that is going on around us. That means that more than ever we need to be a light for others… we aren’t perfect but we do have the genuine desire to show others what God has done for our family in hopes that it might help them desire Him in their lives too. God loves us all because we are His children and we pray that everyone will come to know Him so that they can experience His LOVE as we have.

P.S.

Yes, this post has some affiliate links and referral codes 🙂

**This post does contain some affiliate and/or referral links to products and/or services that we use. If you happen to click through a link and make a purchase we may earn a teensy-weensy small commission (at NO EXTRA cost to you) if a purchase is made through these links. These links help to support our family, our blog, and our homeschooling mission. This means that we can keep bringing you great recipes, ideas, and tips for FREE! Click HERE for a full disclaimer.  –Thank you!