Two Years of Cash Fasting

This post is out a little late because the actual blogiversary of Cash Fasting came and went without me noticing. When this blog made it to one year, it was celebratory – I had paid off my student debt, had some great traffic wins, and was, overall, excited for another year of blogging.

This blog still excites me, but things have changed significantly in the past year. This is my reflection on what Cash Fasting means to me, and how it fits into my life.

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1. All Quiet on the Blogging Front

I no longer post twice a week (sometimes not even twice a month). Things have picked up for me out in the real world; at the beginning of August, I started a new job that came with a bump in pay, title, and responsibility. The side hustle is still going strong. As paid commitments to other people, those take priority over writing for this blog. Sometimes I’m okay with it; sometimes I’m not.

Regular posting is necessary to building a site audience; I’m well aware of this. Do I want this blog to be successful? Absolutely. Do I have the time to invest in it? TBD.

One of the best goals I set for myself in 2018 was to read a new book every month. Despite a childhood practically living in a library, since starting a job, I had barely had time to read. I’m pleased to report that I’m averaging closer to 3-4 books a month this year. My latest recommendations? Crazy Rich Asians and Beartown. Completely different books; both fantastic.

2. Making Money Moves

Compared to the $20 I made from Amazon Affiliates last year, I’m not trending well – only at $8 so far in 2018. 🤷🏻‍♀️If anyone is curious, the lifetime costs of running this blog have been around $200-$250. I’ve never truly expected this blog to make money in a way that some of the biggest blogging players have; however, I’m hoping I can get a little more than coffee money.

3. Staying Financially Relevant

When I started this blog, I had just moved to NYC and was making $75K, but still paying off debt. I was definitely comfortable financially. Now that I’ve moved into a six-figure salary, I’ve been thinking about how to keep the information on this blog useful, but also relevant and transparent. I’ll continue to create posts like my net worth update and how I maximized retirement. To continue the spirit of focusing on those new to personal finance, I’m close to launching a new guest series. Tentatively titled “Get Your Ducks In A Row”, it’s written for personal finance newbies, by a personal finance newbie. Be on the lookout for those new posts, coming soon.

In terms of my own finances, things have been pretty good. I’m still dealing with the effects of a medical procedure that went into billing hell, but I’m almost out of the tunnel, and I managed to get what would have been a $10K bill down to $1.5K. Thanks to automated transfers, I have my savings and investment accounts growing at a steady rate.

4. Blogging Wins

While I haven’t been writing much, I always check stats. The past few months, traffic has held pretty flat, as new visitors have been coming in through an unexpected source: Google.

Here’s the cost of living in NYC has been getting a high volume of daily clicks through search. “Cost of living NYC” has a fair amount of search interest, and Cash Fasting is on page 2 of Google search results! I optimized the post by giving it a search-specific headline: “Here are 5 actual budget breakdowns in NYC – Cost of Living”, which seems to be working well. While these visitors from search aren’t very engaged, I’ve added some additional hyperlinking in the post to increase PV/Visit, and, at the very least, overall pageviews is higher than I otherwise expected.

5. Unexpected Life Twists

You know that brand new job I mentioned at the beginning of the post? Well, I’m also being let go from that job. The company has decided to close down their entire New York operations. What does this mean for me? I’m still figuring it out. As of when this post is published, I’ve got a one week transition period and a small severance package. The size of severance is yet to be confirmed. It could be two weeks’ pay, maybe four. Given the size of my current salary and my low living costs, I’ll be fine for a while; I have an emergency fund that can last me through the end of the year if needed. (Saving is so, so, important!)

I do want to write more regularly again; between the side hustle and a new job search, I doubt posts will come as frequently as they used to, but they will come. Look out for the new guest series written for newbies, coming in October!