First Month Blog Report: How I Crushed My Goals in My First Month of Blogging!

24 Comments / Work From Home / curlybunmom

First Month Blog Report

How I Crushed My Goals in My First Month of Blogging!

Curly Bun Mom is one month old! YAYYYY I didn’t think I would be this proud of myself.

Reading other blog reports was incredibly motivating and inspiring and I hope to do the same for others with my first blog report. Before I launched my blog, I spent SO much time reading Blog reports to get an idea of what to expect and growth rate possibilities.

“This post contains affiliate links, which means I receive a small commission, at no extra cost to you, if you make a purchase using this link.”

The thought of blogging had never occurred to me as I don’t consider myself a good writer. However, I came across Suzi Whitford from Start a Mom Blog and she truly inspired me to go for it. I didn’t have to be the best, I could pace myself and most of all my perspective could help someone.

Shortly after I started seriously looking into starting my blog, I realized there was way too much information out there for me to sift through with two young boys and a new baby. I invested in Suzi’s Blog by Number Ebook. It was so easy to understand and informative that I also purchased her signature Blog by Number course. It was my number one resource to get this blog up and running. In fact, it’s still my number one resource as I frequently refer to it. The best part of her course is that you have access to every future update.

I used her step by step, super simple guides to set up my:

BlueHost account
WordPress account
Pinterest account

Looking for more ways to make money as a stay at home mom? Check out the best jobs for stay at home moms.

First Month Blog Goals

My goals for January 2020 were conservative. I had no idea what to expect and I planned to launch with two posts and post every Monday thereafter. I wanted to dip my toes in the water before I started monetizing (as I’m extremely confused where that’s concerned).

January 2020 goals:

Blog page views: 300
Pinterest followers: 25
Pinterest unique monthly viewers: 2K
Email subscribers: 5

first month blog traffic report pageviews

First Month Blog Performance

Blog Launch

Launching my blog was exciting, to say the least. While my main goal was and remains to help others by sharing my experiences, I want to ultimately be able to contribute financially to our family.

Pageviews

I surpassed my page view goal of 300 in my second week, with three blog posts and I was blown away. Maybe it’s because I set a low goal for myself but I feel pretty great sitting at 1175 page views in my first month of blogging. I didn’t even dream of making it to 1000 in my first month so I’m definitely sticking to what I’ve been doing and I will invest in a course to try to increase my views.

My family and closest friends are my biggest supporters which means more to me than I could probably ever express to them. They read my posts religiously and really help with motivation. My husband believes in me when I doubt myself and pushes me to go beyond the limits I sometimes set for myself. My sister has probably always been my biggest cheerleader with everything in my life and this was no different.

Joining Facebook groups and Pinterest have proven to be the most helpful for my pageviews. I will admit that in the beginning, I didn’t love the promotional aspect of blogging and I wanted to just continue writing and forget about monetizing. But because my main blogging goal is to help others, I had to be able to reach them and so I continued with promotions. It’s still not my favorite part but I love the community and I love helping others by reading their posts and promoting them. My issue was purely a time management one and so I’m working on creating a better schedule for myself.

Oh, boy, did I feel awesome on Pinterest. I followed Start a Mom Blog’s guide to set up my Pinterest account. In terms of a posting strategy though, I was clueless and confused. I read lots of blogs and looked at many YouTube videos and I felt like I just wasn’t understanding.

The great thing, though is that I like to pin and so I just pinned things from Pinterest that interested me before I joined Facebook groups. At that point, I also pinned fellow bloggers’ pins from groups.

Using only this strategy, I crushed my Pinterest goals of 25 followers and 2K monthly viewers.

Followers: 0 to 137 followers
Unique monthly viewers: 0 to 37K

Honestly, seeing my Pinterest analytics (even though I don’t totally understand it yet) kept motivating me to continue. I understand that these numbers don’t mean much since my click-through rate isn’t great. It definitely needs some improvement and so, my goal in February is to find a good Pinterest course, that includes a simple guide to Tailwind – please let me know in the comments below if you have any good recommendations!

GOALS for Feb 2020

Followers: 250
Unique monthly viewers: 40K
Impressions: 50K
Improve click-through rate on pins

Email Subscribers

I didn’t hit this goal of having 5 email subscribers and to be honest, I didn’t try at all. I launched my blog with a freebie that I promoted in the first couple of weeks. When I passed my page view and Pinterest goal, I didn’t promote the freebie anymore. I focused more on blog promotion.

In the third week of January, I noticed that there was a broken link on my blog and visitors were able to download my freebie without entering their email address * facepalm *. I had a total of 93 visitors and 2 subscribers (one being my sister – thanks sis!)

My February goals will still be pretty modest, though. I intend to focus on learning how to grow traffic in February.

Goals for Feb 2020

Create a new freebie
8 new email subscribers

I hope this has helped to get a good idea of what a first month blog traffic report can look like. I’d love to hear from you! – What was your experience in your first month?

How To Live Your Best Life with Lean (Thin) PCOS

32 Comments / Health & Fitness / curlybunmom

How To Live Your Best Life with Lean (Thin) PCOS

It’s amazing that so many women suffer from PCOS (including lean or thin) yet there’s no known cause or cure.

I was diagnosed with PCOS (was not told or aware at the time that there were varying cases) when I was 18 years old. At that point, I didn’t take it too seriously as I “knew” women with PCOS were obese and I had always been underweight (even though I had a good appetite). My menstrual cycles were almost always pain-free, relatively light and irregular.

Since being diagnosed, every doctor I visited informed me that the only way to treat my PCOS was with birth control pills. I tried it for a couple of years and hated it – I was ALWAYS nauseous.

The only really annoying symptom with my PCOS was a little facial hair and so, I decided to use hair removal techniques and I stopped birth control pills. After that, the consistencies with my cycle were its irregularity, it was painless and relatively light – none of which bothered me.

The “real” trouble came when my husband and I started trying to conceive (stay tuned for our fertility story).

What Is PCOS And How Is Lean PCOS Different?

PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome) is a hormonal imbalance that can affect a woman’s menstrual cycle and fertility and can be associated with

insulin resistance/impaired processing of glucose (insulin is a hormone that helps to regulate blood sugar)
type 2 diabetes later in life
higher level of androgens (male hormones)
depression & anxiety
high blood pressure
poor cholesterol levels (high LDL – bad cholesterol and LOW HDL – good cholesterol)
fertility challenge

There seems to be no significant difference with lean women with PCOS other than the fact that they are often misdiagnosed as weight gain is still the number one sign of PCOS in some countries.

If you would like to check out some of the differences, Very Well Health has a concise article on The Unique Challenges of Lean Women with PCOS that is pretty informative and interesting.

The Main Things I’ve Learned Along The Way

It wasn’t until many years later, after joining forums and researching PCOS on my own, that I learned about lean PCOS. Through my research and my experiences, I’ve learned that:

while there may be similarities, symptoms are NOT set in stone and are not the same for everyone
some PCOSers show little to no symptoms
there are MANY misconceptions about PCOS
a treatment that works for one may not work for others
some doctors have no clue what they’re doing and could sometimes lead you down the wrong path (as happened in my case)
lifestyle change is necessary – healthy diet choices, exercise and stress reduction are 100 % the way to go
lean or thin PCOS women are misdiagnosed or under-diagnosed

The reason I’ve decided to write about my journey and all that I’ve learned along the way is that I struggled to find information about lean PCOS. Most of the information that I came across suggests that weight loss is a big factor in minimizing symptoms, which of course is not helpful to those of us who are already thin.

5 Most Effective Lifestyle Habits for PCOS

Even though there is a lot more information available now and more doctors are understanding PCOS, it is still not very well understood with different doctors suggesting different treatment plans. While there is no magical pill or cure for PCOS, there are very effective methods that will manage and drastically reduce the symptoms and chances of it affecting other areas of life (diabetes, high blood pressure). These tips are sure to help:

Educate yourself and keep up to date with information

Understanding how PCOS affects us is arguably the most important step in managing our PCOS. This helps us to understand why we’re making the lifestyle change. Each time we struggle, we can draw on this knowledge and remember exactly why we’re doing it. This is much more effective than making a lifestyle change just because someone told us to.

Dietary changes

Below I give an outline of the diet I’ve been using to manage my PCOS. It has been so effective that it resulted in the conception of our third baby (link). The number one change which also happens to be the hardest for me is reducing sugar and carbs in an effective manner. I discuss the factors to consider when making a lifestyle change here (link to lifestyle change post – moderation and one step at a time is key).

Supplements

There are many supplements recommended for PCOS. I personally get very overwhelmed when I research this and I honestly tend to give up – it’s information overload. I dislike tablets – period. So supplements have never been a favorite of mine. The less I can take, the better. I understand that it’s difficult to get all the necessary nutrients from food and this means that I work harder on getting my nutrients from food. I spend more time researching various foods that can help me manage my PCOS.

That being said, I do take a few supplements – I’m currently breastfeeding and I take Wellman daily, calcium supplements and omega 3. Once I’ve stopped breastfeeding I plan to continue with a multivitamin and fish oil to ensure that I’m getting all the necessary nutrients.

Exercise

Exercise is important for everyone – men, women & kids. If you have lean PCOS and you don’t like exercise – find a way! It’s so misleading for us to think that we don’t need exercise because we’re thin. You don’t need to do a cardio-intensive program but you need to get moving.

Personally, I dislike gyms so I work out at home.

Maintaining motivation can sometimes be challenging but I try my best and find the time and be stronger than my strongest excuse!

The key here is to find what works for you so that you’re more likely to stick with it. I’ve found that having a workout buddy is very effective – sometimes it’s my husband and sometimes it’s my friend. But having that support and accountability is awesome.

Aim to exercise for at least 20 minutes, 3 times a week – if you can exercise daily, the benefits increase.

Self-care

Ensure you have a good self-care routine that involves physical, mental and emotional care. Each day, find some time to destress. If you’re feeling down, find an outlet – write, talk to someone, or take up yoga.

My Lean PCOS Diet

I am not a health expert nor am I the best at understanding everything nutrient related. I have found what works for me and I’m sharing it in the hopes that it can help you as well.

These foods and tips help me manage my lean PCOS. My body responds well to an anti-inflammatory diet which typically includes, but is not limited to:

berries
apples
fatty fish – salmon
Broccoli
Cauliflower
leafy greens
Avocado
extra virgin olive oil
cinnamon
Turmeric
Dark chocolate – in moderation
Water

The foods that I generally avoid (though I do indulge from time to time):

simple and refined carbs
packaged snacks
processed foods including sausages and luncheon meats
excessive amounts of red meat
sugar (brown and granulated)

It’s important to remember that there is no cure for PCOS but its symptoms and possible bad health associations can be managed effectively through maintaining a healthy diet, incorporating exercise into daily life and ensuring self-care is a priority.

How has PCOS affected your life and what have you been able to do to manage it? Leave a note in the comments below, I’d really love to hear from you!

How To Live Your Best Life with Lean (Thin) PCOS Read More »

Super Quick & Simple Tips for Decluttering

24 Comments / Mom Life / curlybunmom

How To Declutter With Kids – Super Quick & Simple Tips

Looking for decluttering tips and ideas of how to get it done fast? I’ve got you!

For our family, memories used to mean clutter. We would keep items way past the usable life because we attached sentimental value to just about everything!

Especially kids’ clothes (remember when he wore this for the first time? remember when she… – and on and on).

When you add toys, books, and other random household items, getting rid of all that clutter can become a big job!

In this post, I want to share with you some quick, simple tips for decluttering your home (and a few reasons why it’s important).

My Journey To A Clutter-Free Life

I used to keep all the greeting cards people gave me – made and bought. When I was much younger, I enjoyed reading them over and over.

As I got older they were really only taking up space but I couldn’t bring myself to get rid of them.

No matter where we moved, I carried this kind of sentimental stuff with me.

I ended up having so much stuff that I had to store things at my mom’s house when our family was moving.

Then one particularly rainy Sunday there was a really bad flood in the area where my mom lives and we lost everything we had not already collected from her house.

It felt as though all of our memories literally just washed away.

This forced me to put into perspective just how important (or not) those physical things really were!

There are some things I do miss (baby’s first sleeper, for example) but I came to terms with the fact that I placed too much importance on things.

The real investment is in my kids and my relationships with people.

What Does Decluttering Mean?

Very simply put – removing unnecessary things from your life! These are the things that don’t add value and sometimes even devalue.

“Unnecessary” is an extremely hard concept to define. Some of us tend to hold on to:

things that we have worked hard to buy or received as gifts.
things that remind us of certain events in life.
things that once served a purpose that we no longer really need but we keep “just in case” – these may be gifts or items that cost us a lot of money

Why Is Decluttering Important?

Seeing lots of ‘stuff’ can create and add stress to our lives.

It can create a sense of anxiety.

Even if all the things aren’t easily visible, just knowing they are taking up so much usable space can cause us to feel heavy or agitated.

Conversely, getting rid of things that no longer serve a purpose in our lives can be therapeutic.

It can release stress and reduce anxiety.

According to WebMD and Psychology Today, clutter has adverse psychological and health effects.

Not only can clutter trigger anxiety and stress, but it also has the potential to cause fires, dust, and mold.

One of the simplest stressors mentioned is difficulty in finding things easily and quickly.

Sometimes we don’t even remember we have something and purchase another of the exact same item!

This, in particular, has happened to me SO many times.

Decluttering is, therefore, a form of self-care and self-love.

where to start decluttering when overwhlemed

4 Quick & Simple Tips For Decluttering Fast As a Busy Family

Decluttering with a plan has a huge benefit: it makes the process seem less daunting and minimizes the need to do it all over again in short order.

And, when you do need to repeat the process, you’ll already have a system in place.

1. Set goals for each room

Take each room goal and make a very specific plan – I like to break up the room into smaller, more manageable pieces and set the length of time I would spend on it and what I hope to accomplish.

I write down what’s in each space in the room, what I would like to get rid of and how I will get rid of it.

If I’m keeping anything, I write down why I’m keeping it and where I’ll be keeping it.

This helps me with accountability and progress tracking. I love to be able to see checkmarks next to my tasks.

If I don’t complete my task, I assign it for another time to complete it.

I may also need to tweak the other goals I’ve set if I need to complete this one first.

This brings me to prioritisation – I prioritize what I need to get done in order of importance.

2. Sort

This is the hard part. Define what makes something ‘necessary’ in your life.

I like to have 4 sorting sections with large garbage bags or boxes.

Section 1 – Keep : If I’ve been actively using the item, I keep it. When I’m doing a decluttering exercise and haven’t used an item since the last decluttering, I donate or toss.

Section 2 – Donate : I also like to keep others in mind when I’m sorting things like clothes, handheld appliances and so on. If I haven’t used it in a while – I ask myself if someone can benefit from having the item more than I have. Once my answer is yes, it goes into the giveaway pile.

I keep clothes for 2 “decluttering cycles” and if we haven’t worn them I donate. Of course, once the kids grow out of clothes we donate.

Section 3 – Recycle : Similarly, if the item can be recycled, it’s added to this pile.

Section 4 – Discard : If the item is past its usefulness then it goes into the garbage bags in this section immediately. This might seem like the simplest section but it actually requires the most fortitude as you will find many reasons to keep items that end up here.

3. Reorganize

Once you have your section of items you would like to keep, put them in their new home.

Sometimes, we eventually realize that even though we have decided to keep an item, we don’t use it – at that point, you can still donate or sell.

4. Prevent new clutter

With kids, a plan to prevent future clutter is so critical.

Every toy is their favorite – even if they haven’t played with it in months! It adds up before you realize it.

We have two systems that work really well for their toys:

Toy rotation. This is simply allowing kids to play with certain toys at a time while storing other toys. At intervals, swap the current toys with stored toys. This is an awesomely simple way to not only manage toy clutter but also to allow kids to fully enjoy their toys.
Teaching and involving them in the donation process. They’ve really gotten into this and now they put toys into a give-away box on their own.

For household items, clothes, and personal items, every few months (most times semi-annually) we try to go through things that haven’t been used in a while and donate.

6 simple ideas to declutter when overwhlemed

How To Start Decluttering When Overwhelmed – 6 Simple Ideas

1. Start with small goals for each room or area

Break up rooms into sections and start in one section of a room.

Don’t move on until that section is complete and address every single item in the room.

If you’re extremely overwhelemed just start declutterig for 10 mins a day. This will prove to be better than putting it off.

Try to set a target for dontations – for example. donate one item per day or per weekend

Similarly, set a target for throwing out things you no longer need but cannot donate. For instance, aim to throw one garbage bag each weekend.

2. Have a solid plan

This helps to provide guidance, stay on track and accountability.

3. Get the family involved in the sorting, decision making and reorganising.

This will get the job done much faster as you don’t have to attempt to make decisions for anyone else and you have physical help.

4. Take before and after pictures

This goes a very long way in providing continued motivation. When you look at that ‘after’ picture, enjoy the outcome of hard work and be proud of yourself!

5. Have a more efficient system in place following your decluttering

label new storage bins, clearer countertops, put seasonal items in storage.

Pro Tip: keep an inventory list of items that we’ve stored out of reach. This helps to locate things easily instead of digging, you can search the inventory log and locate it.

6. Tracking results

One of my favorite all-purpose tips is to track your results. If something isn’t working in its new place, simply move or donate it. Tweak anything with your decluttering process that isn’t working and always strive to improve your processes.

Takeaway Tips To Declutter Your Home

When you’re feeling overwhelmed, start small.

Start with one part of a room and work your way around until you’ve completed it.

Have a solid plan and let it take as long as you need it to take.

It’s better that way than to rush it down and have to redo a big decluttering again in a couple of months or a year.

There are many resources available that provide in-depth ideas of exactly how to declutter and organize each room.

It’s worthwhile to check out a few blogs and/or YouTube videos and select your faves.

A couple of other blogs that you’re likely to enjoy are Declutter before Christmas and How to Declutter Your Home

I hope you find these quick, simple tips for decluttering useful.

Do you have your own decluttering story to tell? Please share in the comments.

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Super Quick & Simple Tips for Decluttering Read More »

How To Be A Stay At Home Mom With A Degree

12 Comments / Mom Life / curlybunmom

How To Be A Stay At Home Mom With A Degree

Disclaimer: This post is from my perspective and how I made the decision to become a stay at home mom with a degree. It is in no way meant to offend anyone. I have a lot of respect for all moms (working and stay-at-home). I am sharing because I know my experience will help moms in similar situations. Moms who are considering leaving their careers to become a stay at home mom.

Before I made the choice to be a stay at home mom, I had been at a dead-end job for over ten years. I thought it was finally time to give my career a much-needed boost. During those ten years, I earned my master’s degree (MBA) and had two gorgeous, healthy boys with my husband.

After my maternity ended with each little guy and before bundling them off to daycare, I toyed with the idea of becoming a stay-at-home mom. Unfortunately, it wasn’t a financially viable option and so, I tried to focus on progressing my career.

As the saying goes though, life is what happens when you’re making other plans. When I finally left my job to pursue other career opportunities, we found out that we were pregnant with our third baby (a lean pcos miracle).

While I was pregnant, we decided that I would stay at home. I would still pursue career opportunities after having our third baby. Without realizing at the time, I had become a stay at home mom while I was pregnant. During which, our family’s quality of life increased tremendously.

Affiliate disclosure: “This post contains affiliate links, which means I receive a small commission, at no extra cost to you, if you make a purchase using this link.”

The Benefits Of Being A Stay At Home Mom With A Degree

Being a stay at home mom allowed me to be at home when my eldest got home from school. I was able to help him with homework before my husband came home from work. I also enjoyed finding all sorts of fun things to do and spending time with him.

Being a sahm helped in other areas of our lives as well. My husband and I were getting along better and we had more time to set aside for each other. As a stay at home mom, I was able to do a lot more chores which made for easier days for everyone. Weekends felt more relaxed, and we were able to enjoy time together as a family.

Making The Decision To Become A SAHM

Each day I started to consider being a stay at home mom even after our third baby was born. The positive impact it was having on our family was undeniable and amazing.

Fortunately, by this time my husband had a great job and was able to provide financially so it was now a viable option. One that the family could benefit so much from. Sure, I would not be monetarily compensated (apart from child care savings), but the life we could give our kids – one that neither my husband nor I had – is a reward that is more fulfilling for us than I could put into words.

We eventually decided that this was the best route for our family right now. Sounds like everything fell into place pretty well, doesn’t it?

Oddly, after we decided that I would continue to be a stay at home mom after our third baby was born, I felt very depressed and anxious for months. I couldn’t understand these feelings because being a sahm was what I wanted.

I struggled so much with the need to be a stay-at-home mom and a desire for having a career. After all, what was the point of pursuing my degree? Was my master’s degree a waste as I would “just” be raising the kids and taking care of the house?

become a stay at home mom with a master's degree

How My Degree Helps Me As A Stay At Home Mom

We’re taught that education leads to a better job and so, a better life. It allows us to command a better job and a better salary. But, I never really learned how it could positively impact our personal development. Education has also added value to me as a person. And, now it’s helping me to be a good stay at home mom.

Here’s how a degree can help you be a better stay at home mom:

earning a degree will boost your self-confidence
increase in a sense of accomplishment. Knowing that you pursued and completed it on my own is something you wouldn’t trade for the world
you are more self-disciplined
increased time management skills
better at critical thinking
better communication skills
learn your competencies
you have a lifelong academic credential that you can use in any phase of your life

Most importantly, the path you take to get your degree helped shape who you today.

It led me to have this amazing family with the love of my life!

What About My Career, Now That I’m A Stay At Home Mom?

Once I worked out those benefits, I started tackling my feelings around my career and I realized that I had allowed myself to succumb to societal pressures to “do it all” as a mom.

Over the years, moms have transitioned from mainly being homemakers to having corporate jobs and “doing it all”. Now, there seems to be a stigma attached to choosing to be a stay-at-home mom with a degree in some circles.

Everywhere I looked there was a meme or a post about how strong working mothers are and I’ve always identified with that. My mom worked, as did my husband’s. Because of this, I convinced myself that without a corporate career I would no longer be strong and proud of myself. I spent way too much time wondering if I would be looked down upon if I didn’t aspire to climb the corporate ladder.

I also worried that my husband would think less of me and would no longer see me as an equal partner in our marriage. When people ask what I did for a living, what would I say? I’m “just” a stay-at-home mom? Would I feel disconnected from my working friends and even from my husband?

After a lot of soul searching, I understood that it was my perception that needed to change. I needed to own my decision and be at peace with it so that I could excel in what we were planning to accomplish. I needed to let go of what I thought my life had to look like so that I can open myself to my future.

How my MBA helps me as a stay at home mom

Ensure A Well Balanced Life As A Stay At Home Mom

If only becoming a fulfilled stay-at-home mom was as simple as making the decision! Transitioning from corporate life doesn’t mean that you no longer have needs that go beyond the four walls of your home. You have to learn how to identify when you need more.

To ensure that you have a well balanced life as a stay at home mom, whether your kids are young or old enough to be at school you could:

volunteer
learn a new skill that we may not previously have had time to
study
blog and/or vlog
work from home
go back to work

Conversely, we need to identify when it’s necessary to dial it back. Being a parent is already a 24/7 job, but as stay at home moms, we are primarily at home (especially when our kids are babies & infants or we’re homeschooling) and motherhood can feel much more overwhelming at times.

It’s therefore necessary to prioritize self care every day, even when you feel you’re too busy and tired. You need to find the time and schedule it, in the same way, that you schedule your kids’ nap times.

When you are rejuvenated and you feel content with life, you’re able to give more quality attention to everything in your life.

Support from your partner or spouse will go a really long way here, so be sure to communicate when you’re in need of a pick-me-up.

Don’t Put Yourself In A Box

I really started to be at peace with my decision to become a stay at home mom when I realized that I needed to define what that meant to me and our family. It doesn’t mean the same thing or look the same way for everyone. Being a stay-at-home mom can mean homeschooling, it can mean focusing on kids and the household only, it can mean working from home – try these sahm jobs to make money as a stay at home mom.

Choose what will work for you and for your family.

I chose my path and it’s important for me to keep ensuring that I’m fulfilled.

Since I’ve worked through everything, I’ve been able to enjoy what I accomplish daily with my kids and in the household. I’ve also realized that there are no limitations to what I can achieve since I stopped boxing myself into someone else’s definition of what I should be.

How did you decide to become a stay-at-home mom? Or are you still in the process of deciding? I’d love to hear about your experiences including any advice that can help someone else make the choice. Please leave a comment below.

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