Blogger’s Corner with Clare from My Money Cottage

The Blogger’s Corner series is an interview series featuring advice and experience from bloggers whose blogs are older than six months.

If you would like to take part, you can find all of the details here.

This week, we have the lovely Clare from My Money Cottage.

1 Introduce yourself

I’m Clare, wife and Mum to 3 children aged 10, 8 and 2. I work part-time from home in my “real job” alongside blogging and making extra money online.

2 Tell us a little bit about your blog

I first started blogging around 8 years ago. I was pregnant with my daughter and I’d been made redundant. In a real stroke of comedy genius, my husband was then also made redundant a month later.

I was stressed, anxious and wrote a load of absolute nonsense but I found it really helped me to make sense of the situation we were in. Since then, life has improved and I began to blog “properly” last year.

After losing our jobs, I realised that financial security is really important and I’ve found lots of extra ways to boost our income and save money on our family expenses.

I began My Money Cottage as a way of sharing the ways we take care of our money and how we muddle through together as a family.

3 What can your readers learn from your blog?

Hopefully readers will find new ways to boost their income or to make their finances stretch further. I also love to share the things we’ve done and the places we’ve been so I think there’s something for everyone.

4 What’s your favourite thing about blogging?

I really enjoy writing, I always have. I love the fact that when I blog I can write in whatever style I please and just be me.

5 And your least favourite thing about blogging?

There is a lot of “behind the scenes” stuff that goes into blogging, things that people perhaps don’t realise. I’ll admit that I do find this a little bit tedious at times.

I also hate that I have become so obsessed with my stats, I’m constantly checking how many people have visited and how many followers I have on social media. I need to stop it and focus on enjoying blogging.

6 Tell us one random fact about you

I very nearly became a professional violinist!

7 If you could only blog about one thing for the rest of your life, what would it be and why?

Family life. It’s who I am and what comes most naturally to me.

8 What was the hardest part of starting your blog and why?

I’m actually a very private person. Initially I didn’t want anyone to know that it was me behind my blog. I’m past that now though, I’m proud of what I’ve achieved so far and enjoying where blogging is taking me.

9 If you could give new bloggers one piece of advice, what would it be?

Don’t compare your beginning with someone else’s middle.

There are lots of well-established bloggers with large numbers of followers and lots of interaction. It can be very off-putting when you feel like you’re competing with them.

They all started out with nothing too, if they can do it, then why can’t you? Be yourself, take your time and enjoy it for what it is.

10 Is there anything you know now that you wish you’d known in the beginning?

Twitter. That’s where a lot of my traffic comes from and I didn’t have a clue how to use it at first.

11 Do you have any long term goals for your blog?

I’d love to blog full-time, I’ve developed a real passion for it and work kind of gets in the way of that. I do actually love my job but blogging is where it’s at for me.

12 Who’s your blogging hero?

There are quite a few. But if I had to choose one, I love Emma Drew’s blog, she’s probably the person who has inspired me the most over the last few years.

13 What’s your favourite social media network and why?

Amazingly I’d have to say Twitter. I find Twitter so easy to use now and it’s a great way to share and link up with other bloggers and brands. I love using the hashtags, I probably overuse them sometimes.

14 Anything else you want to share with us?

Thank you for having me.

15 Where can we find you? (blog link and links to any social media)

My blog, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.