Blogger Behind the Blog {Your Money Sorted}

Here’s this week’s instalment of Blogger Behind the Blog where I interview a blogger all about their reasons for blogging and what it means to them. This week I’m joined by Eileen from Your Money Sorted.

Here’s Eileen with more about her blogging life:

Where did your blog name come from?

After many hours of wrestling with various names I came up with Your Money Sorted. I am a bookkeeper, as well as a financial coach and blogger, so the name worked for all 3 areas of my business.

When did you start your blog and why?

I started in November 2015, once I plucked up the courage to say the things I was thinking aloud! I knew that I could help people to manage their money better, while still being able to live a full and happy life. I knew that the only way to do this, was to overcome my fear of blogging and press “publish”!

What did you do before you blogged?

I still teach PE 2 days a week in a local secondary school, where I have taught for 23 years. I decided that teaching full-time wasn’t for me any longer, so I needed to find something that would fit round me and my family, so blogging and coaching it was.

What was your first post?

A very uninspiring one to be fair, but at least it got me started.

What inspires you to blog?

Lots of different things. Sometimes it might be something I read or hear that makes me think about a great blog post. Other times it is something that one of my Facebook group have said, that makes me realise I need to help them and others out with a subject. The messages that I get from my readers and clients inspires me every day to keep going and helping them to improve their lives.

What post has had the best response, which post are you most proud of and which post did you enjoy writing the most?

This post had the best response, because it resonated with so many of my audience who were also stressed out mothers!

I think I am most proud of this post about money mindset and why it matters so much to our daily lives.

Without a doubt, this post is the one that I enjoyed writing the most, because I am so proud of the way I made people feel.

Have any of your posts not had the response that you expected?

Not really to be fair, though some of them I wish were read more often. It can be difficult in a crowded internet to be found sometimes.

Where do you see your blog in a year’s time?

I am going to be focussing much more on mindset and issues around that, rather than money saving as such. There are loads of money saving blogs out there and I am just beginning to nail my niche and loving it so much more.

What is your favourite thing about blogging?

Hitting “publish” and feeling proud of the post I have created.

…and your least favourite?

That writing the actual post is the easy bit – SEO, adding images, promotion etc all take up so much time.

What’s the best blog post you have ever read?

This post about pay day loan refunds from Debt Camel is just incredible. Sara has helped so many people to claim back so much money

What blog do you love to read and why?

I love Be Clever with Your Cash. Andy is a respected financial journalist, who goes out of his way to make brilliant posts for his readers. His is also incredibly supportive of other money bloggers in the UK, through running UK Money Bloggers website

Do you do anything differently now to when you started blogging?

I am becoming a little less obsessed with perfection and getting better at just getting the post out there, even if it is not 100% perfect. Good enough is good enough, and perfection is impossible!

Is blogging what you expected it to be?

The one thing that has surprised me is how much there is to learn. From creating images, to choosing keywords and publicising the posts, there is never a dull moment. I love learning new skills though, so it is a great experience and I have met some lovely people online, who are a great support.

Are there any brands you would love to work with, why?

I would love to work with any truly independent money advice providers, such as the Money Advice Service. I want to offer my readers a truly independent and impartial service, therefore I don’t work with brands, unless I truly endorse their products.

Have you had any blogging fails so far?

It was demoralising in the beginning when posts that I was so excited to publish had only been read by 3 people in the first 24 hours!

What is your biggest blogging hope, dream, or ambition?

I want to help women in the UK to change their money story and to become educated, empowered, and excited about money. My blog is the main tool for helping me to achieve this, so building up my followers and readership is my main aim for the next year.

What do you do when you’re not blogging?

I teach PE 2 days a week, am also a self-employed bookkeeper 1 day, and work my blogging into the rest of my week. My main passions out with that are socialising with family and friends (I do love a beer or two!) and biking. I am fortunate enough to live in South West Scotland where we have the 7 Stanes, offering world class mountain biking and a huge network of rural roads making it an amazing place for road biking.

and lastly, tell us all a random fact about yourself

I fell off my bike last year, cycled 5 miles home, then discovered that I needed 15 stitches in my knee! I even wrote a blog post about how it taught me a lesson about good value for money!

Now that you know all about Eileen from Your Money Sorted, make sure you go and read her blog. You can follow her on Twitter and Facebook – thanks so much Eileen for being involved!