New Year, New Beginnings

Hi friends! How is your 2015 going? Did you have a good Christmas? I definitely enjoyed my time off with family. In lieu of a New Year’s resolutions blog post, I thought I would share some of my New Year’s reflections on blogging and the coming year.

As you may or may not have noticed, things have been feeling slow and perhaps a little forced with blogging. Yes, I needed to spend the last few months studying for the Series 65, but I couldn’t get myself to sit down and type up a blog post. What started as a creative outlet, started to feel like a chore. Additionally, I was having trouble meshing the somewhat separate realms of personal finance and personal/lifestyle blogging.

Just looking at my 2014 stats tells an interesting story. None of my top posts had anything to do with personal finance. Nine out of the top 10 posts were DIY related! And only one was published during 2014.

Sewing Curtains with a Hidden Tab Top
Hiding TV Cords and Cables
Nursery Update: Pom Poms and Lanterns
IKEA Vittsjo Entry Table Hack
Hiding a Cable Box and DVD Player
Blueberry Rhubarb Cobbler
Curtain Call
DIY Lace Embellished Top
Building an Upholstered Ottoman
Cleaning Granite Counters

So that got me thinking. I still want to share personal finance content, but I don’t think Fiscally Chic is the right place for it. I think it worked better in the past when I was sharing a piece of our journey of saving for a house and such. Going forward, I want to share more personal and creative posts on Fiscally Chic (though still with a personal finance flair). My personal finance content will be better served in the blog and newsletter for my financial planning business (more on that soon!).

In addition to this blogging mental block, I honestly didn’t like where I was writing. Our office is also my studio for the Etsy shop, crafting area, dumping zone to keep things out of Monica’s reach, laundry landing zone, and more. To add insult to injury, the right click button of our mouse recently stopped working. I finally bought a new wireless mouse and I already feel a little better working at this computer!

Back to the mental stress of our office. Even though I reactively manage the shop, it has started to feel like a physical and mental burden. I completed my annual inventory count and am a little disheartened at the amount of cash tied up in inventory. It feels like fabric is piling up and not moving out fast enough (even though I haven’t purchased new fabric in over a year).

As a wife and mom, there are only so many hours in the day and something needs to give. After 4+ years, I think it’s time to start shutting down my Etsy shop. I plan on selling the pillow covers I do have, and finish the ones I’ve started, but I also want to start selling off the excess fabric. In addition to making extra physical and mental room in my life, this can help finance my new business. Don’t worry, there will be a post to let you know when the sell-off starts!

To be honest, I really started to consider shutting down my Etsy shop after listening to Whitney English’s episode on The Lively Show. In a way, hearing her talk about closing her seven-figure stationery business gave me permission to close mine. And in the famous words of Frozen, I just needed to let it go.

I opened the shop to give it a try and to give me something to blog about. I’ve realized that I need to put in hours of work that I don’t have (or want to give up) to make it grow. I don’t feel like the benefits justify the effort it takes to grow and thrive. I’d much rather spend my time as a wife and mom. And I need the extra mental space to build my new business!

Cheers to the new year and new beginnings!