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Need to save money blogging?
If you’re a blogger you’ll know that the cost of blogging can quickly add up. And if you’re yet to start a blog, the potential cost could be putting you off.
However you should know that you can have a blog up and running within an hour for less than £3 per month with my ultimate how to start a blog guide, and stillsave money blogging.
This post is a list of all the things youshouldn’t spend money on, and the cheaper alternatives. So you can save money and invest it where it matters!
HOW TO SAVE MONEY BLOGGING
The following are things you shouldn’t spend money on as a new blogger or if you’re looking to blog as a hobby.
HOW TO START A BLOG COURSES
If you haven’t started a blog yet, you’re probably looking at a lot of tutorials and finding tips before you start (I know I did). And I bet a lot of them suggest you buy a blogging course or e-book that teaches you how to start a blog.
….USE FREE RESOURCES INSTEAD.
You don’t need to be spending loads of money on blogging before you’ve even started! And whilst I do recommend investing in courses if you’re looking to make your blog into a business, there are plenty of free resources that will show you how to start a blog.
How do I know? I’ve written a guide on how to start a blog that’s 3,000+ words long and has screenshots to show you step-by-step how it’s done.
AN EXPENSIVE HOSTING PLAN
When I was starting a blog, I had no clue what hosting plan I needed, and was tempted to get the best plan for the longest amount of time (the most expensive) because a tutorial I was following told me to.
…ONLY BUY A PLAN WITH FEATURES YOU NEED.
It can be tempting to think you need to get a plan with loads of features, but in reality, you don’t. Just buy a hosting plan with the features you will need and for the shortest time if you’re hesitant to spend money. You can always upgrade if you need to or if you want to turn your blog into a business.
(Money saving tip- if you want a start a blog for as little as £3per month,check out TSOHost and their plans. Plus if you use the codeeasyblogemily10you will get a 10% discount on your first payment!)
A THEME…
As I was starting a blog, the tutorial I followed suggested I bought a £70 theme. And me being a new blogger, I thought that without this £70 theme my blog wouldn’t function. So including the cost of my hosting, I ended up spending over £100 on blogging. Before I’d even started a blog. And that was for my previous blog (that I quit)…
…USE A FREE ONE.
You don’t always pay for what you get, and I feel like that £70 I spent on my theme was wasted. (Well in actual fact, it was- I don’t use it now). If you’re a new blogger or even a blogger that doesn’t want to spend money, just install one of the free ones WordPress has to offer.
Worried it’s not going to be good enough? I can tell you that at the time of writing this, I am using a free theme on my blog, and it looks waay better than my old blog did! And if you’re concerned about the lack of tutorials that go with using a free theme, well I’ve been there, done that worn the t-shirtshown you how to use a free theme in my how to start a blog guide.
Andyes, there are benefits to using a paid theme. But if you’re just not ready to splash the cash on one, you don’t have to!
A LOGO
There are so many websites offering really cute logo designs. However these can cost major $$, and you have to rely on someone else’s services (so it’ll take longer to get your blog up and running).
…CREATE YOUR OWN.
Okay so I’m at a slight advantage here seeing as I’m 2 years into a design degree. But even so, creating your own logo rather than paying someone else to do it is a great way to save money blogging.
When starting this blog, I followed a start a blog tutorial where it encouraged to create your own logo for free. And because it was written by someone without a design background, it was really simple but effective and made it easy for anyone to make their own logo.
The result? Well it’s the logo I’m using now (below).
No, it’s not amazing and it’s a little plain. But it’s clean, simple and considering the amount of time it took (under 10 minutes), it’s not bad at all! And if you’re worried you have no design skills, then don’t worry. I’ve written this post showing you how to create a logo.
EDITING SOFTWARE
Whilst we’re talking about design, it can be tempting to think that you need to splash out and sign up for editing software to make sure your images look amazing. I currently pay around £10 per month for Photoshop. And whilst that might not seem a lot, it does add up (to £120 a year), and if it wasn’t for the fact I do a design degree I wouldn’t be paying for it!
….USE FREE EDITING SOFTWARE.
To help save money blogging, use free design and editing software. In certain niches (such as mine), you will hardly ever take your own images, so it’s pointless buying design software. The most design you’ll be doing with regards to images is creating images to be used on Pinterest, and all you need for that is Canva (it’s free and what I use in my tutorial showing you how to make a logo).
If photography is important in your niche (beauty, hair, lifestyle, fashion, etc), then you still might be tempted to get editing software like Photoshop or Lightroom. But please do not feel youneedto- if your images are good enough they should need minimal editing anyway. And if they do need some editing, there’s plenty of free software around that will give you the results you are after. Not to mention free editing apps, so you can even do it all on your mobile!
A CAMERA
As I’ve already said, for lots of blog niches you probably won’t even need to take your own photographs if you don’t want to. But for some, photography is a given, and it can be tempting to read that a top blogger is using a really good (and expensive) camera and want to buy it yourself. I know, I’ve been there.
….BUY A CHEAPER ONE, A SECOND HAND ONE OR USE YOUR PHONE.
Do you actually need a camera that has 100 megapixels, records in slow motion and shoots well in low light? (These are made up specs, but you get my drift). If you’re looking to keep the cost of blogging low, think about what youneed,not want. Chances are you just need a camera that takes good images. And you can get that for a lot less money than you’d expect- the camera I used for the photographs on my previous blog cost less than £100 brand new and was amazzinnggg (check out the photographs I took with it below).
data-pin-nopin=”true” amazing specs, does it have to be brand new? Second hand can help you save money blogging, but still be in almost perfect condition. Or if you don’t even want to buy a camera, sometimes your mobile phone camera can be just as good, if not better!
I’ve made a list of the best photography equipment for bloggers; the most expensive thing is the camera, and even that is under £200!
STOCK IMAGES
Whilst we’re on the topic of photographs, if you don’t want to take your own photographs (and that’s fine), you’re probably going to want to look into stock images. And in particular,nicestock images- I’m talking the styled ones that look amazing. I use some of these for my blog, mixed with my own photographs.
…USE FREE IMAGES.
Now a lot of the time if you want lots of these nice images, they cost money. However there are websites that will offer them for free (I use pixabay), and for websites where you pay, a lot of the time you can get a small sample amount free. So look around and sample before you buy to save money blogging.
If you’re specifically looking for free feminine images, I actually wrote a post on the best websites for free feminine stock photographs!
PAID ADVERTISING
If you’re not getting many page views and you’re trying to make your blog a business, maybe you’ve considered paying for promotion. And whilst this is realistic for businesses, if you’re an individual just putting money you’ve saved towards your blog, this is not a necessary step.
….USE SOCIAL MEDIA AND IMPROVE YOUR SEO.
This is a great way to save money blogging. Even though adverts will help, you can (easily) get more blog trafficwithout spending a single penny.How? Use free platforms!
I’m talking social media- you can join Facebook groups with thousands of members (here’s a list of 30 Facebook groups for bloggers). You can use Instagram and make your images lead straight to your blog. And my favourite, Pinterest- it’s classed as a social media platform but it’s actually a search engine. It’s an amazing (free) way to get more blog traffic. And you can use these Pinterest tips to get traffic to your blog straight away!
With regards to SEO (search engine optimisation), a blog with a good SEO rating can take a while. If you start working on it now your blog will start appearing in Google results sooner than you think! I speak from experience-I now rank first page on Google!
SHOULD I INVEST ANY MONEY IN MY BLOG?
Absolutely! Especially if you want to make your blog a business. These are just some of the things that can help you save money blogging. You certainly don’t have to save money on them all. But if you have the money it may be worth investing in some of these. And now you know some of the things you can get for your blog for free, you can invest your money wherever you need it most.
If this post helped you to save money blogging, please share it on Pinterest!
Otherwise, check out these other posts you might be interested in:
- How to make $1500 a month using Pinterest.
- How these bloggers make $1000+ per month.
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