Throughout my posts, you will see products and services mentioned that I personally use as I believe they are a benefit to me in my personal life and/or my business.
Below you will find a list of these items all on one handy page! They’re sorted by category for your convenience. I will continue to update this page, so check back frequently.
*Please note, this page may contain affiliate links (read full disclosure here). This means that when you click through some of these links, I may receive a commission from products or services purchased by you, at no additional cost to you.
Blogging Resources
BlueHost
I use Blue Host for hosting this website and I have been very pleased with their service. I have found their pricing to be stellar (you can start a blog for under $4 a month!) and the customer service is very prompt to answer my questions.
If you’re going to start a blog that you want to monetize (make a profit through affiliate marketing, advertising, etc), you need to be self-hosted. In my opinion, Blue Host is the way to go. Starting a blog has been one of the best decisions I’ve made (career-wise and on a personal level!).
If you’re considering starting a blog for the first time, I’ve created a step-by-step guide for starting a blog here: Why You Should Quit Waiting and Start a Mom Blog (And how to do it)
Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing Course
If you want to learn the correct way to monetize your blog from someone who makes $100,000 a month from her blogging business (yes, you read that right!), you need to check out Michelle Schroeder-Gardner’s course, Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing. You can spend hours pouring over “free” advice on Pinterest, but I can promise you that you will save tons of time and get it right from the get-go by taking this comprehensive course that tells you EVERYTHING you need to know about affiliate marketing.
A huge bonus: with this course you also get access to the Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing Facebook group where Michelle continues to share her knowledge. She is very interactive with her students and basically all the best tips I’ve learned about blogging have come through this group. (Seriously!). I’ll stop gushing now. 🙂
Pinteresting Strategies
Carly Campbell’s Pinteresting Strategies e-book is a must-read if you really want to understand how Pinterest works – and how to use it to your advantage as a blogger. It’s jam-packed with information on how exactly she was able to receive over 200,000 page views per month just 7 months after launching her blog by using a unique manual pinning method that she developed on her own.
Six weeks after implementing her strategies, I’m seeing 5x my normal blog traffic- up to 10x on a few days! I also feel like I have a much better game plan for Pinterest than I did before. I’m not just pinning things at random — I understand how Pinterest views my activity and I can adjust my strategy accordingly.
I’ve been slowly increasing my manual pinning and decreasing my scheduled pins (through Board Booster) – and I’m seeing VERY positive results.
PicMonkey
PicMonkey is the photo editing software that I use to edit my graphics for my blog and on Pinterest. Along with implementing ideas from Pinteresting Strategies, I have spent more time improving my graphic design (Pinterest pins especially) and over the last month, my Pinterest views, saves and blog traffic has grown exponentially! Having professional-looking graphic images on your blog and on Pinterest is critical for growing your blog.
You can get a free 7-day trial for PicMonkey here.
Board Booster
Board Booster is an amazing tool that you can use to automatically schedule the pins that you want to distribute to your Pinterest boards. As I mentioned above, I’ve been experimenting with manual pinning and I’m scheduling fewer pins than I did a few months ago. However, different strategies have been equally successful for other people – and not everyone has time to manually pin. I get that!
You can get a Board Booster trial with 100 free pins and after that, the monthly plans are very affordable, starting at $5/ month (that’s the base plan I use).
Tailwind
Tailwind is another great scheduling tool for automating your Pinterest activity. You can fill up your “queue” with relevant content from other bloggers all at once and then schedule it to slowly pin these to your Pinterest boards (or group boards) over time. This means you can spend just a few hours a month curating and scheduling content for an entire month!
You can get a free month of Tailwind Plus with my affiliate link here: Sign up for Tailwind.
Whether you are scheduling pins or manually pinning- I highly recommend joining Tailwind Tribes to expand your reach and find great content in your niche. They’re very similar to group boards on Pinterest – but much easier to maintain. In my opinion, using tribes is a great strategy for growing your reach (in addition to using Pinterest group boards) as it can sometimes to be hard join quality group boards right away, when you’re a new blogger.
Mailchimp
I use Mailchimp for sending regular updates to my email subscribers. This allows me to keep everyone in the loop about new material on my website, great resources I’ve found that they might be interested in, or special offers and coupons for products that I promote (or offers from other bloggers).
Check out Mailchimp here if you have started a blog but have not set up your email provider yet. And — you should do it right away! The growth of your blog rests largely on having a loyal readership, and what better way to connect with your readers than a personal note with helpful information from you.
Money Saving/ Time Saving Tools
Capital One 360 Savings
If you don’t have an online savings account you’re missing out! The Capital One 360 Savings account has been a lifesaver (and money-saver, of course!) for our family in the past few years. I have an account that’s linked to my brick-and-mortar bank and I can easily schedule deposits and transfer funds between the two. I love that you can set up several “accounts” within your main savings account (For instance, “Vacation fund”, “Christmas fund”) so that I can set specific savings goals. You don’t have to worry about having a minimum balance, there’s no fees and they offer competitive interest rates as well. It’s really a no-brainer!
Ebates
If you shop online, EVER, you should be using Ebates. Simply create an account, search for the website you want to shop and click that link; shop as usual; earn cash back! Literally no effort required.
$5 Meal Plan
I am a HUGE proponent of meal planning because it saves me tons of money and hassle! If you’re just learning how to meal plan or don’t have time to create your own menu each week – check out $5 Meal Plan. For just $5 a month you’ll receive a menu and a shopping list for the entire month that costs around $2 per person to make! It really can’t get any easier than this.
Natural health & wellness products/companies
Rocky Mountain Oils
The best place in my opinion to buy 100% pure, therapeutic-grade essential oils, at a fraction of the cost of their competitors. As a direct-to-consumer essential oil company, you will not only save money when you purchase from Rocky Mountain Oils – you’ll also receive free shipping on every order!
Organic Feminine Hygiene Products
Primal Life Organics
Paleo, gluten-free and vegan-friendly products for body/skin care/ dental health. You seriously can’t find health & beauty products that are THIS good for you anywhere else. I stumbled upon this company about 10 months ago when I was having some major issues with tooth sensitivity and believe it or not, after using Primal Life Organics‘ Tooth Powder for about 6 weeks, I started to see a huge difference in my tooth sensitivity. I’ve been using it for several months now and I can’t say enough good things about PLO.
Another product I’m loving right now is the Bare Face Package. My skin has been a little crazy over the last few years. (I blame it on pregnancy hormones and stress). Since using the Bare Face Wash and Moisturizer, it has made my skin incredibly soft, has helped prevent acne better than anything else I’ve tried and is very moisturizing without making my skin oily. (I have combination skin that’s really temperamental and breakout-prone).
Dr. Bronner’s Castile Soap
Mrs. Meyers Dishwasher Tabs
I have tried many natural dishwashing detergents without great luck, but Mrs. Meyer’s Automatic Dish Packs have worked great even with our hard water. I like that they’re 97% naturally derived and cost about the same as the other brands (which are loaded with chemicals we probably don’t want on our dishes and consequently- in our bodies).
Method Dish Soap
Biokleen Free & Clear Powdered Laundry Detergent
Red Raspberry Leaf Tea
• Read more about easy, “natural” swaps you can make in my article, A Practical Mom’s Guide to a Healthier Home This Year.
Baby Items
Earth Mama Angel Baby Products
I’m in love with the Earth Mama Angel Baby Body Wash in Natural Orange Vanilla. It’s been a great alternative to other baby washes that contain potentially harmful chemicals and synthetic fragrances.
They are known for their high-quality organic ingredients and the Earth Mama® Herbal Teas are another very popular item.
Honest Company
After battling constant diaper rashes with our other three children in the past, I tried out the Honest Company with baby #4 and have really been impressed with the quality – and no more diaper rashes!
Bambinoland
Organic Muslin and Bamboo Blankets, Crib Sheets, Burp Cloths, Bibs and more! We especially like the 2-layer blankets and the leg warmers at our house! Seriously some of the softest baby products I’ve ever used (and they offer much lower prices than their competitors.)
Robeez Baby Shoes
Super adorable, super comfortable leather shoes for your beginning walker. Soft, flexible and encourages natural foot movement.
(Read more about the above products here: “Top 5 Baby Products for the Natural-Minded Mom“).
Parenting Resources
Love & Logic Magic for Early Childhood
Love & Logic contains popular techniques that are often used by teachers in the public schools. It features simple discipline techniques that anyone can implement right away.
Boundaries With Kids
Boundaries with Kids is a great resource that I’ve used as a teaching tool in parenting classes, and I’ve also implemented it in my home. It stresses Bible-based instruction, the need for setting limits with love and instilling strong character in our kids.
(Read more about my parenting journey: “Why I upped my Discipline Game after Baby #4“).
Resources for the Christian Life
From my 5 Favorite Online Bible Study Tools Series:
• Doorposts Blog and the Blue Letter Bible
Others that I enjoy:
Right Now Media : A huge video library of Bible Studies from today’s popular Christian speakers and authors- a great resource for Churches and small groups.
Proverbs 31 Ministries: Devotions and podcasts for Christian women.
Institute for Creation Research: Scientific discoveries and current research that points to the evidence of Creation, from leading scientists. You can also sign up for the free Acts & Facts magazine here.