Being on a my September spending ban has made me realise a few things, like how I used to spend money without really thinking about whether I needed something, or how I would spend money to cheer myself up. But one of the main things that being on this spending ban has made me realise is that to blog, you don’t need to spend lots and lots of money. Blogging really can be a cheap hobby. Ok, you need a computer and a camera, but you don’t need a super expensive DSLR or the highest spec Mac Book to blog. Most people have computers, laptops, or tablets or access to one of those for blogging and nearly every phone has some form of camera on it. I don’t own a Mac Book or a DSLR and I’ve never once felt that not having those items holds me back from blogging or vlogging.
So here are my tips on blogging on a budget:
Use what you already own
If like me you love beauty, then your make-up collection might already be quiet large and full of items that you can easily blog about. Posts like shop my stash or rediscovering items are great for this, as are colour themed products and top 5’s
If you love something, talk about it
At times it’s pretty obvious that a new product is launching, because suddenly you’ll see a particular brand or product on all the big blogs, and it can be a bit boring when going through your bloglovin feed and seeing fifteen reviews of the same product. I’d much rather read about something that someone genuinely loved, not just because the brand happen to be launching a new product in two weeks-time and want to create a lot of hype around it
Make a feature
Creating a weekly feature on your blog can save you money and help structure your weekly blog posts. I do this with my manicure Monday series. Every Monday I post something nail related, whether that’s a new top or base coat, a new nail colour, or a nail art tutorial
Don’t waste money on hype
As mentioned above, it’s pretty obvious when brands are trying to create hype around a new product launch and it can be tempting to get sucked into the hype and jump on the bandwagon when the new product launches in stores. But ask yourself this, do I really need this product, and would I still buy it even if the hype wasn’t there? If the answer is no, then don’t buy it. Or go looking for a more budget friendly alternatives to introduce your readers to
If you can, do your blog design yourself
This is a tough one for me. When my blog was on blogger, I did the design, and it took a lot of Google searches before I managed to get it to a place where I was happy with it. But since moving to WordPress, I’ve not managed to get my head around HTML and have had to rely on someone to help me. If you can, do it yourself, as being self-taught means you can create something you really want, but if you do need some help, search around are there are so many amazing designers who will be able to give your blog a design make-over for less than £15
Cheap equipment doesn’t mean a bad blog
It is hard when you see lots of the established blogs using DSLR cameras and advanced photo editing programmes for their pictures, but if it isn’t in your blogging budget, then don’t beat yourself up about it. I don’t have a DSLR but I try to be smart about taking pictures. I take the majority of my pictures on a Saturday or Sunday morning. I make sure I have natural light and then use a free web based photo editing website to do slight touch ups. It’s the same with vlogging. I film on a weekend morning with the natural light facing me. Don’t get me wrong, I’d love a DSLR, a Mac Book pro and professional lights but not having those things doesn’t make me any less of a blogger or make me not want to blog. The fact that it will be my two year blog anniversary this December and I’ve survived two years without those things just shows that you don’t need them to blog.
For me, I find that people who blog on a budget have more creative content that people whose content is made up of PR samples. There’s more substance to the content and their content is more relatable. People are more likely to try someone’s £5 or £10 product recommendation than someone whose recommending £60 make-up remover.
Do you blog on budget ? What are your views on the subject?
This is a great post! Being at university means i’m blogging on a budget too and although I do have a DSLR (I study film) I’ve seen people take way better photo’s than I do purely because they understand all the technicalities of the camera they are using. I love your layout by the way, so easy to read! xx
Thank you x
I blog for a hobby (although on a completely different subject). Although I am self-hosted, that’s the only expense I’ve had. Writing costs nothing! I can see that it can be easy to spend if you have a fashion or beauty blog though – though not necessary, as you’ve pointed out.
You could literally blog for free, if you blogged about certain subjects. I just don’t want beauty and fashion bloggers to feel like they need to spend a fortune to blog x
such a great post! I totally agree that most phone camera’s take brilliant pics that are totally blog worthy. That being said I DO love my DSLR and think that learning how to use it has improved my photography x
Thank you x
Such a great post, I think there is a lot of pressure to have the best of things. You definitely don’t need all these things to make good content. Phones are getting so much better these days anyway, you can take pretty amazing photos with them.
Thank you and I agree, phones have some amazing photography capabilities x
These are really great tips, I really think esp as blogging gets bigger and bigger people are spending more and more money esp when they don’t need to 🙂
Thank you x