Digital Download Day

I FINALLY did it. I figured out how to make digital downloadable budget packages! They’re up and running on my new Etsy Store. I wanted to share some general information about how I went through the process.

Now, I’d been making my own budget sheets forever, doodling them out each month.There’s something great about visualizing my goals and treating debt payment and savings like a game to be won. I fully confess that paying bills can be the pinnacle of adult suckiness, but when I have it all laid out in front of me with a goal and clear cut direction, I feel like I’m in control. When I’m in control, the tables turn and I win at money, even if it’s a little at a time. Seeing the progress and paying things down is slowly removing the shackles keeping me from freedom. In my case that’s to become debt free and to have a safety net for when Murphy comes knocking.

So, I decided to try my hand at more professional type budget pages and provide them to others as well. I did it, it was frustrating and fun, I look forward to learning new strategies and exploring what else is possible. Making this decision meant that I had to learn a new program, google my buns off, and make an Etsy store. Like my Redbubble account, I do earn money from the sale of items on Etsy, I’m using that money to reach my own financial freedom and allocate money to fund my passions.

That’s how I spent today, I was feeling under the weather so I hunkered down and learned like a million new things. Let me tell you how I did it, from scratch in one day.

• Downloaded Inkscape – a free vector program and made coffee
• Fiddled with the tools and realized I was over my head. Way over.
• Watched YouTube videos until I developed a twitch.
• Brainstormed as I fiddled with the tools – coming up with a plan for SUPERHERO themed budget tools
• Saved each work and exported to a pdf file
• Googled how to combine pdf files together – https://combinepdf.com/ was my favorite.
• Finished the first pot of coffee and made a second.
• Made a JitterBayer store on Etsy!
• Set up all the settings and paid 20 cents to upload my documents – incorrectly as I had indicated that I only had ONE of the item to sell.
• Sold my first digital download to a friend and realized my mistake as my store was sold out!
• Re-posted correctly – realized the profit from my first sale covered the cost of uploading again. Nice.
• Started the process of making the next budget packet – retro game styles.
• Repeated the combining and the posting and the coffee consuming.
• Struggled and gave up trying to make an image for the store page – I can only move so many mountains, people.

That’s it. If anyone is interested in trying, there are resources out there that detail all the parts, I wanted to provide a quick sweep of my experiences with a general overview. Happy Arting!