Today is one of those days when it’s not too hot ( the sky is overcast) and it’s not too cold ( It’s not yet December!) In fact it is one of those days when the weather is just right. It is also a perfect day for me to blog on a topic that’s currently trending on our Write Tribe WhatsApp Group 

Do you blog for money?

To begin, with, I don’t think blogging for money is a bad thing. After all every effort should yield a positive result. Most bloggers write for the love of writing but if you also love the money that comes with it, why not do monetize it?

As Marsha Sinetar says

Do what you love and the money will follow.

[ctt template=”4″ link=”eTc8U” via=”no” ]So get off your high horse and monetize your blog. If you do make money, embrace it, enjoy it and spend it. [/ctt]

Considering that I spend a large part of my day writing, it makes sense to try and make some money out of it.  I actually believe that I can make money out of writing. So far I’ve written several articles in mainstream magazines and made  some.  Of course not enough to pay tax but just enough to justify the time I spent on it. However, this stream of income dried up when I joined my husband in his Work from Home business where I worked for free. Luckily he earned the  money  so it didn’t really matter.

But now that he has gone back to Work from Office,  I decided to re-launch my money from my writing scheme and wrote a cookbook. The Fragrance of Mango Blossoms is not a money spinner by a long shot but it established me as a published author.

I am still working on my Great Indian Novel (as are so many others ) but till then, I would like to make some money out of blogging.

Today’s post is an attempt to see if the Amazon Affiliate Program and Cuelinks actually work.

It is the beginning of the month and time for me to replenish all the groceries in my kitchen. In the good old days when everything was in short supply, my mother used to actually stock up grains like rice, wheat flour and daals for a whole year. However, thanks to the Green Revolution and better distribution of food grains, I don’t stock up any stuff for more than two weeks or a month at best. Since the local baniya is becoming an endangered species, I prefer to buy online and my favourite online grocer is BigBasket.  There are other online grocers too like Grofers and Amazon who are actually offering special discounts from 31st July till 2nd August on Super Value Sale. Unfortunately, I still haven’t figured out how Amazon works but in case you are interested, they do have deals every day and you can save a lot of money on your basic groceries.

This special sale also offers great discounts on Mobile phones, Diapers, Bath and Skin care products. If you are looking for Global Products such as Playing cards or a dinner set, you could visit those deals too. But what beats me is why anyone would want to purchase a Magneti Marelli. What is it in the first place?

Now something like a Yoga mat I can understand. I can also understand bedsheets. I know that my daughter saved a lot of time and money buying pampers and even a car seat from FirstCry. My husband still prefers ordering books on Flipkart and Amazon. I actually endorse buying books online because most bookshops, even the better ones like #Crosswords don’t carry half the books.

But why would I want to order any old thing online?

Is on-line shopping a millennial thing?

My millennial daughters who have no time to physically shop, and a lot of faith in the power of the Internet prefer shopping online.  They are adept at finding deals, and are masters at returning goods they don’t like.  They even order in takeaways when they have no time to cook!

Taking a cue from them, I did buy some lingerie from Zivame. But that’s about how far I will go buying clothes. I prefer buying them after trying  them because I have a unique requirement of short in the leg and wide on the waist. I also need extra generous upper sleeves.

But my Millennial Niece and her Millennial Brother buy all their shoes online, book holidays on line and even buy movie tickets through #BookMyShow.

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So dear reader, today’s blog post is a test. I want to check out how many clicks I get for all the links that are in this post. It is also a test of whether I’ve linked them correctly or not. And last of all, it is a test whether all those marketing affiliates really pay what they offer to pay.

I have used hashtags and links and absolutely anything that will induce you to click…..

Happy shopping!

Aloha! Cheerio! Goodbye!