In a world where podcasts and YouTube channels seem to be dominating the world of self-published content on the interwebs… I’m here to tell you that I will be sticking to the blog format using written words. I am essentially, writing a blog about myself. You won’t hear me on a podcast anytime soon. I don’t consider myself to be the most articulate when it comes to verbal conversation. I couldn’t just turn on a microphone and think of things to say for an extended period of time. Same thing with YouTube videos. I’ve created a few videos and I have a small YouTube channel. But I don’t necessarily like creating videos and I don’t think I’m very good at it.
Writing words in my WordPress editor though! This is what excites me. This is what I feel I am pretty good at. I like blogging! I hope that it shows. With blogging… I don’t have to sit and write the entire post in one sitting. I can write a little bit one day, and more on another day and finish it up on yet another day. I can go back and edit what I’ve already written. I can add and delete content with ease. I can take all the time I want to look up resources while I write. I love it man! Blogging is great.
The Featured Image
In my last ‘weekend update’ post, I mentioned the classic Nintendo controller that I purchased that connects to the Nintendo Switch system wirelessly. Also, the fact that the game package we have includes a whole bunch of classic Nintendo games. This picture is me playing one of my all-time favorite games – Super Mario Bros for the original NES. I’m in one of my kids bedrooms sitting on the floor on his Big Joe gaming chair thingy.
My kids are better than me at most games these days. But I still dominate at this game! I can beat it with ease and I’m training my 12-year-old, Ethan, how to do the same. He actually beat the game for the first time ever today… with a little help from me. I got him a whole bunch of 1up’s so he had like 50 or 60 chances to beat the last castle. Lol. Yes – I’ve still got it… I can still get all the 1-ups on World 3-1. Here’s an image of me doing just that and if you’ve ever accomplished this yourself – you know exactly what I mean… 🙂
Matt’s Dumb Ass Weekend Update
Slowly, but surely, the Dumb Passive Income blog is coming back to life. After pretty much ignoring it and letting it die over the last couple of years… my plan to revive my blog is in motion and well on it’s way. I still have plenty of work to do. Littly by little – I’m fixing things that needed to be fixed and updating content that needed to be updated.
A couple of weeks ago – I switched the WordPress theme on this site to my new favorite theme – Generate Press. It’s a super lightweight theme that is really easy to customize. It’s a free theme in the WordPress repository… but the customization options are WAY better if you upgrade to the Premium version. It’s really affordable and totally worth it. Generate Press with the Premium upgrade made it extremely easy to customize my site to make it look like what you see right now!
Last week I updated my About page and included a more recent photo of me with my family. This past week, I fixed the form on my Contact page. I’m using Gravity Forms now and it works perfectly. I still have several updates and improvements that need to be done – but I think the site is coming along quite nicely.
Writing a Blog About Myself
With each weekly ‘weekend update’ post that I publish, you’ll learn little tidbits about me and my family. I talk about stuff going on in my life and stuff that I’m doing online to try to increase my passive income streams. Really, this blog is bringing back the true meaning of what a blog was originally intended to be. It’s literally a weblog of journal-type entries, displayed in chronological order (newest to oldest) that tells my story.
Dumb Passive Income Reports…?
Here’s something that might interest you. I’m seriously considering bringing back my income reports! In fact, I already have a draft post started for my December 2019 income. My thought being… since I’m basically (kind of) starting from scratch here on the Dumb Passive Income blog – I want to prove how it’s possible to build up income with just a plain old blog like this.
Specifically – I want to increase my Amazon affiliate income on THIS blog! I know it might sound crazy. This isn’t exactly a blog that is designed specifically to promote physical products sold on Amazon. But I want to prove that it’s possible on any type of blog. And that’s what I plan to set out to do. Stay tuned… you just might see income reports again real soon on this blog!
The Words Written in Red
One day, when Jesus was teaching to the crowd, somebody prompted him to tell The Parable of the Rich Fool. It happened like this…
Then someone called from the crowd, “Teacher, please tell my brother to divide our father’s estate with me.”
Jesus replied, “Friend, who made me a judge over you to decide such things as that?” Then he said, “Beware! Guard against every kind of greed. Life is not measured by how much you own.”Luke 12:13-15 (NLT)
After this, Jesus goes on to tell his story about a rich man who wanted to build bigger barns to store up his earthly wealth. The story ends like this…
‘You fool! You will die this very night. Then who will get everything you worked for?’
“Yes, a person is a fool to store up earthly wealth but not have a rich relationship with God.”Luke 12:20-21
The very next subheading in this chapter of Luke in the New Living Translation (NLT) Bible is this – Teaching about Money and Possessions. Believe it or not, Jesus actually had quite a bit to say about wealth and money and possessions. This is just one instance in one of the Gospels where Jesus taught about this stuff.
His overall sentiment on the topic is that of a warning… a warning that wealth and riches could lead you down a darker path of greed. Beware! Be alert and cautious if you are fortunate enough for great wealth and riches to come your way during this life on earth. Do not let it destroy your promise of the life to come in The Kingdom of God.
Well… This is a ‘Passive Income’ Blog
One form of ‘passive income’ that almost everybody should have comes in the form of stock market investments inside of some sort of retirement savings plan, like a 401k. If invested properly – your money should grow steadily over time (on average). Yeah, the stock market has some volatility. Some years the market actually goes down and your savings decrease in value. But, on average – the stock market as a whole has always gone up in value. Here’s a recent tweet of mine that I put out on The Twitter after looking over some of my investment statements…
Looking at one of my investment accounts that I haven’t contributed to in many years… It has increased by 38% in the past 3 years alone! Trying to remember what happened 3 years ago that may have jump-started this bull run…?
@matt76allen via Twitter
I don’t need to share exact numbers here… but that one account alone increased by over $30k in the past 3 years and I have not added a single dime! The stock market is raging right now! I just can’t seem to recall exactly what it is that happened 3 years ago that may have caused this. I mean… it was going good before these past 3 years – but it seems to be going even better now! Interesting stuff… lol.
I Can’t Stop Buying Stuff on Amazon
As pictured in the ‘featured image’ for this post (although you can hardly see it in the picture) – this is the Big Joe gaming chair that I am sitting in. We actually bought three of these… one for each of our kids for Christmas this past year. These things are awesome! All three of my kids spend more time in their Big Joe chairs than we should probably allow.
[amalinkspro type=”showcase” asin=”B00E2BLE9Y” apilink=”https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00E2BLE9Y?tag=&linkCode=osi&th=1&psc=1″ new-window=”true” addtocart=”false” nofollow=”true” sc-id=”4″ imgs=”LargeImage” link-imgs=”false” specs=”Filled with Megahh Beans to surround you with comfort on all sides~~~Product dimensions – 26 L x 36 W x 26” H | Weight – 5.85 lbs. | Not originally designed to be used in pools or under extreme weather conditions~~~Refill your Roma Chair with 250L Megahh Beans~~~Covered in stain-resistant, easy-to-clean SmartMax Fabric | Spot clean your Big Joe as needed~~~Double stitched with dual zippers for extra safety and durability | Casual, lightweight seating for dorm rooms, rec rooms, and more” btn-color=”#ff9900″ btn-text=”Buy on Amazon” alignment=”aligncenter” hide-prime=”0″ hide-image=”0″ hide-price=”0″ hide-button=”0″ width=”750″]Big Joe Roma Bean Bag Chair, Sapphire[/amalinkspro]
Here’s a picture of my 9-year-old, Eli, dominating Fortnite while sitting in his blue Big Joe chair…
Your Book Report is Due
I purchased this book via my Audible app not long after it was released. I’m always interested in ‘millionaire’ books and various other books that are about wealth creation. My pre-internet-marketing self would have REALLY loved this book. But I have to say… I was not very impressed. I mean – if getting rich slow is your plan and you are okay with that – then Chris Hogan’s EveryDay Millionaires book will be right up your alley.
If you want to learn how everyday people go to work for 40 or 50 years and invest in their 401k’s and payoff their mortgages to become ‘rich’ in their later years… then you’ll love this book.
[amalinkspro type=”cta-btn-css” ctabtn-id=”0″ asin=”0977489523″ apilink=”https://www.amazon.com/dp/0977489523?tag=&linkCode=osi&th=1&psc=1″ addtocart=”false” new-window=”true” nofollow=”true” alignment=”aligncenter”]Learn More on Amazon[/amalinkspro]
For me… I’m more interested, these days, in figuring out how to create wealth in other ways so I can become a multi-millionaire much sooner than when I reach my ‘golden years’. Chris Hogan’s EveryDay Millionaires book did not mention wealth creation models like starting businesses or investing in real estate in order to achieve wealth sooner (younger). I was really put off by this.
Admittedly, I am using the ‘Everyday Millionaire’ playbook as my backup plan. But in the meantime – I’m working hard on my side hustle adventures so that I hopefully will not need to use my backup plan retirement savings millions.
Products You Want but Probably Don’t Need
I am married. Susie (my wife) is awesome! Sometimes Susie ends up looking at things like Lightning Deals on Amazon. Sometimes we end up with cases of dish soap (or whatever) just because it was such a good deal!
I dare you to click the button below and look at some of the current Lightning Deals on Amazon. You’re welcome!
[amalinkspro type=”cta-btn-css” ctabtn-id=”0″ asin=”1612680194″ apilink=”https://www.amazon.com/gp/goldbox/ref=gbps_ftr_s-5_0f49_dlt_LD?gb_f_deals1=dealTypes:LIGHTNING_DEAL,sortOrder:BY_SCORE,dealStates:AVAILABLE%252CWAITLIST%252CWAITLISTFULL%252CEXPIRED%252CSOLDOUT%252CUPCOMING,includedAccessTypes:GIVEAWAY_DEAL&pf_rd_p=56beed47-26cb-401c-95f5-738a157f0f49&pf_rd_s=slot-5&pf_rd_t=701&pf_rd_i=gb_main&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=XMR426QYZSVJTFRTRY3C&ie=UTF8&_encoding=UTF8&tag=&linkCode=ur2&linkId=b70ce3200e54dc5a0c91b2044e4fd322&camp=1789&creative=9325″ addtocart=”false” new-window=”true” nofollow=”true” alignment=”aligncenter”]Lightning Deals on Amazon[/amalinkspro]
Products That Don’t Compare
Susie got an Instant Pot for Christmas this past year. We’ve already had a few awesome meals that she made in it. My favorite so far was spaghetti – cooked all-in-one (entirely) in the Instant Pot. The Instant Pot is a pressure cooker and you really have to pay attention to the directions for each recipe. It’s WAY different than a traditional Crock Pot. Here’s a little comparison table I created to show a few of each.
[amalinkspro_table id=”7998″ aff-id=”undefined” new-window=”on” nofollow=”on” addtocart=”off” /]
Fortnite, Fortnite – Let’s Go!
I played one game of Fortnite this weekend. I played a Duos match with Eli’s friend from school as my teammate. I’m not good and he is really good. I got knocked in our first fight and he killed off the other guys and then revived me. I got killed in our next fight and he killed off the other guys and collected my reboot card and revived me again. Then we had to run from the storm and we were getting shot at while we were still in the storm. My teammate got killed and I survived for a few seconds longer before I got wiped out. We took 7th place overall. I did get one kill in the match.
If you understood half of what I wrote in that last paragraph – then you might have played Fortnite yourself (or watched your kids play quite a bit). If you didn’t understand half of what I wrote… well, that is just some of the Fortnite lingo. You better step your game up and learn it! Lol
AmaLinks Pro is Cool – Just Trust Me on This ????
All of the links in this post that lead to Amazon were created and inserted using AmaLinks Pro – a premium WordPress plugin for Amazon affiliates. Full disclosure… I am the co-founder of AmaLinks Pro.
If you like the elements on this page that link to Amazon and want to be able to create them super fast and easy on your own WordPress site – check out AmaLinks Pro.
The End
This concludes this weekend update on the Dumb Passive Income blog. I hope you enjoyed it and I look forward to seeing you back soon. Feel free to drop a line in the comments section below.
Matthew Allen
Matthew Allen
