Recommendations

We created this resource/recommendations page to easily list services, products, and companies that we use and find valuable.  We wanted to make it simple for you to find great products and services all in one place. 

Disclosure: There are some affiliate links below, but these are all products we highly recommend and use!

Blogging/Website Recommendations

Bluehost: Blogging has changed our lives and has helped all 3 of us earn an income from home to help support our families, all by doing something we LOVE!  You can start your own blog for just a few dollars a month with Bluehost!  After signing up for their hosting service, we recommend using WordPress (which you can install for free after signing up for Bluehost) to build your website.  Read our FREE guide on how to start a profitable blog!

Genesis Framework and Child Theme:  We recommend purchasing the Genesis Framework because it is trusted by many bloggers, optimizes your SEO, has great security, and has seamless updates.  Think of a framework as the back end of your site, all of the things that go on behind the scenes.  A theme is the look and cosmetic make-up of your blog.  We use a Genesis child theme called Foodie Pro.  There are many Genesis child theme to choose from. 

Click Funnels: We use and highly recommend Click Funnels for our landing pages and sales funnels.  You can get a FREE 14-day trial!

Thrive Leads:  We use Thrive Leads for our email opt-in forms. 

Blog Finance Spreadsheet: The Six Figures Under Blog has created an awesome finance spreadsheet for bloggers!  We personally use it and highly recommend it.  It tracks when income is both received and earned. It also has an expense ledger which allows you to categorize each expense into tax-deductible business expense categories, which simplifies your work at tax time.

Tailwind: Best Pinterest scheduler!  Use this link for $15 off!  Packages start at $10 a month for unlimited pins!

G Suite: Get a professional email address for your domain (example: contact@sincerelyjean.com).  It is only $5/month and if you send us an email, we will send you a coupon code for 20% OFF your first year!

Canon EOS Rebel Camera:  All 3 of us have a version of the Canon EOS Rebel camera.  Click HERE to see a very helpful chart comparing Canon EOS cameras.  We purchased our cameras used from Craigslist and garage sales!  We were able to save a ton of money and they still work great! 

Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 Lens: We are obsessed with this lens!  We love the aperture range which is essential for good food photography!  Again, we found ours used on Craigslist and paid a fraction of the price.  

Food Blogger Pro: For all food bloggers, we recommend signing up for Food Blogger Pro by the owners of the Pinch of Yum blog!  They are the cream of the crop when it comes to food blogging!  We LOVE Food Blogger Pro and it has helped our food photography and blog growth a TON!  Make sure to get your Food Blogger Pro membership coupon!

PicMonkey: Use use PicMonkey a lot to edit photos.  It is free but they also offer an upgraded paid version.

Photoshop Elements: We also use Photoshop Elements to edit our photos.  This software is more advanced than PicMonkey and has more editing options. 

Canva: We have used Canva for projects like our media kit and ecookbook.  It is free but they also offer an upgraded paid version. 

MailChimp: We use MailChimp to collect emails, send out automatic weekly emails with new posts, and to send out other communications to our readers.  It is free to start! 

DotCom Secrets – Written by the owner of Click Funnels.  It talks a lot about defining your brand and audience and how to sell to those audiences using sales funnels.   You can get this book for FREE (plus shipping)!

How To Blog For Profit: Without Selling Your Soul: This book was written by the author of the Living Well Spending Less blog, Ruth Soukup.  According to her media kit on her site, she currently receives over 3.4 MILLION pageviews a month so I think she is worth listening to!  She gives a ton of helpful tips!

Cooking Recommendations

Get our FREE eCookbook, “30 5-Ingredient Dinner Recipes”

Favorite Mixer: KitchenAid Stand Mixer

ChopStir: Patti loves her ChopStir and highly recommends it!  It easily chops meat and doesn’t damage your cookware. 

Cookie Scoop: Cookie scoops are so helpful when making anything that needs to be cooked in even sized balls!

Baker’s Half Sheet: Essential for baking food evenly!

DIY Recommendations

Favorite Cutting Tool: Silhouette Cameo

Chalk Paint: Our favorite store chalk paint is DecoArt Americana Chalky Finish (Everlasting color).  We also have our own DIY chalk paint recipe that you can find HERE.  Read our 7 Tips for Chalk Paint Beginners post!