As a single mom, our family is incredibly blessed. I get to stay home with my kids, work online, and be an encouragement to millions of other women. I’m literally living my dream life. But I wasn’t born into royalty and it didn’t come easy for me. In fact…
Several years ago, I was living in a homeless shelter and had $30k worth of debt. My ex-husband was on his 3rd affair and my kids and I had nothing except what I could pack in a small car. The shelter was dirty, people were always sick, the food was so old I wouldn’t serve it to a starving dog, and there were no windows. It seemed hopeless. Every morning I was woken up at 6 am by a woman who said it was for my own good. I was without God, alone, and scared. Forget about making ends meet, meat wasn’t even a possibility. I had been a stay at home mom my entire kids lives. I thought to myself, “Now what?”
Have you ever seen the movie Labyrinth? Sarah says “Through dangers untold and hardships unnumbered, I have fought my way here to take back what you have stolen.”
I felt like everything in my life had been stolen. The life and marriage that I knew for more than a decade was gone. In an instant, my life was turned upside-down.
But God answered my prayers. I gave my life to Him and He showed me what real love was, and I fought. I fought long and hard and strong. Every ounce of strength came from the Lord. I put one foot in front of the other and again and again and again. Each day I started anew giving that day my all. I had no idea where I was going, but anywhere was better than there!
Slowly, with God’s help, I dug myself out of the pit, and just kept going.
I will never forget those days because…
it made me the person I am today.
I learned how to live on nothing, so when a little bit came, I was more than excited. I learned how to save for the things I wanted, instead of rushing out and letting my emotions take over my purchases. I learned how to squirrel away money; little by little it added up.
Most importantly, I learned success. I learned what it was and how to achieve it. I learned how to support my kids FROM home (I would not let a little thing like income, tear me apart from them. They had already lost their dad. I wasn’t about to let them lose me too!) I learned how to live WELL on $18,000/year at that time. I learned that if you spend wisely, you CAN have everything you want and more, no matter what your income!
That’s the reason I started this blog.
I believe that most women can quit working and stay home with their kids if that’s what they want to do.
Does it take sacrifice, yes, hard work, yes, but you CAN get there and I’m committed to showing you how!!!
The first thing I did was start selling on ebay full time. I was making good money, enough for a great life! I lived in THE MOST sought after subdivision in my area, had a 3 bedroom home, fenced yard, 2 car garage. I was living the good life for sure. I had gotten completely out of debt, just me and my kids. No roommates, just making it on my own with no family help.
But it wasn’t satisfying to my soul. I didn’t feel like I was helping people.
Meanwhile, my friends at church kept asking me how in the world I was able to live better than they were, on an income that was far less, poverty-level, to be exact and my mantra was born: Focus on saving money more than making money because what’s the point of making more money if what you have just flies out the window anyway?!
The questions were flooding in and so I decided I would start up a thing called a blog. I figured it would save me time. Rather than telling each one of my friends all the answers, over and over and over, I’d write it down as emails to my friends and share the links whenever I’d get the questions.
Seemed simple enough, right?
I didn’t have to worry about blogging because the “posts” were just emails to my friends in a semi-private place. I didn’t spell check, I didn’t even capitalize the beginning of sentences. There was no structure, no form or correct paragraphs, nothing.
In November or December of that year, I stood before the judge in my divorce hearing. He asked me why I didn’t have a job yet. I told him that I did!!! He asked what I did. I told him that I was selling on ebay and doing well and that I was starting a blog.
Wrong answer!
I’m not talking a little bit wrong. It was like the sun fell out of the sky, jaws drop, WRONG answer!!!
To put it mildly, he didn’t like that. Insisted that it was unstable work for my family. Told me point blank that if I didn’t get a job outside the home to provide for my little ones, I could forfeit tens of thousands of dollars in the divorce. He acted like I didn’t love my kids, because I wasn’t willing to put THEM first. Because I wasn’t willing to leave them with a stranger all day long while I went out and worked a job.
I get it. I have plenty of banking experience (10 years). In my field, I’m pretty high to the top with a college education to boot. It’s not that I CAN’T work. It’s not that I can’t make good, stable money working. It’s that I WANT TO BE HOME WITH MY KIDS!
The world doesn’t understand that.
I told the judge that I wasn’t going to leave my kids…
…my husband already did that, and that I believed in myself enough to know I could make money from home. Enough to squeak by at least. He asked how much I could make. I told him I thought I could make $1,000/month in profits. In my head, I thought, if I could make $500 from ebay and $500 from the blog, I’d be okay. I could live on $1,000/month plus a little child support if granted.
He went on to ask me how long it would take to make that and I told him one year.
Give me one year and I will make $1,000/month from home, I said. The judge, in his extreme kindness, gave me that year to prove myself!
However, my lawyers, my Pastor, my friends, family, everyone in my life all told me to get a job. They BEGGED me. But, I knew in my heart, God was convicting me to start a blog and so, on Dec 23, 2013, I turned my blog ON. I clicked the button to go LIVE to the world, no spell check, no sentence structure and all. I figured all I had to do was make $500/month. Easy, right?
Wrong. It was HARD.
Although I started getting a ton of traffic right off the bat…more than 10,000 pageviews my first month and on to over 100,000 a few short months later, I wasn’t making as much money as I was putting in. I was losing money. I was spending money in all the wrong places, doing all the wrong things. I wish I could go back and hire me as a coach back then! I would have saved thousands of dollars!
My stats kept doubling and soon I was at nearly a million pageviews and December the next year, my 12th month blogging, I made a hair over TEN THOUSAND DOLLARS income…in ONE month!
When I figured out my income for the month, I cried hysterically. God did it. I did it. They were ALL WRONG (except the judge; I’m SO thankful he gave me a chance!!!)
To say God is good is a massive understatement!!
He took me from homelessness and abandonment to great wealth and stability, not because I deserve it, but because of His grace. Never in a million years did I imagine more than my wildest dream, making $1,000 from home! That’s all I prayed for. I just wanted to be home with my kids (who were babies at the time). Yet He has chosen to lavish such extreme blessings upon me, not just the house or material things, but so many other things as well. I get to be used by Him to serve YOU. To serve the world. THAT…is my BIGGEST blessing of all!!!
My heart is so on fire for Him and I want to spend every second of my entire life helping other women have that deep and personal, intimate relationship with God too and becoming the women that we are called to be. He’s doing all this to show you His power (and to bless my obedience)! He loves us so much more than we ever give Him credit for!!!
My dream one day is to have the biggest source of Christian printables on the planet and really serve the world in an even BIGGER way!
Today, I stand here as a successful single mom who’s overcome some of the worst of challenges. I stand here today…to inspire YOU.
There is nothing that can knock you down and defeat you, unless you let it.
So where are you at in your journey?
Do you feel like the bills and walls are closing in on you? Do you feel like you can’t seem to get your blog or shop to make the income you know it CAN make? Do you feel stuck? Like you’ve lost hope and you’re spiraling downward? Do you feel abandoned by God? Maybe you feel like you should quit your dreams.
Don’t quit. You can do this! I’ve been there, and I’m excited to show you how I overcame it all, through the Lord Jesus Christ! I’m excited you’re here. Let’s walk this journey together!
What I’m NOT saying. I’m NOT in any way, shape, or form condoning divorce. It was something that happened TO me. I didn’t chose to divorce. I had to. I was forced to. My ex-husband abandoned me and started having affair after affair after affair. Divorce isn’t something I wanted. If you’d like to learn more about whether or not you should divorce your spouse, please refer to this blog post, Should a Christian Divorce?
Have a question or comment? Contact me at Sarah @ SarahTitus {dot} com
Wanna read a more in-depth version of my story? Click here.
Looking for where I’ve been featured? Click here to see.
Wanna follow my income path step by step, see my exact bills, etc.?
- Start here with where I started (right out of the homeless shelter): How to Live on $700/month
- Shepherding Your Money course – it’s everything I learned to save money (God’s way!) right after I got out of the homeless shelter.
- Next, learn how to save money by getting things free, apply for low-income programs you didn’t know existed, and learn how to get things uber cheap here: Saving Money Resource Guide
- Next, I was making $18k/year (on ebay): How to Live Well on $18k/year
- Next, I started making $10k/month blogging (check out these three posts): How I Started Making $10,000/month My First Year Blogging and How I Made $10,015 My Last Month Blogging and How to Make $10,000/month Online – No Experience Necessary
- Next, I started a Shopify store (my first month on Shopify, I made $52,060 in revenue).
- Where I’m at now: I started creating courses to teach all kinds of things like Shopify, How to Create Printables, saving money, how to make money from home, and so much more.
Each and every year, I go through and do a major overhaul and update the courses. They are also updated all through out the year as needed so that you get the freshest, most up-to-date information. I still am working on creating MORE courses as I go too! Not everything is LIVE that I want to create, however, within my first 9 months selling courses, I started making 7-figures from that platform alone. Now I run multi million dollar empires. It all started when I was homeless and in over $30k+ debt ten years ago!
I absolutely LOVE helping people. It’s what God has called me to do and it’s my favorite thing to do in the world! But I’m not just helping people start a shop or create printables, I’m also in the trenches with people in need, serving and meeting basic needs and helping women become the Proverbs 31 woman.
I run a gifting group where I find and give free items to those in my community who need it. It’s a lot of fun and God really blesses it like crazy. You can read all about that ministry here.
To see what new printables I’m creating, check out my Shopify store here. There are over 10,000+ in the shop currently!
And just in case you’re wondering about my personal life…yep, God brought an amazing man into my life, Hunter Eberhardt, and we are engaged (as of June 17, 2024)! God is SO good. No matter WHAT you’re facing, know this…this is NOT the end. You’re exactly where God wants you to be. ❤️
Crystal says, “What we love most about your blog is your story and how far you have come in 6 years! It’s very inspirational and we love your content and writing style.”
Victoria says, “I love that you share about what it truly means to love Christ and put your faith in him. So many bloggers/influencers share a Bible verse and talk about how they live for God…but you can’t see it anywhere else in their online space. You are consistent about living for Christ and not the world.”
Cynthia says, “There is so much info that can’t be found on others blogs!”
Bonita says, “You are authentic, believable, inspiring, and you keep it simple. Your story is incredible and I really like the fact that you’ve chosen to run your blog according to what brings you peace and how the Lord is leading, as opposed to all the flashy, shiny, overwhelming, got-to-do-it stuff.”
Alyssa says, “Your writing style makes me feel welcome, appreciated.”
Kendra says, “I love your story and your determination.”
Jenny says, “I have your blog bookmarked and love reading your emails. I have read and listened to other people teach about blogging and businesses but there is something quite special about the way you write that is so inspirational, easy and down to Earth. Your path is unique and I love what you have to share! You are an amazing woman!”
Laurie says, “I can relate to Sarah because she was a struggling single mom with so much ambition and faith.”
Candice says, “Keep up the amazing power of your testimony. You are an inspiration to many more than just myself I’m sure. Thank you LORD for courageous women like this. And thank you Sarah for making my day a little easier, a little sweeter, and a lot more colorful.”
Tawni says, “You always give everything and then some whether it’s a course or a blog post. You write like you’re talking to a friend. It’s very easy to follow and you make me want to keep going when I read how positive and encouraging you are.”
Alisha says, “I love your heart, willingness to serve, your generosity, and the quality of your work!”
Dana says, “I love that although the site is hugely successful, every post feels like it is coming from a friend. It’s always apparent that Sarah’s first priority is for God and for helping people, and that’s not something that you see very often. I love that it seems that Sarah has taken her struggles and is using them to empower others, and that’s something I hope to be able to do myself one day.”
Naomi says, “Seeing your progress throughout the years is a huge encouragement to me that eventually, I’ll be able to experience something profitable for my own life.”
Jamee says, “I fell in love with you because you are so different from every other person out there. Over the years I’ve followed and unfollowed many. You have stood out from the crowd. Your vision is God’s design and that’s my whole heart as well.”