Nursing Side Gigs: Financial Blogger

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This is the first of a monthly feature about interesting side gigs or hobbies that nurses do outside of their full-time jobs.

By day, Lauren Mochizuki, RN, BSN, has been an ER nurse for more than a decade. But at night and during free time, she’s a successful financial blogger.

About eight years ago, Mochizuki began blogging about finances because she and her husband were tired of being in debt. She began writing her first blog, NurseFrugal.com, to document and share their journey about becoming debt-free. They paid off $266,000.

You read that correctly — $266,000 of debt.  

After Mochizuki became debt free, she took a break from blogging because she and her husband had started their family. Last year, she began blogging again at CasaMochi.com so that she could inspire others to live a great life on a budget. 

“What I love most about blogging is similar to nursing: with both professions I have the chance to connect with others and make a positive difference,” says Mochizuki about her side gig.  

Mochizuki says that according to the Federal Reserve Board, 40% of Americans can’t cover a $400 emergency expense, and less than 40% of working Americans feel that they are on track for retirement. Because of this, she says that her goal “is to help others change the way they collectively think about money, how to spend their money, and save — so that they can enjoy life, and simultaneously be good stewards of their money.” About every other week, Mochizuki publishes a new article on finances.

“I feel like my nursing job and blogging complement each other. With nursing, I have learned how to be personable and to apply interventions to help my patients feel better. My nursing career has directly affected my blog because it has shaped me into a caring and problem-solving person that I am today,” says Mochizuki.

“The greatest reward of blogging, is receiving responses from individuals that I have made an impact to their lives. I feel incredibly fulfilled when I inspire someone to become debt free, and introduce them to a step-by-step guide on how to achieve this goal,” says Mochizuki. “Creating a community of like-minded people has also been another reward of blogging. I started the #debtfreecollective hashtag, and it’s been so fun to see all of the accomplishments and real-life issues that come up during one’s debt-free journey.”  

“I am a firm believer that anyone can achieve financial freedom if you are willing to work for it,” says Mochizuki. “There were many times when I doubted if my husband and I could pay off $266,000 of debt, but after consistently implementing everything we learned about money, we did it!”