Why I launched a paid subscription tier

Navigating income loss, how I can help you in the kitchen, and what I'm changing about newsletters your receive in the 'free' tier

Earlier this week I quietly turned on paid subscriptions on here. And I’m high-key terrified that everyone will hate me and that I will lose followers for doing it.

I’ve thought for a long time about what value I could provide in a newsletter that I could be paid for. I feel that my writing isn’t strong enough or valuable enough to ask anyone to pay for it. I’m just happy y’all are here and willing to read the random thoughts I put out into the world. And I’m even more grateful that you all respond to me and that we have a chance to connect. It’s my favorite part of social media and, as someone who doesn’t get out much, it’s very refreshing and comforting to know there are so many people out there going through the same challenges and having similar thoughts. It makes me feel less alone.

Why turn on paid subscriptions?

Well… last week my husband was laid off. And it really sucks. He’d been at his job for over a year but was still the newest person on the team. He works in an industry that is suffering due to the current economy, and they had to make cuts. He was one of those cuts. We’re okay for now, but I’m really hoping he can find something soon. It’s stressful because no one seems to be hiring right now. I hear about more companies doing layoffs every week. And everyone is in a tough spot.

Truthfully, I have not responded well to him being laid off. It has sent me spiraling. We have a house payment, a car payment, two toddlers, etc. My husband is typically the primary earner for our household. And while my job is consistent, there isn’t much opportunity to earn more than I already do due to the industry I work in. I typically make about 30% less than my husband.

I won’t paywall my writing. No hate to anyone else. I feel like there are sooo many newsletters that are paid and produce incredible content regularly, but mine isn’t one of them. Instead, I thought it would be a cool way to provide a service. I waffled back and forth on how to go about this. I even thought about creating a brand new account and starting from scratch, but I thought “What advice would I give my best friend or any one of my followers?” Just do it.

What would I get?

It seems like everyone is in a tough spot right now and I know we’re all feeling the effects of higher grocery prices. With a full-time job and other responsibilities, it’s a lot of effort to create meal plans that are thoughtful - satisfying, healthy, and delicious. So I thought I could take care of that for you. Every week, I’ll share a full meal plan - breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks. For you and the whole family! My goal is to keep costs low and use as many ingredients as possible to help reduce food waste. I’ll share the meal plans with everyone, but paid subscribers will get access to printable grocery lists and recipes.

For $5 a month, I’m hoping to take care of all the stress that goes into feeding your family. Okay… maybe not all of it. I can’t come to your kitchen and cook it for you, but I can get you 90% of the way there. I promise to provide healthy recipes, diverse recipes, comfort meals, and overall really delicious food. And we can explore different methods for cooking (one-pot meals, sheet pans, crockpots, grills, etc.). And there will be some low-effort and some high-effort meals because some days I don’t want to spend more than 20 minutes cooking and some days I want to pour my creativity into cooking a great meal.

With my meal plans, you’ll get:

• A full week of meals including breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks

• Coordinated printable grocery lists with cost breakdowns

• Pre-shopped grocery carts so you can just click and order (!!)

• Vegetarian, gluten-free, and dairy-free substitutions + substitutions or helpful tips to use what you have

For research purposes, I asked in my ‘9-5 Crew’ broadcast channel what the biggest chore is that you “dread” doing, and the overwhelming response was all things cooking from meal planning to grocery shopping to actually making the meals. It’s a lot of effort. I’ve felt the desire to want to do more for families since starting my own three years ago. I feel like this is a great way for me to use my love for cooking, the need to eat and cook every day anyway, and this platform to share it with you.

I’ll post my first meal plan a week from today. After that, I will post meal plans every Wednesday unless I hear from subscribers that another day of the week is better.

Thank you ❤️

There is a large part of me that doesn’t think I deserve to do this. Who am I to ask people for money? Especially in this economy. I’m hoping that doing the work of putting together the lists and recipes that will be valuable to you all. I’m also looking for other perks of being a paid subscriber, so if you have any ideas let me know! My writing and regular series will remain free.

I shared last week on Instagram that I was already doing some more strategic planning on my newsletter and how I put things out. I’m still working on that, but I have settled on making the Coffee with Kate series more frequent. I’m thinking it will be a weekly-ish newsletter featuring everything I’ve loved, found interesting, and just in general what’s been going on - from what I’m reading and eating to an article that made me think. Pretty much exactly what it was before, just more frequent!

Thank you all for being here! I’m going to hit send and go for a walk to quell my nerves.

xo, Kate