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Published: September 2, 2016

9 Comments Finance Reports

August 2016 Finance Report

Well hello there o’ legendary email subscriber. This is my August finance report, prepared and delivered to you from the fine city of Berlin.

As usual, I’ll share with you all the details of my finances below, along with a few notes that I think you’ll find interesting.

Diving in…

August Income

August 2016 Income

Freelance web development 1 € 2,464 $ 2,746
3M1K 2 € 896 $ 999
AWeber affiliate payment 3 € 194 $ 216
Amsterdam municipality tax refund 4 € 137 $ 153
Thrive affiliate payment 5 € 36 $ 40
Book sales (via Amazon) € 21 $ 23
Book sales (via ebizfacts.com) € 12 $ 13
Total Income € 3,760
$ 4,190
Last Month € 2,067 $ 2,308

Up quite a bit from the previous month, and I hit my target of at least €3.5k, but I was expecting to earn more from freelance web dev so a little disappointed.

That said, the client payments I didn’t receive in August should come through in September, so I’ll be off to a good start there.

August Expenses

August 2016 Expenses

Food & Drink

Eating out € 215 $ 240
Groceries € 118 $ 132
6 Total
€ 333
$ 371
Last Month € 571 $ 638

Housing & Utilities

1 month at Berlin apartment 7 € 585 $ 652
Total € 585
$ 652
Last Month € 150 $ 167

Personal Taxes

Total € 0
$ 0
Last Month € 0 $ 0

Health Care

Health insurance (monthly payment) € 101 $ 113
Total € 101
$ 113
Last Month € 101 $ 113

Travel & Transport

Flights: Berlin-Belgrade-Kiev (TXL-BEG-KBP) round trip 8 € 211 $ 235
Bicycle 9 € 145 $ 162
Berlin metro € 27 $ 30
Bike lock € 15 $ 17
Bus from Dublin Airport to city center € 6 $ 7
Bus to Dublin Airport from my aunt’s house € 2 $ 2
Total € 406
$ 452
Last Month € 583 $ 651

Business Expenses

Outsourcing 10 € 506 $ 564
Accountant: AGC Associates 11 € 410 $ 457
Epidemic Sound 12-month subscription 12 € 129 $ 144
ActiveCampaign 13 € 40 $ 45
Freelancelift Pro 14 € 35 $ 39
PayPal fees € 27 $ 30
Smatree SmaPole Q3 € 23 $ 26
Teamwork project management software 15 € 22 $ 25
Joby GorillaPod € 21 $ 23
MemberMouse 16 € 18 $ 20
Stripe fees (for 3M1K payments) € 17 $ 19
Ccbetter lavalier lapel microphone € 13 $ 14
Currency exchange fees € 11 $ 12
Phone credit € 10 $ 11
Skype credit € 9 $ 10
Stationary € 5 $ 6
Google Drive storage (100GB) € 2 $ 2
Amazon Web Services (more storage) € 1 $ 1
Gumroad fees € 1 $ 1
Total € 1,300
$ 1,449
Last Month € 1,534 $ 1,713

Gifts & Donations

German chocolates for Dublin hosts € 13 $ 14
Busker on Berlin train € 2 $ 2
Busker at Thai Park in Berlin € 1 $ 1
Tip for Greek Leprechaun in Dublin € 1 $ 1
Total € 17
$ 19
Last Month € 1 $ 1

Books 17

The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck (x25) ***** 18 € 308 $ 343
No B.S. Wealth Attraction In The New Economy ***** € 6 $ 7
Total € 314
$ 350
Last Month € 0 $ 0

Clothing

Black Diamond climbing gloves 19 € 20 $ 22
2 pairs sports socks € 10 $ 11
Total € 30
$ 33
Last Month € 0 $ 0

Miscellaneous Expenses

Bouncey ball 20 € 10 $ 11
Toiletries € 9 $ 10
Netflix subscription 21 € 9 $ 10
Spy station entry € 7 $ 8
Pedal boat rental 22 € 5 $ 6
Happy Cow iPhone app 23 € 4 $ 4
Public toilets € 2 $ 2
Cloak room at Berlin nightclub € 2 $ 2
Air freshener € 2 $ 2
Parking in Dublin € 1 $ 1
Monthly banking fee (Dutch bank) € 1 $ 1
Total € 53
$ 59
Last Month € 403 $ 450

Expense Summary

Business Expenses € 1,300 $ 1,449
Travel & Transport € 406 $ 452
Food & Drink € 333 $ 371
Miscellaneous Expenses € 53 $ 59
Housing & Utilities € 585 $ 652
Health Care € 101 $ 113
Gifts & Donations € 17 $ 19
Books € 314 $ 350
Clothing € 30 $ 33
Taxes € 0 $ 0
Total Expenses € 3,139
$ 3,498
Last Month € 3,343 $ 3,733

I was aiming to keep my expenses under €2k for the month, didn’t quite make it. Biggest unforeseen expenses were the bulk book purchase and the flights to Belgrade/Kiev. Pretty happy overall though.

Biggest Regret?

Nothing particular this past month. Still paying my accountant in Ireland as it’s taking longer than expected to wrap things up there. Hopefully September will be the last month I’ll have that expense. Then all my business dealings will be done through my US LLC, which has much lower overhead.

Where That Leaves Me

I had €7,610/$8,497 to my name at the end of July.

Taking into account all my August income and expenditure, and the most recent exchange rates – I have accounts in EUR, HKD and USD – my total bank and cash balances now work out to €8,546/$9,524. 24

Outlook For September

Income-wise, I should hit at least €3k again. I’ll aim for €5k though just for the hell of it.

Expenses could be quite high. I’ll likely be buying a new phone, putting a deposit down on another travel adventure (or perhaps even paying it in full), and I’ll have to book accommodation for the few nights in Belgrade and Kiev. I’d say I’ll end up spending €3k minimum, possibly as much as €5k.

Feedback Welcome

Thoughts? Questions? Speak up in the comments below.

Archived Finance Reports

I’ve been posting these monthly finance reports since January, 2011. You can view all my old reports via this page.

About The Author
Niall Doherty – Founder and Lead Editor of eBiz Facts Born and raised in Ireland, Niall has been making a living from his laptop since quitting his office job in 2010. He's fond of basketball, once spent 44 months traveling around the world without flying, and has been featured in such publications as The Irish Times and Huffington Post. Read more...

9 thoughts on “August 2016 Finance Report”

  1. Hi Niall,
    Interesting to see how this all breaks down, I’m scoping out a trip to Berlin myself soon, it would be great to meet you there if you’re around (and not in tenerife?).
    I have a question about how your freelance web development income/expenditure/hours break down. I understand you charge around €75 per hour. How many hours of actual work do you normally do for let’s say 20 hours of paid freelance work. 30? 40? I’m curious what the reality is like if you include all the time faffing and pitching and learning new technologies (do you have to do that much?) so on. You may have addressed this elsewhere so apologies if I’ve missed it.

    Reply
    • Hey Jack,

      When are you coming to Berlin? I’ll be leaving at the end of October. Let’s try meet up if you’re here before then.

      I don’t do a lot of pitching these days for freelance work, as I get enough work from repeat clients and referrals. Still, I’d say for every 10 hours of paid work, I probably spend another 2-3 on miscellaneous stuff that I can’t or don’t bill for.

      As for learning new technologies, much of that is done “on the job.” If a client wants me to do something for them that I’ve never done before, I’ll charge them for time spent researching. Sometimes I’ll only charge them 50% my rate if I feel it’s something I should know anyway or if I was planning to learn it on my own time.

      Reply
  2. Hey Niall,

    You’ve touched a topic of your US LLC. Is there anything I can find about your experience with opening it, handling taxes, etc? Or maybe it’s a part of the 3m1k?

    Reply
    • That is part of 3M1K, but happy to share what I can here. Depends on where you’re from though. Are you an American? If so, opening a US LLC is very easy. And you can decrease your tax burden significantly by living outside of the US 330+ days a year. Look into the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion.

      If you’re not from the US, it can be quite complicated. I recommend contacting the guys at flagtheory.com. They’ll jump on the phone with you an discuss options. They helped me a lot.

      Reply
      • Thanks for the info. I currently live in the U.S. on the work visa, and planning to leave the states in the near future. And I’m most probably going to purchase 3m1k anyway, so great that it’s a part of the course 🙂

        Reply
  3. Hi Neil
    Thanks for all the news. Glad to hear you are enjoying life.
    One question for the moment – why the bulk book purchase? Intriguing!

    Anyway keep in touch – and if you know any investors with about €30000 to spare to invest in ‘my dream’ please let me know. Talk soon….safe trips!
    Declan

    Reply

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