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Published: October 7, 2018

Comment Finance Reports

September 2018 Finance Report

Below you’ll find all my finance details for September 2018.

I was in Gran Canaria the whole month, save for a one-week trip to Ireland.

First time seeing one of these finance reports? Click here for a quick intro.

I’ve been tracking everything I earn and spend since January 2011, just a few weeks after quitting my day job. Every month since, I’ve published one of these finance reports.

Sharing this info publicly keeps me accountable and hopefully gives you some insight into how I earn a living online.

Patrons get to see each new report before anyone else.

Summary

September 2018 finance graph

Total Income € 4,142 $ 4,807
Total Expenses € 3,223 $ 3,740
Profit/Loss € 919 $ 1,066

Income

September 2018 income graph

Consulting / Project Management 1 € 2,293 $ 2,661
Freedom Business Builder 2 € 1,322 $ 1,534
AWeber affiliate payment 3 € 296 $ 344
Google Adsense payment 4 € 82 $ 95
TransferWise referral bonus 5 € 56 $ 65
Patreon 6 € 54 $ 62
Coaching 7 € 30 $ 35
Sales of The Cargo Ship Diaries (via ebizfacts.com) € 9 $ 10
Total Income € 4,142
$ 4,807
Previous Month € 3,252 $ 3,775

I was hoping to pull in €4000 in September, so happy with how it shook out.

Expenses

September 2018 expenses graph

Food & Drink

Groceries € 317 $ 368
Eating out € 108 $ 125
Total € 425 $ 493
Previous Month € 455 $ 528

Housing & Utilities

26 nights at The Roof in Gran Canaria € 500 $ 580
5 nights at Malaga Airbnb (partial payment) 8 € 161 $ 187
2 nights at Chiang Mai Airbnb 9 € 84 $ 97
Killarney Airbnb change 10 € 46 $ 53
Total € 791 $ 918
Previous Month € 155 $ 180

Health Care

SafetyWing travel insurance 11 € 31 $ 36
Total € 31 $ 36
Previous Month € 32 $ 37

Travel & Transport

Fuel (Ireland rental car) 12 € 78 $ 91
Speeding ticket in Gran Canaria 13 € 50 $ 58
Taxis in Gran Canaria € 46 $ 53
Fuel (Gran Canaria rental car) € 23 $ 27
1 day car rental in Gran Canaria 14 € 20 $ 23
Toll roads in Ireland € 9 $ 10
Las Palmas city bike share € 3 $ 3
Parking in Gran Canaria € 1 $ 1
Total € 230 $ 267
Previous Month € 967 $ 1,123

Business Expenses

Outsourcing 15 € 454 $ 527
Chase Sapphire Reserve credit card annual fee 16 € 388 $ 450
Facebook ads 17 € 258 $ 300
26 days coworking at CoworkingC in Gran Canaria € 181 $ 210
Freedom Business Builder affiliate payment 18 € 129 $ 150
Dreamhost domain renewals € 60 $ 70
SmarterQueue 19 € 19 $ 22
PayPal fees € 18 $ 21
Phone credit € 15 $ 17
Virtual Post Mail 20 € 9 $ 10
Patreon fees 21 € 6 $ 7
TransferWise fees € 6 $ 7
Stationary € 4 $ 5
Gumroad fees € 1 $ 1
Amazon Web Services (storage) 22 € 1 $ 1
ActiveCampaign mailing list software 23 € 0 $ 0
Google Drive storage (1TB) 24 € 0 $ 0
Dreamhost web hosting 25 € 0 $ 0
Elegant Themes 26 € 0 $ 0
Teamwork project management software 27 € 0 $ 0
MemberMouse 28 € 0 $ 0
Total € 1,550
$ 1,798
Previous Month € 5,260 $ 6,106

Gifts & Donations

FBB scholarship program 29 € 29 $ 33
Flowers € 27 $ 31
Monthly Love & Courage podcast donation 30 € 5 $ 6
Patreon: The Blindboy Podcast 31 € 3 $ 3
Patreon: The Waking Up podcast 32 € 3 $ 3
Gifted Amazon movie rental € 2 $ 2
Total € 68
$ 79
Previous Month € 85 $ 99

Books 33

Thinking In Bets ***** € 12 $ 14
The Russian Assassin ** € 1 $ 1
Total € 13
$ 15
Previous Month € 32 $ 37

Clothing

Total € 0 $ 0
Previous Month € 0 $ 0

Miscellaneous Expenses

American Tourister backpack 34 € 40 $ 46
Toiletries € 16 $ 19
Electric shaver € 12 $ 14
Netflix subscription € 11 $ 13
Quarterly banking fee (Irish bank) € 10 $ 12
Monthly banking fees (Hong Kong bank) 35 € 8 $ 9
iTunes movie rental: Deadpool 2 **** € 5 $ 6
Mosquito repellant € 5 $ 6
Beach lounger rental € 3 $ 3
Laundry € 2 $ 2
Kitchen supplies € 2 $ 2
Monthly banking fee (Dutch bank) € 2 $ 2
Total € 115
$ 134
Previous Month € 91 $ 106

Expense Summary

Business Expenses € 1,550 $ 1,798
Travel & Transport € 230 $ 267
Food & Drink € 425 $ 493
Housing & Utilities € 791 $ 918
Miscellaneous Expenses € 115 $ 134
Gifts & Donations € 68 $ 79
Health Care € 31 $ 36
Books € 13 $ 15
Clothing € 0 $ 0
Total Expenses € 3,223
$ 3,740
Previous Month € 7,077 $ 8,215

I was aiming to keep everything under €2,500 for the month. Forgot about the annual credit card fee, which put me way over.

Biggest Regret?

Nothing major.

I rented a car for a day in Gran Canaria, mainly to pick up my girlfriend from the airport. Turns out it would have been cheaper and faster to get a taxi both ways.

The Facebook ads are looking like a poor investment, though probably still to early to determine that.

2018 So Far

Here’s how I’m doing this year in terms of profit and loss:

January € 2,466 $ 3,070
February € 4,384 $ 5,346
March € 908 $ 1,107
April € 3,594 $ 4,337
May € 1,085 $ 1,266
June € 1,886 $ 2,204
June € 1,197 $ 1,398
August € 3,825 $ 4,440
September € 919 $ 1,066
Total € 718 $ 666

Where That Leaves Me

I had €11,613 / $13,481 to my name at the end of August.

Taking into account all my September 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 €13,186 / $15,303. 36

Outlook For October

It’s the 7th as I’m writing this and so far I’ve pulled in about €1,700 and spent €1,400.

I won’t earn anything else from consulting in October, so any additional and significant earnings will have to come from my course. I’ll be quite happy to pull in €3,000 overall.

As for expenses, I’ll be spending all of October in Gran Canaria, where I can live relatively cheap, and I’ve already paid for accommodation for the month. I’ll aim for less than €2,500 total expenses again..

How I Track All This

Curious as to how I track everything I earn and spend? Check this video…

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...

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