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