Below you’ll find all my finance details for August 2018.
I was in Amsterdam until the 16th, then spent 5 nights in Copenhagen before a week in the Faroe Islands. I’ve been in Gran Canaria since the 28th.
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 | € 3,252 | $ 3,775 |
Total Expenses | € 7,077 | $ 8,215 |
Profit/Loss | € 3,825 | $ 4,440 |
Income
Freedom Business Builder 1 | € 1,304 | $ 1,514 |
Consulting / Project Management 2 | € 1,879 | $ 2,181 |
Coaching 3 | € 34 | $ 40 |
Patreon | € 22 | $ 25 |
Book sales (via Amazon) 4 | € 9 | $ 10 |
Cheap Flight Checklist 5 | € 4 | $ 5 |
Total Income | € 3,252 |
$ 3,775 |
Previous Month | € 3,312 | $ 3,867 |
I was hoping to pull in €4000 in August. Didn’t quite make it.
Expenses
Food & Drink
Groceries | € 308 | $ 358 |
Eating out | € 147 | $ 171 |
Total | € 455 | $ 528 |
Previous Month | € 743 | $ 868 |
Way down from the previous month. Did a lot more grocery shopping and cooking at home.
Housing & Utilities
3 nights at Killarney Airbnb 6 | € 155 | $ 180 |
Total | € 155 | $ 180 |
Previous Month | € 1,561 | $ 1,823 |
Health Care
SafetyWing travel insurance 7 | € 32 | $ 37 |
Total | € 32 | $ 37 |
Previous Month | € 57 | $ 66 |
Travel & Transport
1 week car rental in Faroe Islands (including tolls) 8 | € 513 | $ 596 |
1 day boat rental in Amsterdam 9 | € 138 | $ 160 |
Taxis in Copenhagen | € 84 | $ 97 |
Ferry to Mykines in Faroe Islands (round trip) | € 40 | $ 46 |
Fuel for rental car in Faroe Islands | € 39 | $ 45 |
Taxi: LPA airport to Las Palmas | € 35 | $ 41 |
Checked bag fee on Norwegian Airlines | € 27 | $ 32 |
Car ferry to Kalsoy in Faroe Islands (round trip) | € 27 | $ 31 |
3 day bicycle rental in Copenhagen 10 | € 27 | $ 31 |
Uber in Amsterdam 11 | € 21 | $ 25 |
Train: Copenhagen airport to Copenhagen Central Station (x2) | € 10 | $ 11 |
Copenhagen local bus | € 6 | $ 7 |
Total | € 967 | $ 1,123 |
Previous Month | € 1,009 | $ 1,179 |
Business Expenses
Coaching 12 | € 4,307 | $ 5,000 |
Outsourcing 13 | € 450 | $ 522 |
Facebook ads 14 | € 258 | $ 300 |
Epidemic Sound 12-month subscription 15 | € 124 | $ 144 |
PayPal fees | € 24 | $ 28 |
SmarterQueue 16 | € 19 | $ 22 |
Faroe Islands SIM card | € 13 | $ 15 |
Dreamhost domain renewal | € 12 | $ 14 |
TransferWise fees | € 12 | $ 14 |
Hard drive case | € 9 | $ 10 |
SkullCandy headphones | € 9 | $ 10 |
Skype credit | € 9 | $ 10 |
Virtual Post Mail 17 | € 9 | $ 10 |
Patreon fees 18 | € 3 | $ 3 |
Gumroad fees | € 1 | $ 1 |
Amazon Web Services (storage) 19 | € 1 | $ 1 |
ActiveCampaign mailing list software 20 | € 0 | $ 0 |
Google Drive storage (1TB) 21 | € 0 | $ 0 |
Dreamhost web hosting 22 | € 0 | $ 0 |
Elegant Themes 23 | € 0 | $ 0 |
Teamwork project management software 24 | € 0 | $ 0 |
MemberMouse 25 | € 0 | $ 0 |
Total | € 5,260 |
$ 6,106 |
Previous Month | € 969 | $ 1,132 |
Gifts & Donations
FBB scholarship program 26 | € 43 | $ 50 |
Flowers | € 20 | $ 23 |
Faroe Islands SIM card | € 13 | $ 15 |
Monthly Love & Courage podcast donation 27 | € 5 | $ 6 |
Waking Up podcast donation 28 | € 4 | $ 5 |
Total | € 85 |
$ 99 |
Previous Month | € 38 | $ 44 |
Books 29
Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business 30 | € 9 | $ 10 |
Looking Glass **** | € 5 | $ 6 |
On Life 31 | € 5 | $ 6 |
Politics: A Very Short Introduction 32 | € 5 | $ 6 |
Authentic Content Marketing ***** | € 4 | $ 5 |
Station Breaker **** | € 3 | $ 3 |
The Diary of Anne Frank ***** | € 1 | $ 1 |
Total | € 32 |
$ 37 |
Previous Month | € 1 | $ 1 |
Clothing
Total | € 0 | $ 0 |
Previous Month | € 0 | $ 0 |
Miscellaneous Expenses
Lunch boxes | € 16 | $ 19 |
Entry to Tivoli Park in Copenhagen | € 16 | $ 19 |
Toiletries | € 14 | $ 16 |
Copenhagen walking tour | € 13 | $ 15 |
Netflix subscription | € 11 | $ 13 |
Mezrab in Amsterdam | € 10 | $ 12 |
Monthly banking fees (Hong Kong bank) 33 | € 8 | $ 9 |
Kitchen cleaning stuff | € 2 | $ 2 |
Monthly banking fee (Dutch bank) | € 2 | $ 2 |
Total | € 91 |
$ 106 |
Previous Month | € 131 | $ 131 |
Expense Summary
Business Expenses | € 5,260 | $ 6,106 |
Travel & Transport | € 967 | $ 1,123 |
Food & Drink | € 455 | $ 528 |
Housing & Utilities | € 155 | $ 180 |
Miscellaneous Expenses | € 91 | $ 106 |
Gifts & Donations | € 85 | $ 99 |
Health Care | € 32 | $ 37 |
Books | € 32 | $ 37 |
Clothing | € 0 | $ 0 |
Total Expenses | € 7,077 |
$ 8,215 |
Previous Month | € 4,509 | $ 5,265 |
I was aiming to keep everything under €3,000 for the month. Clearly I didn’t hit that target. I was thinking the last $5k coaching payment wasn’t until September, so that’s what threw me off.
Biggest Regret?
No big regrets for August.
Looking through all the expenses, the only thing I wish I hadn’t bought was the On Life book, since I discarded that after just a few pages.
That said, as you’ll see below, I’ve now spent more than I’ve earned this year, in spite of the fact that I’ve been earning more than ever. Obviously the $15k coaching investment has a lot to do with that, but it also hasn’t helped that I’ve been traveling frequently, especially in expensive countries.
I’ll be cutting back on that, big time.
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 |
Total | € 1,637 | $ 1,732 |
Where That Leaves Me
I had €15,400 / $17,982 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 €11,613 / $13,481. 34
Outlook For September
It’s the 4th as I’m writing this and so far I’ve earned about €2,400 and spent €1,000. That’s a pretty good start.
But I won’t earn anything else from consulting in September, so any additional and significant earnings will have to come from my course. Hard to predict how that will do each month, but I’ll be quite happy to pull in €4,000 overall.
As for expenses, I’ll be spending most of September in Gran Canaria, where I can live relatively cheap. At the end of the month I’ll be spending a week in Ireland, but will be staying with family a few nights there so it shouldn’t break the bank.
Best case scenario, I’ll spend less than €2,500 total.
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.
I don’t always comment on your finance reports. But I always read them. Fascinating as always, thanks for sharing!
Thanks, Nancy!