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Published: September 4, 2018

2 Comments Finance Reports

August 2018 Finance Report

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.

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

Total Income € 3,252 $ 3,775
Total Expenses € 7,077 $ 8,215
Profit/Loss € 3,825 $ 4,440

Income

August 2018 income graph

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

August 2018 expenses graph

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.

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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