Below you’ll find all my finance details for February 2019.
I spent the first half of the month in Chiang Mai, Thailand, and the latter in Gran Canaria.
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 | € 2,261 | $ 2,573 |
| Total Expenses | € 2,790 | $ 3,174 |
| Profit/Loss | € 529 | $ 601 |
Income
| Consulting / Project Management 1 | € 1,980 | $ 2,253 |
| Freedom Business Builder 2 | € 149 | $ 169 |
| Patreon 3 | € 107 | $ 121 |
| Book sales (via Amazon) | € 26 | $ 30 |
| Total Income | € 2,261 |
$ 2,573 |
| Previous Month | € 3,240 | $ 3,711 |
I was aiming to pull in €2,500 in February. Fell a little short of that.
Expenses
Food & Drink
| Eating out | € 259 | $ 295 |
| Groceries | € 191 | $ 217 |
| Total | € 450 |
$ 512 |
| Previous Month | € 546 | $ 625 |
Housing & Utilities
| 1 month coliving at The Pool in Gran Canaria | € 640 | $ 728 |
| 3 nights at Ubud villa 4 | € 41 | $ 47 |
| Cleaner for Chiang Mai apartment | € 4 | $ 5 |
| Total | € 685 |
$ 779 |
| Previous Month | € 609 | $ 697 |
Health Care
| SafetyWing travel insurance 5 | € 33 | $ 38 |
| Total | € 33 |
$ 38 |
| Previous Month | € 39 | $ 45 |
Travel & Transport
| Las Palmas city bike 6 | € 45 | $ 52 |
| 5 days car rental in Gran Canaria 7 | € 45 | $ 52 |
| Fuel for rental car | € 27 | $ 31 |
| Checked bag fees for flights | € 25 | $ 29 |
| Rental car deposit difference 8 | € 23 | $ 26 |
| Taxis / tuktuks / songthaews in Chiang Mai | € 15 | $ 17 |
| Parking in Gran Canaria | € 7 | $ 8 |
| Taxi in Maspalomas | € 6 | $ 6 |
| Bus: LPA to Las Palmas | € 3 | $ 3 |
| Total | € 196 |
$ 223 |
| Previous Month | € 481 | $ 551 |
Business Expenses
| Outsourcing 9 | € 938 | $ 1,067 |
| 1 month coworking at CWC in Las Palmas 10 | € 120 | $ 137 |
| Timeshifter premium 11 | € 22 | $ 25 |
| Phone credit | € 20 | $ 23 |
| SmarterQueue 12 | € 19 | $ 22 |
| Google Drive storage (1TB) 13 | € 18 | $ 20 |
| MemberMouse 14 | € 18 | $ 20 |
| Patreon fees 15 | € 14 | $ 16 |
| Hub 53 flexi plan 16 | € 10 | $ 12 |
| YouTube Premium 17 | € 10 | $ 12 |
| Virtual Post Mail 18 | € 9 | $ 10 |
| TransferWise fees | € 6 | $ 7 |
| PayPal fees | € 2 | $ 2 |
| Amazon Web Services (storage) 19 | € 2 | $ 3 |
| Upwork fees | € 1 | $ 1 |
| Dreamhost web hosting 20 | € 0 | $ 0 |
| Teamwork project management software 21 | € 0 | $ 0 |
| Total | € 1,210 |
$ 1,377 |
| Previous Month | € 772 | $ 884 |
Gifts & Donations
| Flowers | € 8 | $ 10 |
| Effective Altruism Fund 22 | € 9 | $ 10 |
| Monthly Love & Courage podcast donation 23 | € 5 | $ 6 |
| SamHarris.or subscription 24 | € 4 | $ 4 |
| Patreon: The Blindboy Podcast 25 | € 3 | $ 3 |
| Total | € 29 |
$ 32 |
| Previous Month | € 40 | $ 45 |
Books 26
| The Million-Dollar, One Person Business *** 27 | € 10 | $ 12 |
| Guns, Germs, and Steel ***** 28 | € 10 | $ 11 |
| You Are A Badass At Making Money 29 | € 2 | $ 2 |
| Helen Keller: The Story of my life 30 | € 0 | $ 0 |
| Total | € 22 |
$ 25 |
| Previous Month | € 6 | $ 6 |
Clothing
| 2 pairs Hurley shorts | € 96 | $ 109 |
| 3 T-shirts | € 20 | $ 23 |
| Total | € 116 | $ 132 |
| Previous Month | € 0 | $ 0 |
Miscellaneous Expenses
| Toiletries | € 25 | $ 28 |
| Netflix subscription | € 11 | $ 13 |
| Monthly banking fees (Hong Kong bank) 31 | € 8 | $ 9 |
| Currency exchange fee | € 4 | $ 5 |
| Monthly banking fee (Dutch bank) | € 2 | $ 2 |
| Total | € 49 |
$ 56 |
| Previous Month | € 95 | $ 109 |
Expense Summary
| Business Expenses | € 1,210 | $ 1,377 |
| Housing & Utilities | € 685 | $ 779 |
| Food & Drink | € 450 | $ 512 |
| Travel & Transport | € 196 | $ 223 |
| Clothing | € 116 | $ 132 |
| Miscellaneous Expenses | € 49 | $ 56 |
| Health Care | € 33 | $ 38 |
| Gifts & Donations | € 29 | $ 32 |
| Books | € 22 | $ 25 |
| Total Expenses | € 2,790 |
$ 3,174 |
| Previous Month | € 2,587 | $2,963 |
I was aiming to keep everything under €2,500 for the month. Went a little overboard, mainly because I forgot I had invoices due from freelancers.
Biggest Regret?
Nothing major.
Only thing I can really point to is the €5 or so I was charged for not locking the city bikes in Las Palmas properly. I should have figured that out sooner. Oh well.
Where That Leaves Me
I had €13,832 / $15,841 to my name at the end of January.
Taking into account all my February 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 €14,477 / $16,469. 32
Outlook For March
I reckon it’ll be much the same as February, both income and expenses. Though I won’t be spending as much on outsourcing.
I’ll aim to crack €2,500 income – freelancing is my main source while I’m building up affiliate income streams – and try keep expenses less than that.
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.
