Below you’ll find all my finance details for January 2018.
I was in Gran Canaria until January 11th, then spent three nights in Madrid before heading to Bansko, Bulgaria for the rest of the month.
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 | € 7,647 | $ 9,518 |
Total Expenses | € 5,181 | $ 6,448 |
Profit/Loss | € 2,466 | $ 3,070 |
Income
3M1K 1 | € 4,590 | $ 5,713 |
Freelance web development 2 | € 2,815 | $ 3,504 |
Authority Hacker Pro affiliate payment 3 | € 145 | $ 181 |
Cheap Flight Checklist 4 | € 32 | $ 40 |
Book sales (via Amazon) 5 | € 32 | $ 40 |
Client Finder Blueprint 6 | € 14 | $ 17 |
Patreon 7 | € 12 | $ 15 |
Book sales (via ebizfacts.com) 8 | € 6 | $ 8 |
Total Income | € 7,647 |
$ 9,518 |
Last Month | € 5,439 | $ 6,526 |
I predicted $5000 income in January, and managed to pull in almost DOUBLE that!
The freelance income was expected, but I was surprised to see 3M1K doing so well. Announcing a mid-month price increase drove some sales, as did the announcement that I would be closing the doors at the end of the month.
Expenses
Food & Drink
Groceries 9 | € 323 | $ 402 |
Eating out 10 | € 311 | $ 387 |
11 Total | € 634 |
$ 789 |
Last Month | € 389 | $ 467 |
Housing & Utilities
8 nights at Moscow apartment 12 | € 400 | $ 498 |
1 night at Mejico Apartment, Maspalomas 13 | € 0 | $ 0 |
Total | € 400 | $ 498 |
Last Month | € 1,087 | $ 1,304 |
Health Care
Dentist in Bansko 14 | € 128 | $ 159 |
IMG Global Health Insurance 15 | € 0 | $ 0 |
Total | € 128 | $ 159 |
Last Month | € 3 | $ 4 |
Travel & Transport
Flights: Gran Canaria (LPA) to Moscow (DME) (x2) 16 | € 198 | $ 246 |
Flights: Sofia (SOF) to Moscow (SVO) (x2) 17 | € 74 | $ 92 |
Taxi: Sofia to Bansko 18 | € 66 | $ 83 |
Flights: Seville (SVQ) to Gran Canaria (LPA) (x2) 19 | € 34 | $ 42 |
Taxi: Las Palmas to LPA airport 20 | € 30 | $ 37 |
Fuel: Gran Canaria rental car | € 26 | $ 32 |
Taxis: Bansko to Banya (round-trip) 21 | € 24 | $ 30 |
Parking in Gran Canaria | € 4 | $ 5 |
Madrid local bus | € 3 | $ 4 |
Madrid metro | € 3 | $ 4 |
Rental car: 3 days in Gran Canaria 22 | € 0 | $ 0 |
Ubers in Madrid 23 | € 0 | $ 0 |
Total | € 462 | $ 575 |
Last Month | € 132 | $ 158 |
Business Expenses
Coaching call with Jen Gresham 24 | € 803 | $ 1,000 |
Outsourcing 25 | € 482 | $ 600 |
ActiveCampaign mailing list software 26 | € 369 | $ 459 |
Teamwork project management software 27 | € 212 | $ 264 |
MemberMouse 28 | € 173 | $ 215 |
Double Your Freelancing Rate 29 | € 167 | $ 208 |
PayPal fees 30 | € 122 | $ 152 |
Facebook ads 31 | € 76 | $ 95 |
Phone credit 32 | € 70 | $ 87 |
Laptop diagnostic 33 | € 64 | $ 80 |
TransferWise fees 34 | € 44 | $ 55 |
Domain renewals | € 31 | $ 39 |
SmarterQueue 35 | € 18 | $ 23 |
Chatroll 36 | € 15 | $ 19 |
Virtual Post Mail 37 | € 8 | $ 10 |
Amazon Web Services (storage) 38 | € 2 | $ 2 |
Patreon fees 39 | € 2 | $ 2 |
Gumroad fees | € 1 | $ 2 |
Dreamhost web hosting 40 | € 0 | $ 0 |
Elegant Themes subscription 41 | € 0 | $ 0 |
Google Drive storage (1TB) 42 | € 0 | $ 0 |
Total | € 2,660 |
$ 3,310 |
Last Month | € 737 | $ 884 |
Gifts & Donations
Mac charger 43 | € 89 | $ 111 |
Flowers 44 | € 8 | $ 9 |
Monthly Love & Courage podcast donation 45 | € 5 | $ 6 |
Waking Up podcast donation 46 | € 4 | $ 5 |
Total | € 106 | $ 132 |
Last Month | € 369 | $ 443 |
Books 47
Humans Need Not Apply 48 *** | € 8 | $ 10 |
Start With Why 49 *** | € 8 | $ 10 |
The Big Leap 50 | € 8 | $ 10 |
Thomas Edison: Inventing the Modern World 51 | € 2 | $ 3 |
Total | € 26 | $ 33 |
Last Month | € 45 | $ 54 |
Clothing 52
6 pairs of underwear | € 36 | $ 45 |
Navy Ellesse fleece | € 25 | $ 31 |
Black sweater | € 20 | $ 25 |
Black ski pants | € 18 | $ 22 |
Thermal pants | € 18 | $ 22 |
Grey sweater | € 16 | $ 20 |
Navy sweater | € 16 | $ 20 |
Black PayPal fleece 53 | € 15 | $ 19 |
Navy sweater | € 15 | $ 19 |
Grey scarf | € 10 | $ 12 |
5 pairs of socks | € 10 | $ 12 |
Gloves | € 8 | $ 10 |
Total | € 207 | $ 258 |
Last Month | € 0 | $ 0 |
Miscellaneous Expenses
1-on-1 snowboarding lessons (6 hours) 54 | € 212 | $ 264 |
Lift passes for snowboarding in Bansko (6 days) | € 176 | $ 219 |
Snowboarding equipment rental (4 days) | € 85 | $ 106 |
Thermal baths (x2) 55 | € 28 | $ 35 |
Toiletries | € 28 | $ 35 |
Netflix subscription | € 11 | $ 14 |
Amazon Movie Rental: Up ***** | € 3 | $ 4 |
Laundry | € 3 | $ 4 |
Earplugs | € 3 | $ 4 |
Kitchen cleaning supplies | € 3 | $ 4 |
ATM fee (Irish bank) | € 2 | $ 2 |
Monthly banking fee (Dutch bank) | € 1 | $ 2 |
Disposable lighter | € 1 | $ 1 |
Candles | € 1 | $ 1 |
Printing | € 1 | $ 1 |
Total | € 558 | $ 694 |
Last Month | € 74 | $ 89 |
Expense Summary
Housing & Utilities | € 400 | $ 498 |
Business Expenses | € 2,660 | $ 3,310 |
Food & Drink | € 634 | $ 789 |
Gifts & Donations | € 106 | $ 132 |
Travel & Transport | € 462 | $ 575 |
Miscellaneous Expenses | € 558 | $ 694 |
Books | € 26 | $ 33 |
Health Care | € 128 | $ 159 |
Clothing | € 207 | $ 258 |
Total Expenses | € 5,181 | $ 6,448 |
Last Month | € 2,836 | $ 3,403 |
I was aiming to keep everything under €2500 for the month, so… yeah, that didn’t happen.
Business expenses were way more than expected, especially with the $1k invested in coaching. I also failed to predict all that spending on the snowboarding stuff, food and drink, the dentist, and flights for the coming months.
Biggest Regret?
Funny thing: I spent way more this month than usual – $6,448 in total – and there’s almost nothing I can point to as a regretful expense. Closest thing would be one of the lift passes for snowboarding, which we couldn’t use due to bad weather, but that only cost €29.
Everything else I consider money well spent.
I actually had to check myself because at first I felt bad for spending “so much” money.
But it’s not how much I earn or spend that’s most important: it’s the difference between the two. And in January the difference was $3,000 in the green, which I’ve rarely been able to claim in the past.
So yeah, I’ll chalk January up as a massive success.
Where That Leaves Me
I had €12,805 / $15,365 to my name at the end of December.
Taking into account all my January 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 €15,406 / $19,176. 56
Outlook For February
I’ll be paying quite a bit for accommodation, have a $300 accountant bill due, and will likely invest in coaching, so I expect my expenses will be in the $4000 range for the month.
As for income, I’ve closed the doors on 3M1K but have about $2000 due on payment plans in February. I also have about €1500 coming my way from freelance work. Beyond that I can’t predict. I will be on the lookout for new coaching and consulting clients to make some magic with, but that’s not something I’m going to rush.
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.
Niall, its great to see you have such success, you deserve it!
Nice work! Fairly smashed it there! Re closing 3M1K, just goes to show how urgency and scarcity will always work, provided you mean it and aren’t using it just as a tactic – which I’ve seen some people do.
Nice, Niall! On both the increased income and your mindset about spending (and in some cases investing) money. Also, wow are the dentists cheap in Bulgaria. (I mean, doing it there basically paid for your snowboarding trip instead of doing it in Western Europe.)
I must’ve missed it, but why did you close down 3M1K until May (or later)? Revamping it? Too much workload for the time being? Want to focus more on current members? Something else?
Thanks, Karol!
I decided to close down 3M1K for a few reasons, but the main one is so I can focus on my own freelancing for a few months and build that up to $5k/month consistently.