Konnichiwa from Japan!
Here be all my finances for July.
I spent the first 6 days of the month in Moscow, then 5 days in Istanbul, a couple of weeks in Chaing Mai, Thailand, and I finished it out traveling around Japan.
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 | € 3,170 |
$ 3,743 |
Total Expenses | € 3,336 |
$ 3,939 |
Profit/Loss | € 166 |
$ 196 |
Income
3M1K 1 | € 2,522 | $ 2,978 |
Authority Hacker Pro affiliate payment 2 | € 343 | $ 405 |
Aweber affiliate payment 3 | € 167 | $ 197 |
Client Finder Blueprint 4 | € 43 | $ 51 |
Book sales (via Amazon) 5 | € 38 | $ 45 |
Gifts and donations 6 | € 30 | $ 35 |
Cheap Flight Checklist 7 | € 27 | $ 32 |
Total Income | € 3,170 |
$ 3,743 |
Last Month | € 4,204 | $ 4,804 |
I predicted $3,300 income for the month so I’m fairly satisfied with the final numbers, especially since I was doing so much traveling.
Expenses
Food & Drink
Eating out | € 429 | $ 507 |
Groceries | € 160 | $ 189 |
8 Total |
€ 589 |
$ 695 |
Last Month | € 369 | $ 422 |
Housing & Utilities
1 month studio apartment rental in Chiang Mai 9 | € 160 | $ 189 |
3 Nights At Hostel & Gallery G Is Good in Nara, Japan 10 | € 137 | $ 162 |
2 Nights At Koehouse Kawaguchiko, Japan 11 | € 129 | $ 152 |
2 Nights At Tokyo Toneri Garden House-Stay 12 | € 112 | $ 132 |
Total | € 538 |
$ 635 |
Last Month | € 893 | $ 1,020 |
Health Care
IMG Global Health Insurance 13 |
€ 0 | $ 0 |
Total | € 0 |
$ 0 |
Last Month | € 0 | $ 0 |
Travel & Transport
Russian business visa 14 | € 523 | $ 618 |
Japan Rail Pass (1 week) 15 | € 224 | $ 264 |
Flights: Chiang Mai (CNX) to Tokyo (NRT) via Bangkok (DMK) 16 | € 210 | $ 248 |
12 days scooter rental in Chiang Mai | € 62 | $ 73 |
Flight: Amsterdam (AMS) to Dublin (DUB) 17 | € 52 | $ 61 |
Cabeau Evolution Memory Foam Travel Pillow 18 | € 37 | $ 44 |
Airport taxis in Istanbul | € 34 | $ 40 |
Bus: Tokyo to Kawaguchikoeki (round trip) | € 28 | $ 33 |
Taxis in Istanbul | € 24 | $ 28 |
Airport taxi in Moscow | € 22 | $ 26 |
Bicycle rental in Moscow 19 | € 14 | $ 17 |
Train: Tokyo NRT airport to Tokyo Station | € 10 | $ 12 |
Taxis in Kyoto | € 8 | $ 9 |
Ubers in Chiang Mai | € 6 | $ 7 |
Tenjo-zan cable car in Japan (round trip) | € 6 | $ 7 |
Train: Kawaguchiko to Shioyoshida (round trip) | € 5 | $ 6 |
Buses in Kyoto | € 5 | $ 6 |
Airport taxi in Chiang Mai | € 5 | $ 6 |
Airport tuk tuk in Chiang Mai | € 5 | $ 6 |
Uber in Istanbul | € 4 | $ 5 |
Scooter fuel in Chiang Mai | € 2 | $ 2 |
Trains in Kyoto | € 2 | $ 2 |
Ubers in Moscow 20 | € 2 | $ 2 |
Flight: Tokyo (NRT) to Amsterdam (AMS) via New Delhi (DEL) 21 | € 0 | $ 0 |
Total | € 1,290 |
$ 1,523 |
Last Month | € 163 | $ 186 |
Business Expenses
Outsourcing 22 | € 261 | $ 308 |
Google Drive storage (1TB) 23 | € 85 | $ 100 |
PayPal fees 24 | € 62 | $ 73 |
Rev.com transcription 25 | € 47 | $ 55 |
3M1K affiliate payment 26 | € 42 | $ 49 |
Istanbul SIM card (Vodafone) 27 | € 27 | $ 32 |
BuzzStream 28 | € 20 | $ 24 |
Thailand SIM card (True Move) | € 15 | $ 18 |
Dreamhost domains 29 | € 11 | $ 13 |
Winning proposal sample for 3M1K 30 | € 9 | $ 10 |
Virtual Post Mail 31 | € 9 | $ 10 |
Buffer 32 | € 8 | $ 10 |
Gumroad fees | € 4 | $ 5 |
Amazon Web Services (storage) 33 | € 2 | $ 2 |
Total | € 601 |
$ 710 |
Last Month | € 897 | $ 1,024 |
Gifts & Donations
Flowers 34 | € 33 | $ 39 |
Monthly Love & Courage podcast donation 35 | € 10 | $ 12 |
Waking Up podcast donation 36 | € 4 | $ 5 |
Deer cookies 37 | € 4 | $ 4 |
Birthday candles 38 | € 1 | $ 1 |
Total | € 52 |
$ 61 |
Last Month | € 37 | $ 42 |
Books 39
Homo Deus 40 **** | € 4 | $ 5 |
Scientific Advertising 41 | € 1 | $ 1 |
Total | € 5 |
$ 6 |
Last Month | € 49 | $ 56 |
Clothing
Plastic rain coat 42 | € 1 | $ 1 |
Total | € 1 |
$ 1 |
Last Month | € 0 | $ 0 |
Miscellaneous Expenses
1 month fight training at Chiang Mai Fight Fit 43 | € 160 | $ 189 |
Hagia Sophia entry in Istanbul (x2) 44 | € 19 | $ 22 |
Toiletries | € 18 | $ 21 |
Nara arcade games 45 | € 15 | $ 18 |
Galata Tower entry in Istanbul (x2) 46 | € 12 | $ 14 |
Istanbul boat party (x2) 47 | € 12 | $ 14 |
Netflix subscription 48 | € 10 | $ 12 |
Laundry | € 4 | $ 5 |
Shoe shine in Istanbul | € 4 | $ 5 |
Kyoto arcade games 49 | € 2 | $ 2 |
Monthly banking fee (Dutch bank) | € 1 | $ 2 |
Currency exchange fee | € 1 | $ 1 |
Public toilets | € 1 | $ 1 |
iPhone cable 50 | € 1 | $ 1 |
Total | € 260 |
$ 307 |
Last Month | € 79 | $ 89 |
Expense Summary
Travel & Transport | € 1,290 | $ 1,523 |
Business Expenses | € 601 | $ 710 |
Food & Drink | € 589 | $ 695 |
Housing & Utilities | € 538 | $ 635 |
Miscellaneous Expenses | € 260 | $ 307 |
Gifts & Donations | € 52 | $ 61 |
Books | € 5 | $ 6 |
Clothing | € 1 | $ 1 |
Health Care | € 0 | $ 0 |
Total Expenses | € 3,336 |
$ 3,939 |
Last Month | € 2,449 | $ 2,798 |
I predicted $3,025 for July expenses so I was way over. The Russian business visa was the biggest expense I failed to predict.
Biggest Regret?
A few things bugged me:
- Getting scammed by that shoe shine guy in Istanbul. I should have been more assertive with him.
- The home-stay place in Tokyo wasn’t great. Nice hosts, but not at all central and little privacy.
- The travel pillow I bought has failed to impress so far.
- The Vodafone SIM card I bought in Istanbul was too expensive. Should have went with a local carrier.
Year To Date
Here’s how I’m doing so far in 2017 in terms of profit and loss:
January | € 668 | $ 720 |
February | € 724 | $ 763 |
March | € 2,704 | $ 2,881 |
April | € 1,023 | $ 1,114 |
May | € 10 | $ 11 |
June | € 1,755 | $ 2,006 |
July | € 166 | $ 196 |
Total | € 46 | $ 75 |
Where That Leaves Me
I had €9,388/$10,728 to my name at the end of June.
Taking into account all my June 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 €9,502/$11,220. 51
Outlook For August
I spent time in four countries in July, and it looks like I’ll be in four countries again in August. I have a few more days in Japan, then off to Amsterdam for a bit, back to Ireland for a couple of weeks, and I’ll likely finish out the month in Moscow (assuming my business visa comes through okay).
All that traveling won’t be as expensive as it sounds since I’ll mostly have free accommodation in Amsterdam/Ireland/Moscow thanks to friends/family/girlfriend.
Only flight I still need to arrange is from Ireland to Moscow at the end of the month.
I figure I should be able to keep expenses a good bit lower than I did in July so I’ll aim for $2500 again.
As for income, I should pull in at least $2000 from 3M1K again, and I have a few hundred due from other products (mainly a travel guide that I launched recently).
Freelance income was zero in July because I was traveling and focusing on products, and it won’t be much different in August.
All that considered, I’ll aim for $3,000 again.
Taking into account that I usually underestimate income by 10% and expenses by 21%, my final predictions for August should be $3,300 for income and $3,025 for expenses.
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.
Was Homo Deus better than Sapiens? I started Sapiens but after listening to the author on Russel Brand’s podcast it started to sound too familiar and I gave up!
What about the cake the candles went on? 😉
I haven’t read Sapiens yet. I grabbed Homo Deus because they were offering it real cheap for a few days on Amazon.
As for the cake, there are photos of that, but not for the blog 🙂