Below you’ll find all my finance details for March 2020.
I spent the first two weeks of the month in Ubud, Bali, then moved to Tbilisi, Georgia.
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 | € 4,654 | $ 5,129 |
Total Expenses | € 3,569 | $ 3,933 |
Profit/Loss | € 1,085 | $ 1,196 |
🤑 Income
Affiliate income (see below) | € 4,240 | $ 4,673 |
Bali villa refund 1 | € 179 | $ 197 |
Patreon 2 | € 157 | $ 173 |
Book sales (via Amazon) | € 47 | $ 52 |
Bulgaria airport shuttle refund 3 | € 31 | $ 34 |
Total Income | € 4,654 |
$ 5,129 |
Previous Month | € 6,030 | $ 6,650 |
I was shooting for $4000 total income, so March turned out better than expected.
👍 Affiliate Income
Affiliate payments in February came from…
Here’s a progress chart for affiliate income since starting eBiz Facts…
Note that, to keep things simple for myself on a day-to-day basis, I practice cash accounting rather than accrual accounting.
“Under the cash method of accounting, sales are recorded when cash is received, and expenses are recorded when cash is sent out. It’s straightforward and intuitive. The problem with the cash method, however, is that it doesn’t always reflect the economic reality of a situation.” – Accounting Made Simple
The economic reality of affiliate marketing is that some companies pay their affiliates every month, while others have irregular payment schedules. As a result, my affiliate income looks more inconsistent month-to-month than it actually is.
💸 Expenses
🍽 Food & Drink
Groceries | € 368 | $ 406 |
Eating out | € 212 | $ 234 |
Total | € 580 |
$ 639 |
Previous Month | € 549 | $ 605 |
🏡 Housing & Utilities
1 month at Tbilisi Airbnb | € 523 | $ 576 |
25 nights at Tbilisi Airbnb | € 447 | $ 492 |
Cleaning fees | € 20 | $ 22 |
Total | € 989 |
$ 1090 |
Previous Month | € 551 | $ 608 |
💪 Health Care
Dentist visit | € 39 | $ 43 |
1 month gym membership in Ubud | € 36 | $ 40 |
SafetyWing travel insurance 4 | € 33 | $ 36 |
Total | € 107 |
$ 118 |
Previous Month | € 90 | $ 100 |
🛫 Travel & Transport
Flights: Bali to Dubai to Tbilisi 5 | € 477 | $ 526 |
Indonesia social visa extension 6 | € 49 | $ 54 |
Taxis in Tbilisi | € 45 | $ 50 |
Taxis in Bali | € 18 | $ 20 |
Total | € 591 |
$ 651 |
Previous Month | € 171 | $ 188 |
💻 Business Expenses
Outsourcing 7 | € 776 | $ 855 |
PayPal fees | € 159 | $ 175 |
Pigeon 8 | € 26 | $ 29 |
Patreon fees 9 | € 21 | $ 23 |
Phone credit (with SIM card) | € 14 | $ 15 |
Zoom 10 | € 14 | $ 15 |
YouTube Premium 11 | € 11 | $ 12 |
Google Drive storage (1TB) 12 | € 9 | $ 10 |
Kinsta web hosting 13 | € 9 | $ 10 |
Pangian Pro 14 | € 9 | $ 10 |
Virtual Post Mail 15 | € 9 | $ 10 |
Respondent fees | € 7 | $ 8 |
Copycall 16 | € 5 | $ 6 |
Amazon Web Services (storage) 17 | € 5 | $ 5 |
Upwork fees | € 3 | $ 4 |
Trends trial | € 1 | $ 1 |
Dreamhost web hosting 18 | € 0 | $ 0 |
Sendy 19 | € 0 | $ 0 |
SocialBee 20 | € 0 | $ 0 |
Teamwork project management software 21 | € 0 | $ 0 |
Total | € 1,078 | $ 1,188 |
Previous Month | € 2,606 | $ 2,874 |
🎁 Gifts & Donations
Gift for my girlfriend | € 25 | $ 28 |
Tip for Bali taxi driver | € 17 | $ 19 |
Effective Altruism Fund 22 | € 9 | $ 10 |
Flowers | € 6 | $ 7 |
Monthly Love & Courage podcast donation 23 | € 5 | $ 6 |
SamHarris.org subscription 24 | € 4 | $ 4 |
Patreon: The Blindboy Podcast 25 | € 3 | $ 3 |
Patreon: Úna-Minh Kavanagh | € 3 | $ 3 |
Total | € 71 |
$ 79 |
Previous Month | € 41 | $ 45 |
📚 Books
Accounting Made Simple | € 0 | $ 0 |
Company of One | € 0 | $ 0 |
The Mother Tongue | € 0 | $ 0 |
The Story of Earth | € 0 | $ 0 |
Total | € 0 |
$ 0 |
Previous Month | € 0 | $ 0 |
I bought all the above books with Amazon gift cards.
- See all my book recommendations and what I’m currently reading over at Goodreads
👕 Clothing
Total | € 0 |
$ 0 |
Previous Month | € 0 | $ 0 |
🤷♂️ Miscellaneous Expenses
Toiletries | € 85 | $ 94 |
Laundry | € 19 | $ 20 |
Kitchen supplies | € 16 | $ 17 |
Netflix subscription | € 11 | $ 12 |
Monthly banking fee (Hong Kong bank) 26 | € 8 | $ 9 |
Quaterly banking fee (Irish bank) | € 5 | $ 5 |
Glovo subscription 27 | € 4 | $ 5 |
Grocery bags | € 2 | $ 2 |
Monthly banking fee (Dutch bank) | € 2 | $ 2 |
Mosquito repellant | € 1 | $ 1 |
Total | € 152 |
$ 168 |
Previous Month | € 74 | $ 81 |
💸 Expense Summary
Business Expenses | € 1,078 | $ 1,188 |
Housing & Utilities | € 989 | $ 1,090 |
Travel & Transport | € 591 | $ 651 |
Food & Drink | € 580 | $ 639 |
Miscellaneous Expenses | € 152 | $ 168 |
Health Care | € 107 | $ 118 |
Gifts & Donations | € 71 | $ 79 |
Books | € 0 | $ 0 |
Clothing | € 0 | $ 0 |
Total Expenses | € 3,569 |
$ 3,933 |
Previous Month | € 4,082 | $ 4,501 |
I was hoping to spend less than $3000 for the month. Leaving Bali early and paying for almost two months of accommodation in Tbilisi messed that up.
😢 Biggest Regret?
Leaving Bali a couple of weeks earlier than planned and moving to Georgia proved expensive, but no regrets about that. If we had stuck to our original plan we would have been stranded in Bali due to the pandemic.
Overall, I can’t say I have any significant regrets for March.
2020 So Far
Here’s how I’m doing this year in terms of profit and loss:
January | € 1,734 | $ 1,924 |
February | € 1,948 | $ 2,149 |
March | € 1,085 | $ 1,196 |
Total | € 1,299 | $ 1,421 |
📊 Where That Leaves Me
I had €11,416 / $12,588 to my name at the end of February.
Taking into account all my March 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 €10,832 / $11,938. 28
🔮 Outlook For April
I should finally be able to keep expenses under $3000 thanks to staying put in Tbilisi and not being able to go outside and do much or plan any travel.
And I expect my income to be between $3000 and $4000.
📲 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.
Now that you ar a little more domesticated, how was the move. Still one backpack? For each of you?
Hey Nancy,
The move was fine. We have one big suitcase and two carry-on’s. We’ve grown wary of moving all the time though. Looking to establish a home base somewhere later this year.
Domestication will do that to you.