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Published: June 6, 2019

5 Comments Finance Reports

May 2019 Finance Report

Everything I earned and spent in Bali.

Below you’ll find all my finance details for May 2019.

I spent the entire month in Bali, Indonesia, mostly in Ubud.

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

May 2019 finance graph

Total Income € 2,559 $ 2,931
Total Expenses € 2,388 $ 2,735
Profit/Loss € 171 $ 196

Income

May 2019 income

Affiliate income (see below) € 1,345 $ 1,540
Consulting / Project Management 1 € 1,005 $ 1,151
Patreon 2 € 113 $ 130
Freedom Business Builder 3 € 69 $ 79
Book sales (via Amazon) € 27 $ 31
Total Income € 2,559
$ 2,931
Previous Month € 2,907 $ 3,261

I was aiming to pull in €2,000 in May, so did a bit better than expected. Some of the affiliate income I received were overdue from the previous month.

Affiliate payments came from:

Expenses

May 2019 expenses

Food & Drink

Eating out € 383 $ 439
Groceries € 212 $ 243
Total € 595
$ 682
Previous Month € 497 $ 557

Housing & Utilities

6 weeks at Ubud villa € 513 $ 588
1 night at Kuta hotel € 6 $ 7
Total € 519
$ 594
Previous Month € 308 $ 345

Health Care

Gym membership in Ubud (6 months) € 171 $ 196
Ubud Health Center 4 € 160 $ 183
1-hour massage (x5) € 34 $ 39
SafetyWing travel insurance 5 € 33 $ 38
Foot medication € 27 $ 31
Doctor visit € 25 $ 29
Teeth cleaning € 22 $ 25
Strepsils € 1 $ 1
Total € 473
$ 541
Previous Month € 48 $ 54

Travel & Transport

1 month scooter rental in Ubud, Bali € 93 $ 107
Indonesia visa extension € 49 $ 57
Scooter fuel € 6 $ 7
Total € 149
$ 171
Previous Month € 265 $ 298

Business Expenses

Outsourcing 6 € 273 $ 312
SmarterQueue 7 € 18 $ 21
Ahrefs subscription 8 € 17 $ 20
MemberMouse 9 € 17 $ 20
Phone credit € 17 $ 19
Patreon fees 10 € 15 $ 17
Dreamhost domain renewal € 11 $ 13
PayPal fees € 11 $ 12
YouTube Premium 11 € 10 $ 12
Google Drive storage (1TB) 12 € 9 $ 10
Skype credit € 9 $ 10
Virtual Post Mail 13 € 9 $ 10
Respondent fees € 3 $ 4
Amazon Web Services (storage) 14 € 3 $ 3
Upwork fees € 1 $ 1
Dreamhost web hosting 15 € 0 $ 0
Teamwork project management software 16 € 0 $ 0
Total € 424 $ 485
Previous Month € 1,186 $ 1,331

Gifts & Donations

Effective Altruism Fund 17 € 9 $ 10
Monthly Love & Courage podcast donation 18 € 5 $ 6
SamHarris.org subscription 19 € 4 $ 4
Patreon: The Blindboy Podcast 20 € 3 $ 3
Patreon: Úna-Minh Kavanagh € 3 $ 3
Flowers € 1 $ 1
Total € 24
$ 28
Previous Month € 65 $ 73

Books 21

Moneyball **** € 5 $ 6
The Soul of a Butterfly 22 € 3 $ 3
Total € 8
$ 9
Previous Month € 28 $ 31

Clothing

Quicksilver shorts € 43 $ 49
Underwear (6 pairs) € 37 $ 42
Socks (7 pairs) € 11 $ 13
Rain poncho (x2) € 6 $ 6
Total € 97
$ 111
Previous Month € 10 $ 11

Miscellaneous Expenses

Household items € 14 $ 16
Anjuna Deep Open Air: Bali! € 13 $ 15
Toiletries € 13 $ 15
Laundry € 11 $ 13
Netflix subscription € 11 $ 13
Standing fan € 9 $ 11
Monthly banking fee (Hong Kong bank) 23 € 8 $ 9
Kitchen cleaning stuff € 5 $ 6
Ubud Monkey Forest entry € 5 $ 6
NBA League Pass (1 week) € 4 $ 5
Mosquito repellent € 3 $ 3
Monthly banking fee (Dutch bank) € 2 $ 2
Rice fields “donation” € 1 $ 1
Total € 99
$ 114
Previous Month € 260 $ 291

Expense Summary

Food & Drink € 595 $ 682
Housing & Utilities € 519 $ 594
Health Care € 473 $ 541
Business Expenses € 424 $ 485
Travel & Transport € 149 $ 171
Miscellaneous Expenses € 99 $ 114
Clothing € 97 $ 111
Gifts & Donations € 24 $ 28
Books € 8 $ 9
Total Expenses € 2,388
$ 2,735
Previous Month € 2,667 $ 2,991

I was aiming to keep everything under €2,000 for the month. Went a little overboard, mainly due to health care expenses.

Biggest Regret?

None for May.

2019 So Far

Here’s how I’m doing this year in terms of profit and loss:

January € 653 $ 747
February € 529 $ 601
March € 242 $ 272
April € 240 $ 269
May € 171 $ 196
Total € 777 $ 883

Where That Leaves Me

I had €15,918 / $17,856 to my name at the end of April.

Taking into account all my May 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 €15,140 / $17,339. 24

Outlook For June

My freelance income will be almost non-existent. Work with my main client is fading out (as planned), and I’ve turned down some other freelance work so I can focus on building up my affiliate income. Speaking of which, I should be able to pull in at least $1,000 again as an affiliate. Other than that I won’t be earning much.

My expenses are quite low in Bali, but I’ll need to book a trip for a visa run in July, probably to Kuala Lumpur, so that will cost a bit. If I can keep my expenses down around €2,000 I’ll be doing well.

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...

5 thoughts on “May 2019 Finance Report”

  1. Dude. How did you get your Ahrefs subscription that cheap is n a monthly basis? Message me the deets if possible.

    Reply
  2. Ah I hate the monthly fee charged by the banks. Over here in Singapore, some banks impose a “fall below” fee. If your account balance falls below a certain amount (normally S$1,000), then the bank would charge you S$2 for that month. Quite ironic I think. They make you poorer when you are in fact, poor, which is the reason you can’t maintain your account balance in the first place.

    Cool! What about making a visa run to Penang? 😉 I will be moving there at the end of July.

    For your affiliate income, I believe this is what they truly credited to your bank account after the refund period (if any)?

    Reply
    • I’d love to visit Penang but will probably just do KL for the next visa run since it’s easier. The less travel the better for me this year!

      Not sure what you mean about the affiliate income. There is usually a holding period for refunds, but that wasn’t the cause of the delay last month.

      Reply

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