Here be all my finances for November. I spent the entire the month living in Puerto de la Cruz, Tenerife.
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 | € 2,093 |
$ 2,223 |
Total Expenses | € 2,319 |
$ 2,463 |
Profit/Loss | € 226 |
$ 240 |
Income
Freelance web development 1 | € 873 | $ 927 |
3M1K 2 | € 782 | $ 831 |
Affiliate payment: Authority Hacker Pro 3 | € 235 | $ 250 |
Google Adsense payment 4 | € 78 | $ 83 |
VAT Refund 5 | € 42 | $ 45 |
Coaching 6 | € 38 | $ 40 |
Book sales (via Amazon) | € 30 | $ 32 |
Book sales (via ebizfacts.com) | € 15 | $ 16 |
Total Income | € 2,093 |
$ 2,223 |
Last Month | € 1,802 | $ 1,979 |
I estimated $2k in income and was aiming for $3k, so did okay overall.
Expenses
Food & Drink
Eating out | € 113 | $ 120 |
Groceries | € 222 | $ 236 |
7 Total |
€ 335 |
$ 356 |
Last Month | € 457 | $ 502 |
Housing & Utilities
1 month at shared apartment in Las Palmas 8 | € 400 | $ 425 |
2 weeks apartment sublet in Puerto de la Cruz 9 | € 277 | $ 294 |
Total | € 677 |
$ 719 |
Last Month | € 899 | $ 987 |
Health Care
International health insurance (monthly payment) 10 | € 101 | $ 107 |
Total | € 101 |
$ 107 |
Last Month | € 101 | $ 111 |
Travel & Transport
Flights: Gran Canaria (LPA) to Cork (ORK) 11 | € 150 | $ 159 |
Flight: Tenerife (TFN) to Gran Canaria (LPA) 12 | € 44 | $ 47 |
Bus tickets in Tenerife | € 15 | $ 16 |
Taxis in Puerto de la Cruz | € 14 | $ 15 |
Total | € 223 |
$ 237 |
Last Month | € 883 | $ 970 |
Business Expenses
Outsourcing 13 | € 477 | $ 507 |
1 month at CoworkingC, Las Palmas 14 | € 150 | $ 159 |
ActiveCampaign mailing list software | € 42 | $ 45 |
Dreamhost domains | € 34 | $ 36 |
Smatree SmaPole Q3 | € 31 | $ 33 |
PayPal fees | € 26 | $ 28 |
Teamwork project management software 15 | € 23 | $ 24 |
MemberMouse 16 | € 19 | $ 20 |
Phone credit | € 10 | $ 11 |
Skype credit | € 9 | $ 10 |
Virtual Post Mail 17 | € 9 | $ 10 |
Gumroad fees | € 2 | $ 2 |
Google Drive storage (100GB) | € 2 | $ 2 |
Amazon Web Services (more storage) | € 1 | $ 1 |
Total | € 835 |
$ 887 |
Last Month | € 750 | $ 824 |
Gifts & Donations
Total | € 0 |
$ 0 |
Last Month | € 15 | $ 16 |
Books 18
The 22 Immutable Laws Of Marketing **** 19 | € 12 | $ 13 |
How To Fly For Free 20 | € 3 | $ 3 |
Total | € 15 |
$ 16 |
Last Month | € 36 | $ 40 |
Clothing
Total | € 0 |
$ 0 |
Last Month | € 7 | $ 8 |
Miscellaneous Expenses
Spanish lessons 21 | € 83 | $ 88 |
Schwab Trade Fees & Commissions 22 | € 25 | $ 27 |
Netflix subscription | € 10 | $ 11 |
Toiletries | € 6 | $ 6 |
Beach lounger rental | € 5 | $ 5 |
Kitchen cleaning stuff | € 3 | $ 3 |
Monthly banking fee (Dutch bank) | € 1 | $ 1 |
Total | € 133 |
$ 141 |
Last Month | € 53 | $ 58 |
Expense Summary
Business Expenses | € 835 | $ 837 |
Housing & Utilities | € 677 | $ 719 |
Food & Drink | € 335 | $ 356 |
Travel & Transport | € 223 | $ 237 |
Miscellaneous Expenses | € 133 | $ 141 |
Health Care | € 101 | $ 107 |
Books | € 15 | $ 16 |
Clothing | € 0 | $ 0 |
Gifts & Donations | € 0 | $ 0 |
Total Expenses | € 2,319 |
$ 2,463 |
Last Month | € 3,201 | $ 3,515 |
I was aiming to keep my expenses under $2.5k for the month. Just about made it.
Biggest Regret?
The Smatree SmaPole Q3. Second time I bought one in four months. I carelessly lost the first one while hiking in Tenerife 🙁
Also, my flights home to Ireland for Christmas. Could have paid much less for them if I’d booked earlier. I was holding off thinking I could book them through the $1,600 worth of free flights I’ve accrued via credit card points, but turns out I can’t book Ryanair flights that way.
Where That Leaves Me
I had €7,343/$8,063 to my name at the end of October.
Taking into account all my November 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 €7,336/$7,792. 23
Outlook For December
Well we’re already almost halfway through December as I’m writing this, so I have a good idea of how things will shake out. I should be able to keep expenses below $2.5k, and beat that same mark on the income front.
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.
Curious as to how I track everything I earn and spend? Check this video…
I love your financial reports, Niall. In aggregate, they show your consistent dedication, one of your strengths that sets you apart from other lifestyle gurus.
What confuses me is the look of the first two visual, the pie charts. What purpose does the inner circle on both charts serve (one in the first, two in the second)? Why does “Cargo Ship Diaries” not extend to the center of the first chart like the other items? What is the purpose of the second chart having its inner circle be different colors?
Hey Scott, sorry for the late reply!
The inner circles in the graphs represent the categories I have set up in MoneyWiz, which generates the graphs. For example, the blue inner semi-circle on the right side of the expense graph represents all business expenses.
For the example you pointed to, “Cargo Ship Diaries” and “3M1K” are both categorized in MoneyWiz as “DtR Products,” so they both share the same inner circle.
Hope that makes sense!
Thanks for that explanation, Niall. I thought it was an aesthetic choice, but you were actually giving us more info 🙂 Cheers!
TSLA! I wish I could invest in Elon Musk the human instead of his company, but oh well. As it is, I bought SCTY (Solar City) ~6 months ago which became TSLA in the acquisition a few weeks ago. But the Trump administration makes me think this isn’t going to go well in the coming years.
You may well be right! I’m definitely no expert in trading stocks, and buying stock in TSLA is more of an experiment than anything.
I do think there’s a good chance they could blow up in 2018 though if the Model 3 launch goes well. The pre-orders for that have been ridiculous. But yeah, the Trump administration could put a big spanner in the works.