Here be all my finances for September. I spent the month living in Berlin, with a quick trip to Kiev via Belgrade. Because, well, why not?
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 | € 3,788 |
$ 4,258 |
Total Expenses | € 3,376 |
$ 3,795 |
Profit/Loss | € 412 |
$ 463 |
Income
Freelance web development 1 | € 2,218 | $ 2,493 |
3M1K 2 | € 1,409 | $ 1,584 |
Affiliate payment: Secrets Of A Six-Figure Upworker 3 | € 129 | $ 145 |
Chase Amazon rewards credit 4 | € 19 | $ 21 |
Book sales (via Amazon) | € 13 | $ 15 |
Total Income | € 3,788 |
$ 4,258 |
Last Month | € 3,760 | $ 4,190 |
Almost exactly the same as last month. I was aiming for at least €3k, with a stretch goal of €5k.
Expenses
Food & Drink
Eating out | € 225 | $ 253 |
Groceries | € 109 | $ 123 |
5 Total |
€ 334 |
$ 375 |
Last Month | € 333 | $ 371 |
Housing & Utilities
1 month at Berlin apartment 6 | € 585 | $ 658 |
2 nights at hostels in Belgrade | € 35 | $ 40 |
2 nights at hostel in Kiev | € 31 | $ 35 |
Total | € 651 |
$ 732 |
Last Month | € 585 | $ 652 |
Health Care
Health insurance (monthly payment) | € 101 | $ 114 |
Total | € 101 |
$ 114 |
Last Month | € 101 | $ 113 |
Travel & Transport
Bicycle repair 7 | € 40 | $ 45 |
Taxis in Kiev | € 23 | $ 26 |
Berlin metro | € 17 | $ 19 |
Taxi in Belgrade | € 16 | $ 18 |
Local buses in Belgrade | € 5 | $ 6 |
Kiev hill tram | € 1 | $ 1 |
Kiev metro | € 1 | $ 1 |
Total | € 103 |
$ 116 |
Last Month | € 406 | $ 452 |
Business Expenses
iPhone 6s 8 | € 645 | $ 725 |
Chase Sapphire Reserve annual fee 9 | € 400 | $ 450 |
Accountant: AGC Associates 10 | € 328 | $ 369 |
Outsourcing 11 | € 186 | $ 209 |
PayPal fees | € 71 | $ 80 |
ActiveCampaign mailing list software | € 40 | $ 45 |
Gleam competition software 12 | € 35 | $ 39 |
Phone credit | € 30 | $ 34 |
Virtual Post Mail 13 | € 27 | $ 30 |
Domain renewals (via Dreamhost) | € 25 | $ 28 |
Stripe fees (for 3M1K payments) | € 24 | $ 27 |
Teamwork project management software 14 | € 22 | $ 25 |
Facebook ads 15 | € 22 | $ 25 |
MemberMouse 16 | € 18 | $ 20 |
TransferWise fees 17 | € 6 | $ 7 |
Google Drive storage (100GB) | € 2 | $ 2 |
Amazon Web Services (more storage) | € 1 | $ 1 |
Total | € 1,882 |
$ 2,116 |
Last Month | € 1,300 | $ 1,449 |
Gifts & Donations
Pablove Across America 18 | € 27 | $ 30 |
Super Mario fundraiser 19 | € 25 | $ 28 |
Kiev gymnast kids 20 | € 2 | $ 2 |
Total | € 54 |
$ 61 |
Last Month | € 17 | $ 19 |
Books 21
Stop Thinking Like A Freelancer **** 22 | € 8 | $ 9 |
Iacocca: An Autobiography **** | € 7 | $ 8 |
Winning Through Intimidation ***** | € 6 | $ 7 |
Total | € 21 |
$ 24 |
Last Month | € 314 | $ 350 |
Clothing
Total | € 0 |
$ 0 |
Last Month | € 30 | $ 33 |
Miscellaneous Expenses
Laser skin treatment 23 | € 120 | $ 135 |
iPhone case and screen protector | € 20 | $ 22 |
Toiletries | € 14 | $ 16 |
Kiev zip line 24 | € 12 | $ 13 |
Berlin walking tour | € 10 | $ 11 |
Kiev walking tour | € 10 | $ 11 |
Netflix subscription | € 10 | $ 11 |
Yoga class in Berlin | € 10 | $ 11 |
Belgrade walking tour | € 8 | $ 9 |
Quarterly banking fee (Irish bank) | € 7 | $ 8 |
Postage | € 5 | $ 6 |
Locker rental at Kiev hostel | € 1 | $ 1 |
Postcard | € 1 | $ 1 |
Monthly banking fee (Dutch bank) | € 1 | $ 1 |
Public toilets | € 1 | $ 1 |
Total | € 230 |
$ 259 |
Last Month | € 53 | $ 59 |
Expense Summary
Business Expenses | € 1,882 | $ 2,116 |
Housing & Utilities | € 651 | $ 732 |
Food & Drink | € 334 | $ 375 |
Miscellaneous Expenses | € 230 | $ 259 |
Travel & Transport | € 103 | $ 116 |
Health Care | € 101 | $ 114 |
Gifts & Donations | € 54 | $ 61 |
Books | € 21 | $ 24 |
Clothing | € 0 | $ 0 |
Total Expenses | € 3,376 |
$ 3,795 |
Last Month | € 3,139 | $ 3,498 |
I thought I might spend as much as €5k in September, so I did quite well here. Though really I just postponed a couple of big expenses that are looming.
Biggest Regret?
The Facebook ads didn’t do much. And I threw away €10 on phone credit by not buying the right package.
Where That Leaves Me
I had €8,546/$9,524 to my name at the end of August.
Taking into account all my September 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 €8,666/$9,742. 25
Outlook For October
I have very little freelance work lined up, so I expect that to be way down. I might hit the €1k mark again with 3M1K but that’s hard to predict. €2k income for the month would actually be decent.
As for expenses, I’m planning to put down a $750 deposit on a travel adventure for next year, and there’s my final rent payment in Berlin. I have my flight to Tenerife already paid for, and possibly two weeks free accommodation lined up there, so that makes it easier. I’ll aim to keep everything under €2.5k.
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…
Hey Niall,
I’m wondering why do you pay $30 for virtualpostmail? Do you really have that much mail that you need a bigger plan?
Not usually that much. Just had to get a couple of pieces of mail shipped to me in September which costs a bit. Could have bundled them together if I’d been a bit more thoughtful about it.
Ah, I see. I thought I could save you a couple of bucks 🙂
You mentioned the facebook ads as your biggest regret. Haven’t had a chance to check out your facebook but have you tried running ads against a video usually gets much better reach and engagement
Hey Christopher. Yeah, the ads were for a video promotion.
Oooh it is fancy! Like all the footnotes. Where are you off to next? I didn’t recognize the Tenerife….
Tenerife is in the Canary Islands, part of Spain, but way down off the coast of Morocco 🙂
Niall! Great blog post. What are the software tools you’re using to make this page? I love the embedded-hover over- info links. What’s going on here? WordPress Plugin? Are you just JavaScripting like a hero?
Thanks, Ian 🙂
I’m using this plugin for the footnotes: https://wordpress.org/plugins/easy-footnotes/
With some custom styling.
As for the graphs, they come from the MoneyWiz app on my iPhone. I use that to track all my finances.