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Published: December 7, 2014

Comment Finance Reports

November 2014 Finance Report

Bienvenido o’ legendary email subscriber. This is my November finance report, as prepared from a fine chunk of wooden table at my apartment in the center of Medellín, Colombia.

As usual, I’ll share with you all the details of my finances below, along with a few notes that I think you’ll find interesting. Keep in mind that I was living in Medellín for the entire month of November.

Diving in…

November Expenses

Food and Drink

Eating out € 153 $ 191
Groceries € 111 $ 139
Total € 264
$ 330

Almost the exact same as the previous month, when I spent €266/$333 on food and drink. Eating out is very cheap here in Medellín, even in the city center. I can get two good meals a day in restaurants for less than $10 total.

Housing and Utilities

1 month + 5 nights at Medellín apartment € 504 $ 630
Total € 504 $ 630

Almost double the €255/$319 I spent on housing and utilities in October. I could definitely have found a cheaper place to rent for a month, but I put a high value on being in a central location so I can walk everywhere.

Travel

Taxis in Medellín € 14 $ 18
Total € 14 $ 18

Way down from the €406/$509 I spent on travel in October, back when I was moving through Brazil, Venezuela and Colombia.

Business Expenses

PayPal fees € 91 $ 114
Domain renewals € 29 $ 36
AWeber email marketing € 24 $ 30
Skype Credit € 20 $ 25
Total € 164 $ 205

Up a good bit from the €35/$44 I spent on business last month, mostly because I barely worked in October but worked a ton in November.

Gifts and Donations

Book (Wealth Warrior) for a friend € 6 $ 7
Restaurant meal for an elderly Colombian woman € 4 $ 5
Medication for a friend € 1 $ 2
Street musicians in Medellín € 1 $ 1
Total € 12 $ 15

Up from €2/$3 last month. I no longer have a specific goal for donations (I used to try give away 15% of my income), having decided to focus on building up a decent savings cushion before trying to save the world.

Books

Your Money Or Your Life € 7 $ 9
Women € 7 $ 9
The Rational Male € 6 $ 7
Total € 20 $ 25

About the same as last month. You can see all my book recommendations over on Goodreads.

Miscellaneous Expenses

Dues for Irish Channel St. Patrick’s Day Club € 100 $ 125
Pablo Escobar tour in Medellín € 25 $ 30
Nightclub entry fees in Medellín € 16 $ 20
Phone credit € 15 $ 19
Apple EarPods € 13 $ 16
Toiletries € 9 $ 11
Kitchen cleaning supplies € 5 $ 6
Key cutting € 3 $ 4
Laundry € 3 $ 4
iTunes movie rental: Jiro Dreams Of Sushi € 2 $ 3
Stamps € 1 $ 2
Total € 192 $ 240

Up a little from €161/$202 in October. The dues for the Irish Channel Club is so I can march in the Paddy’s Day parade with a bunch of friends once I’m back in New Orleans in March 🙂

Expense Summary

Housing and Utilities € 504 $ 630
Food and Drink € 264 $ 330
Miscellaneous expenses € 192 $ 240
Business Expenses € 164 $ 205
Books € 20 $ 25
Travel € 14 $ 18
Gifts and Donations € 12 $ 15
Total Expenses € 1,171
$ 1,463

Almost the same as October’s expense total of €1,147/$1,437. I’m pretty happy with that as my goal as stated in the previous report was to try keep my expenses under the $1.5k mark for the month.

November Income

Away from the minuses and on to the pluses…

Freelance web design € 2,320 $ 2,898
Book sales from Amazon € 60 $ 75
Reader donations (muchas gracias!) € 32 $ 40
Amazon affiliate income € 17 $ 21
Book sales: The Cargo Ship Diaries (direct from ebizfacts.com) € 14 $ 17
Total Income € 2,443
$ 3,051

Way up from last month’s income totals of €321/$402 🙂

(In case you’re wondering why I don’t have more than $5k listed under income, given that I succeeded in my $5k November goal, remember that the goal was to “win” $5k worth of business in November, which I did. I have a nice chunk of money coming to me in December as long as I follow through and complete all the work contracts I’ve secured.)

Biggest regret?

Nothing major. I could get picky and say I shouldn’t have spent some of that money on nightclub entry fees, since I rarely enjoy such places, but I’d consider only $5 of that $20 a waste, so no big deal.

Where that leaves me

I had €1,855/$2,323 to my name at the end of October. After applying the most recent exchange rates (I have accounts in EUR, HKD and USD), those totals shifted a little to€1,863/$2,326. Taking into account all my November income and expenditure, my total bank and cash balances now work out to €2,934/$3,664.

Here’s how I’m doing so far this year:

  • €891/$1,202 in January
  • €550/$759 in February
  • €1,105/$1,525 in March
  • €1,616/$2,241 in April
  • €1,394/$1,900 in May
  • €1,033/$1,412 in June
  • €780/$1,050 in July
  • €1,349/$1,771 in August
  • €876/$1,105 in September
  • €826/$1,035 in October
  • €1,272/$1,588 in November
  • €1,152/$1,564 overall

Outlook for December

Income-wise, I’ll be fine, since I already had a big paycheck come through at the beginning of the month. More of a challenge will be my expenses. I’ll have to drop about $500 on a sailboat trip from Colombia to Panama, and renew my travel insurance.

Also in December I’m planning to book my transatlantic passage for next year, so it will be an expensive month on the travel front. My goal will be to try keep total expenses under the $2k mark, which would give me a good chance of breaking even for the year, rather than finishing in the red.

Feedback welcome

Thoughts? Questions? Speak up in the comments below.

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...

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