Below you’ll find all my finance details for December 2018.
I spent most of the month in Chiang Mai, Thailand, except for a quick visa run to Myanmar and an overnight stay in Chiang Rai.
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 | € 2,852 | $ 3,278 |
Total Expenses | € 2,693 | $ 3,095 |
Profit/Loss | € 159 | $ 183 |
Income
Consulting / Project Management 1 | € 2,018 | $ 2,319 |
Freedom Business Builder 2 | € 717 | $ 824 |
Patreon 3 | € 94 | $ 108 |
Book sales (via Amazon) | € 23 | $ 26 |
Total Income | € 2,852 |
$ 3,278 |
Previous Month | € 4,507 | $ 5,100 |
I was aiming to pull in €3,000 in December. Fell a little short of that.
Expenses
Food & Drink
Eating out | € 318 | $ 365 |
Groceries | € 145 | $ 167 |
Total | € 463 |
$ 532 |
Previous Month | € 625 | $ 707 |
Eating out is very cheap in Chiang Mai but I do so at least two times per day. It’s actually more expensive to buy groceries and cook your own meals, but I also like to do that occasionally. I also spend quite a bit on coffee.
Housing & Utilities
1 month at Chiang Mai condo 4 | € 536 | $ 616 |
1 night at Chiang Rai hotel 5 | € 24 | $ 28 |
Electricity bill, Chiang Mai condo | € 18 | $ 21 |
Total | € 578 |
$ 664 |
Previous Month | € 558 | $ 631 |
Health Care
SafetyWing travel insurance 6 | € 33 | $ 38 |
1-hour Thai massage | € 16 | $ 18 |
Cough medicine | € 3 | $ 3 |
Total | € 52 |
$ 60 |
Previous Month | € 83 | $ 94 |
Travel & Transport
Taxis / tuktuks / songthaews in Chiang Mai | € 17 | $ 20 |
Myanmar visa run fee | € 9 | $ 10 |
Taxis in Chiang Rai | € 5 | $ 6 |
Songthaew in Mae Sai | € 1 | $ 1 |
Total | € 33 |
$ 37 |
Previous Month | € 558 | $ 631 |
Business Expenses
Outsourcing 7 | € 727 | $ 836 |
Ahrefs subscription 8 | € 162 | $ 186 |
Nomad Summit ticket 9 | € 105 | $ 121 |
Astra Pro WordPress theme 10 | € 51 | $ 59 |
Sendy mailing list software 11 | € 51 | $ 59 |
Dreamhost domains | € 44 | $ 51 |
Hub 53 flexi plan (x4) 12 | € 41 | $ 47 |
Elementor Pro 13 | € 34 | $ 39 |
SmarterQueue 14 | € 19 | $ 22 |
Phone credit | € 18 | $ 21 |
1 month home Internet in Chiang Mai | € 14 | $ 16 |
Zoom subscription 15 | € 13 | $ 15 |
Patreon fees 16 | € 13 | $ 14 |
PayPal fees | € 12 | $ 14 |
YouTube Premium 17 | € 10 | $ 12 |
Virtual Post Mail 18 | € 9 | $ 10 |
TransferWise fees | € 8 | $ 9 |
Amazon Web Services (storage) 19 | € 1 | $ 1 |
Upwork fees | € 1 | $ 1 |
Google Drive storage (1TB) 20 | € 0 | $ 0 |
Dreamhost web hosting 21 | € 0 | $ 0 |
Teamwork project management software 22 | € 0 | $ 0 |
Total | € 1,334 |
$ 1,533 |
Previous Month | € 650 | $ 735 |
Gifts & Donations
Flowers | € 16 | $ 18 |
Effective Altruism Fund 23 | € 9 | $ 10 |
Monthly Love & Courage podcast donation 24 | € 5 | $ 6 |
Patreon: The Waking Up podcast | € 4 | $ 4 |
SamHarris.or subscription 25 | € 4 | $ 4 |
Patreon: The Blindboy Podcast 26 | € 3 | $ 3 |
Total | € 40 |
$ 46 |
Previous Month | € 33 | $ 37 |
Books 27
Kindle Unlimited promotion 28 | € 1 | $ 1 |
The Millionaire Fastlane (reading) 29 | € 0 | $ 0 |
Crime and Punishment (reading) 30 | € 0 | $ 0 |
Total | € 1 |
$ 1 |
Previous Month | € 17 | $ 19 |
Clothing
8 t-shirts | € 52 | $ 59 |
Bata shoes | € 24 | $ 28 |
7 pairs of socks | € 11 | $ 13 |
Total | € 87 | $ 99 |
Previous Month | € 0 | $ 0 |
Miscellaneous Expenses
Bed sheets 31 | € 48 | $ 55 |
Toiletries | € 20 | $ 23 |
Netflix subscription | € 11 | $ 13 |
Quarterly banking fee (Irish bank) | € 9 | $ 10 |
Monthly banking fees (Hong Kong bank) 32 | € 8 | $ 9 |
Cinema: Aquaman | € 4 | $ 5 |
Insect spray | € 2 | $ 2 |
Monthly banking fee (Dutch bank) | € 2 | $ 2 |
White Temple entry in Chiang Rai | € 1 | $ 2 |
Wrapping paper and tape | € 1 | $ 1 |
Total | € 106 |
$ 122 |
Previous Month | € 103 | $ 116 |
Expense Summary
Business Expenses | € 1,334 | $ 1,533 |
Food & Drink | € 463 | $ 532 |
Travel & Transport | € 33 | $ 37 |
Housing & Utilities | € 578 | $ 664 |
Miscellaneous Expenses | € 106 | $ 122 |
Health Care | € 52 | $ 60 |
Gifts & Donations | € 40 | $ 46 |
Books | € 1 | $ 1 |
Clothing | € 87 | $ 99 |
Total Expenses | € 2,693 |
$ 3,093 |
Previous Month | € 2,626 | $ 2,972 |
I was aiming to keep everything under €2,500 for the month, so I went a bit overboard. Definitely underestimated business expenses.
Biggest Regret?
Bugs me to buy stuff for our condo in Chiang Mai – like those bedsheets – that I know we’ll have to leave behind in February. Hopefully the owner of the condo will pay something towards those expenses, but she’s under no obligation to.
Also, in hindsight I don’t believe I needed to buy the pro version of the Astra WordPress theme. The free version probably would have done me just fine.
2018 In Review
Here’s how did the whole year in terms of profit and loss:
January | € 2,466 | $ 3,070 |
February | € 4,384 | $ 5,346 |
March | € 908 | $ 1,107 |
April | € 3,594 | $ 4,337 |
May | € 1,085 | $ 1,266 |
June | € 1,886 | $ 2,204 |
June | € 1,197 | $ 1,398 |
August | € 3,825 | $ 4,440 |
September | € 919 | $ 1,066 |
October | € 164 | $ 187 |
November | € 1,881 | $ 2,129 |
December | € 159 | $ 183 |
Total | € 1,158 | $ 1,459 |
I haven’t added up all the numbers exactly, but I earned approximately €59,800 for the year, and spent about €58,600. That’s more than I’ve ever earned and spent in a year.
On the one hand, I feel good about earning more than ever. On the other, it’s not great that I saved almost nothing. At the same time, I had a great year in terms of experiences, and I see the $16,000+ I spent on coaching as an investment (only I’m not sure of the ROI on that just yet).
Where That Leaves Me
I had €13,071 / $14,790 to my name at the end of November.
Taking into account all my December 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 €12,570 / $14,446. 33
Outlook For January
I’ll earn about €2,200 from my freelance work, and another €600 or so from payment plans on my course. I don’t expect any other major income streams, maybe some affiliate stuff here and there, so I’ll consider anything above €3,000 a decent month.
As for expenses, I’ll be vacationing in Vietnam for a week and I’ll likely end up investing in a few more things for my business. I also have a couple of big annual expenses coming up. I’ll probably end up spending around €3,000 total.
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.
Always an interesting read!
I loved Crime and Punishment when I read it.
Cheers
Joe