Below you’ll find all my finance details for November 2018.
I was in Gran Canaria until the 3rd, spent a few days in Malaga, then arrived in Chiang Mai, Thailand on the 11th.
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 | € 4,507 | $ 5,100 |
| Total Expenses | € 2,626 | $ 2,972 |
| Profit/Loss | € 1,881 | $ 2,129 |
Income
| Freedom Business Builder 1 | € 1,965 | $ 2,224 |
| Consulting / Project Management 2 | € 1,541 | $ 1,744 |
| Coaching 3 | € 823 | $ 931 |
| Google Adsense payment 4 | € 79 | $ 89 |
| Patreon 5 | € 71 | $ 80 |
| Book sales (via Amazon) | € 20 | $ 23 |
| Cheap Flight Checklist 6 | € 8 | $ 9 |
| Total Income | € 4,507 |
$ 5,100 |
| Previous Month | € 3,212 | $ 3,655 |
I was aiming to pull in €3,500 in November, so did better than expected.
Expenses
Food & Drink
| Eating out | € 403 | $ 456 |
| Groceries | € 222 | $ 251 |
| Total | € 625 | $ 707 |
| Previous Month | € 397 | $ 452 |
Yup, that’s way more than I usually spend on food and drink. Most of that spending happened in Chiang Mai, which is renowned for cheap eats. I ended up eating out way more, and getting groceries from the closest supermarket is surprisingly expensive.
No complaints here though. I’m eating well and spending way less time buying groceries and preparing my own meals.
Housing & Utilities
| 1 month at Chiang Mai condo 7 | € 533 | $ 603 |
| Late check-in fee at Malaga Airbnb 8 | € 25 | $ 28 |
| Total | € 558 |
$ 631 |
| Previous Month | € 1,319 | $ 1,501 |
Health Care
| SafetyWing travel insurance 9 | € 32 | $ 36 |
| Chiropractor 10 | € 22 | $ 25 |
| Hospital check-up in Chiang Mai | € 21 | $ 24 |
| 1-hour Thai massage 11 | € 8 | $ 9 |
| Total | € 83 | $ 94 |
| Previous Month | € 67 | $ 76 |
Travel & Transport
| Flights: Bangkok (BKK) to Gran Canaria (LPA) 12 | € 340 | $ 385 |
| Flights: Amsterdam (AMS) to Bali (DPS) x2 13 | € 78 | $ 88 |
| Flight: Chiang Mai (CNX) to Bangkok (BKK) 14 | € 43 | $ 49 |
| Taxis in Malaga | € 42 | $ 48 |
| Taxis in Gran Canaria | € 23 | $ 26 |
| Taxis / tuktuks / songthaews in Chiang Mai | € 18 | $ 20 |
| Mobike 90 day access 15 | € 7 | $ 8 |
| Bus: Chiang Rai to Chiang Mai (x2) 16 | € 5 | $ 6 |
| Malaga metro | € 2 | $ 2 |
| Total | € 558 | $ 631 |
| Previous Month | € 353 | $ 402 |
Business Expenses
| Outsourcing 17 | € 391 | $ 442 |
| Gravity forms license 18 | € 52 | $ 59 |
| PayPal fees | € 37 | $ 42 |
| Hub 53 flexi plan (x3) 19 | € 30 | $ 34 |
| Internet installation in Chiang Mai condo | € 26 | $ 30 |
| SmarterQueue 20 | € 19 | $ 22 |
| Phone credit (Thailand, with SIM card) | € 15 | $ 17 |
| Phone credit (Europe) | € 15 | $ 17 |
| 1 month home Internet in Chiang Mai | € 14 | $ 16 |
| Zoom subscription 21 | € 13 | $ 15 |
| YouTube Premium 22 | € 11 | $ 12 |
| Virtual Post Mail 23 | € 9 | $ 10 |
| Patreon fees 24 | € 9 | $ 10 |
| TransferWise fees | € 6 | $ 7 |
| Gumroad fees | € 1 | $ 1 |
| Amazon Web Services (storage) 25 | € 1 | $ 1 |
| ActiveCampaign mailing list software 26 | € 0 | $ 0 |
| Google Drive storage (1TB) 27 | € 0 | $ 0 |
| Dreamhost web hosting 28 | € 0 | $ 0 |
| Elegant Themes 29 | € 0 | $ 0 |
| Teamwork project management software 30 | € 0 | $ 0 |
| MemberMouse 31 | € 0 | $ 0 |
| Total | € 650 |
$ 735 |
| Previous Month | € 968 | $ 1,102 |
Gifts & Donations
| Movember donation 32 | € 10 | $ 11 |
| Effective Altruism Fund 33 | € 9 | $ 10 |
| Monthly Love & Courage podcast donation 34 | € 5 | $ 6 |
| Flowers | € 4 | $ 5 |
| Patreon: The Blindboy Podcast 35 | € 3 | $ 3 |
| Patreon: The Waking Up podcast 36 | € 2 | $ 2 |
| Total | € 33 |
$ 37 |
| Previous Month | € 44 | $ 50 |
Books 37
| The Third Door ***** | € 12 | $ 14 |
| 5 Steps To Retire In 5 Years (unread) 38 | € 2 | $ 3 |
| Mistakes Were Made (But Not By Me) (reading) | € 2 | $ 3 |
| Total | € 17 |
$ 19 |
| Previous Month | € 24 | $ 28 |
Clothing
| Total | € 0 | $ 0 |
| Previous Month | € 48 | $ 55 |
Miscellaneous Expenses
| Household items 39 | € 25 | $ 28 |
| ATM fees | € 17 | $ 19 |
| AC Hotel rooftop terrace entry in Malaga 40 | € 16 | $ 18 |
| Toiletries | € 13 | $ 15 |
| Netflix subscription | € 11 | $ 12 |
| Currency exchange fee | € 9 | $ 10 |
| Monthly banking fees (Hong Kong bank) 41 | € 8 | $ 9 |
| Monthly banking fee (Dutch bank) | € 2 | $ 2 |
| Paper lantern 42 | € 1 | $ 1 |
| Laundry | € 1 | $ 1 |
| Total | € 103 |
$ 116 |
| Previous Month | € 156 | $ 178 |
Expense Summary
| Business Expenses | € 650 | $ 735 |
| Food & Drink | € 625 | $ 707 |
| Travel & Transport | € 558 | $ 631 |
| Housing & Utilities | € 558 | $ 631 |
| Miscellaneous Expenses | € 103 | $ 116 |
| Health Care | € 83 | $ 94 |
| Gifts & Donations | € 33 | $ 37 |
| Books | € 17 | $ 19 |
| Clothing | € 0 | $ 0 |
| Total Expenses | € 2,626 |
$ 2,972 |
| Previous Month | € 3,376 | $ 3,842 |
I was aiming to keep everything under €3,00 for the month, so quite happy overall.
Biggest Regret?
We probably should have paid a bit extra to rent a condo direct from the company that owns the building, rather than going through an agent. Saved ourselves about €80/month in rent (€240 overall for our 3-month stay), but we had to go buy a bunch of stuff for the place and get Internet installed ourselves. And now, any time there’s a problem, we have to call the agent instead of just calling into the office downstairs.
Sometimes saving a few bucks can cost you a lot of time, energy, and convenience :-/
2018 So Far
Here’s how I’m doing this 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 |
| Total | € 999 | $ 1,276 |
Where That Leaves Me
I had €12,148 / $13,823 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 €13,071 / $14,790. 43
Outlook For December
I’ll earn about €2,000 from my freelance work, and another €800 or so from payment plans on my course (unless there are a few refund requests). I don’t expect any other major income streams, so I’ll consider anything above €3,000 a decent month.
As for expenses, I may end up investing in a few things for my business but should be able to spend less than €2,500 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.
