Cash Money: $6,650 in April Income and Blog Updates

Cash Money $6,650 in April Income and Blog Updates - picture of notebook with pencil and cup of coffee

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Before I get started on my monthly income update, I want everyone to take a moment to look at the picture of my garage on the left.  That, my friends, is the garage of my dreams.  It’s clean.  It’s organized.  It’s the envy of the neighborhood.  Well, maybe not.  But it does look good, right?  It isn’t fancy, but it is functional.  I like it.

Having a big ol’ garage sale also made it possible to get rid of the boxes of junk and baby stuff that I no longer need.  I also made around $225 for my efforts.  Winning!DSCF3404

 

Anyway, back to my income update.  Several people have asked me why I post them to begin with.  Am I trying to cater to the nosiest among us?  Am I bragging?  No.  I provide income updates as inspiration for the many bloggers and writers who want to quit their 9-5 job and work as a freelance writer.  Moving on…

Cash Money Update

The total amount of cash money I grossed as a self-employed goddess in April was……*drumroll, please*

 $6,650

This total includes all of the money that I made from my various streams of income:

  • Credit Card Sales
  • Consulting
  • Freelance writing
  • Affiliate advertising
  • Ghost Writing

Please remember that I make the majority of my income from a variety of freelance writing jobs, not my blog.  If you’re interested in learning how to get freelance writing jobs, please check out this post:

How To Get Freelance Writing Jobs 

Expenses

Unfortunately, my expenses were a beast this month, but it’s only because we’ve been investing in writing for our other website.  The fact is, I cannot do all of the writing for two websites and complete all of my freelance writing jobs.  And since Greg works 9-5, he can’t do it either.  Here is a basic rundown of our expenses from April:

  • Staff Writing: $320
  • Blog Hosting: $12
  • Internet $50

Well, I guess that isn’t so bad.

Planning for the Next Few Months

April was a fairly lucrative month, although it’s partly because I received a few large payments that I’ve been waiting on forever.  I like it when that happens.  On the other hand, I expect my May income to be down quite a bit.  I just finished a few writing projects that I’ve been working on, and I don’t have anything else in the works. I also have 7 vacation days planned for this month (including a couple that I took in Florida at the beginning of this month).  That always hurts.  But life goes on, and there’s always next month, right?

In other news, I leave for Las Vegas today at 5:00 p.m. EST and I am stoked.  Woot!  I’m also happy to report that I earned enough myVEGAS rewards points to get vouchers for four free buffets. That’s lunch for two days, folks.  And since our hotel offers a continental breakfast, that means we’ll only be on the hook for dinner.  I have already scoped out the fast food joints in the vicinity of where we’re staying, and it looks like there are plenty.  Besides, I want to spend our evenings having fun- not sitting in some stuffy restaurant.  I can do that at home.

Want to read a few of my posts from this week?  You know you do.

How was your income in April?  Any exciting news coming up?

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53 Comments

  1. Expenses of $382 are pretty low for $6k+ in income, most business owners would kill for those margins!

    1. Yeah, I know. I’m just totally spoiled! When I don’t pay for writing, my expenses are less than $100 per month!

  2. Nice job in April Holly! Thank you for posting these updates, it does inspire me to know what’s possible and what others can do. Have a great weekend!

  3. I wish my garage was that clean! We are working on it every weekend, but we have a lot of junk. I want to get into freelance writing for some of the popular finance websites. I’m in the process, but it’s hard to find the time to write for my blog, guest post and freelance write for websites. Great article! I’m going to read your post on freelance writing.

    1. I had a lot of junk in boxes too. Thankfully, most of it was sold in the garage sale. After that, I gave away my garage sale “leftovers” to someone who was having some sort of fundraising garage sale.

  4. Woohoo! As someone who has played myVegas slots quite a bit, it’s no small feat to get enough to buy buffets if you started the game relatively late (which I think you only started a little over a month ago? Maybe two?) Enjoy the trip!

    1. Yeah, I really went for it!

      I played under Greg’s name too. He ended up with 20K points and me with 40K.
      This is how I redeemed them:

      Holly:
      30K points for 2 free lunches at Excalibur buffet
      10K for one free lunch at Luxor

      Greg:
      10K for one free lunch at Luxor
      10K for B1G1 meal at Monte Carlo

      Not sure if we’ll use the b1g1 at Monte Carlo but that is where our friends are staying.

      1. Monte Carlo Buffet has all you can drink wine, beer and champagne. Could be a good B1G1 to use.

  5. I am always baffled when I see people with a garage and no cars parked in it. For most people, their car is their second most expensive “asset” and they just leave it outside to keep some junk in their garage…

    We are lucky to have one of those massive 1950’s garages where we can fit two cars, my motorcycle (anyone want to buy a motorcycle?), a snowblower, a lawn mower, a generator, an air compressor and lots of other tools!

    1. I know, right? I don’t mind so much in the Spring, but there is no way I would park outside when it’s cold or snowing.

  6. I appreciate you sharing, you certainly inspire me. I’m in that place where I’m writing for so many other sites that I’m actually considering hiring for my own, but I’m just not bringing in enough income from the site to do that yet. I feel like it’s a hard time/money reality to navigate.

    1. That’s a hard spot- been there!
      Just keep at it and I’m sure the decision will be easier in a few months.

  7. Nice work on the garage! I’m definitely envious. 🙂 Our garage looks like some massive dumpster just exploded crap all over it. Nice work for April and feel you on the writing for the other site. That has driven my expenses up a little as well, but I like my sleep too much. 🙂 Have fun in Vegas!

    1. I like my sleep too much too. I basically worked two jobs forever (until I could quit my 9-5) and I don’t really want to go back to those days.

  8. I just had a garage sale and mine isn’t that clean! Then again, we are moving, so crap is everywhere.

    Another good month for you Holly! Keep it up.

  9. Have fun in Vegas. What would you do if you seriously won like $100,000 on a slot machine?

  10. I think my May might be down a little bit too because although I’ve been working my butt off, I don’t think a lot of the checks will roll in until June. ergh! Have fun in Vegas!

    1. That happens to me a lot. Sometimes I don’t get paid for 30 or 60 days and it messes up my cashflow!

  11. I really enjoy your blog, it’s one of the first that I read each morning. I was wondering what your other blog was though, is it also a personal finance type blog?

  12. What a great month! But even more exciting is that clean garage! haha I know how great that must have felt.

    Do you have any procedures in place to help stabilize your income when you are not able to be there?

    1. No, and I don’t really need to. Since my budget is based on our monthly income, it doesn’t really matter *when* the money rolls in. It just matters that it does =)

      1. That makes sense. So a variable budget for a variable income?

        1. I actually pay myself a salary based on what my budget is for any particular month. All of my earnings go into my business check and I write myself a check at the first of the month for whatever I need. That’s why it doesn’t matter so much. Good months and bad months balance each other out.

          1. I like that strategy! I’m getting ready to become a solopreneur and trying to figure out how I will budget each month. I like this strategy for sure.

          2. That’s awesome. You can do it!!!

            My advice is to let your business fund grow for a while before you break out on your own. Then start paying yourself the minimum salary you can get by on. It’s a good strategy for a few reasons. First, it lets the good months balance out the bad ones without too much pain. Second, it helps you learn to live within the amount you “pay yourself.” Third, it allows you to have a regular paycheck that you will eventually be able to rely on.

  13. That is a nice looking garage! Hooray for space. You are right – there is always next month, and I am sure you’ll find ways to make up for it. Have fun in Vegas!!

  14. Love the clean garage – definitely a good way to start the spring/summer, though unlike you I definitely don’t have the patience for garage sales. I’d much rather just give it away than deal with random people nitpicking all day.

  15. Davey Pockets says:

    How do you make so much money blogging? I have started one of my own and have read lots of success stories like yours I just seem to be missing the boat somewhere?

    1. Affiliate income, credit card sales, Google adsense. The rest of my income is from freelance writing!

  16. That’s a nice chunk of change. My April was a few hundred shy of yours, but my May is looking amazing. I think I’ve already passed last month’s income!!! I’m working on the blogger BBQ which is pretty exciting, but other than that, laying low and working hard!

  17. Your garage looks great, Holly! I admit that ours is pretty neat but my husband is a bit of a minimalist so a messy garage would drive him nuts. Okay, it might bother me too! I guess he has rubbed off on me! LOL! Have a great time in Vegas and I can’t wait to hear all the details. 🙂

  18. I’ve been to the buffet at the Excalibur, prepare to roll yourselves out after!
    Have fun!

  19. Have an awesome time in Vegas, guys!!! Had to laugh at that pic of your garage. I just found a strange file on our computer entitled “Rick’s garage”. In it was a picture of a pristinely clean and organized garage. 🙂 Sigh. One day. 🙂

  20. Congrats on your April income and I can’t wait to hear about your Vegas adventures, especially the free buffets and stay at the Travelodge.

  21. Wow! I’m shocked. These numbers are astounding. Well done! I’m looking to do some freelance writing over the summer months. If you’re looking for anyone… 😉

    Keep up the fantastic earnings! Really inspiring to see.

  22. Congratulations on the income and the garage! I hate cleaning out the garage. It is on eof the only things I procrastinate about.

  23. Lisa E. @ Lisa vs. the Loans says:

    I love these monthly income updates! They are definitely inspiring.

  24. Congrats on your income, it’s a really nice sum and you have all the reasons to be proud with it! You’re doubling that up with that fresh & clean garage, so it’s certainly going great. Keep it up!

  25. Holly, I have just discovered your blog. I’ve been following your articles on FTG and really enjoy them. I must say, I am really impressed by how versatile of a writer you are. I’ve read some of your work on Get Rich Slowly, and the style and tone could not have been more different from FTG posts. Almost like it was written by a different person.
    Anyway, congrats on your income. That number is insane! I’m sure, lots of hard work got you where you are now.

    1. Hey, thanks! I really appreciate that! I swear it’s all me! =)

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  27. As a writer who has done $1,200 last month and working hard to make even more, this is very inspirational. Thanks!

  28. Our garage is always a huge uphill battle. Yours looks great! So much space! To NOT put stuff in, haha. You had a great month, again. I’m glad you recognize that you can’t do it all; when I hired a writer for one of my sites it took so much pressure off of me!

  29. I really enjoyed reading this. How much of your income comes from writing gigs? Are you looking to make more money from the blog or are you quite happy with the writing? Congrats – you have a really great income/expense ratio that most people would envy 🙂

  30. Wish I had a garage, would save a lot of money in storage fees. I’m sure it’s really hard to take time when you’re self-employed. Hoping you enjoy and enjoyed (just saw the Vegas post) all of those days and actually took some time for yourself.

  31. Loving your blog. Very honest and simple with some great ideas
    Will definately pass on to some of my blogging friends for a read

    Ged

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