These last few months have been an absolute whirlwind. I’ve had high highs and low lows since I started freelancing full-time at the end of July/beginning of August. Luckily my highs have far outweighed my lows.
I still have a burning excitement inside of me for my business every day. It’s rare that I ever take a whole day off. Part of that is because I have plenty of work to keep me busy every day. Another reason though is that I simply can’t shut my brain off that long and step away from my business for that long because business ideas, post topics, etc. are always running through my mind.
It takes a hard effort to take any real “time off” and Thanksgiving is the first time I’ve really taken off for more than a day or two since I started freelancing in July 2014. I took off Thursday-Sunday. A whole 4 days off! (Ok – I did check my email a couple of times, but only for about 20-30 minutes at two separate times.)
Even with a 4-day break for Thanksgiving, I still topped my income from October. Big time.
Want to know how I earned over $5,000 online in November? Here’s how:
My online income for November 2015: $5,062.21
Here is a breakdown of how I earned my money:
VA/Blog Management Services – $3,122.21
Writing – $1,680.00
Advertising on both my sites – $240.00
Bonuses, Tips, etc.- $20.00
For the first month ever, I’m also going to share my expenses with you guys.
I’ve been asked quite a bit lately about how high the overhead costs are on a business such as this. In order to be a bit more transparent about what it costs to run my business, I’m going to begin sharing my expenses with you. The expenses listed below are only what I pay out of my business account each month. You won’t see a charge for internet in the expenses below because that is something I would pay for even if I didn’t have an online business. (But yes, I do get to deduct most of it now that I have an online business.) So keep that in mind. 🙂
Staff Writer, VAs, Tech Services – $267.00
PayPal and Other Fees – $42.83
Computer Monitor – $97.86 – This is a one-time expense
Training – $57.45 – This is not a regularly recurring expense
Site Updates for My Other Website – $46.00 – This is a one-time expense
Total Expenses: $511.14
Income less Expenses: $4,551.07
November was my highest earning month yet and I crushed my goal of $3,700.
Last month I told you I was trying to narrow the focus of my business by cutting some clients to free up time for my own business and brand. I did cut a few clients and I also hired a bit of additional help for my site and business. The expense of that is not shown above as the first invoice was paid after December 1st. That expense will be reflected on my next report.
As always, you need to know that I don’t count my online income until the month it gets deposited into my account, so this is from some work at the end of October through about mid-November. I have made some more since then, but it will be included on my next report since it didn’t hit my account until December 1st (or later).
Remember, that my online income has not yet been taxed, which means that about 30% of what I make is going to be taken by Uncle Sam. That “expense” is not included in the net figure of $4,551.07 listed above. Additionally, I’m saving some of my income to be used for FINCON16 and other business expansion projects in the future.
I’m going to set my December income goal at $4,000. This will be my highest income goal yet.
I expect that December income will be down slightly due to the holidays and because I cut a couple of clients and received the last payment from them in November.
Here are my other online income reports to-date:
- October 2015 – $4,190.15
- September 2015 – $3,372.10
- August 2015 – $2,357
- July 2015 – $2,502.60 – Last month as a side hustle!
- June 2015 – $2,130.25
- May 2015 – $1,873.40
- April 2015 – $1,691.51
- March 2015 – $2,131
- February 2015 – $1,534
- January 2015 – $596
- December 2014 – $1,503.50
- November 2014 – $753
- October 2014 – $1,080
- September 2014 – $581
- August 2014 – $280
- July 2014 – $285
For kicks and giggles I decided to average my monthly online income for the 17 months I’ve been freelancing. Even with the smaller months at the very beginning, my average monthly online income (gross) is $1,877.81. My 12 month (gross) average is $2,411.98.
Did you make any online income in November? Is there anything else you’d like to know about how I run my business or make income online? Let me know, I’d love to help you out!
30 Comments
Way to go Kayla! You’re making great progress!
Thanks girl! I’m super excited about it. I was astounded that it was this high – I wasn’t expecting it!
Wow that’s awesome!!! Amazing job Kayla!
Thanks Tonya! The best part is that I’m still loving it everyday. 🙂
Thanks for showing us the real numbers. I also like that you use the actual money you received each month, not the anticipated money that may not come in for weeks. Good job!!
Thanks! Freelancing is definitely more difficult to time when payments will come in, so I didn’t think it would be fair to share information when I haven’t received payment yet. 🙂
Awesome job last month Kayla! Your doing an amazing job growing your freelance income especially with the VA work. I had a ton of expenses in November including renewing the hosting and domain registration for my blog since my hosting company was offering a black friday sale.
Thanks girl! I thought about renewing/extending hosting during their sale too, but mine wasn’t close to being up yet.
Congrats on a fabulous month, Kayla! I can relate to not being able to shut-off your brain. It’s both the good and part of freelancing. I’m always going to welcome good ideas but it took me some time to get to a point where I would allow myself to relax and let go. And I always find that get inspired at the weirdest times, like right before I want to go to bed! LOL!
I do too! I get my best ideas when I’m trying to relax to go to sleep or when I’m in the shower. Another time I’m always inspired it when I’m working out and blogging isn’t even on my mind until an idea hits me.
You’re doing amazing and I’m really proud of you, Kayla! It’s hard for me to shut-off work too, but the girls really help. When they want my attention, they are going to make sure they get it! 🙂 As they absolutely should and I’m happy to give it to them too. Most new business owners go through a period where their mind (and lives) are solely focused on their work. Balance doesn’t happen automatically but with time, it can happen.
Thanks Shannon! I have been taking a little time off every afternoon to play with my dogs and take one of them (alternating which one everyday) for a walk. It’s a nice routine!
Great job Kayla!! Keep up the good work 🙂
Thanks Michelle! 🙂
Congrats on making so much this month and thank you for the breakdown! I always wondered how PF bloggers are able to make $5,000 or more every month. It’s helpful to know that these numbers are gross incomes before taxes.
I want to start side hustling hardcore next year and would love to make VA work a big part of my side hustling. Do you think you can write a post in the future on how you started doing virtual assistant work or do you have one in your archives you can share?
Hi Gina! Thanks for the suggestion, I will make sure to write a post about it soon. 🙂 I’m glad to know you are interested.
Wow, great job, Kayla!
Long time reader, first time commenter here. I’ve been reading your story since you were featured on Girl Meets Debt (Anyone else miss that blog?). So awesome to see how far you’ve come along. I finally gave in and started my own blog. Obviously, it’s nothing really at this point, but I have to start somewhere. My next goal is to get into freelancing, but that will take time I’m sure.
I totally miss GMD’s blog. 🙁 I’m happy to hear from you and I can’t believe you’ve been reading that long in silence. 🙂 Having a blog has been totally life changing for me and I hope it’s helped you some too. If you have any questions about freelancing, don’t be afraid to reach out!
Congratulations, Kayla!!!! This is so encouraging – you are killing it!!! Thank you for being so transparent! If you don’t mind me asking, what is your other site? Is it personal finance or something completely unrelated? Is it time-consuming? haha, so many questions. I’m wanting to start a second site but am a little afraid of the time commitment involved…
Hope you have a wonderful day!!! Congratulations again!!
I actually bought it in May and have done literally nothing with it – I’ve posted on it like maybe 2-3 times. It’s a finance site. I’m actually working with a team of other PF bloggers to do a podcast on it now. We are planning to launch in January. 🙂
Wow Kayla. I am amazed with your online income. I wish I could make as much as $1,680.00 from writing. Congrats!
Thanks Jayson!
Oh wow, you crushed it! Congrats! I have a hard time shutting things down too. My brain feels like it’s always working and I feel like all my spare time should be spent working. I haven’t quite figured out the life/balance thing yet, but so far I actually don’t mind the imbalance.
I don’t mind the imbalance most of the time either because I’m loving what I’m doing with my business right now. 🙂
I love your income reports! They really make me feel like if I ever wanted to go full time with this – I could probably make it. Congrats on destroying your goals!!
Thanks Mel! I’m pretty pumped about the progress I’ve made in the last few months.
WOohoo! Way to kick it, Kayla! Keep up the great work!
Thanks Laurie!! 🙂
Fantastic progress Kayla! Your income reports are so inspiring! 🙂
Thanks Hayley! I’m pretty excited about it. 🙂