This is it. The last month of the year. The one year anniversary of when I started this blog (even though it didn’t go live until January). A lot has changed in the last year. And while the numbers may not be too impressive, I’m really proud of where The Search for Imperfection is heading.
A lot of people don’t “get” this blogging thing. And that’s fine, they don’t have to. But it is the best creative outlet ever! Why? because I’m not pigeonholed into doing one particular thing. I love helping others see that reality isn’t perfect. But who cares as long as you’re enjoying it.
Blogging lets me plan an awesome party, and share how easy it was to put together. Or create a delicious meal, and give step-by-step instructions on how to replicate it. Or figure out the easiest, laziest ways to be a semi-green/eco-friendly parent, and fill you in on the secrets. Because honestly, I was NOT born to do these things. So if I can do them, anyone can.
But I digress. This journey all began when my current “day job” was on the line… yet again. At the time, starting a blog seemed like an easy back up plan. HA! All I can say is it’s a good thing my “day job” has made a turn for the better. Not only is blogging itself extremely time consuming, but monetizing it is a whole other story.
I’m so glad I documented the journey starting from the beginning in January 2016. It may not seem like much progress was made. In fact, if you do the math I’m pretty sure the business ran at a pretty big loss all year. But if there was ever one thing about me that’s consistent in life, it’s stubbornness.
All that said, I’m more motivated than ever to continue along this path, and share my findings with you as I go. Please don’t hesitate to ask any questions you may have in the comments below. Though I haven’t reached the numbers I need yet, I have learned a LOT of things along the way.
Now on to the good stuff.
FOOD EXPENSES:
- TRADER JOE’S – $442 (Whopping $2 less than November… WIN!!!)
- OTHER GROCERY – $201 (Teeny bit more than last month, but not much.)
GROCERY – $643
EATING OUT – $441 (A little over $100 more than last month. This number includes my afternoon coffee addiction, even though I try really hard to use this strategy.)
FOOD TOTAL – $1,084
SHOPPING EXPENSES:
- ZULILY – Still holding strong at $0!
- COSTCO -$102 (I’d say that’s a huge win for TWO Costco trips… I dare you to get out of there for under a hundo.)
- WALMART – $68 (Evil necessities)
- AMAZON – $266 (I know it seems like forever ago, but remember this was Christmas.)
- TARGET – $372 (Christmas shopping!!!)
- HONEST COMPANY – $0
- REI – $0
SHOPPING TOTAL – $808
Whelp, if this whole accountability thing isn’t helping my finances, then hopefully I’m at least making you feel better about yours. Keep in mind this was Christmas shopping and STILL less than last month.
BLOG EXPENSES:
I figured it was probably time to start factoring in my blog expenses, since I am incurring some on a monthly basis. It’s hard to look at this and not get discouraged, but I know it’s leading to greater things. I realize I say that every month, but if you look at what professional bloggers are spending this really isn’t that much.
- PIC MONKEY – $5
- IZEA – $1
- ADVERTISING – $0
- TAILWIND – $15 (I’m really starting to see the benefits from this which is exciting. It’s amazing how much more traffic Pinterest brings to the site.)
- DROPBOX – $11 (I was starting to run out of space on my phone, my computer, my Dropbox, so I had to upgrade.)
- ELITE BLOG ACADEMY – $499 (This may seem extreme. It may seem ridiculous (in fact I don’t think I ever told my husband how much it was). But look at my traffic for December below. December is supposed to be the best month, and I peaked at 206 page views in a day. Sneak peak into 2017, January traffic more than tripled for the month, and February is on track to almost quintuple. These are due to strategies I’ve only started implementing from the intro to the course. I can’t wait to keep you posted over the next few months to see how this investment pans out!)
BLOG EXPENSE TOTAL – $531
PS – I did not pay for the Elite Blog Academy course all at once, but I’m only going to put it in this one income report.
TOTAL EXPENSES – $2,423
Blog Income Report:
And now on to the BLOG INCOME portion. If this is your first time reading, you may be wondering why I’m talking about income as well… Some day I hope to earn serious mula on this thing. While I am still a VERY long way away from that, I wanted to keep track from the beginning to help see what’s working and what’s not. So in the interest of budgeting, full disclosure, and full accountability, I invite you to follow along on my progress. (By the way if you are also interested in starting your own website, I’m using the Genesis theme on WordPress called Foodie Pro, and Bluehost is a great place to go for hosting. If you use this link it’s only $2.95/month.)
- GOOGLE ADSENSE – $2.74 (I almost got rid of AdSense ads until January hit. Stay tuned to find out why I’m keeping them for now.)
- IZEA – $0 (They have not been working out for me lately. I was going to cancel but it’s only $1 per month)
- AMAZON – $5.81 (This was from CPM ads, not affiliate sales)
- TARGET – $0
- THE HONEST COMPANY – $0
- ETSY – $0
- ZULILY – $0
- BLUEHOST – $0
- LIFE WITHOUT PLASTIC – $0 (This is a really cool website I found when researching 19 Non-Plastic Gifts for Kids that has TONS of eco-friendly items on there.)
- AFFILIATE WINDOW – $0
TOTAL BLOG INCOME – $8.55
Still working on the slow and steady wins the race adage. I always wish I had more time to spend on here, but I’m loving every minute I do get.
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