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October 2016 Expenses and Blog Income

December 2, 2016 by Jennifer 10 Comments

Well, I’m writing October’s expense and income report on the last day of November, so I’m going with not quite behind on this post even though tomorrow is December 1st, which is just CRAZINESS! Between house projects, an early December birthday, and Christmas, we’re going to have to really buckle down this month.

Before I go any further though, I want to address the fact that we are in fact getting presents for our early December birthday baby, even after the article I wrote about the no gift birthday party movement. He is turning 2, which means he is still exploring what toys he likes and doesn’t like. He could use a little refresher in the toy bins, and most of the toys he plays with now are toys he got from his birthday party last year.

This April, however, will be a different story. Our daughter will be turning 6 and she is very excited for her present-free birthday party. She wants it to be animal themed, and suggest that if people feel like they want to bring something, they can bring pet food to donate to the shelter.

On to the report… Before I get into October’s expenses, I want to remind you this was a FIVE week month. That’s an extra week of grocery shopping, and that’s an extra week of Target shopping. By the way we are 100% over our little “break” we had a few months ago and seeing each other full time again.

Now that you’re warned, here we go!

FOOD EXPENSES:

  • TRADER JOE’S – $720 (I warned you last month this number would be much higher)
  • OTHER GROCERY – $255 (I’m impressed with this one, it’s lower than last month even with the extra week. Good job hubby!)

GROCERY  – $975

EATING OUT –  $404 (Again, less than last month’s short month)

I will say, if you remember in the past I mentioned my husband would be taking on a route closer to home, meaning he could come home for lunch. Well that happened, and he did, which the “Other Grocery” and “Eating Out” reflects. But he will actually be going back to his old route where he can’t come home anymore. So we’ll see exactly how that affects that number next month.

FOOD TOTAL – $1,379

A little over $300 more than last month.

SHOPPING EXPENSES: 

  • ZULILY – Zip, zilch, zero!
  • COSTCO – I had to quadruple check this one, but it’s a zero
  • WALMART – Nothin’
  • AMAZON – $197
  • TARGET – $565 (Don’t judge, remember I said we were doing some home projects? Apparently I got everything from Target.)
  • HONEST COMPANY – $0
  • REI – $0

SHOPPING TOTAL – $762

Whelp, if this whole accountability thing isn’t helping my finances, then hopefully I’m at least making you feel better about yours.

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.)
  • BLUEHOST – $103 (It’s crazy to think that I’ve been doing this for almost a year, and my hosting renewal was up already!
  • BLOGGING ON THE SIDE – $15 (This one’s kind of a long story… It’s a private online group forum that I was accepted as a Beta Tester for the first month, then got a discounted monthly rate after that. So far I haven’t seen a benefit but I don’t want to lose the discounted rate, so I’m going to stick it out for a few more months. Stay tuned.)

BLOG EXPENSE TOTAL – $139

This number can be especially discouraging. I’m still holding out hope that within the next year I will at least be equaling the expenses with income.

TOTAL EXPENSES – $2,280

Blog Income:

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 ways 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, Bluehost is a great place to begin, and if you use this link it’s only $2.95/month.)

  • GOOGLE ADSENSE – $3.53
  • IZEA – $1 (Woo hoo!)
  • AMAZON – $2.07 (Next month you’ll see a decent uptick in this number.)
  • 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.)

TOTAL BLOG INCOME – $6.60

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.

As always, thanks for stopping by and checking out this roller coaster I’m on.

October 2016 Expenses and Blog Income Report

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Filed Under: Blog Expense & Income Reports Tagged With: expense, finances, income, income report

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Comments

  1. Elizabeth Ann says

    December 7, 2016 at 3:07 pm

    Really enjoyed this breakdown. I always read blog income reports in the thousands and immediately get discouraged. It is just nice to see a report that is totally doable. This was really encouraging to me! Thanks for posting this. Elizabeth Ann // www.lovedoinglife.com
    Reply
    • Jennifer says

      December 7, 2016 at 5:08 pm

      Haha, yes I would TOTALLY say averaging $3/month is doable. I'm working towards much more than than but it sure takes a lot of time!
      Reply
  2. Beth Patterson says

    December 7, 2016 at 9:13 pm

    I think your daughter's birthday celebration will be amazing! You must be so proud of her compassion! I have been thinking about Tailwind, but haven't made up my mind yet.
    Reply
    • Jennifer says

      December 8, 2016 at 9:00 am

      I'm most excited that she's excited about it! I wasn't sure about Tailwind either, but I've definitely noticed a huge increase in traffic and Pinterest followers by using it.
      Reply
  3. Vincent Carabeo says

    December 8, 2016 at 2:26 am

    What's the biggest benefit from Tailgate?! Would love to do a trial but any tips and info from you would be really helpful :)
    Reply
    • Jennifer says

      December 8, 2016 at 9:01 am

      I was a little skeptical at first about Tailwind, but once I started using it to schedule out a bunch of pins over the next few weeks, it freed up a lot of time and I definitely see an increase in traffic and Pinterest followers from it!
      Reply
  4. Catherine Short says

    December 8, 2016 at 7:57 am

    I need to start tracking my blog expenses more regularly. They aren't crazy high but it's always best to know where your money is going!
    Reply
    • Jennifer says

      December 8, 2016 at 9:02 am

      That's kind of what I thought too, Catherine. I could see the expenses adding up quickly if I wasn't tracking them.
      Reply
  5. Shannon says

    December 8, 2016 at 8:47 am

    This is a great post and I imagine it really is great for accountability! I am on the slow and steady pace with ya ;) Shannon Clothes & Quotes
    Reply
    • Jennifer says

      December 8, 2016 at 10:34 pm

      Haha, yeah I'm hoping it will win me "some" sort of race:)
      Reply

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Welcome, I'm Jen! I'm here to offer realistic (sometimes semi-green) parenting, eating, and homemaking tips so that you can embrace life and let go of perfection. Because if I can do it, you can do it! Get to know more of Jen →

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