How Much Money I Made In August From Blogging
August was not a great month for Inspired Budget, but certainly not a bad one either. After following up a month where I made more than $5,000 I knew that it would be tough to even get close to recreating that income. Especially in August. In fact, I actually brought in more money in August than I anticipated. I started teaching full time after a restful (and super productive) summer off. I knew that I would not be able to put in as much time on Inspired Budget as I wanted. Regardless, if you have ever wondered what a blogger makes or what their actual expenses are, I’m sharing it all here in my blog income report!
Why I’m writing a blog income report.
Before I give you all the juicy numbers, I want to take a moment to explain exactly why I’m writing a blog income report. It’s an odd thing to write and you may be wondering why on Earth I’m willing to share this information. Well, let me tell you that I’m pretty much an open book (sometimes to a fault) so I’m going to give you all the details. I’ve listed out several reasons why I decided to publish the income that I make from my blog.
- I want to be able to look back years from now and see where I started. We all have a beginning and I feel like I’m still in the beginning stages of this business (even though I’m 1 year in). Of course, I hope to continue to produce an income from Inspired Budget and I hope that income grows over time.
- I want others to know that it’s possible to blog as a side hustle. So often people need extra income to pay off debt and save money. I’ve been there and I sometimes wonder if we could have become debt free sooner if I had started this blog 5 years ago.
- Ultimately, I want to inspire others to go for their dreams! After originally thinking about starting a blog, I gave myself a hard time. All the doubts flooded my mind. What if no one wants to read my work? What if I never made a dime? I’m so thankful that I ignored my insecurities and went for my goals! I hope you too can reach your goal and kick your insecurities to the curb! So this post is also to inspire you to start a blog of your own if that is your goal!
Some quick disclaimers!
One of my goals is to be transparent with all my readers. I want to tell you how this blog is running and I never want to hide something or lead you to believe something that is not true. For that reason, I’m going to set some disclaimers here about my income.
- The income that I am sharing today is only what has cleared my bank account in August.
- I was not able to recreate my July income because summer ended and as a teacher, my August is crazy hectic. If you are a teacher (or know someone who is) then you know just how exhausting the month of August can be! With that said, I’m still very proud of how much I earned in August.
- Earning an income from blogging takes time. This is definitely not a get rich quick attempt! During the school year when I’m working as a full-time teacher, I am putting in anywhere from 10-15 hours each week on my blog. During the summer I was working on Inspired Budget for 30-35 hours each week. The good news is that I’m doing something that I generally love, so the time goes by fast and it doesn’t feel like a chore!
Okay, so on to the good part!
Here’s the information that you really came for! During August 2018 I made $1,417.72 from blogging. Not my best month, but not bad seeing as I was not able to focus as much of my time and attention on Inspired Budget in August. I’ve broken down my income for you below:
- My products: $1,353.62 This includes income earned from my Budget Better Than Ever Online Course as well as my Budget Binder Bundle. I made most of my sales directly from my website, but I still made a small percentage of sales on Etsy.
- Siteground: $50 Siteground paid me $50 as an affiliate for recommending their services! I love that all I had to do was share information about Siteground on a blog post to make an extra $50.
- Amazon Affiliate Program: $14.10 I don’t want to promote too many products online seeing as my entire blog is about saving money, but I do share deals here and there. I never get a ton from Amazon, but every bit helps!
Every business has expenses!
Please remember that the amount that I made does not include any of my business expenses. A blog takes money to run (although it doesn’t take a ton of money), so I’m sharing my expenses with you so you have a realistic picture of what it looks like to have a blog. Thankfully, my blog expenses aren’t very high, so this means more money to keep! I spent a total of $287.55 in August for Inspired Budget. I’ve listed out my August expenses below:
- Etsy Fees: $4.84 These fees cover my listing costs for my digital products. I refer all my sales to my website because the fees are lower!
- Thinkific Online Course Software: $49.39 I use Thinkific to run my Budget Better Than Ever Course. It’s so easy to use and I highly recommend it if you plan to build an online course!
- Adobe Creative: $21.64 I have a monthly subscription to Adobe Creative for video editing.
- Tailwind: $14.99 I’ve been getting the hang of Tailwind and I have seen a great increase in my Pinterest views! I take time once a week to schedule all my pins for the week and it seems to be working out well! If you sign up for Tailwind with this link, then you’ll get a month for FREE!
- Convertkit: $160.62 My Convertkit costs jumped way up this month because I surpassed 10,000 subscribers on my email list! But to be perfectly honest, not everyone is engaged on my email list. So I sent an email to everyone who hasn’t opened an email from me in the past 3 months and asked them if they still wanted to be on my email list. I gave them a week to reply. If they didn’t show any interest then I deleted them from my list. It’s my goal to have people on my email list that will engage and read my emails, not let them sit unread or in spam for months at a time. I’m anticipating that my Convertkit costs will decrease a little next month due to deleting people from my list.
- Vistaprint: $23.08 I ordered my first set of business cards from Vistaprint for a conference that I am attending in a few weeks!
- Amazon: $12.99 I ordered these glasses from Amazon at the beginning of August because I was having horrible headaches from looking at my computer screen for extended hours at a time. They have helped a ton and block the blue light from my computer and phone. The best part is that I finally have my own pair of glasses! I’ve been wanting glasses since I was 8 years old!
Blogging tools that I love. Like, really love.
If you’re thinking of starting a blog, you might be overwhelmed by where to start. There are so many options out there and trust me, I did my research when it came to what I invested in for Inspired Budget. Here are the blogging and business tools that I know and trust.
- The Get Legit Toolkit: This course is absolutely amazing if you’re starting out your business and want it to be legit! It taught me how to set it up Inspired Budget the right way, prepare for sales tax, and set up my business bank account. It seriously covers everything that you need to do to set up and run your small business! It’s not just for people who set up a blog. If you want to run an Etsy shop the right way, then you should totally take this course. Not to mention that Janet, the creator of the course is super helpful as well!
- Convertkit: After living with Mailchimp for about 9 months, I was so happy to switch to Convertkit! The platform is very user-friendly and I’ve learned so much about how to make my email marketing better.
- Bluchic Theme: I transferred to a paid theme back in April so that I could sell my products on my website. And let me tell you that I absolutely love my Isabelle theme! Bluchic has other great options as well. So if you are just starting with a blog, I highly recommend you invest in one of these gorgeous themes. I wish I had done it sooner!
- Siteground: I use Siteground to host my website. Let me tell you that at the beginning of this blogging journey, I had a ton of questions! Siteground’s 24-hour chat was key to me not losing my mind during this entire process. I highly recommend them and I have not had one issue using Siteground! Plus, it costs less than $4 a month to set up your own blog!
What’s next for Inspired Budget!
To be perfectly honest, I currently feel like I’m trying to keep my head above water! I am trying to get back into working full time while juggling life as an entrepreneur, wife, and mom. I’m focusing on balance right now and I know that might change how my life looks. For now, I’m still working on Inspired Budget about 10 hours each week. I’m excited to attend FinCon at the end of the month! I have a feeling that I will leave FinCon inspired and ready to tackle new projects with Inspired Budget!