Income Report July 2015

Hi guys! Sorry, I’m late. Yes, this is my July income report not August’s (look out for August’s in a couple weeks). I got behind schedule running around traveling these last few weeks of summer and finishing some large projects. Plus, notice anything different around here? I hope so because Untemplater got a much-needed redesign! A huge thank you to Eric from Narrow Bridge Media for the site refresh.

Untemplater is now running on the Genesis framework, one of the most popular WordPress themes in use today. I’m loving the fresh feel of the site and being able to use all the latest plugins again. I’m still tweaking a few things here and there but the bulk of the heavy lifting is all complete. I think we squashed all the bugs, but if you happen to come across something that isn’t working properly, please let me know in the comments.

For anyone who’s new to my income reports or the site, welcome! Be sure to check out my about page and read how I got paid to break free from a grueling desk job earlier this year. My life has changed immensely for the better this year and I started these monthly income reports to keep me on my toes and track my progress.

If you’re looking for an easy way to manage your own income and expenses for free, check out Personal Capital. You can securely link your credit cards, checking accounts, mortgage, student loan debt, savings accounts, investment accounts, etc. all in one place. Their free tools actually make it fun to monitor your financial progress too and you can reach your goals faster. I’ve had an account with them for several years and love how easy and intuitive the platform is. Bloggers – want to become an affiliate? – sign up for the Personal Capital affiliate program here.

2015 Goals Update

I have three main goals that I set for 2015. In each of my income reports, I provide a quick update on my progress:

1) Goal: Grow More Traffic

Untemplater’s traffic took another hit in July, down over 4% from June. The summer slowdown was in full effect. Hopefully, it’s just seasonality and doesn’t continue on a downward trend. I’m thinking things should start to pick back up again once Labor day is past and everyone’s back from summer vacation.

July vs June:

Year over Year:

2) Goal: Land More Freelancing Gigs

During July, I tried to re-engage one of my freelancing clients that stopped giving out new assignments, but unfortunately nothing came of my efforts. That client seems to be too focused on fundraising and cutting back on expenses for the foreseeable future. With that door is closed it’s time for me to find a new one. Freelancing has its ups and downs and dealing with instability and short-term projects is just how things go.

3) Goal: Build More Affiliate Income 

A big thank you to everyone who made a purchase or signed up for a service using one of my links. There weren’t any significant changes in July as far as affiliate income goes besides summer slowness. Meanwhile, I am working on changing out my affiliate plugin and URL structure that I’ll discuss in an upcoming report.

Income Report July 2015

Onwards to the July Income report…

Total Revenue Streams = $8,563

FREELANCING: $4,230

• Editorial, writing, online marketing $4,000
• Website management, other $230

INVESTMENTS: $604

• Dividends & Interest income $292
• Rental income $300
• Prosper P2P investment income $12

I sure miss the $700 dividend income payout I got in June, but I did meet my goal of investing more into the markets. The volatility in the markets has been rather nuts, but investing little by little in tranches takes a lot of the stress out of it.

ADVERTISING & AFFILIATE: $3,729

• Affiliate Advertising: $3,200
• Profitable Online Store: $264
• Contextual Advertising (Adsense): $152
• Bluehost: $90
• Unconventional Guides: $20
• Amazon Associates: $3
• Direct Advertising: $0
• Miscellaneous: $0

Expenses = $(4,433)

BUSINESS: $(685)

• Aweber, Marketing, Subscriptions, Fees: $(295)
• Meals & Entertainment – business: $(230)
• Travel – business: $(50)
• Quickbooks: $(50)
• Supplies & misc: $(30)
• Hosting, web related: $(30)
• Outsourcing: $(0)

Unfortunately, my laptop has been freezing and shutting down unexpectedly a lot more recently, so I think its days are numbered. I can’t do any of my work without one, so I’m starting to save up for a new computer now. Hopefully, I can get a couple more months out of my laptop before it totally croaks. That will give me more time to save up and get my files organized and ready for a migration.

I’ve got over 200 GB of photos to reorganize and migrate onto an external drive. And I’ve also still got to figure out how to switch from using Aperture to the Photos app. With tens of thousands of photos, it can get stressful dealing with huge libraries, especially with a sluggish computer. If any of you are crazy photogs like me, I’d love to hear your suggestions on file management and transitioning off of Aperture. I’m really sad that Apple retired it, and have been procrastinating making a switch.

As far as my future laptop, I have my eyes on a 15″ Macbook Pro with 256 GB storage. I’d love to have the next level up, but I can’t stomach the price tag. Mac’s are crazy expensive in general, but considering I’ve gotten over five years out of my existing computer so far and use my laptop 6-10 hours a day, 7 days a week, it’s a fair investment.

PERSONAL: $(3,748)

• Living expenses: $(3,360)
• Travel – personal: $(80)
• Meals & Entertainment – personal: $(308)

PROFITS: $8,563 (Income) – $4,433 (Expenses) = $4,130

July Takeaways

July profits were down close to $1200, ouch. But, I anticipated about $500 of that because of my surprise dividend income spike in June. The rest is disappointing but also expected given the slowdowns in traffic and people being checked out mid-summer. I came out a lot better than July a year ago, but I still have some improvements to work on and want to ramp up for the second half of the year.

Overall, I kept busy in July, but I also managed to make the most of the long, slow days of summer. I rested up after traveling a lot in May and June, which was a nice change of pace. I love to travel, but it can really burn you out if you don’t take sufficient time to recharge.

Recommendations

Take a free mini course on how to create your own online store – If you’ve been thinking about starting an online business, you should consider starting an online store. Check out Steve Chou’s free mini course on how to get started creating a profitable online store. If you sign up for the full course later you’ll get access to over 70 hours of step-by-step videos instruction that guide you through the entire process.

Try your hand at freelancing – Motivated to become a freelancer full-time or just want to make some extra cash on the side? The possibilities are endless! If you’re a creative person, it can be quite profitable to learn how to sell your products. Like to write as much as I do? Find out how to get published, earn money as a writer, and have flexibility and fun working on the road. You can also work on building your brand by creating your own website the easy way with Bluehost for super cheap. Whatever your interests are, focus on building your skills and developing your own unique niche.

Break free! If you’re burnt out of your day job, believe that you have options and can turn your career around. I didn’t believe I could escape for the longest time, but fortunately I wised up before I destroyed my relationships with family and my health. I never would have thought I could negotiate a severance package and get paid to leave a job I grew to hate, but I did! Learn how you too can get paid to leave your job like I did and open your eyes to new opportunities.

Untemplaters, what were you up to in July? How has your summer been? What do you think of Untemplater’s new look?