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Time to talk about the income I earned in December! December was a pretty challenging month because my main goal was to balance meeting year-end deadlines at my day job, finish up with my freelance work, and spend at least a week away from online hustling and blogging so I could relax and enjoy the holidays with my family.
Oh, and on top of that I was working on a new collaborative project with some blogging friends of mine. We just launched our new podcast, Financial Conversation. I would be truly grateful if you would give it a listen during your free time and subscribe via iTunes. Details are in the left sidebar and you can learn more about it here.
I pulled a couple of late nights, but I met all of my goals for December and was even able to take the last 2 weeks off from blogging and side hustling.
If You are New Here
I recently started publishing the income I earn outside of my full-time job through online side hustles as a way to motivate myself and others and earn more to meet financial goals and work toward financial freedom. At first I started trying to earn extra income as way to help me pay off my debt and got hooked. I paid off more than $11,000 of debt last year and wouldn’t have been able to do so without earning extra income.
None of this would have been possible if I hadn’t started my blog last year. It’s been truly life changing and quite rewarding to do something I’m passionate about an earn an income from it. If you’re interested in starting a blog of your own, you can review what I’ve learned after just a few months of blogging here so you can have a nice head start and avoid making any mistakes I’ve made, and you can also check out my guide to starting your very own blog in just a few minutes.
Currently most of my income is earned through freelance writing and while I absolutely love to write, I’m also on a mission to earn more from my actual blog.
I’m by no means earning as much some of the veterans who have been hustling online for years but I’m hoping my income reports answer some of people’s questions about working online, inspire others to start side hustling as well, and offer a deeper insight as to how I’m making my financial goals and dreams a reality. To see how my income has grown, here’s a quick recap of the previous months’ income reports:
August: $765.65 -My very first income report!
September: $920
October: $1564
November: $2260
So let’s get down to the nitty gritty.
In December 2015 I earned: $2,364.36
This is income I actually received in the month of December and it’s before taxes. I usually set aside about 25% to 30% of whatever I earn for taxes.
Here’s How this Total Breaks Down
Freelance Writng: $2,169.36
Virtual Assistant Work: $120
Sponsored Posts: $75
Affiliate Income: $0
Adsense: $0
It’s a bit of a step up from last month, but I was a bit surprised myself because I didn’t expect to earn that much after taking two weeks off to rest.
I actually lost about two clients last month but ended up working on a new writing project that make up at least a third of my income for December. I also did not track my hours worked in December…whoops! I guess I was too anxious to finish up my assignments and it just slipped my mind. I’m back on track with logging my hours worked each day for January though.
I did practically nothing to boost my affiliate income toward the end of last year, but I’m expecting a payment in January and I need to work on and I’ll discuss that more below.
I truly enjoy writing and it’s something I’ve been passionate about since I was little, but I also enjoy the other aspects of running and managing a blog as well.
Goals for My Blog and Online Income
I’m still participating in Sarah’s challenge of growing your side hustle income in 2016 so I’d love to earn at least $5,000 per month in online income by the end of the year and I’d like to be halfway there by the end of the 1st quarter. In addition to this, I have a few other specific goals.
Work on my affiliate income strategy: I guess this isn’t really a strategy per se. I just need to be more open to working with brands and providing top quality content on here while promoting things I truly care about and that will actually help people. I get emails from companies from time to time, but not everything people send me seems worthy enough to mention on this blog.
A few weeks back I had to decline a company’s offer for me to write about their diamonds as an affiliate on my site. I doubt any of you guys are dying for some new diamonds (correct me if I’m wrong). I’m definitely not and I’m getting married in four months 🙂
Find a Few More Freelance Clients: Yes, I’m still taking on new clients. In November my goal was to obtain one new client and I did that. It was the second time someone actually reached out to me so it was pretty nice. My time has opened up a bit though since I lost a few clients and I like to stay pretty busy.
While writing is my forte, I also do virtual assistant work like social media management along with blog management and professional marketing copy like newsletters, landing pages etc. So if you know anyone who needs some help online, hit me up.
Increase my social media following: I’ve done little to work toward this goal and need put more effort into my social media strategy. I’m always posting about misc. stuff on my personal Facebook page…I need to post on my blog’s social media as well! I also want to transition my Instagram to focus more on my blog.
Did you earn any extra income in December? What’s your big game plan to boost your income in 2016?
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About Choncé
Chonce is a personal finance blogger and freelance writer who enjoys sharing debt stories (as she and her husband work their way out of $40,000 in debt) along with talking about saving, budgeting, conscious spending and improving your financial house. In her spare time,she enjoys working out, playing sports with her son, cooking, and thrifting.
Reader Interactions
Comments
hollyatclubthrifty says
Great job. It looks like you’re doing awesome! I have similar goals to yours – just to diversify my income a little more.
Choncé says
Thanks Holly! You’re doing such a spectacular job though 🙂
lovetteorleavette says
Great job. It’s looking like you’ll be at your halfway mark by March. Congrats on the podcast. I’ll have to check it out.
Choncé says
Thanks Shirria!
Latoya says
Ha! Diamonds! They kill me when they reach out to you about a product that has absolutely nothing to do with your blog:)
Great job last month! It’s pretty amazing you actually took 2 weeks off. I want to boost social media and so far my laid back approach to Twitter has been producing gains. FB, not so much. It’s funny how I’m very active personally on FB, but when it comes to blogging, I’ve never been able to make it stick. Twitter has always worked well for me. As far as IG goes, well all I like to do is look at other’s post. I haven’t posted anything in almost 3 months!
Which one do you think works best for blogging purposes?
Choncé says
People praise Pinterest so much but I think all of them are pretty valuable in terms of blogging. I want to eventually start working with brands and to do that, they look at all your social media platforms and what type of following you have. I find Twitter easiest, because I mostly automate everything and it’s so easy to get followers. Facebook however, takes a little more effort and people are usually hesitant to follow. I’ve been trying out a few different strategies with Facebook just to see what works. For Instagram, I have no idea, haha. Right now my Instagram is just my personal stuff but like I said I want to merge it with my blog.
Kristin says
Oh wow, a diamond giveaway would be niiiiiice 🙂 That’s awesome you could take some time off and still crush it. I feel like I’m always working on diversifying. Hustling is hard work and it would be nice if my blog produced more income on its own to level things out. Can’t wait to listen to your podcast!
Choncé says
Yes it would be, but I doubt the people who contacted me wanted to give anything away 🙂 I’m sure we will both be killing it in blog income in soon enough.
creativebugger1 says
Great job! Sometimes I wonder how companies come to find bloggers and why they choose you. I had a credit card company contact me about putting a sponsored post on my blog, but declined. While I hang around the pf blog world, I’m certainly not qualified for it. Can’t wait to see what you have up your sleeves in 2016.
Choncé says
Thanks Sarah! I would love for a credit card company to contact me. The great thing about personal finance is that it’s all about your personal experiences. If you’ve had experiences with money, you’re free to write about it however you wish 🙂
My Urban Family says
Congrats and great job! It’s so fun to see you grow each month – I’m really looking forward to seeing how the rest of your year turns out!
Jason Butler says
The numbers are getting higher. Congrats. Keep making it happen.
Choncé says
Thanks Jason!
Why this is crazy impressive is because you work full time and have a kid! I don’t know how you’re doing it and staying sane, but kudos! That’s a huge amount!
Choncé says
Thanks Tonya! I try to take it one day at a time so that things are less hectic.
Awesome AWESOME freelance writing income! I echo Tonya’s sentiment. It’s really impressive what you have been able to accomplish with both a full-time job and a kid. Inspiring.
Choncé says
Thanks DC! It’s crazy to look back and see how much time I wasted in the past. It all comes down to improving my time management skills.
Awesome job! I really want to start making more from affiliate income I just feel like I don’t have the traffic to do it.
Choncé says
Thanks Kayla! Building my traffic is a big goal for this year as well and I know it all goes back to my content.
Dear Debt says
Wow, you’ve seriously increased your income over the past few months! Nice work! I’m at capacity now with work, but want to diversify more.
Choncé says
Thanks Melanie!