Online Income Report and How Blogging Has Changed My Life

Happy October! It’s income report time!

I cannot believe September is over. October is my favorite month of the year, and this year, it’s even more near and dear to my heart because it’s BABY MONTH!! Our third little girl is due on Halloween 🙂

And I am ready! This pregnancy hasn’t been “hard” per se, but nearing the end is always a challenge. My stomach is so big (baby girl is measuring two weeks ahead, which could mean a bigger baby or extra fluid, but either way my belly is large, haha) and it’s been hard trying to keep up with my other two little girls. Thankfully, my husband has been an incredible support system and helper.

My parents are coming into town in just a couple of weeks and then I’ll be starting my maternity leave! When I had my first baby, I had recently quit my job and was just getting started with freelancing. With my second baby, I was knee-deep in freelance writing and had just accepted a job as an editor (from home). This time, I’ll have no “real” obligations other than my blog, which is my all-time favorite hobby/side gig that I’m super excited to be able to spend more time on. Lots of exciting things to come your way, including the launch of my very first course!

Alright, let’s take a look at September’s online income report.

If you’re new here, I share monthly income reports to track my earnings through blogging and freelancing. I’ve been freelance writing since May 2012 but don’t do too much of that anymore. For now, my focus is on earning and income through my blog. And, I’m happy to report that so far, so good.

I started this blog in Sept 2014, so exactly two years ago. It took me five months to make my first $100 blogging; and now I’m consistently making over $1,000 per month.

If you’re interested in starting your own blog, check out my tutorial on How to Start a Profitable Blog. Blogging will not make you money right away, but I truly believe that if you stick with it for a good year, you’ll start to see your hard work pay off (big time!). Right now, I’m spending just 10 hours per month on my blog (and again, I’m making over $1,000). If I can do this, so can you!

*If you do decide to start a blog through my Bluehost link, you’ll receive a special discount from Bluehost for my readers only! And, I’ll send you my blogging ebook – The Beginner’s Guide to Blogging – for free!

Have an idea for a blog name?! See if it’s available here:

Now, onto September’s online income report.

September Online Income

Total: $1,818.18 (Hmmm…strange number. Perhaps it’s a sign baby girl will be here on the 18th?!)

Income Breakdown

• Freelancing: $638
• Blogging: $1,180.18

Blogging was just under $500 last month, and now it’s over $1,000! The fantastic news is I expect this number to continue to increase over the next few months (and hopefully, years!).

The main way I make money through blogging is ads, which were just under $200 this month, and affiliate sales, which were almost $900 for the month! The rest comes from product sales (you can purchase my book here, but remember, you’ll get it for free if you start a blog through my Bluehost link) and sponsored posts.

To stay up-to-date on my blog income, blogging tips, my upcoming course, and bits of my personal life, make sure to sign up for my newsletter!

How Blogging Changed My Life

Recently, a coworker and I were discussing my blog and he was blown away at the fact that I’m able to make money off of it month after month (I think he was mostly surprised because I am truly the least tech-savvy person on our team, lol). Since I post income reports, I told him the exact amounts that I make and how much time I spend on my blog.

I’m always honest in my answer: I spend roughly 10 hours per month now, but when I first started, I spent closer to 10-15 hours per week. It takes time to grow a blog, get picked up by Google, get noticed by other bloggers, and just learn all the millions of things there is to know to make a blog successful. I encouraged him (and any of you out there!) to start a blog of his own and commit to spending just 30 minutes each week night on it. Eventually, that blog will start to produce an income off of very little work from you.

He also asked me if the extra $1,000-$2,000 per month (on average) has been “life-changing.”

I had to think about that for a second. I mean, no, it hasn’t been life-changing in the fact that my husband and I quit our jobs and are traveling the world with our kids. But, it has been life-changing in many other ways, including:

We’ve been able to pay off *almost* all of our debt. This year alone, we’ve put $16,000 toward our SUV. That’s crazy to me!!! We’ll have it paid off this month (yay!) and then will be debt-free other than our mortgage, which we also plan to pay off early.

Our house was not an “over-buy” like we originally thought. We purchased a home out here in North Carolina last year. At the time, it really seemed like we’d be over-extending ourselves, but, we did it anyways. Looking back at this past year, it turns out we didn’t over-buy, but instead bought a house we could comfortably afford.

We don’t have to have a strict budget anymore. When we first had baby #1, I had just quit my job and my husband was self-employed. Boy oh boy did we budget! There were many nights where we ate pasta with onions for dinner and going to Starbucks was absolutely a luxury and a rare occurrence. Now, while we still try not to go overboard, we have a lot more wiggle room in our budget for things like home decor, going out to eat, doing fun things with the kids, etc. I enjoy all of these things and therefore do not mind spending a bit more on them since they add value to my life.

We no longer stress about money. This is the biggest one right here. And I wrote a whole post about it if you want to check it out. But basically, I’ve gone from someone who stressed everyday over finances to someone who doesn’t think about them barely at all. I know we’re fine. We pay our bills early, pay off debt early, save every month and are contributing a hefty amount toward retirement. I know if there’s an emergency, we have savings. And, I know we can both side hustle to make extra money to replenish or build on our current savings if need be.

Let me help you on your journey to making an income online and becoming debt-free. Brainstorm some blog ideas, take a freelancing course, start building connections. And remember, if you do decide to start a blog, I’ll send you my blogging book for free if you use my Bluehost link.

How was your September? Would your budget look different if you made an extra $1,000-$2,000 per month?