Smutlancer Monthly Income Report: August 2019

In terms of income, August is a good month — right in the average for what I’ve been earning in the past 12 months. But I’ve also had to face realities in my personal spending. Earning more money doesn’t mean you know how to spend it wisely or make sound financial decisions. Even when you know how you “should” spend money, it’s not always easy to do. Those are lessons I’m currently learning the hard way.

August 2019 Income

August income is primarily based on work completed in July. I bill clients on the last day of every month, and they have 10 days to pay. Affiliate sales tend to pay quarterly, but some pay monthly. I break down my freelance writing between vanilla and sex content because I want to show what’s possible in either category.

• Freelance Writing
  • Vanilla Content: $1900.00
  • Sex/Adult Content: $5200.00
• Affiliate Sales: $69.50
• Podcast Sponsorship: —
• Sponsored Blog Posts: —
• Website Sponsorship: —
• Banner Ads: —
• Book Sales: $15.50
• Patreon: $491.37
• Consulting: —
• Donations: —
• Bonus (from client): —
• Product Sales: $63.18

Total Income: $7,739.55 (up $534.08 from July)

August 2019 Expenses

Some expenses are monthly, some quarterly, and some annual. Taxes are something I save for monthly to be paid quarterly. .

• Web Hosting: $42.98
• Domain Renewals: $77.88
• Podcast Hosting: $32.00
• Canva: —
• Buffer: $10.00
• InLinkz: $2.99 (linky tool for Masturbation Monday)
• Blog Contributors: —
• Taxes: $1000.00
• Payment Fees (PayPal, Stripe): $271.24
• Shipping/Postage: $16.20
• Tech Support: $60.00
• DepositPhotos (stock photo): — $29.00
• MailerLite (email newsletter): $15.00

Total Expenses: $1,557.29 (down $58.49 from July)

August 2019 Net Income: $6,182.26 (↑ $592.57 from July)

Another decent month. I’d dare to call this almost “average” in general. Definitely no complaints from here. Patreon is growing which is, of course, one of my goals. Hopefully as we get into the holiday season product sales and affiliate commissions will grow, too.

This month’s income…

What matters most to me right now is not how much I’m earning — which is easy to say when you’re earning “enough” (I recognized my privilege). The real issue is how I’m spending it. Based on our personal expenses (which don’t get listed here but equate to approximately $4000 a month), there should be more than enough left over for savings, fun stuff, and professional investments (like equipment, services, etc).

And there hasn’t been since we moved this summer.

I earn a very respectable income. Envious, in fact. But it doesn’t always feel like it because of how we’re spending our money.  There’s something to be said for the very visceral memories and realities of growing up very poor (ways of thinking that have to be unlearned or overcome). It impacts how you view money and how you spend it.

There’s also the reality (and privilege) of getting used to certain conveniences or not wanting to invest time when money seems easier to spend. I quickly learned that I’m the type of person who will pay for convenience when I can afford to do so — and even when I can’t. This is a new reality I’ve discovered since my smutlancer income became something that could sustain a family.

So it’s been “tight” relatively speaking — in a way I don’t like but not in a way that I’d ever complain about. And I have choices I can make. I can work more to earn more money, or I can change my habits to decrease personal spending. Right now, I’m choosing the latter — decreasing spending. I like the balance I’ve found between client work and creating my own content. And I want to have time to focus on increasing my income on my other projects. Taking on more client work will only get in the way of that.

If we were truly in financial straits, I’d take on more work. We’re not. I simply need to make different choices in how I spend money. It’s a hard lesson to learn but an important one — whether you work for yourself or not.