Smutlancer Monthly Income Report: September 2020

I feel like I just did this report the other day, and technically I did. Because I was late with the August report, lol. I don’t expect dramatic differences between this month and next, but we shall see. That’s why I track because I can’t rely on my memory or my impression of my income. I need the hard numbers in front of me to know for sure.

September 2020 Income

September income is primarily based on work completed in August. 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.

Note: For those who are curious, the “Sex/Adult Content” line is a link to a post that outlines what kind of freelance writing work I do for 2020. 

• Freelance Writing
  • Vanilla Content: $590.00
  • Sex/Adult Content: $5275.00
• Affiliate Sales: $140.25
• Podcast Sponsorship: —
• Sponsored Blog Posts: —
• Website Sponsorship: —
• Banner Ads: —
• Book Sales: $62.07
• Patreon: $987.50
• Consulting: —
• Donations: —
• Bonus (from client): —
• Product Sales: $35.99

Total Income: $7,090.81 (down $78.53 from August)

September 2020 Expenses

Some expenses are monthly, some quarterly, and some annual. I pay taxes monthly under my current business structure.

• Web Hosting: $67.67
• Domain Renewals: —
• Podcast Hosting: $32.00
• Canva: $81.53
• Buffer: $147.25
• InLinkz: $2.99
• Blog Contributors: —
• Taxes: $1000.00
• Payment Fees (PayPal, Stripe): $284.81
• Shipping/Postage: $19.99
• Tech Support: $67.10
• DepositPhotos (stock photo): $29.00
• MailerLite (email newsletter): $15.00
• Adobe Premiere Pro: $21.00
• Closed Captions (YouTube Videos): $70.40
• Business Internet: $215.68
• TubeBuddy: —
• Video Capture License: —
• Shipping Supplies: $175.97
• VistaPrint: $48.18
• Promotional Supplies: $37.80
• Woocommerce Extension: $79.00

Total Expenses: $2,395.67 (up $363.07 from August)

September 2020 Net Income: $4,695.14 (↓ $441.60 from August)

Well, that’s not quite what I expected, but I know what happened. Those last four items on my expense list are for a shop rebrand and redesign I’m doing — hopefully, it will be revealed in mid-October, and then I’ll be able to talk about it. Also, Buffer and Canva increased because I added users to both (hi, Molly!). Buffer will now be $99 per month, while Canva is an annual charge, so I won’t have to think about that until next June.

You may notice that the cost of blog contributors is no longer on the list. That expense is now covered under Smutlancer income that I do not pay myself from. That being said, some of my Smutlancer income is included in this list, although I choose not to cash out (so to speak). This probably means I need to rework the report in order to more accurately reflect earnings and expenses. I may wait to do that for 2021 to stay consistent and make clear month-to-month comparisons.