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$3,700 in Extra Income in October and My Goals

Last Updated: BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 48 Comments

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you. Please read my disclosure for more info.

Hey everyone! I have a giveaway for an iPad Mini and cash starting tomorrow on my blog, so make sure you come back. And yes, you read that correctly, I made $3,700 in extra income in the month of October! I didn’t think I was going to beat the $3,275 that I made in September, but I did WOOHOO.

This is proof on my online income since some of you have asked. This is for the month of October and before fees and expenses (expenses were around $907) being taken out. The other income categories that are listed below were mainly cash and check dealings.

October was good for us. We stayed under budget even though we bought some extra things for ourselves.  I love that it’s finally November. The holidays put me in a great mood and I LOOOOVE decorating 🙂  Work is going great for me, and W is still loving his job. WOOHOO

You can find my 2012 yearly goals update here.

October Goals Update

  1. Cut my food budget down to $500. PASS! We’ve been doing really good with this! We did eat out a bit, but it wasn’t more than what our entertainment budget is.
  2. Workout at least 4 times a week and lose 3 pounds. FAIL. I actually gained 2 pounds. BOO!
  3. Make an extra $1,500 this month. PASS PASS PASS! I made $3,700. See above.
  4. Do all of the house stuff from last month that I did not do. FAIL. I did some, but not enough. We still need to get carpet. I priced it out, now I just need them to come in and measure our living room. I also am looking for a new dining room table and wall decor to put in the dining room.
  5. Find an awesome Halloween costume. FAIL. I just wore one that I had from a previous year. I did save lots of money on it.
  6. Plan a girls trip to KC to see a friend. FAIL. AHH so many fails yet again!

November Goals

  1. Keep our food budget down to $500. Our goal is to continue eating at home Monday through Friday.
  2. Workout at least 3 times a week and lose 3 pounds. Wish me luck.
  3. Make an extra $2,000 this month. I increased this by $500 since I seem to be beating my goal like crazy. I also plan on starting to work on affiliate income streams as well. Do you have affiliate income? What are your sources? Tell me everything and anything about it!
  4. Start decorating the dining room. I pretty much know exactly what I want. I’m just waiting for a good deal on the exact one I want (haven’t found that yet). I’m tired of the dining set we have now and want a new style.
  5. Finally GET CARPET MICHELLE. This is something that I’ve been putting off for about 3 years. So if any of you are tired of me saying this, I am sorry. Have any of you gotten carpet recently? How did you bargain?
  6. Spend no more than $50 on clothes. I’m really trying not to buy anything, but I’m putting $50 just in case there is something that I just absolutely need to buy. Anyone else really trying to cut back on their clothing spending?


Blog Goals (I’m not focused on numbers, but it is interesting to see where I’m going).

  • Twitter Followers: Goal was for 350 and I’m currently at 1,460. I’m hoping to get 1,600.
  • Alexa rank: Goal was to be under 90,000. And I’m finally starting to drop. I’m currently at 79,000. I noticed that right after I switched to WordPress that it started dropping quickly. Does anyone know why this could be? My goal for November is to be at 70,000.
  • Guest post at least 2 times this month. I’m pretty sure this is a fail because I can’t think of any guests posts that I did.

 

Extra Monthly Income in September

  • Online Income (this includes staff writing, and is after all fees) – $3,054
  • Selling Clothes – $0
  • Miscellaneous – $300
  • Mystery Shopping – $21
  • Rent – $325

So I made $3,700 extra last month!

How did you do in October? Any extra income?

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About Michelle Schroeder-Gardner

Michelle is the founder of Making Sense of Cents, a blog about personal finance and traveling. She discusses how her business has evolved in her side income series. She paid off $40,000 in student loans by the age of 24 mainly due to her freelancing side hustles. Click here to learn more about starting a blog!

Comments

  2. DC@Young Adult Money says

    I am also starting to explore affiliate income streams. There are some good affiliate networks out there like Commission Junction and Flex Offers. I haven't spent a ton of time on it as of yet, but I hope to have a better understanding soon of how I can implement it effectively on my site.

    Congrats on killing it with the side income! I don't know how you do it while also working full-time.
    My recent post How To Get A House Ready For Sale

    Reply

  4. Living Debt Free Rocks! says

    You are killing it Michelle with extra income!!! Great job indeed! Do share the secrets of your success 🙂
    My recent post The Boiling Frog.

    Reply

    • Lauren says

      My food budget is $500 for 4 of us (granted, the kids are 6 & 2)! I bet you guys can spend $400 per month on food.

      Reply

  14. Christopher @ This that and the MBA says

    That is awesome great job…extra money is always helpful around the holidays….hope you knock it out of the park in November!!!!

    Reply

  16. John S @ Frugal Rules says

    Wow, that is AWESOME! Like you've said, you need to do a post on doing this. 🙂 I am just starting to look at opportunities myself and am signing up for both CJ & Flexoffers like DC had mentioned. I look forward to the possibilities.
    My recent post Festival of Frugality #361, Election Day Edition

    Reply

  20. Laura // NMS says

    Amazing Michelle! You worked really hard building your site alongside work and school. Your success is much deserved!
    My recent post The FIVE YEAR PLAN will soon become a FOUR YEAR PLAN

    Reply

  29. MoneySmartGuides says

    Way to go!! Don't get too down on yourself for missing some of your goals. Sometimes life just happens and we miss them here and there.

    I'd be curious to know how much writing you did for that income and how you came up with the topics. I've been looking into writing more, but am not sure how much more I can write and am concerned about finding topics to write about!
    My recent post 5 Investing Lessons To Live By

    Reply

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