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$23,758 in February Income – My Monthly Online Income Report

Last Updated: BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 124 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.

Find out how I made $23.758 blogging in February.

Welcome to February’s online income report where I show you how I make money online. It’s time to look at my monthly income update and track how I did last month.

Background information on my monthly online income reports.

If you are new here, you might be wondering why I publish my online income reports each month. If you are not new here, then you can just skip to the next section 🙂

This all started out as my side income report because in the beginning it was all about the money I was earning from my side jobs. In my side income reports from the beginning, I included all of the income I made except for what I made at my day job (that was a fixed amount and boring anyways).

However, I left my day job as a financial analyst in 2013 (wow, I can’t believe it’s already been that long) and now my monthly income report consists of the many different ways I bring in an income each month.

Many people have asked why I would ever want to publicly post my income each month. Some have called me crazy, and some are glad I am open about what I’m doing. Whatever you think, I enjoy publishing my monthly online income reports and I share them publicly for three main reasons:

  • Before I started blogging, I knew nothing about side hustling and making money online. I didn’t think side jobs were worth the effort, and I thought the only way to significantly increase your income was through raises and promotions at your full-time job. If it weren’t for others publishing their monthly income reports each month, I don’t know if I would have ever tried side hustling. This is why I like to publish my income reports. I want to help others see the positives in side hustling and how it can change a person’s life. There are many different ways to make money online, and I like to share my story each month to help motivate others to improve their financial situation by making more money.
  • Secondly, I like to publish my income reports because it’s a way for me to look back, learn from my mistakes and see what areas need improvement. It’s also entertaining to go back to older income updates and read about the interesting things I did to make money. Everyone has to start somewhere, right?
  • Lastly, I like to show others that making side money is possible, and that everything is not a scam. If you are looking for information on the many ways to make money online, I created the article Monthly Income Report Roundup – My Favorite Income Bloggers that showcases many awesome bloggers who are kind enough to share their income with the public each month. Just a few years ago, I didn’t think making money online was possible at all. Now, I realize that it is possible!

I know I say this every month, but it is the truth. Life is great now that I’m my own boss. I look forward to each and every work day and it is an amazing thing.

Above is exactly why I enjoy publishing my monthly income reports. I like to show others that you don’t have to hate your job and hate your life. You can make changes to your life and make money in a way that allows you to truly enjoy the life you are living. I’m not saying that you have to LOVE your job, I’m just saying that your job should at least allow you to do what you like to do outside of work (whether that be spending time with loved ones, painting, hiking, etc.).

Also, if you have any questions about making money online, you can always send me an email and I always reply back. If I haven’t covered something in this income report, I highly recommend that you check out my other reports as well because I covered A LOT of topics, including reader questions that I have received. I am unable to put everything in this single post because this would then become one messy whale of a post.

 

$23,758 in February Income – My Monthly Online Income ReportHow was my online income in February?

As you can see, February was obviously a great month for online income. It was by far my highest month yet, but as you will read below, this was a one-time occurrence.

February was a great month even without the website sale though. With the move, I was not able to work as much so it’s great that things still managed to come together well.

I was able to still earn a good income last month because I worked ahead as much as I could in January. Doing this allowed me to focus more on the move in February, which was a lifesaver.

I am hoping to continue to work ahead as much as I can because I love how much time it frees up in my schedule so that I can focus on other tasks as they come due.

Anyway, in February I made $25,557.90 in business income, before expenses.

If you are interested in starting a blog of your own, I created a tutorial that will help you start a blog of your own for cheap, at only $3.49 per month for blog hosting (this very low price applies if you pay for 36 months upfront). Plus, you will get a free blog domain if you sign up through my Bluehost link as well.

Related articles:

 

February Online Income Report

The number above is for the month of February and before any fees and expenses (some fees and expenses that lower the amount above total around $1,800, which includes virtual assistants/staff writers for my other websites, technical assistance on my websites, PayPal fees, etc., however, this does not include taxes) being taken out. After expenses and fees, I made approximately $23,758. 

Below are some of my other monthly side income reports. I publish an online income update every month but only included some of them below as it would be a very long list. If you head on over to my extra income page you can find all of my monthly income reports from the past few years.

 

Blog news.

As you’ll read in the section below, I sold one of my websites. It was a smaller website of mine that I previously bought and built up on the side.

I decided to sell it so I could focus more on Making Sense of Cents. Making Sense of Cents is growing month after month after about a year of it being completely flat. Due to this, I recently decided that I want to spend more time here on this website, as it is my favorite and it is my baby.

I plan on spending more time creating more beefier posts, promoting my content better, and more. I’m excited to start focusing more on Making Sense of Cents again!

If you are wanting to start a blog of your own, read my post How To Start a WordPress Blog. It gives step by step instructions on starting your own blog. It starts at only $3.49 per month for blog hosting. Plus, you will get a free blog domain if you sign up through my Bluehost link.

 

A big jump in income.

I’m sure most of you noticed the big jump in income I experienced last month. That is not a normal jump and I expect next month to go back down to around the $15,000 monthly online income range.

I experienced the big jump because I sold one of my websites. As I said earlier, I decided to sell it so that I can spend more time on Making Sense of Cents. I have many plans for Making Sense of Cents, and owning all of these websites on the side right now is not at the top of my list at the moment.

I realize that over the past year, I have been focused on building up websites and buying websites, but I have come to realize that right now I need to focus on just a few projects so that I can give them more of my attention. I believe this is the right step for my business right now.

However, this might mean lower income in future months because I did earn a little bit of income each month from this website. I’m hoping to make up for it since I will be devoting more time to Making Sense of Cents, which will hopefully lead to me seeing an increase here.

I am also possibly selling one or two of my other websites as well this month, and we will see how that goes.

Like I said above, this is not a normal jump. However, it is nice to know that I bought a website last year, built it up, and was able to sell it at a good number.

If any of you have questions about selling a website, you can leave them below and I will attempt to help you out. I am no expert but I will try my best.

 

IZEA – A way to make money through your blog and/or social media accounts.

I am doing another plug in my monthly online income update about Izea.

IZEA is a company I used a lot when I first started blogging. If you already have a blog or social media accounts such as Twitter or Facebook, then signing up for Izea is a great way to make some extra money. All you have to do is sign up and wait for opportunities to come your way. You can sign up for it even if you don’t have a blog. You can just connect your social media accounts and start making money right away.

With Izea, you are getting paid for whenever a company wants to advertise themselves through your blog and/or social media accounts (such as your Twitter account). You get paid electronically, and they always pay. They partner with big name companies such as Marriott, Netflix, Walmart, Kraft, Lego, and more. It’s an EASY way to make money through your blog, so I highly recommend you check Izea out.

Click here to sign up for Izea. It is free to join and free to use. To get started, sign up, connect a few social media accounts, and validate your email so that you can start earning extra cash.

 

Wes’s website.

With the big move, we fell behind on his website. We plan on getting this up and running in the next few months though.

Our goal over the next few months will be to schedule posts, brainstorming ways to market his blog, and outlining future blog posts.

 

My plans for my website, online income, and making money online:

  • Publish an ebook – I haven’t made any progress on this. I keep going back and forth about how important this is to me in 2015.
  • Promote more – I have been doing much better when it comes to promoting, especially on Pinterest. Pinterest alone brought around 55,000 clicks to my blog just in the month of February! This is a great increase from January’s number of 43,000. Also, keep in mind that just a few months ago I was only receiving a few hundred visits a month from Pinterest, so this is a huge jump. I’m hoping it continues well into the future.
  • Accept more interviews. – I conducted a few email and phone interviews in February, all of which I am very excited to see live. I saw mentions on websites including Kiplinger and The Everygirl, which were very exciting to see.
  • Stop being shy – This is one of my goals for 2015. I am such a shy person, and it’s something I need to work on if I want to grow my business.

 

Staff writing.

In February, I worked on a few staff writing jobs. Staff writing is something that has slowed down in recent months in terms of income categorized below, as most of my staff writing is now bundled into blog management as well, in case any of you were wondering. This is because with some of my clients, they have me manage their websites and write for them as well, all for one flat fee each month. I just wanted to explain this as I know some of you had questions about it.

I am still staff writing, but I am not actively looking for any positions.

 

Update on my blog and social media management services.

Blog and social media management is still a service I enjoy providing to my clients. Nothing new in this area happened last month.

If you are wanting to start a blog of your own, read my post How To Start a Cheap WordPress Blog. It gives step by step instructions on starting your own blog. You can also get a free domain by signing up through my link.

Related articles:

 

Affiliate income.

February was a great month for affiliate income. I believe I earned around $6,000 in affiliate income just in the month of February.

I won’t see the payments until April for most of those, so you won’t see those amounts reflected in my monthly income reports until then. I am extremely excited about how much my affiliate/passive income has jumped in the past few months, especially with how little work is needed in order to earn this income.

I don’t believe I published a single affiliate related post in February, so this is another reason for why I am so surprised by how many sales I earned. I plan on doing one or two affiliate reviews in March though.

EDIT July, 2016: I recommend checking out my online course for bloggers, Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing. I earn over $50,000 a month through affiliate marketing and I share my exact strategy and tips in this very informative online course. If you’re a blogger, then you NEED this course.

23758 in February Income My Monthly Online Income Report

Business and extra income in February ($23,758, after most expenses)

  • Staff writing – $550
  • Managing websites and social media for clients, as well as blog coaching- $5,150
  • Website-related (From the 6 websites I own – advertising, partnerships & Adsense) – $5,428
  • Affiliate income – $1,630
  • Website sale – $11,000
  • Selling items from our home – $0
  • Miscellaneous (not related to blogging and online income) – $0
  • Mystery shopping – $0

$23,758 in February Income – My Monthly Online Income ReportOne question I am asked nearly every time I publish my monthly online income report is whether or not I can further break down my income. I have never fully broken everything down line by line, and I do this mainly to protect myself and those I provide services to.Most bloggers who completely break apart their income have most of their income coming from affiliate links, while I do not. When more of my income comes from affiliate marketing, I will start breaking it apart more.Keep in mind that a majority of my income comes from private clients that I work for so sharing their name and what they pay me wouldn’t be the correct way to run a business. It also wouldn’t help you much either, so there wouldn’t be a point for me just to share someone’s name.Also, when you see my monthly income each month please keep in mind that I work for myself. This means I have to cover all taxes (which are around 30%), health insurance, and all other benefits/expenses that an employer would normally provide.

Comparisons and 2015 online income total (after most expenses, but before taxes)

  • Total extra income for February: $23,758
  • Income in January: $15,396
  • Difference: +8,362
  • Total in 2015: $39,154

How did you do in February? What are your extra/business/online income goals? Why do you work towards making extra money?

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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

  1. Nicola says

    What an amazing month for you! How many websites do you own? It’s amazing how many hits Pinterest brings you – would you consider doing a post on that? I think that 2015 is going to be a fantastic year for you 🙂

    Reply

    • Michelle S. says

      I own 5 websites right now, and if you include Wes’s website then we have 6 altogether.

      Yes, I will have to do a Pinterest post soon. I keep forgetting!

      Reply

  5. Jayson @ Monster Piggy Bank says

    A wonderful February you have, Michelle! Geez! I want to have that results. Thanks for sharing the link to Monthly Income Report Roundup – My Favorite Income Bloggers. I am gonna discover how you and they pull this great online income.

    Reply

  9. Sarah says

    That is amazing! I can’t believe you sold a website for $11,000! Was this the one that your purchased in the fall or was this one that you have had for a while? I subbed a lot in February and am overhauling my TPT store at the moment. I’m taking March off from subbing to focus on my blog, though. I fell off the blogging wagon BIG TIME in February, because I was so sick in January that I spent all of February trying to get back into the swing of things. As always, you leave me in awe.

    Reply

  11. Sarah says

    You are AWESOME!!!!! I really hope I can bring in five figures a month one day like you are. Congratulations!!! And great job on increasing your affiliate income, too!!

    Question – are all of your sites personal finance related? I’m thinking of starting another, but it wouldn’t be at all about personal finance and I’m wondering if that would be a little too much work as I’d have to go about promoting differently.

    Thanks Michelle! Congrats again!!! 🙂

    Reply

  12. Amy says

    Congratulations on a fantastic month! I’d love to hear more about your websites – how you build them, decide when to sell them, and actual do sell them.

    Reply

    • Michelle S. says

      Sounds like I’ll have to do a blog post on this 🙂

      I built them up by just doing what I have on all of my sites – improving the quality of the content, posting regularly, being active on social media, networking, and more.

      Deciding when to sell them is entirely up to each individual person. I decided to sell one just because I don’t have the time and I want to focus on different services of mine.

      Reply

  17. Elisha Kayne says

    I love that you post these income reports! I follow Pat Flynn and other’s that do the same but it’s good to see a fellow female blogger do the same thing. I just started my site in January, so I have a long way to go. I haven’t made a dime yet, but this report has inspired me to believe in myself – it is possible to make a living doing this. My dream is to homeschool my son while making a great income publishing content that helps others. Thanks for the encouraging post!

    Reply

  21. Stephanie says

    Congratulations on a great month, Michelle! That’s so exciting 🙂 I’d love to hear more about your work with other websites – how you’re buying them, building them up, and selling them.

    Reply

    • Michelle S. says

      Thanks Stephanie! I haven’t bought a website is around one year. You can find all of the information here – http://diversifiedfinances.com/buying-blogs-websites-for-profit/

      Below is a reply to another comment I received today:
      I built them up by just doing what I have on all of my sites – improving the quality of the content, posting regularly, being active on social media, networking, and more.

      Deciding when to sell them is entirely up to each individual person. I decided to sell one just because I don’t have the time and I want to focus on different services of mine.

      Reply

    • Michelle S. says

      Everything gets transferred just like if you were switching blog hosts. I don’t usually handle the tech side of things as I work very slow in that area 🙂

      Reply

  26. Rust says

    I read your income reports every month and am so encouraged by them. Your information is very helpful!

    Reply

  28. Nancy Williams says

    It’s nice to hear, Michelle! Congratulations on your February income. I’d like to start my own blog as well. Hopefully, I would be as successful as you. I love your blog posts!

    Reply

  29. Gen Y Finance Guy says

    First great month!

    Sometimes you need to simplify in order to maximize the highest and best use of your time.

    In the comments above you mentioned that you have 5-6 other websites. How much time to you spend on each in a given month vs. this one?

    Just curious.

    Cheers!

    Reply

    • Michelle S. says

      I spend a lot less time on the other websites, and that is a big reason for why I decided to get rid of them. I spend just a few hours a week on all the others combined.

      Reply

  30. Jason B says

    Wow. 55,000 clicks on Pinterest. Dang, I would kill for that. February was great. I hit my eBay goal and also had the 2nd highest amount of page views ever on the blog. I also started a niche site. We will see how that goes.

    Reply

  34. Mrs. Marriage & Money says

    Wow, this is amazing work & super inspiring! Hopefully one day I’ll be able to bring in extra income through multiple different avenues. Who knew Pinterest would drive so much traffic to your blog as well. I definitely need to set up an account!

    Reply

  35. Pamela Gurganus says

    This is so impressive, regardless of the one time occurrence! Especially considering how busy you were with your move, etc. Congrats!

    Reply

    • Michelle S. says

      I will definitely be doing a post on affiliate income soon. Now that I am actually earning a decent amount from it, I feel like I can actually write on the subject.

      Reply

  41. DC @ Young Adult Money says

    Nice job selling a site! It also looks like you’ve diversified your income pretty well between coaching/management, affiliate sales, and Adsense/other advertising. Not impressed with the IZEA plug, though. Terrible company : P *sarcasm*

    Reply

  44. Iman says

    Great… although you are a shy person… you made $20K+ in the last month. 🙂

    Pinterest delivered 55K clicks for February 2015 and 43K for January 2015… great!

    Reply

  46. John says

    My only side income from the month was my dividend portfolio. However, I am working at changing that and hope to add a few new side income sources in March.

    Appreciate you posting these types of posts. It is very inspiring to see how much income others are generating online these days.

    Keep up the great work!

    Reply

  48. Harmony says

    Thank you for the continued inspiration. I’m working hard on my blog and looking forward to the day that it becomes profitable. Until then, your amazing results keep me optimistic.

    Reply

  49. Kelly says

    I like your reports and Im glad some of you share more in depth like this.

    Ive been doing research on growing my blog and came across you. I need those multiple streams and I know it will help me growing my blog. I have a creative business so its a tough market, I need more.

    I do fairly well but, have to live more frugal so I can stay self employed. I want to grow enough to give at least one person a good job while Im making what I need.

    I enjoy browsing around. 🙂

    Reply

  50. Fig says

    OMG! Girl when I saw that number my eyes went wide. That’s an insane number! I’m so proud of you and impressed that you are basically earning some people’s yearly salary in one month!!

    Reply

  54. Anne - Money Propeller says

    February was a pretty blah month for income from Money Propeller..but an an unexpectedly high month from my other sites, so I’ll take it!
    I just had a pin take off on Pinterest this past weekend and it is so awesome, I don’t want it to stop! I am very impressed that you managed to add 10k views again this month, way to go! All of those new images are totally paying off 🙂

    Reply

  56. Alicia says

    Your income is insanity!!!! I’d love to hear more about the affiliate income options that are working best for you (truthfully I’ve been a bit AWOL so you might have already covered this…)

    Reply

  57. Jhun Mariano says

    Great way of income, hope I could follow your steps and have the same success you have. Thanks for sharing, it gave me some idea on how to start.

    Reply

  58. Birdiebee says

    I just have to say that you are an inspiration to all of those that visit and read your blog. I am so amazed at how you’ve gone about paying off loans and making such a great income. I have told others about your blog and know of two individuals that will be starting up a blog because of their visit to your site.

    Reply

  61. Melody says

    Lots of money to be made online if you’re willing to put the work in. Too many think it’s easy money and then give up. You’re setting a great example, keep up the good work!

    Reply

  62. HappyPlaceMom says

    The reason you make $10,000+/month from your website is obvious- Your clear instructions and helpful, friendly tone are very welcoming. You have so much great information that I keep coming back again and again. Your conversational style helped me make sense of some technical things I had been struggling with. Following tips on your site took my blog from planning to reality. I’ve signed up with Bluehost through your link and followed some of your other tips to overcome hurdles I was facing. Thanks for posting such helpful information. You deserve every “cent” you make!!!

    Reply

  66. Connie says

    No one will ever make a cent if they don’t have a blog people find interesting or want to follow. You have an advantage over others that you just skim over and you keep stressing people start a blog to make income. Most people lead very boring uninteresting lives and they have nothing of note to say. You might want to tone down the enthusiasm. Not everyone is as privileged as you are. No need to rub it in.

    Reply

    • MC says

      Did you really post on someone’s blog telling her to stop being excited? People blog about ALL kinds of hobbies and interests that may seem trivial or uninspiring to others, but have their own followings. My friend runs a knitting podcast, FFS. I think that’s strange, but she’s actually become a celebrity in knitting circles, because people are interested.

      Just because your life may be uninspiring to you doesn’t mean you need to sh*t all over someone else’s blog because she’s enthusiastic and you’re jealous. Maybe change your circumstances, get a hobby, spend some time doing something you actually like (other than hating on the internet) and you won’t be so bitter. Hopefully in the 2 years since you posted this you’ve become someone who’s nicer and supportive of others.

      You might want to tone down your projection and anger, y’know?

      Reply

  67. Amarnath says

    Hi,
    I am very much inspired with your income report. My blog is of Indian Origin. Can you suggest me some ways, how to promote it in US and target more US audience than Indians? If you would like to share, tell us one big secret to promote affiliate products.

    Reply

      • DNN says

        Happy Saturday Michelle,

        As my SEO continues to improve, I will DEFINITELY keep your affiliate program in mind when I get closer on Alexa to the 20k mark. If and when I do join your affiliate program, I have a “side hustle millionaire” goal (if nothing more) than hitting @ least 1-2 sales steady for 30 days. So happy you’re in my field of work because you and others are keeping me going sooooooo ambitiously motivated in the journey to achieve [side hustle millionaire] status. Have a great weekend my friend! 🙂

        Reply

  68. DNN says

    Look how far you came with your blogging career Michelle. You continue to go strong and inspire. You’re about to go beyond “side hustle millionaire” status in the next 5 years. Keep up the good work my friend! 🙂

    Reply

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