My third online income report! I’m still in a bit in shock that I’m actually writing about earning money online. Granted, the numbers are small and I have a long way to go until I’m earning a decent income, but it’s a start. And everyone has to start somewhere, right? Long before I started this blog, I used to read income reports from other bloggers, marvelling at how they could earn a living online. Earning numbers far beyond what I earn at my full time job, and managing to do this all with a laptop and some determination. The fact that there are so many ways to earn a living online means that almost anyone can earn some money on the side, if they want to.
Some of my favourite bloggers who share their income reports are:
- Making Sense of Cents
- Disease Called Debt
- Smart Passive Income
- Pinch of Yum
- From Aldi to Harrods
All of these bloggers post their monthly earnings, and some of them earn some amazing amounts every month! I can only hope to one day be posting an income number in the thousands, but we all have to start somewhere and I’m so pleased I’ve finally made some money online.
I’ve changed my mind about how I’m going to split any online earnings. The past two months I’ve just put everything in the Ultimate Dream Fund as extra savings. However, I’m going to change it so that half of the money I earn goes into savings and the other half gets reinvested into my blog. I’ve just bought a new theme which I need to sort, plus I need to pay for a couple of other things that should help in the long run. I want to make this a better site, so I’m going to have to invest some money into the growing of The Frugal Cottage. That being said, now that I’ve made some money, it’s made me much more determined to earn something extra each month.
Anyway, this is what I earned in January:
The Money Shed post competition – £5.00
Sponsored post – £40.00
Sponsored Link – £20.00
Total: £65.00
So, this is £15 more than I made in December, but the number is still disappointingly low. I think it’s because I want to be in the three figure range straight away, but these things take time. I figure that the numbers each month will fluctuate, especially to begin with whilst I’m just starting out. I am still looking to get some writing jobs; I keep looking at job boards and definitely need to start. I need to look at how to make a good pitch! I have set aside 30% of this income for tax and national insurance purposes, which means that what I can save is reduced, but that’s the law… 
For February, I’m aiming to earn £100 in side income/online income. So far, I’m not on track at all to meet this aim, so I’ve got some work to do! It looks like I’ll be doing lots of online surveys for the time being ? I also want to write an eBook, but it’s just finding the time to do everything. I need to find some tips on time management for bloggers I think!
Do you have any tips for making a good pitch? I’d love to hear any advice!
Well done! Reinvesting half of the money is such a great idea and I’m sure it will pay off massively in the long run.
Thank you so much for linking to me too!
Nicola, congrats and good luck on the following reports in the coming months. Thanks for sharing the list of your favorite bloggers.
Hi Nicola,
I just wanted to drop in and say keep up the good work and don’t feel too down about the earnings.
My advice would be to learn more about how the successful blogs you follow are generating income, and then see which of these strategies might be a good fit for The Frugal Cottage.
Also, have you ever sat down and thought about who your target audience is? I believe a key to having a blog that generates income is about finding the balance between writing content that interests you and offering enticing articles to your audience.
I am still fairly new to this myself so certainly can’t claim to be an expert, far from it in fact. These are just a couple of pieces of advice I was given recently and thought to pass it forward!!
Thanks for stopping by and for your helpful comment 🙂 there are lots of things I need to consider about the future of this blog 🙂
I agree. Reinvesting is a brilliant idea. I should be doing that as well.
Your 3rd month definitely kicked my 3rd month’s hiny… at least as far as actual spendable earnings are concerned. Congrats!
Thanks; it’ll get better I hope!
Awesome! Realy inspiring post. I am always motivate after reading your blogs. Thanks for the insights.
Thank you!