Confessions of a Six Figure Professional Blogger

Where Does Your Money Go?

December 11, 2008 | Personal

This last weekend, I saw a post by Tyler Cruz where he talked about where his money goes. Like myself, Tyler makes his money online and his blog is an important component to that. Tyler also posts monthly income reports. I have done the same, and I reported that I made over $14K last month as a pro blogger.

For people who are trying to get to this point, you may get visions of big D (that’s me) lounging around in piles of cash. Well, let’s put that to rest. That ISN’T the case!

The old adage is “It takes money to make money” and it is indeed 100% true. And on top of that, I’ve got a family. So, if I make $12K – $15K per month, where does the money go?

Taxes

It is boring, but it’s the law. I don’t have any employer deducting my taxes for me and sending me a W2 form at the end of the year. No, I have to actually pay that crap! Tax refunds just don’t happen for me. And in addition to income taxes, I have to pay quarterly employment taxes as well as sales taxes. Sales taxes is fairly negligible for me, however I’m paying around $1,800 per quarter in employment taxes and I only have one employee.

If the government only knew how FREAKING hard they make it to provide jobs to people!

Web Hosting

When you have busy sites that make serious income, you don’t get by with shared hosting plans for a few bucks per month. I have two dedicated servers rented at Pair Networks and I pay, on average, $700/month for them.

Writers & Payroll

Rich (my one actual employee) and I write a majority of the content for PCMech. But, I do have a few other writers and I pay them on a per-post basis. Of course, I also write a weekly paycheck for Rich and, while I won’t divulge how much he makes in public, I will say that he is my single biggest business expense at this time.

Investment Into Sites

I pay a monthly bill into Aweber plus I have to keep up with all my domains (I own around 60 right now). I also pay for software when needed. I purchased vBulletin (which requires support renewal), aMember Pro. Just recently, I spent $497 on another membership system I’ll use for a future project.

Personal Bills

My monthly mortgage is about $1,600. I pay around $800/quarter to insure my family. I have a car payment of around $328 for my Acura TL. I insure both my wife’s and my own vehicle. Our grocery bills seem to add up really quickly. Our average American Express bill for the month is around $1,300 and much of that is food for the family. And, yes, we do go out to eat 1-2 times per week just to get out and relax.

I love my food, and my growing gut proves it.

The Leftovers

My expenses, then, are such that while my business brings in a decent amount of money, I’m not exactly floating in cash. We live a nice lifestyle and I’m certainly not having to count pennies. I can afford some things outside of the norm. In fact, I just recently acquired a brand new 50” plasma television. I use a big bad Mac Pro with three LCD monitors attached to it (2 24-inchers and one 21-inch). I use a 15” Macbook Pro as my mobile unit. I also picked up a Mac Mini for online streaming purposes.

Making good money online means you also invest money. You do have expenses. I also invest into my own knowledge (in the form of information products).

The key is obviously to always make more money than you spend.

So, What About You?

My financial goals for 2009 are steeper than 2008. I intend to make more money in 2009 – I don’t care what people say about a recession.

So, what about you? Regardless of how much you make, you have expenses. Does all your money go out on bills? Do you invest? Save? Buy electronic toys?

If you enjoyed this article, you might also like...

  1. How a Problogger Handles Taxes
  2. Legal and Tax Aspects of Professional Blogging
  3. January 2009 Blogging Income Report
  4. March 2009 Blogging Income Report – The Last?
  5. Chitika – A Good Way To Make Money With Your Blog?

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  • makequickcashjohn
    I go with you buddy. Economic hit simply becomes a challenge for us to get stronger. It is even not only in making money, but in many things. Online businesses stay cool so far. Let's make a move! Thanks. Make Quick Cash John
  • Good morning !!
    First time here. Just spent a bit of time cruzing your archives, nice content!!!
    To answer your Q Ive noticed you've left out retirement planning. I know weird huh, that us IM'rs should have to think about it. But I look at it like this. I dont make 6 figs but I do put away a chunk of change each month into an investment plan of sorts. ie I have banked 3 months earnings, you in case of a bad situation. And am banking for retirement. All from the net. I feel its important and its one of the main reasons why I have blogs and run web businesses. My first goal when starting out was to reduce my debt, with that goal accomplished I set out to bank 3 months earnings (equivalent to my day job as a plumber) with that accomplished im now going to bank over time a retirement fund equivalent to 13x earnings for my retirement. I think fiancial security is a major reason why we want to blog for money but yet I wonder how many are actually doing it.
    Just my .02$
  • Ah, but if the teachers had learned it themselves, they would know how to manage their money and they wouldn't be broke!

    It's a question of living within your means. Why is it that my tenants who are always behind in the rent are the ones who smoke the most, for instance?
  • Gina: They definitely should be teaching financials in class, and make it FUN and INTERESTING, not boring. I guess part of the problem is it's difficult to listen to a teacher teaching them about money when most teachers are just as broke as the students themselves :P

    David: You spend your money almost exactly like me and make roughly the same. Here's hoping to a good 2009 for both of us!
  • How many people know where are their money is going?

    They should teach budgeting at school. I'm amazed how many kids earning $8 an hour think they can afford a new car, as well gas, insurance, rent, heat, cable (the most expensive options of course), internet, food, etc. Why are they surprised when they can't make ends meet?
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