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Income Report – March, 2017

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Have you ever sold $6,000 worth of stocks at 7:40 in the morning while eating Captain Crunch? I have.

Following last week’s post on my Cost-Benefit Analysis, Invest my Tax Return or Pay Off my Car. I came to a decision. I will pay off my car.

I am using my $3,200 tax refund (plus $500) in addition to 3/4 of my stock portfolio to pay off my $10,312 car loan.

Why Am I Paying off my Car Loan Rather than Investing?

There were many heated discussions within Andrew’s pool of friends. I could invest my tax refund and make $1,000 more by October 2nd, 2019 or put the tax refund toward my car reducing the amount of months till I pay it off.

I decided to fully pay it off. This is why:

  • I never thought I’d NOT have a car loan, so the idea I could pay it off is incredibly happy because I’ll then only have student loans! (albeit $50,000 in student loans left) #MoreFinanciallyIndependent
  • I’ll now have $340 more per month to buy stocks! This means more in-depth reports on more stock buys and stock analysis.
  • I free up $340 per month in monthly cash flow. 99% of the time I’ll invest that, but it leaves me open to do more side projects for Wallet Squirrel. I love experimenting on Wallet Squirrel and they usually result in earning more money or at least some great lessons learned. I’ll take that.

In the end, I’m very happy with my decision, but it’ll likely be the first and last time I ever pull money out of my stock portfolio.

Last Time

What Happened in March?

If you recall from February’s Income Report, this was month (1 of 3) to test Wallet Squirrel’s newest contributor, Adam and MAN did he do well! He crushed it this last month by getting an article out every Monday at 1pm. While generating great content and increasing Wallet Squirrel’s SEO. Every blog needs an Adam.

Every blog needs an Adam.

  • Most Popular Post – February’s Income Report. This proves that lots of people like to dive into how income is generated on Wallet Squirrel and how it’s being invested. Income Reports continue to crush it in web traffic (maybe it’s the infographics). Plus it was Adam’s introduction to Wallet Squirrel, which also made our most popular Tweet to date.
  • Longest Post Last Month – 50 Amazon Affiliate Website Examples Making Money in a Niche. This post alone had 3,801 words and is quickly becoming one of our most popular post. It’s super helpful and motivating to anyone looking to start a affiliate website. Some of these sites make $20,000 per month.
  • Wallet Squirrel is a legit company! – I shared a post Wallet Squirrel is now an LLC, but I’m not sure I did it justice on how excited I am about it! While the process was SUPER easy (read it), it’s a very empowering knowing that I now have an LLC to build my Squirrel Empire of side-hustles. Is it weird that I’m excited for taxes next year?

March, 2017 Income Report

This month I made $265.87! That’s pretty cool, but funny because I made $265.30 in January. So essentially $0.57 cents more than January. Lol

The big factor was I did another sponsored post which I charged $200 . It’s great that doing a sponsored post can cover the cost of the website expenses and contribute to future side-hustles, but I feel odd putting other people’s content on my site. The only bonus is that I’m reviewing each post before I publish it and making sure it’s interesting. I reject A LOT of sponsored post.

Even though I’ve done 2 sponsored post so far, I have no idea how to charge for them. Does anyone have a pricing table?

I’m thinking I’ll charge $500 or $1,000 for the next one. If people won’t pay that, then I guess I won’t do any more sponsored posts for a while. Works for me. =)

March 2017, Dividend Monthly Income Report Infographic

Income Report – February, 2017

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Upon first glance, I’m sighed “crap” under my breath while looking over my new income report infographic. I didn’t make much. Especially after an awesome month just four weeks ago, but here’s why!

Why is this Income Report lower?

The main reason, I didn’t have a sponsor post or an experiment earn any income this month. I did have an offer for a sponsor post. However it wasn’t a good fit, so I said “hell no”. I turned down $150 because I really LOVE the community I’m building and didn’t want to even slightly damage it with a crappy post. So I’ll stay poor another month.

My Experiments this month

I have been conducting two experiments this month, one involves selling stock photography and the other involves building a sweet Twitter strategy. If you’re on Twitter, you’ll easily see my around 10 tweets a day.

Seriously, I’ve been on a Twitter Storm, I’m trying to get to 1,000 Tweets and analyzing what Tweets work the best as well as growth hacking my Twitter Account. If you’re on Twitter, Follow me @WalletSquirrel. I’ll personally thank everyone who shares this post on Twitter. =)

Coming to Wallet Squirrel – Adam

Wallet Squirrel is getting a new contributor joining “Team Squirrel”. This means Wallet Squirrel will have even MORE posts and MORE experiments earning extra cash to invest. Adam will have his first post soon, but I wanted to do a quick introduction.

Adam and I have been best friends since 2007. We graduated from the same design program in college, I was in his wedding (my role may surprise you) and we built our first successful affiliate website together. This is the one we’re currently revamping. He knows a thing or two about building great websites. We’ll do a big reveal soon!

Adam and Andrew in an Action Shot at Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve in Colorado.

Adam and Andrew in an Action Shot at Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve in Colorado.

Basically he’s a BAD ASS, and will bring a ton of new strengths to Wallet Squirrel. We’re starting off strong and will hopefully build up to something like DividendDiplomats.com in the future. Those guys are crushing it and we hope to reach that level in the next couple months.

Adam hasn’t written a bio yet, but it would highlight these skills. He’s an SEO machine, dabbles in programming/app design, organizational freak and production hack expert. I’ll let him expand on those later.

I will admit, I was a little nervous about bringing on someone new to “Team Squirrel”, especially after I’ve done so much to build up this community on my own, but I recently got some awesome advice (thanks Dividend Diplomat, Bert) that ran along the lines, partnerships work when you feel they’re like family. That resonated with me and I was convinced I wanted to try. So let’s give an awesome welcome to “Team Squirrel’s” newest addition, Adam!

My Income Report

Did I mention, I made some money this month?

February-2017,-Dividend-Monthly-Income-Report-Infographic

Does anyone have any great Twitter advice for growing an audience?

Income Report – January, 2017

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2017 has been off to a tremendous start. This month has been one of my strongest yet with an income of $265.30. Yet it was more successful due to my consistent blog posing!

I have managed to have a post go out every Thursday around 1pm MTN. That’s been something a little hard for me in the past, but I found the secret. Always be one post ahead. That way I have a post always going out. It gives me the assurance I need. They say consistency is the best thing you can do as a blogger. I hope 1pm MTN on Thursdays works for everyone!

Some of the highlights this month!

  1. I’ve been doing more money experiments this month like Selling My First Item on Craigslist Ever and testing to see how effective Lottery Tickets are at earning you money (hint, I won but I could have easily lost everything)
  2. I did my first guest post. This was scary because I wanted to continue to pump out great content but I’ve been slacking in posting timely posts. So I mixed it up and did a guest post. This is exactly what I needed to recharge my motivation. Plus I earned $150 while learning about some side jobs for millennials.

January-2017,-Dividend-Monthly-Income-Report-Infographic

Upcoming next month:

I have some awesome stuff next month with different ways to make extra money. These include stock photography (I’m going through old photos now) and I’m starting a second Affiliate Website. With the Affiliate Website, I’m giving you a step by step from concept, to website design, to launch. So the process can be replicable. I’m really excited about that!

I’m stoked about Wallet Squirrel in 2017!

What do you think of the Income Report?

Income Report – December, 2016

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Every blog does an expansive end of the year recap, let’s not do that.

The beginning of the year was off to a solid start and slipped by the end of the year due to me moving downtown. Yes, downtown has been rough on me. Every weekend there is something to do. So I’ve spent time with friends at bars, comedy clubs and random weekend events that could not have possibly been passed up.

In short, it’s been awesome. Especially since my passive income has continuously grown. Yay dividends.

december-2016-dividend-monthly-income-report-infographic

For next year (small goals):

  1. Be more consistent with the articles.

That’s really my only goal. I enjoy writing but sometimes I’m a bit hard on myself so I take too much time to write a solid article. Err writing. It’s both hard and exciting.

Let’s aim for an awesome and productive 2017!

Income Report – November, 2016

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I’m getting caught up with these Income Reports. It’s a chance for me to share the different passive income streams that combined, made nearly $80.

This will be short and sweet, here is the November, 2016 infographic.

november-2016-dividend-monthly-income-report-infographic-01

Income Report – October, 2016

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Not going to lie, I’ve been working on other stuff, but that’s good. The last couple months I have been meeting with my team on my Affiliate Site that focuses on Halloween Superhero Costumes. It’s been an interesting ride since we set it up 3 years ago. The first year we put a lot of blood sweat and tears into it and it grew really well!

The last 2 years though have not been so focused. In fact, we flat well gave up on it. In year 2, after not touching it for a while, it did just as good as the previous year, in fact, a little better. So we just said “Screw it, let’s not touch it again next year”. Bad Idea.

This last year not touching the affiliate site hurt tremendously. Considering last year we made $600 on Halloween’s October, this year we made $20. Ouch.

So I’ve been dividing my time between Wallet Squirrel, My Affiliate Site and my full-time job. Out of those 3, Wallet Squirrel has suffered the most. No matter what though, I LOVE producing these monthly reports.

october-2016-dividend-monthly-income-report-infographic-01

What’s on my mind

  1. Like the goal of Wallet Squirrel, I’m hoping to find new ways to make money and invest that to create passive income. Yet as from the above Income Report. Wallet Squirrel doesn’t make very much so I’m anxiously finding new ways.

Really that’s it, I’m trying to come up with new ways to create passive income. Even spending my free time coming up with recurring revenue business ideas.

Question: Think anyone would pay $1/mo to get text messages each month for important Holidays and minor Holidays like International Pirates Day?

Income Report – September, 2016

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So it’s official. Doing nothing averages around $60 for me. That’s a pretty awesome thing. The full breakdown is below, but how cool is that? Doing nothing still makes me $60. If I could live off $60 then I could quit everything right now. That’s $60 for life.

september-2016-dividend-monthly-income-report-infographic

Things I accomplished in September:

1. I wrote a really cool article “What Happens to Debt When You Die?“. It stemmed from a friend’s request and I was excited to write it. It’s gotten a lot of great press and I think it came out pretty darn neat. The infographic turned out pretty sweet.

Yea, that’s about it. I’ve been easily distracted by Netflix and shiny objects.

Things to accomplish in October:

Is it OK to say, just 2 new articles in October and slowly make my way up?

Income Report – August, 2016

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As I start ramping Wallet Squirrel back up, I’m reminded that no matter what I do. There are some passive income strategies that keep earning me money. So dear passive income. Thank you.

August-2016,-Dividend-Monthly-Income-Report-Infographic

Let’s talk Double Cash Back Credit Card

During a recent Entrepreneur Meet and Greet in Denver (yes, I go to these). It was pointed by a fellow entrepreneur who read my blog (eek, people read this) that we should clarify good and bad ways to use a credit card.

See, I pay off my entire credit card debt daily, since I paid mine off in 2015. So I treat my credit card like cash. I know that I am going to HAVE to pay it all off the next day so anything that I’m willing to pay cash for, I use credit. Mainly just for the 2% cash back.

It was pointed out though, that some people may not know this difference and could continue their spiral of debt. I’m obviously not condoning this. Only use a credit card if you have good credit card habits. It’s easy to say you’re getting 2% back with a credit card, but things still cost 98%.

Moral of the story. It’s hard to say my 2% Cash Back Credit Card is a sort of passive income. Especially if I’m using it to buy wants like Colorado Rockies Tickets. However, a majority of the time I use my Cash Back Credit Card on purchases I’m going to make anyways, so I consider it passive income.

Monthly Goals (I HATE monthly goals)

I have a bad habit of not liking being told what to do. Once I write something down, I’m telling myself to do something and sometimes that’s a bit much. Especially when the guilt of failing a to-do list is a lot worse than actually accomplishing something. Maybe I’ll rename this “Some things Andrew, could maybe do in the future, if he wants”. Catchy right?

  1. Write 2 posts this month on how to earn additional income. That’s what this site is about and let’s get down to the roots.
  2. Comment on 70 blogs. I came to this number because I have 70 blogs on my “To Read” list. Let me know if you want to be on this list.

Income Report – July, 2016

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I’m playing catch up with my monthly reports, I just also released my June, 2016 Income Report. It’s been a little crazy these last 2 months with moving apartments, work (yes I still have a full-time job) and social life. Here are some photos of my new studio apartment, wahoo!

The social life part is definitely needed. If I ever expect to meet a nice girl, I need to at least go out and find them. I have not yet discovered any gorgeous girls randomly wondering into my apartment. Unless that’s a thing, is that a thing?

Back to my Income Report. While I’ve been off galavanting, my dividends have been consistantly moving to make me money. I use the Robinhood App for my brokerage account and I consistently get phone notifications say “Walt Disney (DIS) has paid $2.13 in dividends”. Which both makes me really excited since I didn’t have to do anything to earn that. Then at the same time I get this AWFUL gut feeling that I’ve been slacking on Wallet Squirrel.

So I’m playing catch up and thinking about additional ways to make extra income in addition to dividends. But while we’re focused on dividends, this is what I made this month.

July-2016,-Dividend-Monthly-Income-Report-Infographic

Honestly, I haven’t done much. Mainly I’ve been still attending a Denver Mastermind with other start-ups and entrepreneurs chatting about what it takes to be successful and sharing some awesome tips to make our businesses better. Because as you know, I would eventually love to do this full-time. I just need to make more than $49.63 to leave my current job.

Unless I leave all my worldly possessions, family and friends moving to a third world country where I can live off of $49.63 a month. That could work right? Maybe, I’ll save that as a backup plan.

My Goals this month

Does anyone else hate writing goals? Everyone I write them, I get REALLY ambitious but never reach all of them. Perhaps that the “Reach for the stars and you’ll land on the Moon” philosphy. The pain of not reaching my goals is usually worse than any happiness when I meet them.

So here are some easy goals:

  1. Try my first article on SeekingAlpha.com to see if one can get paid to write. Who knows?
  2. Completely unrelated to finance, but I want to create some kind of easy breakfast routine. Does anyone know of any good breakfast protein shake ideas? Especially recipes that are EASY?
  3. Limit myself to Sundays and Tues-Friday to write good content. That means not going out every night. I can do this.
  4. Add 5 people to my email list.

I only have a few people on my email list. Do you have any suggestions to build an email list?

Income Report – June, 2016

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Sorry guys, I’ve been in this insane transitional moving schedule moving my apartment from the suburbs of Denver into the heart of downtown. Thus I have been COMPLETELY failing at my blogging duties.

However, I’m now up and running in the new place and plan to hit the ground running. No more roommate distractions slowing me down, plus now I only have a 10 min walk to work so that means more time to blogging duties! I’m excited for this new chapter of my life.

Let’s get to the point, while I’ve been slacking on life, my dividends have been working it. Here is my June, 2016 Income Report.

June 2016, Dividend Monthly Income Report Infographic