The end of September signifies that we are nearing the home stretch of 2017, and the need to finish strong the last three months of year with our blog. Having goals and reporting on them really helps put perspective on what needs to be done and how much more I need to push it.
This past month we continued to put all our efforts into paying off the mortgage, and it showed. We put down another $3700 towards the mortgage and are probably about 8 months away from having it paid off.
The blog income has continued to be consistent at about $500/month, and our AirBnB efforts have started to cool down. We have adjusted our prices (downward), because we are out of the busy summer season, so I'd estimate that this revenue stream will cool down a little bit. Regardless, we are laser focused on putting all our efforts towards the house!
With that said, here is a breakdown of where we now sit with our mortgage payoff.
Mortgage Pay Off Countdown
Balance: $28,116
Paid last month: $3,786
Extra Money That Was Applied: $2,478
Goal of Pay Off Date: August 2018 – (new estimate: June 2018)
With all of our efforts focused on the mortgage, then it is accelerating our estimated payoff date. I've continued to also do research on investing in real estate, and continue to read to gain knowledge and wisdom. Buying a rental is a way off, but I feel like I need to collect data on where I'm thinking about investing (my sweet zone), who is my network of people who can help me, and ways I can reduce the amount time it would take to do real estate. All of those efforts are to help form another solid leg of passive income streams…eventually.
With that said, here is a breakdown of my passive income streams from this past month and how we are doing it:
2017 Goals
- Pension – [2017 Goal $1308] [made $981 in 2017] – didn't lift a finger this past month to cash in on my previous employer's pension and collected $109. Sweet!
- Blog Income – [2017 Goal – $7500] – [made $5,013 in 2017] – continued to be consistent with making about $500/month. I expect this to hold towards the end of the year, but probably won't make my goal of $7500.
- AirBnB – [original 2017 Goal $2500 (completed in July) – new 2017 goal $7500] – [made $4,019 in 2017] – this income stream continues slowed a little bit in September, but I'm expecting it to continue to remain rock solid. This income source has definitely been a blessing in paying off the mortgage!
- Sell Stuff – [2017 Goal $2500] – [made $54 in 2017] – I've been thinking a lot about starting to sell some of my silver coins and converting these stagnant assets income generating assets. Possibly I'm looking to split 50% of these sales towards the mortgage and 50% towards my Schwab monthly income fund.
- Peer-to-Peer Lending – [2017 Goal $25] – [made $24.03 in 2017] – LendingClub continues to disappoint me with having a negative return on our investment, and I've had four loan defaults. Ugh! I can't wait to get out of this investment and move onto investing in dividend stocks!
- YouTube Channel – [2017 Goal $25] – [made $122 in 2017] – earned $14.66. So far this year I've produced, 10 Ways to Save Money on Your Electric Bill, DirecTV Review and How to Get Discounts, How to prepare for a Greater Depression, Passive Income Streams Require Continual Work, and Unused appliances that are using energy (and I didn't even know it!). Still, haven't put down $200 to buy Camtasia, but will be soon as I'm recording more content to be published.
- Schwab Monthly Income Fund – [2017 Goal $10] – [made $6.14 in 2017] – moved funds from my lendingclub investment into the Schwab monthly income fund. By doing this it has increased my monthly income to almost $1.00/month. Not bad for the chicken eggs sales I had in 2015 & 2016.
My small efforts to build a passive income snowball are starting to pick up steam, and slowly but surely my intentional efforts are building upon one another. I'm going to continue to put effort into building a third leg of income, and at the same time balance family and other priorities.
This is my report of how I'm making side income and using that to pay off my mortgage. I'd be interested to hear what side hustles you've got, and what you are doing with your extra cash! Leave a comment below!
Charlie and his wife use the 2 Checking Account System to manage their finances – check it out for free.
4 Comments
Started face painting as a side hustle a year ago. Picking up serious steam and averaging 200 euros per month profit. Forecasting more next year, as the network continues to grow. Also started offering printable face paint menus on etsy, slow but steady sales growth. Loving the passive side of digital selling! Oh, and I recentlty bought a garage box and will rent it out for 75 a month. Things are moving as planned :)
Iris – that is awesome! I love hearing how people are creating side hustles and what those ideas are. For me, that blog has been great, because it holds me accountable to writing about it.
Charlie,
As a subscriber, is there something I can do to increase your blog income? Do you get more if I click on an add? I am going to subscribe to your You tube channel as well. You have been very helpful this past year at helping me focus my money and creating a plan for extra income instead of just using using it for extras like coffee and eating out. Thank you.
Carnette – thanks so much for the kind words. I’d say if you could tell all your friends about our blog, and what articles you find interesting, then that would be the biggest help. We want people to authentically click on our advertisements and subscribe to our channel. Thanks and be sure to continue to comment on our articles! We love it!