I may have given up on my pipe dream of becoming a YouTube sensation -- turns out you have to make regular videos for that -- but I'm still on a quest to create more income streams. Don't get me wrong, my day job is great! Plus, it would be very unlikely that I could replace my current level of income and benefits with "side hustling," nor would I want to.
However, with the uncertainty of the coronavirus pandemic, I've become a lot more interested in being able to make money passively or at least from home. (Just in case: passive income means money that you earn continually from work you did once, or money you invested once. So for instance, interest and royalties are forms of passive income.) Keeping a monthly tally will help me see where I'm at and set goals to work towards. Here are a couple things to note for this initial report:
I'm counting credit card cash back, interest, and dividends for accounts in my name only. At this time, these income sources are used as statement credit, remain in the interest-earning account, or are reinvested respectively.
I will count writing jobs and eBay/etc. sales; while these income sources are not "passive" by definition, I don't have to leave the house. (Well, except to go to the post office...)
I'll count any income from Patreon and Ko-Fi that exceeds $38/month -- the threshold of breaking even on yearly blog-related subscriptions.
Income from grocery cash back apps, Rakuten, TeachersPayTeachers, and Adsense will be included when I redeem the points or receive a payout.
Without further ado, here's how July stacked up:
Interest: $12.71
Dividends: $3.22 (Am I independently wealthy yet?? lol)
Credit Card Cash Back: $33.14
Writing: $80
Total: $129.07
Okay, that's a week and a half's worth of groceries -- not bad!
August Goals:
Find two freelance writing jobs.
Add three new resources to my TeachersPayTeachers store.
Draft listings for the items in my "eBay box," to make active at some point when I need a boost.
Sign up one more Patreon subscriber at the $9/month tier, or 3 more at the $3/month tier.
Now I have a question for you guys: should I include my band's bandcamp sales as passive income? I'm very happy with our sales numbers so far, but we are nowhere near the "break even" point on the cost of producing our latest EP and I don't really expect to reach it. Luckily music is not a for-profit enterprise for me lol... On the other hand, the money we spent recording the EP, printing CDs, etc. is already out in the world/out of our bank accounts. So are the sales "income," or recouping costs? Is this a moot point?
Speaking of bandcamp, this Friday (August 7th) and subsequent first Fridays throughout 2020 are "Bandcamp Fridays" -- the site is waiving their revenue share, so it's a perfect time to purchase music and merch from the bands you love!
How do you create passive income? And what's on your Bandcamp Friday wishlist?? Leave a comment!
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