Quarterly Earnings Review - August 2007

Time to review all of my earnings over the past four months to determine which sources have been the most lucrative and which have not been worth my time. The list starts with the highest income total and goes down to the lowest. I have commented on each source with both a "review" of that income source and a "goal" for that income source.

Monthly Earnings Totals
May: $599.66/June: $1,015.40/July: $1,007.29/Aug.: $346.94

1. Jewelry Sales/Total: $1,218.59/Avg.: $304.64
May: $375.90/June: $575.50/July: $267.19/Aug.: $0
Review: this is one of my most lucrative income sources. Goal: focus on upgrading jewelry website to include a shopping cart. Have color catalog printed. Sign up for fall craft fairs.

2. Church Nursery/Total: $364/Avg.: $91
May: $84.00/June: $112.00/July: $112.00 /Aug.: $56.00
Review: this income should go back to $112 a month since we won't be away on the weekends anymore. Goal: work each Sunday.

3. AmX Rewards/Total: $250/Avg.: $62.50
May: $0/June: $0/Juloy: $250.00/Aug: $0
Review: this was a one time bonus reward. Goal: possibly sign up for another credit card that offers a sign up bonus.

4. Cash Crate/Total: $202.24/Avg.: $50.56
May: $51.47/June: $51.27/July: $75.97/Aug.: $23.53
Review: this income dropped disappointingly in August. Goal: solve the problem with cookies with my computer so the offers will confirm.

5. Contacts Reimbursement/Total: $200/Avg.: $50
May: $0/June: $200.00/July: $0/Aug.: $0
Review: I have reached the maximum reimbursement that my plan allows for this year. (I included this in my earnings because there is some paper work involved and in the past I have neglected to do it or have submitted it too late and lost this valuable income!) Goal: find a new in network opthamologist so I can be reimbursed up to $250 for 2008.

6. Returned Stuff/Total: $147.02/Avg.: $36.75
May: $0/June: $6.25/July: $140.77/Aug.: $0
Review: I include this in my earnings because in the past I have sometimes neglected to return something even if I found we didn't need it. Now I view this as an income category to motivate me to return any purchase or gift we find didn't fit our needs or is not necessary. Goal: I have a lot of unneeded clothing that I purchased for the kids that I need to return in September.

7. Yard Sale/Total: $125/Avg.: $31.25
May: $0/June: $0/July: $0/Aug.: $125.00
Review: this was a whole lot of work. I think selling on ebay is less work with better results. Goal: don't plan another yard sale.

8. Associated Content/Total: $114.35/Avg.: $28.58
May: $34.88/June: $26.36/July: $49.01/Aug. $4.10
Review: this income has changed each month based on how many articles I submitted. Income in August was from page views only. Goal: submit more articles to Associated Content.

9. Ebay Sales/Total: $98.03/Avg.: $24.50
May: $0 /June: $18.49/July: $59.00/Aug.: $74.54
Review: this income has been steadily increasing each month. Goal: list more items for sale on ebay.

10. Savings Interest /Total: $86/Avg.: $21.50
May: $0 /June: $18.00/July: $13.00/Aug.: $55.00
Review: this income has increased due to our putting aside a lot of money from my husband's high commissions to save for the months with low commissions. Goal: not too much control over this but will save any extra funds from high commission months.

11. Mystery Shopping/Total: $62.70/Avg.: $15.67
May: $52.70/June: $0/July: $0/Aug.: $10.00
Review: this has been a good way to earn some free merchandise or meals. Goal: sign up for more assignments.

12. Ad Revenue/Total: $22.67/Avg: $5.66
May: $.71 /June: $3.15/July: $13.35/Aug: $5.46
Review: this income was steadily increasing each month until August with the highest income so far in July most likely because of higher traffic due to participation in Blog Carnivals. Goal: participate in more Blog Carnivals.

13. Fairy Tale Tresasures/Total: $1.55/Avg.: $ .38
May: $0/June: $1.55/July: $0/Aug.: $0
Review: this was a get paid to survey type site that I tried but was not able to earn much because of problems with the cookies on my computer. Goal: find out how to fix the cookies problem with my computer and earn more with get paid to sites.

14. myLot/Total: $ .36/Avg.: $ .09
May: $0/June: $0/July: $0/Aug.: $.36
Review: haven't earned too much with this forum and there doesn't seem to be enough people interested in discussing personal finance so I didn't earn much with them. Goal: I will probably drop this as an income source.


So, that's it for this quarter. Hopefully next quarter will prove even more lucrative so the debts can be paid off even faster. The journey to financial peace continues . . .