Welcome back to the monthly income report, after a one-month hiatus! I just planned badly last time. I like to write this post in advance, and May 1 was a Monday, so I couldn’t write about April’s income until that day. The following week I had just come back from a very fandom-topical experience I wanted to write about instead, and here we are.

After a very profitable March, April and May have been… not great.

Reason #1: I started a low-earning, time-intensive project. Anime Origin Stories made $5 this month, but it’s not a big deal because I didn’t start it to earn money, but rather to answer my own questions (and hopefully yours, too) about how people got into fandom. It got me thinking a lot about the value of work—and how work’s value doesn’t always come from money.

Reason #2: I became a full time writer for a bit. After a bunch of web projects in quick succession, I didn’t have any for a while. When you’re a freelancer you have to divide your time between paying work, and courting the chance of paying work by doing a bunch of self promotion. I had a lot of writing jobs secured so I figured I’d just focus on that. This is changing in June though, as I have picked up more web clients again, mostly by word of mouth. You can see a tiny web design paycheck I already received on the pie chart.

Reason #3: While not earning as much, I spent more. In the free time I had not getting as much work, I spent a bunch. I bought a ticket to a business conference this fall, which was still several hundred bucks even at a discount. I bought tickets to Japan, again! (Though I did get them for $700 round trip per person.) I paid my estimated taxes, which fortunately didn’t cost a thing, because I overpaid last year and just used part of my tax refund. I’m lucky I didn’t have any unexpected expenses, because I wouldn’t have stuck with any of my savings goals.

I put money in my emergency fund, retirement fund, and travel fund, but this month I did not put money in my new computer savings account. I told you about the other savings accounts, but I just started this one in January in case my now four-year-old Macbook doesn’t make it through the year. It’d be a lot cheaper to just suck it up and get a PC laptop, which my husband could actually repair and upgrade for me as needed, but I’m so used to working with a Macbook (I got my first one for grad school) that I’d rather save up all year than buy a PC.

Let’s talk about those belated April money goals:

• I sort of launched a new site with affiliate links, but since it wasn’t based on keywords or anything, I’m pretty sure it’s only made money from people being nice.
• I acquired a new web development client and I pitched a few new writing outlets, but I wouldn’t say I found a reliable new income source.
• I did write some pieces I was proud of for Forbes! My favorites: Why Anime Fans Aren’t Falling In Love With Anime Strike, How One Woman Turned A Passion For Anime Figures Into A Career, and More Than Just Skin: How Hentai Games Are Seducing New Audiences.

Now, what will I do this June?

• Work more, earn more. I’m my own boss and I need to act more like it. There’s no reason I shouldn’t be pitching and promoting more often.
• Don’t throw money at problems. Earlier I wanted to hire an editor for Otaku Journalist. This led to more work/problems for me. I also considered hiring a Japanese tutor long before I considered the simple solution of studying a little more on my own between classes. I have more money than time, so now it’s time to do the work.
• Paying work first. It’s tempting to create a big backlog of scheduled posts on Anime Origin Stories, and it really does feel like I’m being productive when I do it! I can’t believe I still have to tell myself this: but do work you’re actually paid for before you do that.

How did your May go? What are your plans for June?