If you’ve ever wondered how I make money, this page is for you — it’s dedicated to my blog income reports.
I love blogging, and I’m grateful I started this site more than a decade ago. Blogging taught me a lot and allowed me to help countless people improve their finances. It also became a way for me to earn a living doing something I truly enjoy.
In the early days of Making Sense of Cents, I began publishing monthly income reports. Those posts detailed how much I earned and where the income came from — affiliate income, sponsored posts, product sales, and more. I also answered common questions and shared updates about my life and business.
If you’re interested in blogging or curious about this site, the income reports contain a lot of useful information. I no longer publish monthly income totals, but many readers still ask for the old reports, so I created this page to collect them.
My income reports began when I wanted to track the money I earned from side hustles, including blogging. Early reports included income from mystery shopping, paid online surveys, selling items on eBay, and other side jobs. Eventually I stopped those side hustles and focused entirely on this blog. That’s when the reports shifted to focus on blogging income and the various ways this site earns money.
Over the years, the reports prompted many comments and questions. Some people thought it was unusual to share income publicly, while others appreciated the transparency. I had three main reasons for publishing the reports:
- Before I started blogging I knew little about side hustles or making money online. I didn’t think side jobs were worthwhile and assumed the only way to increase income was a raise at a traditional job. Income reports from others inspired me to try side hustling, so I wanted to show readers what’s possible and motivate them to improve their finances.
- Publishing monthly business reports helped me evaluate my progress, learn from mistakes, and set goals. The reports were a tool for measuring success and holding myself accountable.
- I wanted to demonstrate that earning extra money from home is possible and that many legitimate opportunities exist to do so.
I also genuinely enjoyed writing the reports. Over time, though, I stopped publishing them because they created pressure to grow earnings month after month. I realized income is just a number and doesn’t define quality of life. Repeating the same income narratives each month felt stale, and I became more concerned about privacy. Sharing financial details made me uncomfortable and, at times, unsafe.
I’d like to bring back a version of the income reports in the future, but I’m still figuring out the best approach. Tell me in the comments — what would you like to see?
Before listing the archived reports, here’s a brief overview of my blogging earnings over several years:
How much have I earned over the years from my blog?
A summary of selected years:
- 2013: $116,519 — the year I left my job and went full-time with the blog.
- 2014: $163,929 — my first full year as a self-employed blogger.
- 2015: $320,888 — the year I stopped freelance work and focused fully on the blog, which helped growth.
- 2016: $979,321 — the year I launched my first product, Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing.
- 2017: $1,536,732.
- 2018: Over $1,500,000 (as of November 2018, I had earned $1,510,040).
How To Start A Blog Free Course
If you don’t have a blog yet, I recommend my free course, How To Start A Blog. It’s delivered by email and covers the essentials to launch and grow a blog. The lessons include:
- Day 1: Reasons to start a blog.
- Day 2: How to choose what to blog about.
- Day 3: How to set up a blog on WordPress, step by step.
- Day 4: Ways to make money blogging.
- Day 5: Tips for building passive income.
- Day 6: How to grow traffic and followers.
- Day 7: Miscellaneous blogging tips for long-term success.
This free course walks beginners through the fundamentals, from setup to monetization.
How did I build a million-dollar blog?
I started the blog on a whim after reading about a personal finance website. At first it was a hobby to track my finances and share my journey. When I launched in 2011 I didn’t even know blogs could make money. A connection from the blogging community led to my first advertising deal — $100 — and that sparked my interest in monetization.
That early success motivated me to learn more and to take the blog seriously. Over time I refined strategies, focused on the right opportunities, and grew the site into a sustainable business.
How did I make money by creating and selling my own product?
In July 2016 I launched Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing, my first online course. Since then, the course has helped thousands of students and generated significant revenue. It’s an evergreen product that gained traction primarily through word of mouth rather than large launches or webinars.
Creating a product gave me a reliable income stream and allowed me to scale earnings beyond ad revenue and sponsorships.
My blog income reports from over the years
I published monthly income reports from 2012 through 2019. Each report outlined what I worked on that month, the income sources, business goals, and answered frequent questions. Below is a curated list of those archived reports, which chart the blog’s growth month by month and show how revenue sources evolved over time.
- $672 extra in May 2012 – my very first monthly income report.
- $994 extra in June 2012
- $1,425 extra in July 2012
- $1,603 extra in August 2012
- $3,275 extra in September 2012
- $3,700 extra in October 2012
- $5,114 extra in November 2012
- $5,770 in December 2012
- $6,523 in January 2013
- $5,983 in February 2013
- $7,862 in March 2013
- $7,859 in April 2013
- $7,641 in May 2013
- $10,192 in June 2013
- $11,117 in July 2013
- $9,554 in August 2013
- $12,334 in September 2013
- $11,927 in October 2013 — I finally left my job
- $13,387 in November 2013
- $12,160 in December 2013
- $12,640 in January 2014
- $13,454 in February 2014
- $12,100 in March 2014
- $13,493 in April 2014
- $12,747 in May 2014
- $12,787 in June 2014 — site redesign and more motivation
- $14,937 in July 2014
- $15,272 in September 2014 — outsourcing and passive income
- $14,136 in October 2014
- $14,534 in November 2014
- $13,673 in December 2014 — monthly income report and 2014 wrap-up
- $15,396 in January 2015
- $23,758 in February 2015
- $15,151 in March 2015
- $32,474 in April 2015
- $20,635 in May 2015
- $23,471 in June 2015
- How I made $25,138 in July 2015 — 4-year blogiversary
- $23,992 in August 2015
- $31,030 in September 2015
- $33,482 in October 2015
- $30,569 in November 2015
- How I made over $320,000 in 2015 — December report
- $44,782 in January 2016
- $49,607 in February 2016
- $72,196 in March 2016
- $71,761.30 in April 2016
- $69,085 in May 2016
- $68,440 in June 2016
- $112,594 in July 2016
- $90,188 in August 2016
- $102,911 in September 2016
- $99,607.18 in October 2016
- $106,383.89 in November 2016
- How I made $979,321 in 2016 — annual wrap-up
- $139,233 in January 2017
- How I made $160,211.27 in February 2017
- How I made $130,856.35 in March 2017
- How I made $131,448.35 in April 2017 while traveling
- How I made $120,104.93 in May 2017
- How I made $121,861.28 in June 2017
- How I made $110,897.33 in July 2017
- How I made $135,110 in August 2017
- How I made $113,267.08 in September 2017
- How I made $136,829.30 in October 2017
- How I made $110,656 in November 2017
- How I made $1,536,732 in 2017 — annual wrap-up
- How I made $114,812 in January 2018
- How I made $179,139 in February 2018
- How I made $241,649 in March 2018
- How I made $104,065 in April 2018
- How I made $136,807 in May 2018
- How I made $100,324 in June 2018
- How I made $113,235 in July 2018
- How I made $110,284 in August 2018
- How I made $104,814 in September 2018
- How I made $145,319 in October 2018
- How I made $159,592 in November 2018
- How I made over $1,500,000 in 2018
- How I made money and traveled full-time in January 2019
- How I made money and traveled full-time in February 2019
- How I made money blogging from home in March 2019
- How I made money blogging from home in April 2019
- How I made money blogging from home in May 2019
- How I made money blogging from home in June 2019
- August 2019 — income report and top blogging mistakes
- September 2019 — income report and growing a loyal audience
- October 2019 — income report
- 2019 annual income report and wrap-up
What blogging courses do I recommend?
I’ve learned a lot through trial and error and through taking courses. The right courses can teach proven strategies that save time and accelerate growth. Some resources I recommend include:
- Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing — my affiliate marketing course, which teaches how to earn passive income from a blog.
- Making Sense of Sponsored Posts — a course I launched with my sister to teach how to find and manage sponsorships while serving readers well.
- Traffic Transformation — 21 strategies to increase monthly page views quickly.
- Pinterest Traffic Avalanche — a course focused on driving large-scale free traffic from Pinterest.
- Stupid Simple SEO — my preferred SEO course for bloggers to improve search visibility.
- Easy On Page SEO — a practical guide for on-page SEO.
- Site Speed Course — a focused course on improving site speed, which impacts SEO and user experience.
These resources reflect strategies that helped me scale the blog and its income.
Do you have more questions about blogging?
If you want an introduction to blogging basics and monetization, check the post What Is A Blog, How Do Blogs Make Money, & More. It answers questions like:
- How do I choose a blog name?
- Which blog niches make the most money?
- How do you design a blog?
- How many views do you need to earn from a blog?
- How many posts should you publish before launching?
- How do you get noticed by Google?
- How long until a blog earns money?
- How do blogs generate income and how do bloggers get paid?
Blog income reports summary
I’m glad I published so many income reports. They helped me review monthly progress, learn from mistakes, and stay motivated. Just as importantly, readers often tell me those reports helped them take action and improve their own finances.
Do you want to make money blogging? What do you think of blog income reports?