Goal Update: End Of March 2015

At the end of each month, I post an update of my goals, including a brief discussion of any notable events that might have occurred during the month. The latest month's figures can always be found under the Featured menu in the menu bar at the top of the blog.

Last updated: End of March, 2015
Current value: $13,959
Change from last month: +$1,057
Percent of Goal:  12.84%

Note that the funds in this account are invested in stock, so there will be fluctuations in value that are outside my control. I never withdraw money from this account, so any dips are purely due to stock price changes.

Events Of Note Last Month:


In March, I bought another 11 shares of Realty Income. The stock has gone back up again and is still trading around its 5-year high. This is a bit frustrating, but in a good way: I'm close to unlocking another achievement but the rise in share price is keeping it just out of reach.

I received $342 from sales of my online courses, which is pretty good. Udemy is now running sales more frequently and offering courses at lower prices. It seems to be paying off. I'm picking up several students a week, so the lower income per student is more than being made up for by the increase in quantity. My typical monthly revenue has about doubled since they started these more frequent sales.

I had my taxes done this month and it turns out the money I receive from Udemy is classified as self-employment income, so I have to pay self-employment tax on it. I'll have to adjust the withholding amount on my regular job so I don't get hit with a big tax bill next year.

I also reached something of a milestone for the courses last month - I've now earned over $3,000 in total income from them - almost $3,500 in fact. Not bad, considering my total initial investment was a $149 microphone!

In March, I earned $10.68 in royalties from my first eBook. That actually covers two months. The payment for April came in on March 30.

Yes, I said first ebook. I alluded to this last month and now it is official: I have published a second ebook! This one is quite different from the first - it's a short fiction piece. Approximately 18 years ago, a friend of mine asked me to write her a story. I have no recollection of what led to the request, but I came across the file on my computer a while back and decided to dust it off a bit and publish it. I asked my nephew and his friend to make a few illustrations. The ebook is an Amazon Kindle exclusive and costs just $0.99. If you subscribe to their Kindle Unlimited program, it’s free. If you are an Amazon Prime member, you can borrow the book from the Kindle Owner's Lending Library for free. Check it out!

I will be the first to admit I'm not going to make a lot of money from this one book. For me, this is all about passive income. I want to get as much stuff as possible out there that can earn money for me 24/7. I'm not trying to create one thing that will bring in a ton of cash. I'm more interested in creating lots of things that bring in smaller amounts consistently. It all starts to add up and the diversity gives me some protection against loss of income should any one thing suddenly fail.

I can't overstate the power of passive income. I was on vacation two weeks ago and had 10 students enroll in my courses during that time. It felt great to be making money while relaxing on a beach in Hawaii!