This is the fifth installment tracking of my alternative income streams plan and progress. It appears my income streams have taken a step backwards. As my alternative income consists largely of my blogging income and interest income, it’s can be volatile.
There is some upside to look forward to. I have six Prosper.com loans pending that haven’t been factored in. I did a little math and this would have amounted to another $3. Additionally, I’ve been saving up money for my Roth IRA contribution. Of course this doesn’t factor into the my alternative income. Perhaps I should have a retirement alternative income as well? Let me know in the comments.
| Date | Alternative Income | Necessary Expenses | To Go |
| 10/15/2006 | $17.00 | $1,699.00 | $1,682.00 |
| 10/31/2006 | $26.00 | $1,689.00 | $1,663.00 |
| 11/20/2006 | $33.00 | $1,689.00 | $1,656.00 |
| 12/3/2006 | $51.00 | $1,689.00 | $1,638.00 |
| 1/2/2006 | $50.00 | $1,689.00 | $1,639.00 |
OK, I’ve been following your blog for a while now (ever since you left me a comment over at PFStock). And, to be honest with you, I’m still a bit confused by your alternative income. I hope that you will excuse my bluntness, but am I to understand that you have a $181k net worth, but only $50/month or about $600/year in “alternative income” (i.e. interest, Prosper loan, and Adsense revenue)? That seems extremely low to me, considering your stated net worth.
The other side of the coin is that your expenses seem extremely low as well, for living in San Mateo County. To pay less than $1050/month for housing seems unreal to me. Or is this really half (or 42.4% of your household expenses)? What am I missing here?
PFstock, Thanks for reading, I guess my commenting does help. My alternative income does require a little expanation and sometimes I gloss over the details a bit. I often try to get the meat of the story and sometimes the presenation matters just as much.
To answer your questions in order:
– Net Worth vs. alternative income. Nearly 100K of my 181K total is in retirement accounts. I’m trying not to count these because I can’t access them for some 30 years. Another large portion of my net worth is in euqity in my “investment property.” I put quotes around that because it’s cashflow negative (the result of moving across country unexpectedly). So of that 181K total, there’s actually very little liquid, in normal taxable accounts. Lastly, I count my car and positions as having value (somewhere around $20,000). Many bloggers may not add them, but if I didn’t have them, I’d have to buy most of them and that comes from the bottom line. I depreciate these monthly as best I can.
As you expected my expenses are low because it’s really less than half of the total. Since I’m not adding in my fiancee’s investments into the mix, it seems fair to not add those expenses. Also it’s never like I actually pay those expenses as they are always split.
Our two-bedroom condo is actually $1900 and I only have it as $1050 because of the money I’m losing back East on my current place. As I am able to raise the rent, I’ll turn this into a positive and it will go towards the plus column.
Let me know if you have futher questions. Questions like these are why I write to begin with.
I like the alternative income category. It would suit my husband and I as well since we are always trying to find ways to increase our income. Have you considered using a rewards credit card to accumulate additional ““free money”?” Of course, only if you are able to pay it off every month is it a good idea. We also keep our eyes open for things to sell for a profit on ebay, whether new, or just not used around our house! I have enjoyed reading your alternative efforts at income.
Thanks, I’m glad you like the category. I’ve been hoping it catches on. I do use reward cards to accumulate free money. I love my Chase card that gets me 5% off gas, groceries, and drug stores. I can’t count that as alternative income though as I have to spend money to make that money. That’s not going to help me much if I were to lose my primary source of income.
I also don’t count selling things on Ebay, because selling things is a limited resource.