Hi! Welcome to My April 2017 Recap and Extra Income Report.

This is a newer version of the previous Monthly Quick Recaps I started way back in savingspinay.blogspot.com. 

My recap and extra income report before were very shallow and focus only on the highlights of my month. This 2017 version will be different.

I want to go in-depth on what I did for the past month to earn extra income while working full-time. I will focus on the following categories

Blogging, Weddings and Events Business, Freelance Content Writing, YouTube, Personal Development and Overall Finances.

Blog

I will give you a breakdown on what happened on the blog the past month and how I was able to earn through blogging.

Weddings and Events Business

I will give you updates about Izza Glino Weddings and Events! You all know that I host and coordinate wedding and events part-time, right? It is something I've been doing since 2011 and one of the most stable side hustle I have.

Freelance Content Writing

I will share my tips and tricks in becoming a freelance content writer in the Philippines. Freelance content writing has been an addition on my extra income report since 2016. I offer my service to companies in the hope that they will find my skills in writing beneficial for their business.

YouTube

I will tell you the progress I’ve been doing for my YouTube channel.

Personal Development

I will share to you how I achieve my goals under personal development like reading, growing as a person and more.

Overall Finances

Lastly, I will reveal my current net worth and how I plan to grow it in order to achieve financial freedom.

I enjoy reading recaps and income reports from other bloggers and decided to do the same for SavingsPinay. I hope this kind of post also inspires you.

Please expect a new Recap and Extra Income Report every first Monday of the month.

To give everyone a good starting point, the recap and extra income report I will giving below are as of April 2017. This means I included everything I did from January to April this year.

BLOG

For 2017, my main goal on the blog is to increase my income significantly. I wanted to see if I can really generate actual income blogging with a full-time job.

Below are the highlights/progress I made on SavingsPinay for first quarter of the year.

• I accomplished a completed the overhaul of the blog in terms of look and feel. We are now in WordPress by the way, in case you're wondering. If you want to see what the past version of SavingsPinay in Blogger looks like click here. 

 

• I bought my own domain! From www.savingspinay.blogspot.com to www.savingspinay.ph. This is a major milestone for me as a blogger. Having my own domain increased my traffic, gave way to sponsored post opportunities and boosted my confidence as a blogger.  [NOTE: I got my domain from Pangalan and I included the step by step process how you can get yours too HERE]

 

• I published a number of quality posts on the blog since January. Instead of quantity I shifted my focus on creating thorough content that will be valuable to everyone. I am thankful for the positive response I'm getting because of this. Here are the links of my regular posts since 2017 started:

 

• •  8 Things You Should Do Before You Invest
  • The Ultimate Guide to Mt. Talamitam Day Hike
  • How to Fix Your 2017 Budget and Make It Work
  • My Personal and Financial Goals for 2017
  • SavingsPinay December Quick Recap + A Year in Review
  • Reader Question : How to Avail a St. Peter Life Plan?
  • Personal Equity and Retirement Fund (P.E.R.A.) in the Philippines
  • Stock Investing 101 | The Frequently Asked Questions
  • I'm Finally Investing in Stocks | SavingsPinay
  • The Ultimate Guide to Baguio 4 Days + 3 Nights Experience
  • Your 2017 Guide on How To Start a Blog | SavingsPinay
  • How To Apply For New Improved Postal ID in the Philippines
  • Here's My Financial Bucket List, What's Yours?
  • This Week's Best Personal Finance Tips and Must Reads #07
  • How To Open a First Metro Sec Online Stock Trading Account

 

• The SavingsPinay Community on Facebook is growing. From 0 to 155 members and counting! I love it. I created SavingsPinay to be an extended hub for the readers of this blog. It is open for discussion, questions and resource materials in the area of finances. You can join here.

 

• I already have a Pinterest for SavingsPinay. Do you use Pinterest too? If yes then I invite to check SavingsPinay on Pinterest. I created a Pinterest Board of the best posts in the blog you might be interested. Do follow me too and I'm sure to follow you back!

 

• I started implementing SEO strategy on the blog. Again to act on my goal of earning money blogging, I begin to get serious with SEO. I use Yoast SEO now in an effort to make my posts rank higher in search engine sites.

Those were my major accomplishments for the first quarter of 2017. I am hoping to increase my effort in the coming months.

Now you may wonder how I make money blogging. In the beginning I didn't really plan to make money out of my blog. It seem so impossible to me.

Then last year when I started to invest more time, money and effort on the blog opportunities opened. I realized I can really make extra income with it.

And so here's a quick breakdown on how I do it:

1. Adsense

If you look on the sidebar of this blog you'll find some ad placements. I earn through impressions and clicks those ad placements generate.

2. Sponsored Post

Sometimes I get an opportunity to write for a company which is in line with what I blog and what you, my audience, likes to read. This holds a big chunk of my earnings in blogging for the past four years. On my 2015 Extra Income Report, I haven’t declared any earnings from sponsored posts because I only got a chance to work with brands/companies come 2016. If you want to learn more about sponsored post opportunity on this blog, shoot me a message on izza@wordpress-661740-2303377.cloudwaysapps.com

3. Affiliates

I make money by joining affiliate programs in the Philippines. Below are the companies and programs I am affiliated with:

• Pangalan (read more on my How to Start a Blog post). You can buy domain or hosting plans through Pangalan with my link. As of this writing their .com domain is on sale. You can have your own .com blog for only 390pesos!

 

• TravelBook (read more on my How to Earn as a TravelBook Affiliate post) I became an affiliate with TravelBook since August last year when they held a blogging contest which I fortunately won. If you want to book hotel or accommodation on your next trip then try to check TravelBook. They have tons of partnered hotels all over the Philippines and some even give huge discounts. Click here.

 

• Lazada (read more on my How to Make Money with Lazada post). I recommend makeup or skincare products I use and include an affiliate link on my other blog, IzzaGlinoFull. Here on SavingsPinay I share books I read and other resource materials with their unique affiliate link. Make sure to check out some items on sale on Lazada.

[NOTE: Aside from SavingsPinay I also own and maintain a beauty and lifestyle blog, www.izzaglinofull.com. Hope you can check it out. ]

For more information on how bloggers earn with their blog, read How to Blog and Earn in the Philippines.

One thing that made a huge difference on my blog extra income report is TRAFFIC.

Although I struggled at first with the sudden move from Blogger to WordPress, I am happy to know that more and more people are finding savingspinay.ph. I will be trying new strategies that will help me increase traffic and readership better.

In summary, the blog is doing better day by day and I am more than excited for the next month to come.

WEDDINGS AND EVENTS BUSINESS

The website for my start-up business, Izza Glino Weddings and Events will be launching this May! I am so excited to share to you this new venture.

I’ve been into the wedding and event industry since 2011 but I haven’t made any progress in making it an official start-up business. This 2017 my dream is finally coming to a reality.

• I bought the domain for the website (with Pangalan, of course) and started creating the main pages for it. You can visit www.izzagevents.com today. The full website will be up on May.

 

• I outsourced my logo and marketing materials. Finally after almost six years in the business I now have an official logo! Thanks to @ellizoid.creates on Instagram. Aside from the logo she also created complete marketing materials for IzzaGevents like calling card (concept and design), letter head for future business letters and contracts as well as social media icons. You can DM her on Instagram @ellizoid.creates or email her at ellizoid.creates@gmail.com

 

• I created a start-up business plan for it and slowly but surely taking every action I can to meet my goals.

[SIDE NOTE. @ellizoid.creates is my the creative business of my eldest sister, Ellie. She is the most creative person I know and her ideas when it comes to branding is so on point. Hope you can support her.]

Well you may be asking what my start-up business, Izza Glino Weddings and Events will be about. Basically, I will offer three services:

Wedding and Event Hosting

Wedding and Event Consultancy

Wedding and Event Coordination

Though I’m confident that I can deliver, I still feel a bit nervous on the launch of Izza Glino Weddings and Events. I’ve always been passionate on event hosting and planning. But the fact that I am finally offering my service with a website, a business plan and a marketing strategy scares me a little.

I hope I can serve a lot of couples and individual who want to make their dream events happen.

FREELANCE CONTENT WRITING

Another way I make extra income while working full-time is through freelance content writing gigs. I work for companies and other bloggers (mostly foreign) on any content need as long as within my niche.

This is something you can earn extra income at home without investment and I love it. [READ: Becoming a Freelance Content Writer in the Philippines]

For the first part of 2017 I slowed down on this area because I had tough month last February and March. Fortunately I am recovering well and is back in doing freelance content writing services.

• I sent a new pitch email to an airline and hotel booking website I’ve been writing since October last year. I received a good feedback and is now waiting for my new topic assignment.

 

• I received a new paid writing gig inquiry. I was invited to go to their office to talk more about this opportunity.

Overall, I am positive that there will be extra income coming on the area of freelance content writing. I absolutely enjoy helping businesses and other bloggers grow through content marketing. If you need my service don’t hesitate to email me at izza@wordpress-661740-2303377.cloudwaysapps.com

YOUTUBE

I received another passive income on my YouTube Channel last February. It is payment made because I already reached my threshold.

I am so happy. Even though I didn’t upload any new videos last year, the views received from my past videos increased.

My earnings from YouTube goes straight to my Paypal account which is a form of savings for me. Below are my plans to grow my YouTube earnings.

• Delete low performing videos to give way to high performing ones.

 

• Upload more videos and follow a consistent upload schedule. My plan is to have a new video on my channel every Mondays and Thursdays.

 

• Create value on the content I upload. I should focus on creating videos that will others as well.

With that being said and done I hope you can check My YouTube Channel.  I upload three new videos with a better lighting equipment and camera for better quality. Please subscribe.

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT

Aside from making extra income, I am also obsessed in growing myself. I love to read, to attend seminars and workshops, to travel and explore and many more.

I love the feeling of outdoing myself and of making sure that I learn new things applicable to my everyday life.

One of my goal for 2017 is to finish 54 new books. So far I’m on my first fiction for the year, Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver. I don’t have any excuse for that except the fact that I became lazy. That’s all.

For non-fiction I bought and read Stock Smart Investing by Marvin Germo. I highly recommend this book for those who are curious about investing in stocks. It is easy to read and the strategies he gave are all easy to understand and follow.

I also went to a much needed vacation last March and spent almost a week in Baguio. It was beyond extraordinary experience for me. I’ve written both a travel diary and guide post about this you can click and read below:

The Ultimate Guide to 4D+3N Baguio Adventure

My Baguio 4D+3N Travel Diary

Do you travel too? We have a lot of off-days for the month of April and I do wish you have maximized that. Share on the comment section where have been recently or any plans you have for the coming month/s.

If you are still on a planning mode make sure to visit TravelBook to know any discounted hotel/accommodation near your desired destination.

FINANCES

Now to end this post I’ll be sharing to you a reflection on my overall finances this first quarter of 2017. It has been a strong first four months for me and I can’t wait to share to you the highlights.

• I topped-up My Emergency Fund. I’m now half-way my goal of reaching 60,000peso mark when it comes to my long-term savings this 2017. [READ: Pinoys Guide on Dave Ramsey’s Money Makeover]

 

• I’m finally investing directly in stocks. As a way of diversifying my investments I opened a First Metro Sec account, my online broker of choice, last March 24 and bought my first stocks. It feels surreal that I am finally investing directly in the stock market and being in control with how my investments will go. For the longest time I was satisfied with my FAMI-SALEF investment but now I am leveling up all the way.

 

• I cut major expense on my commute. I found out a new way to go home from work which allows me to save 8pesos on jeepney ride. This means I’m saving almost 320pesos a month on transportation allowance. Not only that, my new found ride is point-to-point so it decreases my chance of having impulse dining out instead of having dinner at home. I am so amazed by how it dramatically changed my day to day expenses.

That’s it on my accomplishments for the first quarter when it comes to handling my finances.

I also created a graph to illustrate different parts of my financial life.

My Assets Allocation is all good. Considering that I am single and with no obligation, I was able to keep my heart and my wallet on guard for impulsive shopping.

My assets include cash on hand, cash on bank, gadgets with market value, receivables, extra income, savings (emergency fund) and investments.

I incurred some liabilities with the following:

• iPhone plan (Plan 999 monthly payment since February 2017)
• Canon EOS M3 (2200pesos monthly payment since November 2016)
• Shopped for work outfits  (5500pesos with 3-month installment starting this May 2017)

Both the added monthly expenses are needed on my part (Or maybe that’s just my excuse haha). Anyway I needed a new phone since I no longer have a service unit to use. And the camera is used to upgrade my blog photos and YouTube videos.

I’m thankful I got a new job right away after my previous workplace officially shot down. I have means to pay for my monthly bills without ruining my savings.

Overall, I believe there’s still plenty of room for improvement especially on the side of extra income. Once clients from content writing and weddings and events business come in I will be able to increase this.  I am maximizing the weekends and days with no work to do my side hustles.

[clickToTweet tweet=”My motto at the moment is to make every day count. Spend even 30mins to 1hour a day on My Extra Income Projects. ” quote=”My motto at the moment is to make the every day count. Spend even 30mins to 1hour a day on My Extra Income Projects. “]

Final Notes from SavingsPinay

I hope you enjoyed this updated Recap and Extra Income Report. I plan to do this every first Monday of the month in time when I do my budget review.

By the way, I am still working full-time on my new job. I have no plans of quitting unless I feel confident enough that my extra income can support me towards financial freedom.

How was April for you? Are you interested to make extra income while working full-time too?

Follow the SavingsPinay FB Group and join the conversation at : SavingsPinay

Follow my official Facebook page at : IzzaGlinoFull

Stalk some behind the scenes in my Instragram: @izzaglino

Follow me too in my Twitter account: Izza Glino

Subscribe to my Youtube channel: IzzaGlinoFull

Email me any question or topic suggestion at izza@wordpress-661740-2303377.cloudwaysapps.com

Or leave a comment below!!!