2023 Blog Income Report + Year in Review

Since 2019, I’ve written a blog income report/year in review. It’s been a way for me to reflect and provide some transparency into what it’s like to be a (part-time) creator. Because I also pledge to donate a portion of my income, I also want to show where that money is going.

The post is super long, and is broken down by my personal reflections, income report, blogging goals, and favorite posts. Feel free to use the table of contents to skip around.

2023 Personal Year in Review

This year was overall a big improvement from 2022, where I was unwell the majority of the year from a B12 deficiency. It was a very traumatic experience, so I was still recovering mentally and emotionally for a lot of 2023, but I started feeling more and more like myself as the year went on.

Here are some of the highs and lows of the year.

Lows

Ear problems—I started having a blocked/crackly ear and some ringing in October 2022 after an allergy flareup. It almost disappeared a month later, but then it became worse in December in both ears. I had a hard time dealing with the ringing at first, and I felt like I couldn’t catch a break with all the health issues. I eventually got more used to it by summer 2023, and it doesn’t bother me too much anymore.

Bone stress injury—Two weeks before I was supposed to run the Mesa Half Marathon, my first “serious” race back after all my health issues, I had pain in my foot that made it hard to walk. I was diagnosed with a bone stress injury, and I had to stop running for a month. I still went to Arizona and was able to do some easy hikes, but it was a huge letdown to have been back to running only to have to stop again.

Relationship problems—I’ve been in an interracial, interfaith relationship for a very long time, and it’s been a massive challenge to get my partner’s conservative family to accept me. I don’t usually mind talking about my problems online haha, but since other people are involved, I’ll just leave it at that.

General existential dread—Being in your late twenties just lends itself to feeling like time is passing by too quickly and wondering if you’re doing what you actually want to be doing (a friend shared an emo quote that resonated with me: “All time ever does is pass and all I do is remember” – Sue Zhao). I spent a lot of time in 2023 wondering where the time went, reminiscing, and wishing I had appreciated things more in the moment. And I am still not really sure what I’m doing haha.

Highs

Friends’ trip to the Pacific Northwest—I do almost all my trips solo, so it was fun this time to go with some friends I’ve had since high school. We planned to do a race in Portland and then go up to Bellingham, where one of the friends lives, and then explore Seattle. Portland was as hipster as they say, Bellingham was cozy, and Seattle was fun as always (it’s one of my favorite cities).

Spending 2 months in Europe—I’ve wanted to travel longer-term for a while, so it was really special to be able to do this. I was invited to a wedding in France at the beginning of August and had the Berlin Marathon at the end of September, so I just stuck around and made my way to Berlin by train. I got to see old friends I hadn’t in years, hike in the French Alps (+ gather lots of other experiences for blog articles), explore Paris with a childhood friend, meet a blogger friend in Amsterdam, and connect with new people.

Being able to run again/do marathons—After recovering from my bone stress injury and building back up, I was able to do the Berlin Marathon. While it wasn’t a PR, I was grateful to have made it there in one piece and overcome the mental barrier of doing marathons, as my health issues in 2022 started right around my last marathon.

If you want to follow along my running, you’re welcome to check out my Strava. I got a coach towards the end of 2023 and have been feeling stronger each week.

Staying in a remote cabin in Idaho—The mountains of Idaho had been on my bucket list for a long time. When my company scheduled an offsite in Salt Lake City, I made sure to extend my stay to go up to Idaho. I stayed in a cabin in the middle of nowhere by myself, went trail running in a winter wonderland to an alpine lake, visited hot springs, and more. I can’t wait to share some blog guides on Idaho!

Generally being able to travel—I’ve been working remotely since 2019, and I never took advantage of that until 2023 because of the pandemic and then health issues. I was finally able to move around like I’ve wanted.

I stayed in these cities in 2023: Columbus (home base), Charleston, Savannah, NYC, Boston, Phoenix, Sedona, Portland, Bellingham, Seattle, New Orleans, Amherst, Paris, Dax, Bordeaux, Chamonix, Paris, Brussels, Cologne, Berlin, Copenhagen, Salt Lake City, Mackay. I’m actually kind of overwhelmed just typing that out haha.

I did have to unfortunately take a lot of flights this year, but I tried flying direct when possible and combining trips to eliminate extra flights (for example, I had to fly to Boston and Salt Lake City for work, and I combined them with trips to other cities so I took one fewer flight). I also traveled by train within Europe and only took one flight within the continent when there wasn’t a good train route. I’m not going to beat myself up over this since I barely traveled in 2022.

All in all, it was a pretty good year, and I’m really grateful to be feeling more like myself.

2023 Blog Income Report

I’ll break this down month-by-month and by category within each month. These are the categories that you’ll see:

• Ads: The ads you see throughout my blog that are managed by the Mediavine ad network, as well as those on my second site, Roaming Boston (managed by SHE Media).
• Affiliates: Links to products/services within posts. I get a small commission on any purchases at no extra cost to the buyer.
• Sponsorships: Creating content for companies to promote their products/services. This could be on social or on my blog (everything was on my blog this year).
• Content Creation: Revenue from creating content, whether that’s being paid to write an article or the TikTok creator fund.
• AdSense: Revenue from YouTube AdSense.
• Ko-fi: One-time tipping/donation platform.

Keep in mind that this is money deposited in my account during that month; I usually have to wait 1-3 months to get paid from ads and affiliates. So, some of my 2023 earnings will actually end up on my 2024 income report.

January: $4,637.12

Ads: $2,247.37
Affiliates: $2,389.72

February: $3,796.10

Ads: $3,065.83
Affiliates: $725.27
Ko-fi: $5

March: $2,989.80

Ads: $2,304.67
Affiliates: $680.13
Ko-fi: $5

April: $4,076.76

Ads: $1,687.31
Adsense: $102.13 (my only YouTube payment of the year since I fell under watch time hours not posting for a year and got demonetized)
Affiliates: $912.32
Consulting: $370
Sponsorhips: $1,000
Ko-fi: $5

May: $4,807.94

Ads: $1,519.79
Affiliates: $3,288.15

June: $2,695.41

Ads: $1,963.38
Affiliates: $727.03
Ko-fi: $5

July: $5,151.71

Ads: $1,860.85
Affiliates: $3,255.86
Consulting: $35 (survey)

August: $3,843.85

Ads: $2,451.37
Affiliates: $1,347.48
Consulting: $35 (survey)
Ko-fi: $10

September: $3,874.15

Ads: $2,767.94
Affiliates: $1,041.21
Consulting: $60 (survey)
Ko-fi: $5

October: $6,763.35

Ads: $3,079.46
Affiliates: $3,358.89
Sponsorships: $320 (adding brands to existing blog posts)
Ko-fi: $5

November: $4,330.83

Ads: $3,294.42
Affiliates: $911.41
Sponsorships: $120 (adding brand to existing blog post)
Ko-fi: $5

December: $4,239.78

Ads: $2,970.41
Affiliates: $753.81
Content creation: $10.52 (TikTok Creator Fund lol)
Consulting: $480
Ko-fi: $25

Total revenue before expenses: $51,206.80

I was glad to make slightly higher revenue this year ($50.7k last year) even though I was off social media until November (and I only made $10 from social this year haha). My income in 2022 also had $7,800 that was “catch-up” money that should’ve been paid out in 2021, so I actually technically made $8,000+ more in 2023.

The majority of this money ($29.3k) came from display ads on my websites, and $26.6k of that came from this site (my second site about Boston is smaller and on a lower-quality ad network, and I also didn’t have ads on it until June).

I think people really underestimate blogging when it comes to making money online—everyone is all about social media sponsorships, but those are a lot of work to coordinate, especially when no one wants to pay you fairly. While I don’t love ads in general, they allow me to write about whatever I want, and make money more on my own terms.

Don’t get me wrong—blogging is a lot of work too; I spend ~20 hours/week on it. There were years where I made nothing or very little until I started making a more fair “hourly wage”, which has only been the last 2 years (I started blogging more seriously in 2019, and my total blogging + social media revenue was $400, $5k, and $16k the first 3 years).

If you’re curious how people find my blog without social media, the answer is SEO (search engine optimization). Basically, you write posts that people will be looking for on Google. For transparency, there have been a lot of Google algorithm changes lately, so SEO is not always very stable. I’m also very uncertain that I’ll be able to continue to make the same amount going forward given the rise of AI and short-form video in search results.

Total expenses (preliminary): $12,345.88

(This is preliminary since I’m still checking that I accounted for everything, and I’ll need to consult with a tax professional since this is my first year attempting to deduct significant travel expenses—if you read this in the first few days this was published, this has already changed haha).

This was a big year of expenses due to traveling (I am able to business expense some travel costs since I blog about travel; these trips for blog research aren’t vacation and are packed with more activities than I’d do if I was just having fun).

My Europe trip was the most expensive, especially when it came to housing; I spent just under $4,740 for 2 months of accommodation, and I believe I’ll be able to expense ~50% of the non-personal parts of the trip (things outside of the wedding).

My other more expensive trips ($1,500+) were 1.5 weeks in Arizona, 2 weeks in Boston, and 1.5 weeks in Idaho. Housing and car rentals added up quickly!

I didn’t make any major physical business purchases in 2023. I did buy a camera in December off Facebook Marketplace, but I was able to “return” it at a slight loss since it didn’t suit the needs I’d discussed with the seller.

I still pay for the same digital tools as usual: domain name renewal, Canva Pro (for graphics), Wondershare Filmora (video editing), VSCO X (photo editing), WP Rocket (website speed), and those pesky PayPal fees, to name a few. I paid around $700 total for supplies, utilities, and PayPal fees.

Total after expenses: $38,860.92

Total profit after expenses and taxes: $26,036.82 (~33% for taxes)

Last year, I had to pay a TON of taxes when I filed my tax return since I miscalculated my business taxes. I only accounted for the self-employment tax (15.3%) and not the income tax on top of that. You basically need to set aside 33% to be safe, which is $12.8k for me this year.

Donation to sustainable nonprofits/funds: $3,350 (+$850 as catchup from last year)

Since 2021, I’ve donated 10% of my take-home blog income to sustainable non-profits or mutual aid funds. Since one of my main niches is sustainability/sustainable fashion, it’s only right to give back to the people more directly impacted by these issues, and those finding solutions on the ground.

For transparency, I do not get tax benefits from donating, as this is not a business expense, and it’s not enough to qualify for itemized deductions.

In 2023, I donated:

• $2,600 to Awaj Foundation via Remake Our World’s Direct Relief Fund ($850 was catchup from last year’s donations, as the fund wasn’t open for Awaj in late 2022)
• $750 to Palestine Children’s Relief Fund
• $500 to Garment Worker Center’s Emergency Relief Fund (mutual aid fund doesn’t currently seem to be set up; note that this donation link is for the org)
• $200 to Stand Up Sri Lanka via Remake Our World’s Direct Relief Fund
• $100 to UNRWA
• $50 to Lumumba Sustainable Village (DRC); wanted to donate more later but the fundraiser closed

Last year, I actually said I wasn’t sure if I could continue donating 10% of my blogging income. The amount I donated this year is actually above the ~$2,600 that would be 10% of my take-home income (it’s ~12.9%). I felt that there were a lot of extra pressing issues I felt strongly about, and it fit my budget, so it seemed like the right thing to do.

I also tried something new where I did donation matching in December, and we were able to raise around $680 for Awaj and PCRF. I was hoping to be able to raise the full $1,500 I said I would match, and was disappointed we didn’t make it, especially since I spent a lot of time creating content raising awareness (I still donated $1,500 myself). I guess people were probably just busy with the holidays and had spent their budgets on gifts.

Either way, I feel good about the funds/org supported (they’re all mutual aid funds), and will continue to be donating a portion of my blogging income (the ultimate percentage will depend on my financial situation that year).

2023 Blogging Goals, Wins, Challenges

There were the goals I made for myself last year:

• Get Roaming Boston, my niche Boston blog, on Mediavine.
• Write four blog posts per month on this blog.
• Continue to stay in touch with my creator friends.
• Develop a healthy relationship with social media—whether that’s no longer using it or using it in a way that I enjoy and is not an obligation.

Here’s my reflections on them:

Get Roaming Boston, my niche Boston blog, on Mediavine.

Mediavine is a high-quality ad network you can join after you hit 50k sessions (about 60k pageviews). I unfortunately did not hit this goal in 2023. Mediavine used to have a lower traffic threshold (25k sessions) for second sites with them, but they changed that and didn’t publicize that. I did hit the previous lower traffic threshold partway through the year, but it was still far off from the 50k sessions you need now.

I didn’t end up writing too many new posts on this site either, as I got pretty busy with travel. Even more discouraging, Roaming Boston got hit pretty hard by Google’s October algorithm update, so I fell even further from the traffic requirements.

I still want to hit this goal, but I’m not sure how realistic it is with all the changing algorithms and my motivation.

Write four blog posts per month on this blog.

I hit exactly 48 new or updated posts! I did have some months where I went under 4, but I made up for it in another month.

Things went super well on this blog for most of the year, and I even got to 93k+ pageviews in July, plus another 91k+ pageviews in August!

Unfortunately, this site also got hit by the Google update in October, and while it wasn’t as bad as some of what I’ve seen out there, it was still pretty noticeable. I’m hoping things will build back up in 2024.

Continue to stay in touch with my creator friends.

I did a decent job of this. Being off social media meant being pretty detached from creators, but it made me realize that lot of social media connections stay only in the social media sphere. If you’re posting, people are happy to engage with you, but if you’re not, you don’t talk. And that’s honestly fine, as we aren’t made to be in touch with so many people.

I also did stay in touch with one friend I made from TikTok, and we messaged each other throughout the year and even video chatted twice. I also got to meet another friend in-person. So, it was quite lovely to be able to get to know these people outside of social :)

Develop a healthy relationship with social media—whether that’s no longer using it or using it in a way that I enjoy and is not an obligation.

This one was a tough one! As I started traveling more, I had more of a desire to post about what I was doing. But, I didn’t feel ready to get back on social for the majority of the year, and I even enjoyed being more detached (I go through phases of wanting to share stuff and then wanting to not be perceived).

I finally made a post in November on Instagram that rounded up my Europe travel photos, and then disappeared again until December to post a few times. One of those videos even got over 1 million views on Instagram! It was my video on sustainably cleaning out my high school closet, which I’d spent a year doing in bite-sized chunks. This video went so viral that even my therapist got it in her suggested reels LOL (she said she swiped away for my privacy, but then I spent part of the session telling her about it because she’s into sustainable fashion too).

I feel better about my relationship with social, but boy, is it easy to get sucked in, especially if there are a lot of comments to respond to (or people trying to argue with you). I am still trying to find a balance.

Social media is really not efficient from a time and financial perspective though. You can make viral videos and earn nothing from them (like my closet cleanout reel). People demand your labor but don’t even follow you.

I do enjoy posting from a creative/educational/advocacy perspective, but I want it to be healthy for me.

2024 Blogging Goals

I’m going with pretty much the same thing as last year:

• Write 3 posts/month on Roaming Boston (and hopefully get it on Mediavine).
• Write 4 posts/month on this blog.
• Continue to stay in touch with my creator friends.
• Care less about social media.
• Ignore “partnership” emails unless they’re a hell yes.

I’m just adjusting the Boston blog goal so that it’s more concrete, and I’m chancing the social media goal to just overall caring less. I want to care less about aesthetics, people arguing with me, and whether content will resonate with “my audience”. I want to just post what I care about.

I’m also adding a final goal about ignoring partnership emails that aren’t something I’m super excited about. I feel like I waste so much time responding to people who ultimately just want free labor. If I get weird vibes from the first email, or if I reply and there’s no transparency, I’m not going to respond.

Favorite Posts of 2023

In case you missed them, here are the posts I enjoyed writing the most, or I think are most helpful:

Sustainable Fashion

15 Underrated Ways to Recycle Old Clothes You Can’t Donate

22 Sustainable Canadian Clothing Brands

21 Places to Donate Clothes Besides Goodwill in Columbus, Ohio (check out my YouTube video on me cleaning out my high school closet as well)

Travel

10 Easy/Moderate Hikes in Chamonix with Stunning Views

New York vs. Brooklyn Botanic Garden: Which is Better?

Vegan/Vegetarian Guide to Bordeaux, France

Running

COROS vs. Garmin: I Worth Both for 1 Year

15 Tips for Running the Berlin Marathon

Is RunDot Project Legit? My Experience

If You Want to Start a Blog…

I made this comprehensive guide to to starting a blog a few years ago, and I like to recommend it every year in case you’re interested in blogging yourself. The guide is based on my 10+ years of experience as a blogger, and features tips for those who want to blog for fun or start a business.

If you made it this far, thanks for reading and being here! Wishing you a 2024 full of joy.