Portland Cruisers Circle of Death

August 2014 Earnings and Investments Update

What a great time of the year! We are out on our bikes at least once a week exploring our new city. We are traveling around the country. We are spending time with friends and family. And, on top of that, with the great weather we can drink beer on patios.

What’s Eric Up To

Every summer, I love to ride bikes. I met my wife on a social cycling ride, so that’s what we do in the summer. We’ve been running a weekly cruiser ride every week and it has been a blast!

In a couple of weeks, I’m back in the air again on the way to visit my new little nephew in Santa Barbara. My wife and I are flying from PDX-LAX for free on Southwest miles (total cost was $10 each for fees) and the companion pass I earned earlier this year. There’s no better travel than free travel!

Side Business Income

Narrow Bridge Media – All Blogs and Online Activities

Over the last couple of months, I have been getting bigger and better freelance projects. The difference can be clearly seen in the numbers. Re-branding my freelance business as Narrow Bridge Media has been great for business too. It has helped me bring in a handful of new clients and I’ve been working on some great projects.

Revenue

  • Web Design Earnings – $900
  • Freelance Writing – $687
  • Social Media Management – $559
  • Affiliate Payments – $199
  • AdSense – $15
  • Advertising & Partnerships – $303
  • Premium Plugin Sales – $0 (Thesis Post Image Converter available at CodeCanyon)
  • Book Sales – $1 – Buy here or Amazon

Expenses

  • Outsourced Workers – $110
  • Email List – $19 (Provided by Aweber)
  • Web Hosting – $21 ($15 per month for LiquidWeb and $5 per month for Hostgator – both paid annually)
  • Domain Fees – $9
  • Conferences & Events – $196
  • Misc – $9

Total Revenue: $2,664, Total Expenses: $364, Total Profit: $2,300

Denver Flash Mob – Flash Mob Consulting and Planning

Denver Flash Mob is officially back online and things are going great. Lots of fun happening in Denver! I paid my flash mob manager this month from revenue collected in a prior period, which makes it look like Denver Flash Mob is losing money in June. That was just a timing issue.

Revenue

Expenses

  • Outsourced Workers – $150

Total Revenue: $245, Total Expenses: $150, Total Profit: $95

Investments

New Stocks

In June, I bought into the IPO of GoPro, the company that makes cool video cameras for extreme sports, through my Loyal3 account. With Loyal3, I was able to buy into the IPO (that link is to a post on how IPOs work) without being a millionaire and without paying any trade fees. I signed up for $200 in the GPRO IPO and was allocated $108. Not much, but a good way to test out how it worked. I was thrilled with the Loyal3 IPO experience and my stock is now worth $185.

I have also increased my automatic payday investment in SBUX and BRK.B in my Loyal3 account, which, like the IPO, has no trade fees. Here is a post all about how Loyal3 works.

Retirement

I am currently investing with a two part automated investment plan in my retirement accounts. I am investing 4% of my pre-tax income with a 100% match of that 4% by my employer. I am also investing $211 per paycheck automatically to max out my Roth IRA. Read more about my automatic investing in my retirement accounts to see how it all works.

If you have an opportunity to get any employer match, make sure you are taking 100% of that or you are leaving free money on the table. If you have any old 401(k) plans from former employers, make sure to roll them over into an IRA where you can save on fees.

Investment Analysis

The best tool I have found to help me keep my portfolio balanced is Empower. The site helps me track and manage my bank accounts and credit cards too, but the site has helped me save hundreds of dollars per year by showing which investments are charging the biggest fees and how to balance my portfolio for my goals and risk tolerance. The site is completely free.

The stock market keeps on going up… up… up… lately. There are always bad days, but over the long run the stock market has always gone up. If you are new to investing be sure to check out my in depth guide to the stock market to get started with investing.

Peer-to-Peer Lending

Outside of the stock market, my net annual returns at Lending Club are 11.52%. I currently have 51 active and current loans, 1 in grace period, 28 fully paid, and one charged off. I have earned $250 in interest, so even with my one loss I am still way up.

If you want to know exactly how I make nearly 12% with Lending Club, check out my in depth guide to making money with Lending Club.

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