My First Blog Income Report + Side Hustles – 6 Months!
If you’re looking at starting a money blog of your own, I suggest starting one here on Siteground, for less than £3/month!*
I have now been officially blogging for 6 months (technically 5 and a half), so I thought it was about time I shared a blog income report for any newbie bloggers out there and people who are thinking about starting a blog but haven’t quite taken the plunge yet!
When I was deliberating over whether to start a blog or not, other bloggers income reports really inspired me, so I hope that this can do the same for you if you are on the fence.
Also just to clarify – I did actually make a tiny bit before this month, just this was the first income report that I’ve put together.
I have a step-by-step tutorial on how to start a blog if you want to check it out.
I thought about starting a blog for a really long time, but I wish I had done it sooner now – this is pretty much what I say about every single thing I do that now makes me money!
It can be hard to take the first step on a new venture, but it really is worth it. I have enjoyed these six months of blogging so much, although now I am starting to feel like I am getting into my groove…I know how I want to write my articles now and promote them.
I’ve done a lot of research (don’t get stuck on this step as it’s never ending) and now I think that the blog can only go from strength to strength, which is very exciting for me.
I love having a creative outlet and an excuse to write a LOT and spend time on social media (it’s work, honest!).
Personal finance is my passion so sharing all of my tips and getting a great response back has meant a lot to me. I have started taking screenshots of all of the lovely emails, comments and messages that I get from people and am keeping them in a folder, because everyone is so sweet.
This income report is for the month of September which is my sixth month of blogging. I didn’t do as well as I wanted this month, but I have some great excuses for you!
My current job got really busy, I have been prepping for starting Uni back up this month (October – I study at University part time, this is my fourth year out of six), part of the prepping means writing a lot of blog posts in advance, I’ve been laying the foundations for future side hustles (I will reveal more soon!), it was my daughters birthday which I go a bit crazy over, and my hockey season has just started back up which takes up my Monday evenings, Saturday day times and sometimes Sundays too.
Unfortunately also I have managed to pick up an injury from hockey – nerve damage in my right hand which slows me down a bit. Hopefully you will all agree that they are some ok excuses 😉
BLOG
Affiliates – ($324.75) – £252 approx
This is a pretty exciting amount for me, although it does look more impressive in dollars!
Affiliate income is something that I am interested in improving on because it’s so passive, and passive income is my ultimate goal. It’s a really easy way to make money with blogging that means that you can concentrate on more important blogging tasks such as creating fabulous content.
However, I don’t want to overwhelm my lovely readers with a ton of links all the time, so I need to figure out how to generate a decent income from this without being aggressive with the links.
These are the blog posts that I published in September:
What Can You Do To Help a Friend Who Is In Debt?
One of The Best Ways To Make Extra Money – Matched Betting
Make Extra Money – Anyone Can Do It – Completing Surveys
Is Parental Guilt Ruining Your Finances?
Ads – £3.60 (lol)
Ads are something I am not really sure about because to be honest, I don’t really like the look of them. As a reader, when I go onto other blogs I hate seeing ads – especially if they are in the blog post content as it distracts me from reading it and if there are too many, I probably won’t return to the blog again.
I switched over to Media.net ads instead of Google Adsense because I thought that they look better on my blog as though they belong there, instead of sticking out like a sore thumb and distracting my readers.
My goal is to have an attractive blog, where people can easily concentrate on the material that I have written. Also, I don’t really want people clicking off my blog to visit another website. So eventually, I may take the ads down. We shall see!
Blog Expenses: Nothing this month. So far I have only paid for my hosting and my blog theme, which were purchased months ago.
LODGER – £500
I have mentioned before that I have a lodger, which really helps me out – I use part of the money to pay for my car insurance and petrol, so I don’t have to take this money out of my salary. I recommend getting a lodger if you have a spare room, because it is an easy source of income.
DOG BOARDING – £120
I have been doing dog boarding for a few months now and really love it. My husband and daughter were bugging me to buy a dog for our family, but I said no because I am in debt and doing my best to pay it off. Then I thought I could have the best of both worlds – look after dogs because then it is like we have our own dog – but we get paid for it!
This month I looked after 2 dogs (one of them twice, so 3 visits total) but I had been really busy with dogs in August so I took a bit of a break this month – August was much more lucrative.
My daughter LOVES having dogs here to stay, and I am very fussy which dogs I take because of her. They have to live with young children, which narrows down the dogs that I can take here – so if you don’t have young kids you could look after much more than I do.
I am really bad at charging a lot of money for this because I see it as a fun thing to do so I don’t like to charge the owners a lot of money – I need to up my fee a little bit from now on though. Just to mention as well, my main job is one where I work from home every day so I’m not out of the house all day.
Here is my post where I tell you how I get my clients.
MYSTERY SHOPPING – £36.50 + £62.39 reimbursed = £98.89
I love mystery shopping! It’s one of my favourite things to do because it’s so easy, and I just love getting free food. There were a lot more available that I could have done, but as I mentioned earlier I’ve been really busy this month of September.
The reimbursed fee consists of: lunch, toothpaste, 2-course meal at lunchtime with my friend, lunch with my friend, and another lunch on my own. So I got 4 free lunches this month which is always nice, especially as it was all different food.
Here is my post about mystery shopping where I share my favourite companies.

MATCHED BETTING – £150.53
Majorly slacked off on this.
Next month I am determined to do much better as I am setting up systems for the blog and work which will save me a lot of time. Time is my enemy! I have been working really late at night and getting up early so I am exhausted at the moment, which is why this amount is quite low. Here’s my post about matched betting.
SURVEYS – £21
I haven’t reached the payment threshold on a lot of accounts this month, but I have on one which is nice to achieve. Every little bit of money counts! Here’s a list of my favourite surveys.
E-BAY SELLING – £105
Selling on eBay is one of my favourite things to do because I love getting those notifications that something has sold. I put an old dress of my daughters on and it was bought pretty much immediately.
This is another part of my side hustles I want to put more energy into, but with hockey season upon me now, it’s much harder to get down to car boot sales as my local one which is amazing is on Saturdays only.
Total = £1251
I am pretty happy with this amount because I honestly did not throw myself into my blogging and side hustles as much as I would have liked because of my main work being manic and everything else as mentioned before.
I would say I put in perhaps half the effort – so hopefully my next month will be twice as good, although now I have to contend with hockey and Uni.
I was excited to see my domain authority score has now changed to 35 which is very good for a newbie according to my fellow bloggers:
My page views have also increased this month, and I have plans to increase them even more which I hope will happen in October.
Goals
Blog
My goals for the blog are to increase my page views first and foremost. I have some systems in place so I hope that I can achieve this.
I know that it can take time when you’re just starting out and I was really terrible with promotion in the first few months so I hope that I can greatly improve on this.
Increasing my blog income would also be lovely also – so to see a nice upward progression is my goal in terms of income.
I was approached a few times recently for sponsored posts on here, but none of them worked out. Hopefully next month I will get some companies come to me that fit in with the blog more.
Side Hustles
I have many, many goals for my side hustles. I have plans to launch one side hustle shortly, which I am very excited about because I have wanted to do it for ages – I will reveal all hopefully soon.
I also have some more side hustles that I am working on which require a lot of research beforehand, so hopefully, in October I can start some of those up as well.
Matched betting is an area that I need to concentrate more on in October because it is tax-free and a great way to make extra money on the side.
I am going to start looking for freelance writing work – so if you know of anyone who needs someone please point them in my direction (if you like my writing of course!).
I am a bit obsessed with writing articles so I feel like freelancing would be something that I would enjoy doing as a side hustle. I’ve started to sign up to a few freelancing sites so we shall see how this goes.
I hope you enjoyed reading my first ever blog and side hustle income report – let me know if you would be interested in seeing future income reports in the comments below as I am not sure whether I am going to continue publishing this every month or not yet.
You have shared some unique ways to earn additional income. I am a pro at saving but I am focused more on earning in this 4th quarter. Congrats on completing your first income report.
Aw, thank you Tia I appreciate that!
How do you make yourself more visible to brands? I’ve been approached by two different companies, but not for sponsored posts. They just wanted me to write an article with links to their website and in turn I might (emphasis on might) be featured on their social media. I did write one article and did link to one of the websites, but when there’s no genuine advantage to me, it just isn’t worth it right?
How do you get your name out there?
Mimi | According to Mimi
Hi Mimi, they approached me – I think they found me from Twitter though. If there is a brand that you want to work with, send them an email and see if they would be interested in doing a collaboration 🙂
Awesome! And only 6 month? This is truly inspiring!
Thanks so much Dyana!
I always enjoy seeing your blog posts pop up and really don’t know how you do it all, but WOW!! So excited and happy for you with all these positive goals you’ve achieved and more on the way.
Ah Kim, you are too kind. Thank you so much 🙂
These are so many different and small things, but you’re totally right – they REALLY add up! I’ve been getting really stressed about finances lately and feeling like I’m living paycheck to paycheck, so I want to start upping my efforts of making money on the side. Thanks for sharing!
xo
Olivia
So many things, lol! Diversifying the income 🙂 no worries!
Nice one! I love reading online income reports – you’re doing great! p.s. Side hustles are awesome! 😀
Thanks so much Ashli! I am a big fan of side hustles.
Impressive work in only six months! I didn’t realize it but we both started out blogs around the same time. Looks like you’ve done well setting up some avenues for affiliate income. I look forward to hearing more on the side hustles. Keep up the good work!
Ah yes! I’ve just seen your 6 month report. You should do an 6 month income one too 🙂 thank you!
A great insight into how bloggers earn the dough xx
Thanks Kelly!
35 is very good for a new blog! I’ve blogged two years and mine is 29.
I love the idea of dog boarding, that must be such a fun way of earning a bit of money 🙂
Thank you! It is, I am really enjoying doing it 🙂
Francesca,
Thank you for sharing your first blog income report with us! I enjoy reading these to learn how fellow bloggers make money 🙂 Affiliate marketing is my next focus for the rest of the year. I definitely can’t wait to make money promoting my favorite products!
Thanks Kendra, no problem!
I love income reports, especially for budget blogs. I like that you included ALL your side hustles instead of just your blog. It gave me some ideas! Thanks. 🙂
Thank you Danielle, that’s really sweet of you!
Yes, Thank you for including all of your side hustles. Neat to see the additional ideas you’ve had and how they work.
Thanks Wes!
Man! I hope I can make that much in affiliate income at 6 months. I am at 2.5 months and just made my first $5 lol. I just gotta keep pushing. Thanks for the inspiration 🙂
That’s great Sharon! I bet you will 🙂
Hey Francesca,
Congrats!! First income reports are so special:-). I am sure you are going to do great next month. Already waiting for your next income update!!
Thanks Sireesha 🙂
Great read! I almost forgot I used to make pretty good money selling off ebay, but you reminded me. Thanks!
Thanks! You’re welcome.
Thanks for the detailed write up! I am a newbie blogger too and the struggle is real! I was hoping to do some sponsored posts too but always wondered what kind of sponsors does my blog attract? I have to look into it!
Ha, it definitely is! There’s loads of different types that you could have on yours – just make sure it fits in with your blog 🙂
I never been able to make money with affiliate, what am I doing wrong/
How long have you been doing it for Anna? Which affiliates are you using? 🙂
Anna, I feel you! I have no clue what to change.
Yes! I’m so happy you’ve joined the income report club! 🙂
I find these so inspiring and I’ve learnt so much from yours. First off, you’ve only been blogging for 6 months! Wow! You’re a natural. Your blog posts are so awesome and your design is amazing. I just assumed you’d been doing it for a couple of years. I love the lol on the Ads revenue, feels much like my reaction to my first income report of just 4 cents. I’m impressed with the affiliate income, though. I need to do better at that. You may need to give me some tips! I’ve also been interested in trying matched betting too. You seem to be doing ok at that even with so little time on your hands. What’s the most you’ve earnt from that in a month and how much time does it take?
My partner and I have had a lodger for 3 weeks to bring in some extra income as well. It was as much to help out a friend as it was for the income, but it’s been a huge help.
This is a great first income report, can’t wait to read more!
Thanks so much Lloyd – this is the nicest comment ever! Yep 6 months, feels like less though to be honest – I was quite shocked when I realised it had been that long! I think because I didn’t really get going for a few months.
I don’t really have any tips at the moment I’ve just been lucky I think 🙂 not very helpful I realise lol!
You can only do matched betting in the UK it’s banned over there sorry 🙁
I will be honest because I don’t want to lie – I am not a fan of blog income reports. They are really blowing up now, though, and seems like everyone has one. Congrats on all the side hustles! That is really great. I have a few right now and my biggest one is developing and launching a product. We are about halfway there and I’m really excited to keep the momentum going.
Lol, that is very honest! I am thinking that I may do one every six months – I feel a bit awkward doing them, but I think they are inspiring for people who are on the fence about starting a blog or similar. Not sure yet 🙂
I REALLY like the fact that you broke out your income, though. It seems like a lot of bloggers just say “I made a boat load of money! If you want to as well sign up through blue host!” I can’t really blame them because clearly it’s working for them, but I would hope more detail is provided (like this post) where people can actually get ideas of how to make side/online income.
Ah, thanks! Lol, do they. To be fair I see some pretty detailed ones 🙂
For some reason I thought you already shared income reports. I’m not sure where I got this in my mind but oh well. I love it! You did so incredibly awesome with the side hustling this month! And the fact that you are already being approached for sponsored posts? Fantastic!!!! Way to go and thanks for sharing!
Thank you Amanda! I hope that next month is even better!
Congrats on your first month of making money with your blog! Exciting! “Affiliate income is something that I am interested in improving on because it’s so passive, and passive income is my ultimate goal.” What affiliates did you have the most success with this past month?
Thank you very much 🙂 I did make a tiny (!) bit previously but this is the first income report that I decided to do. Bluehost and my blog theme from this post:
http://www.themoneyfox.com/best-beautiful-feminine-blog-themes/
This is very inspiring! I would love to be able to support my family through my blog and be able to raise my newborn baby from home while doing it!
Thank you Kayvona! I feel ya – want to do it to be at home full time for my daughter!
Congratulations Francesca, you’re killing it! 🙂 Much better than my earnings of approximately $12 from Adsense. Really admire the work that you put into your work, university, and your little one, I have no doubt in my mind you’re still going to be killing it when fast forwarding 1 year.
Thank you so much – that is a really sweet comment 🙂 hey – every little bit adds up! Your blog is great, so I can only see that amount increasing for you.
I love this! My blog is new so I’m not monetizing yet, but seeing this is so inspirational!!!!!
Ah, thank you Meredith!
Great work! It looks like your efforts are starting to pay off! Gotta keep hustling!
Are most of your income you’re generating outside of the blog then? Like lodger, surveys, etc?
I would love to hear more about your promotion strategy to up your page views too!
Thanks so much Steven! Yes it is, I’ve only recently started blogging so I hope it will increase over time. My main income is something that I haven’t listed on here.
I am going to concentrate on social media and guest posting! I have been setting up automated systems for social media which will hopefully help when I’m really busy (which is every day, lol).
Awesome job! Like everyone else, I love that you listed all of your side hustles. It’s fun to see what everyone else does to bring in some extra income!
Ah, thank you Lauren!
Okay I’m a huge income report junkie. I eat this stuff up! I actually have a lot of fun reading through them. I sound really nerdy. Ha!
The nice thing about blogging is it seems recession proof. Like during the Great Recession, I don’t know how it was in the UK, but in the U.S. the PF bloggers still continued to make money. You chose a really universal subject which is money. In good times and bad times people need money advice.
It also seems that the income in blogging continues to go up. Can’t wait to see your future income reports. ^_^
Thanks Lila, I’m the same but I think it’s because I am just nosy. Lol. It’s good to see what is working for other people.
That’s true – I am really passionate about it, I can’t imagine blogging about anything else!
Congrats on the passive income. It’s even more impressive with where you are with affiliated marketing. Keep up the hard work!!!
Thank you, that’s very kind of you to say!
Such inspiration! I just started actually blogging. My retail site has been up for a year but I think focusing my online efforts to the blog more driving sales and affiliate income is a better idea.
Yes – that definitely sounds like a great idea!
Francesca this is super inspiring, you should be so proud of what you’ve achieved in such a short space of time. You truly deserve it! Good luck for the next six months 🙂
Cora, that’s so sweet – thank you!
Congrats. It’s gotta start somewhere. I’m still working on making real money blogging. You just gotta approach it as a business like anything else. Thank goodness for those side hustles!
XO
http://www.lehoarder.com/
Thanks Michelle, and you’re totally right!
That’s great in 6 months. Such diversified income streams!
Thank you Emily! 🙂
Congrats on the progress so far as most everybody else has mentioned. Especially the affiliate income. I just started making my first consistent pennies (literally pennies) at the 11-month mark.
Thank you so much Josh! Long may it continue for the both of us 🙂
Congratulations Francesca! You have done really well for the first six months. Keep it going!
Looking forward to hear your side hustle story.
–Michael
Thank you Michael! 🙂
Very impressive! Given some great ideas for side hustles and well done on the affiliates income! Having start my journey around the same time I can understand the blogging challenges, so it’s great to see the reward side. Keep the posts coming!
Thank you very much – that is very sweet of you.
Great Post. Well done!!
Thanks Richard!
Thank you, nice read.
Thank you Chasidy!
Love that you are making money with your blog! You have quite a few side hustles too! Busy woman!! Gives me hope!!
Amy, you are so kind – thank you!
An excellent month!
I love the diversification of your income and how you have a number of different income streams. I think everyone should try not to be reliant on one income source as that income source could be wiped out at anytime.
Thank you 🙂 yes, I completely agree! It’s a scary thought that some people have nothing at all to fall back on if they lose their job.
Fantastic results! Just have to learn to convert all of it into USD! Love your site theme.
Thanks Belle 🙂
Thanks for sharing your budget and tips! I love the way your blog looks! I’m a pretty new blogger and would like to improve my look. Your blog is so pretty!!
Thanks Sarah, I appreciate the kind words 🙂
That’s pretty amazing for 6 months into your blog!
Any advice for the other bloggers out there? Really impressed by your affiliate income, what sources of traffic are you currently getting?
Allen
http://www.youngearner.com
Thank you Allen! My top traffic referrers are Pinterest and Twitter 🙂
Great post and well done.
Thanks Esther!
That’s awesome how quickly that you have started to generate income on your blog. Sounds like you are well on your way!!! Keep up the great work.
Thank you!
Nice work so far! Usually it’s hard to find one side hustle that works for someone but you have several that seem to be working out well. You have started to generate blog income quite quickly too which always helps. Just keep working on that SEO and the increased traffic will follow.
I don’t think that I could ever just have one side hustle, they are a bit addicting! Thank you 🙂
Love your honesty in the numbers you post. Keep up the hustle and you will get there.
Thank you very much!
Really Appreciated! a helpful guide for the newbie to start a blog
Hope it helps!