Checking In With My Savings Plan: December Edition

Plus an end-of-year roundup!

In December, I received $9,638.88 in freelance earnings. Here’s what I put in my sub-savings accounts:

Taxes got 25 percent, or $2,409.72.

Savings got 10 percent, or $963.89.

That left $6,265.27 for my checking account, which began January with a starting balance of $1,419.88 and has a current balance of $927.65. (Holidays are expensive.)

Currently, my savings account balance is $9,304.81.

Also, I earned a total of $87,709.33 in 2016. (That number will be slightly higher for tax purposes once I add back the money that PayPal and Patreon took in fees, which I have to include in my income and then immediately deduct.)

This year’s earnings were significantly higher than the $63,571.12 I earned in 2015 and the $43,059.02 I earned in 2014, and if you want to read those year-end roundups, I’ve linked them below.

Will I continue to increase my income by ~$20K every year? Probably not. That feels unsustainable. But it would be nice to hit the $70,000 range in 2017, which feels achievable. I’ll let you know what happens.

• Tallying Up My New Savings Plan: December and End of Year
• Actual 2014 Earnings: How a Freelance Writer Makes a Living

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