Calculating My Fixed Monthly Expenses
TRANSPARENCY
I Dropped The Ball
There was a time that as part of my monthly recap posts I included my monthly fixed expenses. Essentially I took all the stuff that I had to pay for each year, like webhosting, totaled it up and divided by 12. Then I subtracted that from my earnings for the month.
I can't remember exactly when I stopped doing that (edit: I looked and November 2024 was the last month I included it). I'm trying to think of why I stopped, but I can't recall. I think what happened is because I copy and paste stuff over month to month to make it easier, because December is an odd month due to being the year end recap as well, and me doing an actual expense blog post this year for the first time, I just... never added it back.
Oops.
This works out actually though, because the total amount I was using, 62 bucks and change, is different now. So here it is, my new fixed expense calculation:
Fixed Expenses
P.O. Box - 170.00/year, 14.17/month
Nothing I can do about this. I have to have an address for my newsletter, and I don't want to use my home address. Also, I like getting mail/postcards from and and other authors.
Tales by Bob Domain - 11.06/year, 0.92/month
I use porkbun for this. 10/10 would recommend.
Bearded Bard Inkworks Domain - 11.06/year, 0.92/month
I use porkbun for this. 10/10 would recommend.
Tales by Pod Domain - 11.06/year, 0.92/month
I use porkbun for this. 10/10 would recommend.
Webhosting - 47.88/year, 3.99/month
I use Hostinger. I bought a 4 year hosting plan, which gave me a 240 dollar discount. I host all of my sites on this one plan. So, I am betting it will go up after 4 years, but for now...I'm set. Very happy with the price.
Captivate - 204.00/year, 17.00/month
My biggest monthly expense, and the one I arguably use the least right now haha. But I love Captivate: I have all my podcasts hosted there, it lets me have a network, good stats, the whole shebang. I'm not saying I would never move, but I haven't heard of a better fit for me.
Total Fixed Expenses Per Year: 455.06
Total Fixed Expenses Per Month: 37.92
Previously this was 62.06, so I have managed to cut 24.14 a month in expenses, while adding a whole as other website, by swapping from GoDaddy to Hostinger and Porkbun (technically I added two sites, to a total of 5, but two of my sites are for my non-profit and that money stays separate). So yeah. Suck it GoDaddy.
Long term, really the only way to bring that cost down would be to find an alternative for Captivate. But honestly, I love them and I don't think I could save enough money by swapping to make it worth the increased time sink my pod hosting would become.
The best thing of all this though? My Patreon now covers all of my fixed monthly expenses!!!!! That day has come!!!!!
