Welcome to my income report for July 2020

In July I have earned $193.89 in total. About 16% more than in the previous month.

What I Did In July

So what happened in July?

Upgraded Chrome Extension

Fixing the Chrome extension was long overdue and I am glad I took action in July, stepped up the game, and made my Chrome extension competitive again.

Since the major refactor of the backend API, the Chrome extension stopped working properly. The only functional feature was the calculation of the price per square meter.

It was a mess compared to my biggest competitor. No wonder most of the users churned and never used it again.

What was worse, I realized during initial testing, that the webpage my extension alters, is coded as a single page application. So every change on the page won't refresh the original DOM.

And Since my extension works with jQuery selectors, which can recognize only physical changes in the original DOM, I had to learn new tricks to observe internal changes in the DOM structure.

Even after pulling this trick, sometimes I have to refresh the whole page, because of how web browsers cache the page in memory after a long period of inactivity.

But in terms of a feature set, I added almost everything my competitor had. And on top of that, I am offering a glimpse of the property valuation metrics. I also polished design and UX. Let's hope someone will find it useful and pay for it.

One interesting thing I have noticed when looking at the statistics is that I have a user, who frequently travels across Europe. He spends a few days in the Netherlands, then one day in the Emirates, then switching France and Switzerland back and forth.

Seeing that people use my Chrome Extension makes me happy. Now I have to figure out how to grow the user base and make it profitable.

Finished The Apartment Takeover

Scouting or buying properties is fun, but the fun ends once you get the keys. From that moment on, its only sweat, paying bills, and being responsible. Hell why it reminds me the life after graduation?

Anyway, in July I had tough times during the takeover. Not only the previous owner didn't even show up, he left me with an outdated electric bill, and an incompetent real estate agent, who didn't know a thing about the apartment.

I had to make sure I get every necessary info tied to the apartment like...where is the electricity meter, where is the water meter. How much are HOA fees, how much are utility payments? If everything works as expected.

Enough to say there were moments when I was furious with the agent's incompetency and behaviors, but luckily he understood I won't sign the protocol unless he gets me all the information.

If it was not enough, during the general inspection, I found out the toilet is all covered with sh*t and the plug refused to work. After heated arguments, he called the owner and he agreed to take a look.

One week later he came to the apartment with a fixer and got it working, for free. The lesson here is to make a thorough checklist and never take a compromise else everyone will try to take shortcuts on your account.

The next step is to prepare a remodeling budget. God, I hope it won't burn a hole in my pocket. At least the buyer's tax payment is deferred until the government finally legitimizes buyers' tax cancellation.

Achieved 21 Km Under Two Hours

Even though the half-marathon was canceled, I stuck to the training plan and kept the schedule for and another month. And the persistence paid off.

After two months of religiously following the training plan, I can run 21 Km in one session without stopping. For many of you, it might be an easy goal, but for me, who always hated running, considered it boring and useless, it is a huge achievement.

For one, it gives me the confidence I can survive any situation, that requires continuous fast-paced running. Imagine having to outrun a group of zombies, you get the picture.

Second, I rediscovered my fondness for speed and overperforming my records. Third, thanks to significant caloric outtake, I can have a cheat day every day.

Now I have to sell my friends the idea to attend the closest half-marathon in autumn.

Live projects

The Hustle App

As of now, I am still working on setting screens. The GUI is much more complex and it takes a while to put all the moving parts together.

Take for example a dropdown, that lets you filter the records on the screen. When no record is found, you can create a new one with a keyboard shortcut.

So I am dealing with a lot of fancy GUI features, that are not significant for MVP in any way. I know, I am violating the most basic lean startup rule, but I have fun with it.

In August, I want to finish "settings screens" and hopefully start working on the core features.

Good House Music

At the time of writing this post, it grew to 139 subscribers. A 15% increase over the previous month.

I stopped posting every day as it was not sustainable due to the work schedule. The growth slowed down accordingly, but I honestly don't care.

Since reaching 100 subscribers, the next milestone of 500 is so far off I don't stress at all over it. I am happy with the current production schedule when I prepare videos on the weekends, render through the week, and post the video when I feel like it.

Financia

I worked hard on Financia in July. I am almost obsessed with making it better for the users. The long list of changes below is proof.

Added expired ads tab
Fixed location-wise bugs
Added fair value price estimate
Added price comparisons
Upgraded Chrome extension

I think the MVP matured a lot and now is the time to focus on marketing.

Income Report Breakdown

P2P Lending

Nothing has changed since July.

My P2P strategies are turned off and I am still waiting on the sideline.

Savings Accounts

Nothing has changed since July.

In August, I have to rebalance my savings accounts because of the end of many marketing campaigns.

Used Stuff Sales

My path to life minimalism went well in July. I got rid of some clothes, wireless earphones, and an outdoor mattress. The less material things I own, the more freedom I get.

Plans, dreams, and wishes

My goals for August are the following. Take a vacation, clear my head, and rethink what to do next with my life.

That would be it. Thank you so much for following me on this journey and see you in the next report.

Income Report July 2020 – Upgraded Chrome Extension