How Do I Earn While Living Abroad? And Why I Won't Put My Substack Behind a Paywall.
This article covers two topics. When I first sat down to write it, I planned only on telling you all why I don’t charge for my Substack newsletter articles or my podcast and to allay any fears by letting you all know that I don’t ever plan to put my Substack behind a paywall. BUT—in doing that, I realized I need to tell you all how I earn and since I get a lot of questions about that, I figured this was a great topic to dive in to here too!
I’m skipping the “who am I intro” on this post, but thanks (always and for pretty much everything) to
I learned how to link to a note here where you can find out more about me if you so choose. No worries if you don’t care, I’ll never know!To Pay or not to Pay… is that the question?
First I’m going to tell you why I don’t charge for my newsletter articles or podcast which are both on Substack.
I want to get this information out there. I want my newsletter articles and podcast to be available to everyone, not sequestered behind a paywall.
I can’t afford to pay for other people’s newsletters at this point in my life and thus do not feel comfortable asking people to pay for mine.
The main reason that I’m doing all of this is to help people leave their home country and move abroad. The second reason (right now) is to make a living, but that’s not my primary motivation. AND—if I were independently wealthy, I would still keep doing this for free.
So How Do I Earn?
Since I talk about budgeting and finance, I want to be as transparent as possible. I do have some passive income, it’s how I was able to move abroad in the first place.
My passive income was $2,000 a month. Part of it came from some rental property in the US and part of it came from book royalties. I am an indie published fiction author with about twenty novels for sale. But my passive income decreased significantly about a year ago. For a short while I tried denial. Denial didn’t pay the bills. So, I spent a lot of time researching, and spoke to other friends who were earning remotely while living abroad. Then, I planned.
I am a person who loves taking classes and even took quite a few classes on how to make a class. Over the years, I amassed a significant amount of knowledge about moving abroad and that’s how my “Live Abroad on a Budget” class was born. But… it’s research heavy and it’s much more difficult to create a class than I initially realized.
I am that person who jumps into almost everything, enthusiastically, with both feet and then says: “ohhhhhhhh—shit”. My joke about this is “if I knew how hard everything was going to be before I did it, I wouldn’t have accomplished 90% of the awesome things I have in life”.
For the class: not only did I have to write, shoot and edit all the content, but I had to research each of the new platforms I needed to use, and then learn them all. On top of that, I had to figure out how to use word-press, design my website from scratch and then build the entire website myself. I created all the graphics, plus I wrote and produced all the downloadable class booklets.
Substack: And in order to get my knowledge and expertise (of moving and living abroad) out of my head I wanted to offer it for free to you which is how my Substack turned into this 😍
Teaching ESL Online (skip down if this doesn’t interest you)
About six months into creating my class I realized it was going to take longer than I had anticipated and so I jumped into job number three; teaching ESL (English as a Second Language) online. I have a background in ESL. I have my TEFL certificate and taught at a school in San Francisco for many years but… if you speak English, you can do it too. There’s a learning curve, absolutely, but it is a way to earn remotely.
However—I’m not earning enough yet. I’ve been teaching for 4 months and while I love it and I adore all my students, I’m earning about $4 per hour of work. I earn $6 per hour for teaching but with each hour, there is always thirty minutes to one hour additional of lesson planning, homework correction, talking with students, setting up and changing schedules.
The platform I chose to teach on is Preply and the reason for this is because it’s the most well known, so I get a lot of students. I use Preply for my Portuguese teacher and my friend Jen in Cambodia also uses it to teach ESL. However, until you teach four hundred hours, Preply takes a mighty cut. Four hundred hours of teaching will take me nine months to hit. This is because I can only teach twenty hours a week right now (which adds up to about thirty hours of work per week) because I’m still finishing my “how to live abroad” class, coaching people on how to move abroad, writing these articles and recording/editing the podcast plus doing all the marketing for my twenty books!
However… once I complete the four hundred hours on Preply, I can raise my rates (they’re very low now so I attract more students) and I will reach the highest earning tier. I’m specifically sharing this with you because I think that teaching ESL online (even on Preply) is a viable income stream for a lot of people, but you should start early because it truly takes time. It took my friend Jen six months to reach the highest tier. She teaches more than me. She was able to earn $1200 a month teaching twenty-five hours a week, which is more than enough to live well in Cambodia. But now she teaches forty hours a week, which again, is doable if you have the time and stamina. I don’t have either LOL.
Charging $16 per hour (which is really the highest you can charge unless you’re super popular and then you can charge $20) and working forty hours a week; you can earn about $2000 a month—once you hit the highest tier. This is where Preply takes the lowest percentage of your earnings and again this happens after you’ve taught four hundred hours. Please note that you don’t get paid anything for the first class you teach for each new student. That’s their trial lesson. Some weeks I end up teaching up to ten new students, which is 15 hours of unpaid work. But this too lessens as the months go by, and you book up with returning students, the unpaid work decreases.
My Income Streams and How Much I Earn (which does fluctuate a bit)
Weekly Substack Articles and Podcasts (while these will always remain free there are some people who are donating: THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!)—AND THANK YOU to all the free readers, everyone’s support is invaluable!
Monthly Earning: $70 before taxes and credit card fees.
Time Commitment: 10 hours per week.
Creating the class: Live Abroad on a Budget
Monthly Earning: currently $0.
Time Commitment: 10-15 hours per week.
Coaching/Consulting: Helping Others Live Abroad.
Monthly Earning: currently $100 to $300 before taxes and credit card fees.
Time Commitment: 10 hours a week.
Buy Me a Coffee (Thank youuuuuu to everyone who does this!!)
Monthly Earning fluctuates but averages about $20 before tax and fees.
Teaching ESL Online
Monthly Earnings average $500 before taxes and transfer fees.
Time Commitment: 30 hours a week
Affiliate Links
I’m not sure, but guesstimate it’s about $10
Rental Property
Monthly Earning: $700 after taxes
Book Royalties
Monthly Earning: $150 - $200 before taxes
Time Commitment: 3 hours a week.
My total earning before taxes and fees is about $2100 a month on a good month which comes to around $1500 after taxes and fees.
My total work-time commitment is about 65 hours a week on average. Some weeks it’s a few hours more and others it’s a few hours less.
I wish I was exaggerating, but I’m not. 🥺
Is this enough to live on? In the US, it wouldn’t be enough for me. In Portugal, in a city, it’s not either. —Here’s an added after note: In a rush to get this to press LOL, I didn’t look at my monthly expenses and realized I am using approximately $1000 a month from my rapidly dwindling savings in order to fully cover all my expenses here at this time. I hope that in another six months I’ll be earning at least $2000 after taxes.
I wouldn’t recommend living for under $2,500 to $3,000 a month in a city (or in the Algarve) in Portugal.
Can it be done for less? YES!
How? By renting or even buying a small place in the country, cooking (and even growing) most of your own food, and not going out to eat or driving much, though eating out can be affordable here. Plus buying nothing—no consumerism.
How to have fun? Cooking, reading, gardening, hiking, netflixing, writing, knitting, video gaming, socializing… I am pretty sure this could be done here for as low as $1500 a month if you’re able to rent a room for $500/month (and some mortgages can be this low)!
Back to my crazy work schedule: Is it sustainable? Nope. I worked two full-time jobs in the US for years and completely burnt out and couldn’t function for a long time. But as soon as I complete my class, I’ll have more time (to sleep perhaps?). When you’re “building the wheel” and figuring out how to manage everything and starting a new business, it takes time. I’ve been a successful entrepreneur my entire life, and this is business number six.
I’d like to take a moment to address the low pricing for both my class and my consulting/coaching services.
I’ve intentionally set these at affordable rates because I’m committed to making them accessible to a wide audience and helping as many people as possible. Plus it’s what I could afford when I needed to purchase these services from others!!
I also want to thank everyone again for all that you do for me!! I am soooo happy to be able to give and share information with you all. And for those who are able to support me monetarily, it means more than I can say. But it doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate all of you any less!!
Which brings me back to…
Substack Paywalls For Others
While I do not ever intend to charge for my Substack, I do not begrudge or hate-on others who do. Everyone has to do what’s best for them!!!
I totally understand why some people charge. Creating these articles (and the podcast) takes hours of time each week—hours I could use to get paid for something. But this is what brings me joy. I’m a writer. I’ve always been a writer. Sometimes it pains me that you all can’t see how good of a fiction writer I am because non-fiction writing is very different. I do know one non-fiction writer in particular who writes as well in both venues. But that’s not me. In my fiction, I write using all five senses and deep description, plus my imagination knows no bounds!?! However, no matter what I’m writing, it fills me up. Is it work? Yes! Is it easy? No! And yet, it’s something I can’t “not” do.
Will I Ever Charge?
I don’t see that happening. I could see charging for people who want to leave comments if I was super crazy popular like Heather Cox Richardson or Sarah Kendzior. They do this, and I understand why. They get hundreds of comments on every post.
I am SO GRATEFUL to everyone who comments on my posts currently and I do spend at least an hour, oftentimes longer, every other day responding to everyone. But I feel this is part of what has to happen. If someone takes the time (and everyone’s time is valuable) to read my articles or listen to my podcast and then they take more time to leave a comment, they deserve a response (as long as the comment is kind or questioning)—you can read more about “hateful” comments here.
But I can understand that if one day, and hopefully I WILL be this lucky—I have hundreds of comments on every post, I may consider charging for them. But that’s only if my time is in such high demand and it takes me two or three hours a day to respond to everyone. Which I don’t see happening LOL. Regardless, I don’t ever want to charge for my articles or podcast, and that’s just me.
In Conclusion
In conclusion, I want to reaffirm my commitment to keeping my newsletter and podcast free for everyone. My main goal has always been to share information and help others navigate the process of moving abroad without any financial barriers. I deeply believe in making this knowledge accessible, and I’m fortunate to have found alternative ways to support myself while continuing to pursue this passion. Whether it’s through teaching ESL, creating my class, or coaching others, I work hard to diversify my income streams so that I can keep providing this content for free. Your support, whether it’s through donations, kind comments, or simply reading and listening, means everything to me and keeps me motivated to continue this newsletter.
Looking to the future, I hope to gradually shift my focus away from teaching ESL so I can dedicate more time to helping others on their journey abroad. While I completely understand why some creators charge for their content, I don’t see myself putting my Substack behind a paywall. I love the sense of community that has grown here, and I’m grateful for every single person who engages with my work. Thank you for being a part of this adventure with me—I truly couldn’t do it without you!
If you’re considering a move out of your home country, please check out my free “Live Abroad” series, as well as my super affordable class.
I’m open for consultations/coaching. Schedule an introductory 10 minute call with me to see if I can help with your move abroad!
Consulting Information: what I can help you with.
Scheduling! Book an incredibly affordable 30 or 60 minute call with me! I offer research packages too :)
And here’s a great article that
wrote an article about ways to earn remotely!
—If you’re interested in learning another language before you embark (or after) on your new adventure, I highly recommend the platform Preply! It’s what I use to learn Portuguese and it’s also the platform I teach on. Please use my referral code for $17 off your first lesson!
—I use Wise to transfer money internationally between bank accounts and they also offer a free ATM card that can be used worldwide without fees. Please use my referral code for a free transfer of up to $600.
—I’ve started using Kindred Home Exchange in order to secure affordable accommodations! If you’re interested and want to sign up, you will get five nights with my referral code!
—I use Safety Wing for my travel medical insurance abroad. You can check them out here.
—For travel hacking I use my Chase Sapphire Preferred credit card. I earn enough points by using the card regularly (with no foreign transaction fees) to get a “free” RT ticket from Europe to the US at least once a year.
How to Move Abroad Articles are here.
Part 1—Want to move abroad? Start here!
Part 2—Conquer your fears about moving abroad!
Part 3—12 Minimizing Mistakes Part 1
Part 4—12 Minimizing Mistakes Part 2
Part 5—A Personal Case study (re: Minimizing)
Part 6—Your Move Abroad: The Ultimate Checklist
My Class: teaching you how to live abroad on a budget for under $1,000 a month or under $2,000 a month is here!
Thank you so much for reading! If you don’t want to become a paid subscriber (my articles are free) but enjoyed this article, please consider a one time donation below.
If you’re on a budget (as am I) please like by clicking on the heart below and share this article with a friend.
Your support (in all ways) is greatly appreciated!
—Expat on a Budget AKA Living Abroad on a Budget and My Unknown Adventure by Kimberly Anne
*** This article contains a few affiliate links. Using my affiliate links is not required and does not cost you anything extra but I greatly appreciate it, if you do. It’s a (free to you) way to help support my writing.
Keep up the good work. If you are ever down in the Aljezur area look us up. We have a cool flower farm growing lavender, different varieties of proteas and ornamental eucalyptus.
I love your honesty and transparency. It’s something surprisingly hard to find.