Consider this post an update to that piece from two years ago, where we first used pie charts to show roughly how we spend our time and how we earn money as bloggers (because even our parents sometimes get confused). Things have shifted a bit since then—not radically, but enough that an update was overdue. Below are simplified, approximate pie charts (they’re general estimates, not exact numbers)…
First, a clarification: these charts represent our “work” hours, not every waking minute. For a full day-in-the-life snapshot that includes parenting, cooking, and errands, see our daily routine post. The main takeaway here is that most of our work time is spent running the website—writing, editing photos, managing partnerships, handling business tasks—not on hands-on DIY projects as some people assume.
We run a largely desk-based operation. While we still find time for painting or building—often at night when Clara is asleep—our typical 8am–6pm day is full of photo editing, drafting posts, coordinating giveaways, answering emails, managing accounting, and occasionally coding. That background work is what keeps the site moving. Now let’s take a closer look.
Two changes stand out since our last update:
- Streamlining management. Small changes have freed up meaningful time: we use Rafflecopter for giveaways (so we don’t have to manually approve thousands of entries and can safely accept large numbers of participants), we’ve outsourced more of our accounting, and we’re overhauling our advertising system. After four years of directly managing dozens of private sponsors—manually uploading ads and sending invoices—we’re moving to a third-party ad platform that serves, places, and bills automatically. The transition isn’t perfect yet, but it promises to cut the time we spend on renewals, invoices, and sponsor shout-outs (we’ve already phased those out this month). The result should be a cleaner experience for readers (less sidebar clutter) and a smoother, more flexible setup for advertisers.
- More time for side projects. With some managerial tasks automated or outsourced, we can devote more hours to secondary ventures: a second book, a showhouse, and a hush-hush project that isn’t ready to be revealed. While these side gigs don’t currently make up the bulk of our income, they’re professionally and creatively valuable. They keep us engaged and growing, and they only take about 19% of our work time—leaving the majority for posts, projects, and core blog work.
This isn’t a perfect formula for time management or blogging success, but we’re always refining our processes to focus on activities that energize us, serve our readers, and—yes—help fund Clara’s college account. A common suggestion is to spend less time moderating comments or to auto-approve repeat commenters. We keep moderation because it helps prevent questions from getting lost. Comments not only appear on new posts but on older ones too, and answering those queries is a big part of how we’ve built a relationship with our audience. We don’t want to lose that connection.
Which brings us to the next chart:
Compared with our previous income chart, we’ve combined all advertising—private sponsors, ad networks, and Google—into a single slice. That reflects the changes we’re making during the sponsor transition (you may notice 25+ fewer sidebar ads by the time the switch is complete) and makes one point unmistakable: most of our revenue comes from sidebar advertising. Much like magazines or newspapers, our site relies heavily on advertisers to stay afloat. The affiliate segment is smaller and represents occasional recommendations—clearly labeled whenever used.
People often assume ventures like a book or a product line immediately become big earners, but for us they haven’t been primary income drivers so far. They’re important for other reasons—professional growth, creative fulfillment, and long-term opportunity—so we invest in them anyway. For example, we haven’t yet hit the book royalty threshold in the U.S., but a Chinese publisher purchased foreign rights and is republishing the book there in Chinese, which earned us a small payment as authors. That modest amount shows up as a tiny slice in the chart. The pie is intentionally rough—meant to illustrate trends rather than precise figures.
We tried to make a detailed third chart but expenses fluctuate too much to pin down exactly. Still, it’s important to show that blogging is not a zero-overhead business—costs rise as readership grows. Major areas where our earnings go include:
- Taxes & accountant: A significant portion of revenue goes to taxes—roughly a third of our income is paid in quarterly estimated taxes. Using an accountant helps us manage this, but adjusting from traditional paychecks to setting aside large quarterly sums was a big shift.
- Retirement: Without employer 401(k) contributions, we manage our own retirement savings via SEP IRAs. After year-end taxes, our accountant helps determine our allowable contributions and we prioritize funding those accounts, along with Clara’s college fund.
- Web hosting and tools: Hosting, image storage (we keep photos on separate cloud services to prevent site slowdowns), and fees for tools like Rafflecopter or forum services add up—amounting to nearly twice our mortgage in some months.
- Health insurance: As small business owners we purchase our own health coverage. It’s a necessary expense that provides security for our family.
- Business insurance: We carry business insurance to protect against liability, lawsuits, or unexpected personal events affecting the business.
- Legal: We recently engaged a trademark and licensing attorney to protect our name—especially since our book initially shared our brand name—and to review contracts for side projects like our lighting collection. We’re now officially Young House Love™.
- Projects: Home improvement costs remain personal expenses; although many projects are blog material, they’re paid for out of pocket. Because we’re renovating our primary residence (not an office or rental), these expenses aren’t tax-deductible.
To lighten the numbers-heavy part of this post, we tossed together a few visually playful stats and infographics:
P.S. – Our original pie charts from 2011 are still available here, and you can browse our previous by-the-numbers posts for past blogiversaries: 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, and 2008.
Update – We get a lot of questions about how to professionally start and grow a blog, and how to turn it into full-time work. We’ve shared our process and tips about how we started our blog, grew traffic, and built a full-time business.