Let's Talk Money 💸 : A brand designer in Portugal has a paid apartment and €50K in savings

Welcome to Let's Talk Money, a newsletter dedicated to showing creative entrepreneurs what's actually happening behind the scenes of their peer's businesses.

As a reminder, this newsletter will only stay alive for as long as I receive entries. I won't ask your name, business name, or email when you submit so if you want to share what's happening behind the scenes fill this out. 

Let's get into this week’s entry: 

What do you specialize in: Brand Design

How long have you been in business?

3 years freelancing, 10 career

Age: 31

Location: Portugal

Debt: 0

Saving: €50K

Degrees: Master's degree, Communication Design

Do you have a partner, family, or anyone else that helps you financially? 

We live in a paid apartment with no rent.

Do you have anyone you need to care for? Children, pets, family members, etc. If so, how many? 

2 kids

Are you full-time or part-time in your business? Do you have another job along with this one? 

Freelancing full-time + university teacher part-time

What was your revenue last year (before taxes)?  

20.000€

How much did you bring home after taxes & expenses last year (profit)?

18.000€

What's your average monthly revenue? How much of that do you actually pay yourself? 

1.200€

How many employees/contractors do you have including yourself? What do they do?

0

How much do you pay your contractors or employees? 

N/A

What are your services and their average price? 

Brand identity - 1.200€

How many clients do you take on during a month? 

1-2

How many hours are you working per week? 

30

How often do you take time off during the year? Does this affect your income? 

2 months, yes.

In the last month, what type of expenses did you have and what did they cost? 

• Childcare +- 250€/month

• No cleaning help (I think now with the second baby we will eventually need from time to time)

• No medical insurance (universal healthcare in Portugal)

• Adobe suite

• 30€ gym membership

• In general I’m pretty frugal

Anything else you'd like to add? 

I think I will never have 10k months, because I live and work in Portugal.

---

P.S. If you’d like to continue getting Let’s Talk Money updates please share this Substack with others or fill out this survey to be featured.