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My Year in Review: 2023
Looking back on my first full year as a freelancer
Kara Detwiller
December 21, 2023
Today’s edition of Wishful Working is a 4 minute read.
Greetings to you on this winter solstice! Where I live (south-central Saskatchewan), the sun doesn’t rise until after 9am this time of year. I frequently wake up at 8am and it looks like the middle of the night outside. Oof. Needless to say, I’m looking forward to longer days ahead.
But as I’m looking forward to the new year, I’m also looking back at 2023. Since I launched my freelance business in March 2022, 2023 was actually my first full calendar year as a freelancer.
Wow. 🤯
I’ve learned and experienced so much this year, and I want to share some of my reflections with you.
A Bit About My Lifestyle
I love how writer and business coach Jenni Gritters provided some lifestyle context at the beginning of her end-of-year review, so I would like to do the same.
I am originally from Des Moines, Iowa, and two years ago, I married a Canadian grain farmer and moved to a small-town in rural Saskatchewan. We have a two-income household and no children. The cost of living is quite low in this area (our mortgage payment is less than $300), and we don’t have to pay for an expensive marketplace or private healthcare plan because we live in Canada.
Basically, this combination of lifestyle factors means if I have a lower-than-average revenue month (or even several), it’s not a crisis. This puts me in a place of immense privilege and freedom that I don’t want to take for granted.
2023 By the Numbers
Work
💻 Total hours spent on admin (non-billable) work: 200+
📰 Articles/blogs written for clients: 67
✍🏻 Personal essays published: 1
Money
📈 Highest income month: $8,788 (October)
📉 Lowest income month: $1,800 (July)
🎓 Student loans paid off: 0/4
🎯 Revenue goal: $70,000
💰 Total gross revenue: $52,000
💸 Avg. monthly business expenses: $200/month
Life
📚 Books read: 79
🍿 Movies watched: 82
🎤 Taylor Swift concerts attended: 1
🐟 Fish caught: 2
🫙 Jars of pickled beans canned: 12
👚 Garments sewed: 3
👶🏻 Nieces welcomed into the world: 1
💗 Sisters-in-law welcomed to the family: 1
Highs & Lows
Of course, numbers don’t tell the whole story, do they? Here are some highs and lows from the year:
I didn’t meet my revenue goal. Womp womp. But I did exceed my salary from my former full-time job (again), and I worked a sustainable number of hours each week!
I had some sloooooow months, especially in the spring.
I didn’t make much headway on my student loan debt. I was disappointed when the student debt relief plan was struck down, but I’m now making slow, steady progress on those payments. 🫠
I totally neglected my blog, but I started this newsletter instead!
Despite being very interested in doing more journalism and personal essay writing, I only successfully pitched and published 1 piece.
I was able to take time to travel throughout the year, including vacations to the Grand Canyon and the Northwoods of Wisconsin.
I doubled my follower count on Twitter, although I’m pretty disappointed in the platform lately and planning to spend more time over on Threads in the new year.
I experimented with some different types of contracts, including hourly work with an agency and my first monthly retainer client.
I connected with lots of amazing people on Twitter, Threads, and Pollen (an awesome community for freelancers and independent consultants)
I was able to take a break from client work for all of December
And on that note, I’m taking a break from Wishful Working next week. I hope you have a joyful and restful holiday season, and I look forward to all that the coming year holds!
See you next year! 😉
Kara
P.S. If you love transparent year-end reviews as much as I do, check these out! I was definitely inspired by these amazing creators. And if you see any good ones (or if you do this yourself), please send me a link!
FYI: Although I live in Canada, I mostly work with US-based clients, and I am paid in US dollars. Figures above are all in USD.