Ever heard Instagram models talking about the clothing brands they’re wearing, or finance bloggers telling you to use their referral link for a credit card? That’s called “affiliate marketing” (aka “influencer marketing”). These influencers are often paid directly to mention certain products, or they earn a commission every time their special links and discount codes lead to sales or sign-ups.
We do the same thing, but we’re really, really picky about what we’re willing to talk about. Our rule is that we only recommend the same stuff that we’d tell our own friends and family to use. If there’s a way to monetize that, we’ll do it. Otherwise, we refuse.
We never change our recommendations based on affiliate relationships — they’re just incidental. To prove that to you, we dedicate 100% of this website’s net affiliate profits to charity.
When we personally suggest buying something or signing up for a service, you can trust that it’s a genuine recommendation, not a way to line our own pockets. And when you share our content, you’ll help increase the amount of money that goes to charity over time.
To learn more about why we decided to do this, read the original announcement. For a list of our affiliate and non-affiliate revenue sources, check out our Disclosures page.
Charitable Giving History
Q3 2023: $158.78
(Click for details)
Gross affiliate revenue: $499.31
Affiliate program expenses: $0.00
Trip Of A Lifestyle expenses charged against affiliate revenue: $295.75
Estimated taxes on affiliate profits: $44.78
Total to charity this quarter: $158.78 — Against Malaria Foundation
Revenue breakdown and proof of donation (PDF, 705 KB)
Q2 2023: $225.03
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Gross affiliate revenue: $671.08
Affiliate program expenses: $95.00
Trip Of A Lifestyle expenses charged against affiliate revenue: $287.59
Estimated taxes on affiliate profits: $63.46
Total to charity this quarter: $225.03 — Against Malaria Foundation
Revenue breakdown and proof of donation (PDF, 802 KB)
Q1 2023: $1,460.60
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Gross affiliate revenue: $1,955.13
Affiliate program expenses: $0.00
Trip Of A Lifestyle expenses charged against affiliate revenue: $82.56
Estimated taxes on affiliate profits: $411.97
Total to charity this quarter: $1,460.60 — Against Malaria Foundation
Revenue breakdown and proof of donation (PDF, 655 KB)
Q4 2022: $4.42
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Gross affiliate revenue: $148.22
Affiliate program expenses: $95.00
Trip Of A Lifestyle expenses charged against affiliate revenue: $47.56
Estimated taxes on affiliate profits: $1.24
Total to charity this quarter: $4.42 — Against Malaria Foundation
Revenue breakdown and proof of donation (PDF, 547 KB)
Q3 2022: $214.87
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Gross affiliate revenue: $328.07
Affiliate program expenses: $0.00
Trip Of A Lifestyle expenses charged against affiliate revenue: $52.60
Estimated taxes on affiliate profits: $60.60
Total to charity this quarter: $214.87 — Against Malaria Foundation
Revenue breakdown and proof of donation (PDF, 610 KB)
Q2 2022: $883.87
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Gross affiliate revenue: $1,244.03
Affiliate program expenses: $0.00
Blog expenses charged against affiliate revenue: $110.87
Estimated taxes on affiliate profits: $249.29
Total to charity this quarter: $883.87 — Against Malaria Foundation
Revenue breakdown and proof of donation (PDF, 633 KB)
Q1 2022: $354.30
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Gross affiliate revenue: $700.32
Affiliate program expenses: $95.00
Blog expenses charged against affiliate revenue: $124.30
Estimated taxes on affiliate profits: $126.72
Total to charity this quarter: $354.30 — Against Malaria Foundation
Revenue breakdown and proof of donation (PDF, 561 KB)
Q4 2021: $155.31
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Gross affiliate revenue: $340.17
Affiliate program expenses: $0.00
Blog expenses charged against affiliate revenue: $141.06
Estimated taxes on affiliate profits: $43.80
Total to charity this quarter: $155.31 — Against Malaria Foundation
Revenue breakdown and proof of donation (PDF, 539 KB)
Q3 2021: $865.68
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Gross affiliate revenue: $1,249.46
Affiliate program expenses: $0.00
Blog expenses charged against affiliate revenue: $139.61
Estimated taxes on affiliate profits: $244.17
Total to charity this quarter: $865.68 — Against Malaria Foundation
Revenue breakdown and proof of donation (PDF, 599 KB)
Q2 2021: $600.05
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Gross affiliate revenue: $906.93
Affiliate program expenses: $0.00
Blog expenses charged against affiliate revenue: $137.63
Estimated taxes on affiliate profits: $169.25
Total to charity this quarter: $600.05 — Against Malaria Foundation
Revenue breakdown and proof of donation (PDF, 680 KB)
Q2 2019 through Q1 2021: $1,026.75
Our first blog post was published on May 26, 2019. Exactly two years later, we decided to dedicate all of this blog’s affiliate profits to charity on a quarterly basis. This first donation represents a catch-up contribution from our initial launch through Q1 2021.
Gross affiliate revenue: $1,817.54
Affiliate program expenses: $95.00
Blog expenses charged against affiliate revenue: $614.62
Estimated taxes on affiliate profits: $81.17
Total to charity this period: $1,026.75 — Against Malaria Foundation
During this period, affiliate revenue represented about 76% of this blog’s gross revenue. Feel free to view our revenue breakdown and proof of donation (PDF, 914 KB).
This first donation of $1,026.75 went to the Against Malaria Foundation. We picked them because they use money extremely efficiently toward saving human lives. They’re rated highly cost-effective by GiveWell.
Virtually 100% of donations to AMF go toward anti-mosquito bed nets for impoverished Africans who are at risk of contracting insect-borne malaria while they sleep. The majority of deaths prevented are in children under 5 years old.
If you’d like to help this cause, please consider making a donation of your own.