Quarterly Investor update
The behind the scenes of Luv's Wallet.
To: My Investors (a.k.a. you) From: Luv
Wait. What even is this?
I came across Tyler Denk — founder of Beehiiv — and noticed he sends his investors a monthly update.
And I thought: my readers are my investors.
You give me time. Attention. Energy.
And that’s not free. So you deserve to know how I’m doing with my business.
Starting now, every quarter I’m going to actually treat Luv’s Wallet like a public business and give you a real update on what’s happening → the wins, the losses, the numbers, and the decisions.
Welcome to Q1 26. Let’s get into it.
Signed a 6-figure deal
Back in January, a brand reached out to me about a six-figure deal.
Not five figures. Six.
Let that sit for a second. I have 40K followers on Instagram and 30K on TikTok. I’m not a full-time creator. I have a 9-to-5. I make content on nights and weekends when I’m not exhausted, and half the time I’m exhausted.
And yet a real brand with real money looked at what I’d built and said:
“We want you long term.”
It took almost 2 months to close the deal but finally the deal is done.
Outside of the consistent additional cashflow, I am most looking forward to perfecting my skills as a content creator. A part of me is treating this job as “creator college” since my main job will be ideating and scripting different video concepts within the personal finance niche.
Two more things come to mind -
With this additional set of income, I plan on treating my 9-5 money (or maybe this money) like it does not exist and investing the money instead. To reduce lifestyle inflation, I need to really just live off one income stream. FYI - Jayson Tatum does this, so might be worth a shot for me to give it a try.
I was initially hesitant to sign this deal, it's a long-term partnership, and in the back of my mind I kept wondering, "What if this doesn't work out?" But then I shifted my outlook: "What if it does?" Once I started seeing the opportunity as a positive, I realized I'd be building a catalog of content I could leverage for future long-term brand deals.
Long story short → this is a huge win for Luv’s Wallet because with consistent income, I can focus less on sponsored content and focused on creating quality videos.
Side note here → I’ve been doing this for years. Consistent, not always perfect, never quitting. And someone looked at what I built and decided it was worth a long-term partnership.
That only happens because I kept showing up. The whiteboard series. The unscripted videos. The newsletters. None of it looked like a six-figure business while I was making it. But someone saw the value.
All it takes is one. One brand. One moment. One person deciding they want to bet on you. And everything can change.
The numbers (the honest version)
Job:
Got promoted during a company reorg that included layoffs. Salary went from $89K to $105K. The best part about the pay bump is I finally feel comfortable fully contributing to my 401(k) this year.
Recently, I have been putting all my 9-5 paychecks to my 401(k) so I can max it out early. By end of June I would have fully contributed to my 401(k). If you are wondering, for my daily expenses, I have been living off my content creation income (and credit cards 👀).
Income vs. spending:
I’m break even right now. Spent over $37K in Q1. Brought in about $37K. For context this is inclusive of content creation and my 9-5 job.
A lot of expenses have come up this Q1 (a bunch of family stuff) but at the same time, I need to find ways to cut back on the excess spending. If I really want to live off one source of income and avoid lifestyle inflation, I need to lock in financially.
A part of me is really concerned with my spending because I will be earning more money in the coming months, and I need to be very diligent. If I struggle with managing $37,000 then only imagine once I get $100,000.
Taxes:
I owe about $8K this year. Money’s set aside, so that part’s fine. What’s not fine is that I was not proactive this past year about it. I did not track expenses diligently, did not talk to my accountant until it was too late, and did not maximize deductions. Last year I only put $8K into my 401(k). I left real money on the table… and obviously that’s not happening again.
Every time I get paid from content, I’m going to just start putting aside 30 to 35% because next year I assume my tax bill will be really, really high because this year I’m on track to cross over a $70k income threshold.
The content business
My main product is content. Without it, there are no brand deals, no Munyun, no newsletter, no nothing. It all starts with showing up online.
So here’s the real assessment: I’ve flatlined.
Same style. Same platforms. Same general follower range I’ve been stuck in. The short-form content has had some wins.
Two videos crossed 5K likes on Instagram, which is genuinely hard to do.
The one that performed the best was completely unscripted. I had a thought, I filmed it, I posted it. No plan. Just went.
That tells me something. But I keep ignoring what it’s telling me and always end up going back to overthinking. Instead, when an idea comes to mind, I just need to go and create videos. Once an idea comes to mind, I need to drop everything I am doing and go make that video because those seem to always perform best for me.
The bigger problem is YouTube. I have not posted a single video there in over a year!
And I know, I know, that is where the business actually gets built. Instagram and TikTok followers are passive. They scroll past. They’ll watch if something shows up in their feed. They’re not looking for me specifically. YouTube subscribers are different. They opt in. They come back. They’re the ones who actually convert.
Right now I’m stuck in analysis paralysis asking myself:
“What type of content do I want to make?”
“Cinematic or educational?”
“What story am I telling?”
But none of that matters. And I know none of it matters…but my emotions always get the best of me.
I just need to post and let the audience respond. Let the data tell me what to double down on instead of sitting here theorizing about it.
The plan going forward is to use the framework below. Create YouTube videos based off of short-form videos that performed well for me.
Munyun — the section I’ve been dreading
I’m frustrated with Munyun.
But I still believe in it.
User count has not really moved. Conversion is still low. And to be honest, I have not been promoting it.
At all.
I built the product, added some genuinely good features. Tutorial videos, an AI feature that lets you ask natural language questions about your spending and generates graphs instantly and then basically hoped people would find it.
What kills me is that I know I can do better. I wrote an entire newsletter about not having a marketing strategy. I paid $200 for a consulting call that told me I needed a clearer ICP. I know the lesson. I just haven’t applied it to the execution.
That’s the frustrating part. The knowledge is there. The product is better than it has ever been. But better product with no promotion is still a tree falling in an empty forest.
I’m not giving up on it. But I owe it more than I’ve been giving it.
And when I look at Luv’s Wallet as a business, this part of the business has the most upside.
I have a solid product and all I need to do is market it and start to rake in consistent income.
What I need to fix (and I need to say this out loud)
I need a system.
Right now I’m running on mood and momentum, and when either one dips…which they do, because I’m human.
Everything stalls.
Two or three weeks go by without posting.
The algorithm forgets me.
The momentum resets.
And I’m back at square one convincing myself to start again.
If I’m being completely honest: if I was an outside investor looking at this business, I wouldn’t invest right now. No systems. No predictable output. Too dependent on me showing up on the right days in the right headspace. If you remove me from this equation, there’s no business. There’s just content I made.
That’s what has must change.
The priority starting now is Munyun & YouTube. Even if it means pulling back on short-form. Even if it means being more selective with brand deals.
Because a year from now, Munyun & a solid YouTube channel will be most valuable thing I could have built for income and for credibility.
The day that someone wants to acquire Luv’s Wallet, my strongest sources of cash flow will lie within Munyun or Youtube.
I have to start thinking about this as something bigger than me. Something I’m building, not just living.
FYI - I just released my latest video…I am back baby!
What I need from you
Tell me what you want to see.
Do you want to watch me build a content business while working 9-to-5?
Do you want more personal finance breakdowns?
Do you want the raw behind-the-scenes → the deals, the numbers, the failures in real time?
Reply. Comment. Let me know.
If you’re reading this wondering whether it’s a newsletter or a therapy session…honestly, both.
I will be back next quarter with another investor update. And hopefully some receipts.
Until then.
Luv,
Luv