Actually, you are already doing really well here even with the SBD and STEEM prices being as "low" as they are. Of course, if the idea is to be prepared for STEEM and SBD going back to $1 or even further down, your current level of earnings is probably not enough to live on.

My own earnings have plummeted in the past couple of weeks but that is only normal. It would be nice to earn a substantial side income on Steem after a few years of Steem Power accumulation, growth in the number of followers and improvement in my photography and writing skills.

I have found writing on Steemit to be a good way to expand my English vocabulary. I've had to look up a few words every now and then. For example, I did not know that auton bensaluukku was called fuel door. When you don't live in an Anglophone country or never have, it is little things like that you never need to know the words for and thus never learn unless you make an effort.