Others have mentioned it here, but it needs to be said clearly: The US dollar value shown below your posts and the US dollar value of your wallet changes as the price of Steem and SBD goes down and up. This is one of the many unclear things about the way steemit works. It's easy to misinterpret and make incorrect assumptions about how steemit works or "pays off". Everyone, myself included, should read and reread the FAQ and other articles written here on steemit while applying one's critical thinking skills about the information and its sources. A lot of my writings are about my questions and learnings in this area.