Money & Life Report: August 2021
September 7, 2021
On Money
Income
Our primary income comes from our full time jobs. We have minimal income from investing in index funds and dividend stocks (all reinvested). We earn money on the side to supplement our main incomes. We get a bit of income from Swagbucks and cash back sites (Rakuten, Mr.Rebates). Some posts have affiliate links that pay a micro-commission to keep the blog running and I’ve added a way to support the blog in the sidebar to the right!
Our long term goal is to replace our day job income with passive income before my health prevents me from working. I know from my Mom’s experience that qualifying for or relying on disability is incredibly tough or near impossible here in CA. Aside from that, I aim to do my best to make the most of what we can do while we can.
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Dividend income. We received $887 in dividends from the stocks portfolio. Our YTD monthly average is $295.
Spending
New glasses for all. Going into open enrollment last fall, I decided that in the event we had school in person this year, we definitely needed a back up pair of glasses for JB, and really I could use a back up pair too. It was a little cheaper to upgrade our vision plan to cover an extra set of frames, so we did that. I’m proud that we actually finally got that chore done this summer and we are all equipped with one extra pair of glasses.
Small things. I spent $10 on small spatulas because I was tired of always having to hunt down the bigger ones, that were in use, in order to bake and also I needed a thin / narrow one to replace the one that fell apart. I also bought gluten free flour and rainbow sprinkles for cookies which is utterly frivolous because cookies do not need sprinkles, they just need to exist, and I also bought one sugar free jello because I’ve never made jiggly jello before. Why not?
Therapy. I continue to spend a huge wallop of cash out of pocket every month on brain therapy and it’s continuing to help me navigate complex situations and frustrations.
Not spending
I can’t recall what goes in here, honestly, it’s been a hell of a month.
Giving
We supported Kristen Rawls’ GFM for dental work. I knew Kristen’s name from out and about the Twitterverse, and a trusted friend shared that Kristen has a podcast “called Christian Rightcast. She yells at liberals to stop being wrong and racist about the south.” Well, you know me. I’m all about yelling at people to stop being wrong and racist about anything. I’m also all about people getting good dental work when they need it. Dental health is so important!
We also supported The Perry ‘Second Chances’ Scholarship for Women. This nonprofit “aims to provide direct-giving resources to formerly incarcerated women, with a special emphasis on Black women and women of color.” It’s important to enable people to make it on their own, particularly when they are disproportionately punished for making minor mistakes that rich white people would never even be charged for. I remember an attorney who previously worked at a DA’s office sharing their experience there: the reason that POC are charged with crimes more often isn’t that they’re committing them more often, it’s that the wealthier white kids always have their parents swooping in with their attorneys and getting them off the hook before their crimes ever become more than a brief stop in at the police station. They get to recover and learn from their mistakes in a way that POC don’t. That stuck with me.
Saving and investing
Nothing new here. Just cruising on our normal savings rate since we won’t be using childcare until the new year.
Net worth
We’re staying the course as best we can to keep investing despite the bizarreness of the market. It certainly doesn’t feel like a reflection of reality but it’s what we have to work with.
On Life
Cooking. I cooked and baked this month. Both to feed us and as a bit of stress relief because I needed that break from relentless work pressure. I made Hungry Huy’s lemongrass chicken with and without the chili sauce, and a coconut lime chicken (curry like more than anything) which got two thumbs up from JB. I made nachos with ground beef topped with diced red onions, sour cream and avocado, and I seriously contemplated Butter Be Ready’s Funfetti Pudding Cookies during one of my many sleepless nights. Seriously enough to buy jello pudding mix and sprinkles. I also baked Dr Jen Gunter’s biscuit recipe twice. Still working to perfect my biscuit prowess. Funny, I just now realized this link I’d been saving to a Strawberry Sweet Rolls recipe for several months, aspirationally hoping to one day live a life where I can make them in strawberry and lemon flavors, is from the same food blogger! Clearly I stick with people I like.
Reading.
I can’t work out why my Bookshop links keep showing as broken but they’re not.
Soman Chainani, The School for Good and Evil (Amazon, Bookshop). This was recommended by a friend and I’d hoped for a strong contender for the replacement of the Harry Potter series. It didn’t rise to the level of writing I was hoping for (not judging by TERFy JK Rowling but by all the other authors I enjoy) but it was engaging. I decided to read more of the series to see if it gets there in the next books and those connected better: A World without Princes (Amazon, Bookshop); The Last Ever After (Amazon, Bookshop). The library doesn’t have an active license on Book 4 anymore so I guess that’s where I stop.
Danya Ruttenberg, Nurture the Wow (Amazon, Bookshop). I’m not a spiritual person but I like the Rabbi on Twitter so well I was curious about her thinking on parenting and I’m deeply glad to have read it. So much of it, leaving aside the religious traditions I’m unfamiliar with, resonated.
Nnedi Okorafor, Remote Control (Amazon, Bookshop). Whew this was a heck of a read. Short and gutting.
Abir Mukherjee, A Necessary Evil (Amazon, Bookshop). A recommendation from Amy Jo Cousins, this was well outside my usual and I’m glad I tried it.
Deborah Harkness, Shadow of Night (Amazon, Bookshop) and The Book of Life (Amazon, Bookshop)
Namina Forna, The Gilded Ones (Amazon, Bookshop). CW: abuse and misogyny. This had hints of the Scarlet Letter and the Salem witch trials in a totally different setting. The library said “for fans of Children of Blood and Bone and Black Panther” and I can confirm this is correct!
CL Polk’s Witchmark (Amazon, Bookshop) was available for two seconds when I went looking for it at our library and then some lucky dog got the last checkout. Luckily I hadn’t made my library birthday donation yet so I added it to my request list and it was renewed. Squee! It’s really good! Off to read Stormsong (Amazon, Bookshop) which was great, also.
Sujata Massey, The Widows of Malabar Hill (Amazon, Bookshop). Another recommendation from Amy Jo Cousins. This was really good. I’m happy to see there are two more Perveen Misry books, I’ve placed a hold on them.
Rick Riordan, The Ship of the Dead (Amazon, Bookshop). A fun light read from the Rick Riordan mythology worlds.
Silvia Morena-Garcia, Mexican Gothic (Amazon, Bookshop). It was so well done, I couldn’t finish reading it at night. It was a little TOO creepy. Now look, I’m honestly the last person who should ever read horror anything. I’ll admit that right up front. That said, I do read horror from some authors and this was one of them. I stole moments during the day to finish reading it because I wasn’t willing to abandon it.
I work with a nonprofit (volunteer work) that helps incarcerated women re-enter the working world. Its a huge need, often these women also are dealing with substance abuse and mental health issues and nearly always with poverty and employment issues as well. Good on you for supporting such good work that helps lift up a group with such tremendous needs! So much of what we all blog about is our own financial independence. But one of the real benefits of having a secure financial position is that it gives you a firm foundation to reach a hand out to others who are struggling. I think it is inspirational to let others know that you aren’t just focused on yourself, as you have in this post!
Giving back and helping out is a huge foundational reason I work for FI, so I’m glad to share.