Money & Life Report: June 2022
July 5, 2022
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, cash back sites (Rakuten, Mr.Rebates) and affiliate links to Bookshop and Amazon sometimes pay a micro-commission to keep the blog running. There are ways to support the blog and our charitable giving in the sidebar.
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 $270 in dividends from the stocks portfolio.
We recycled 5 ink cartridges to earn $10 in Staples rewards. That brings our rewards total to $30.70. That $0.70 is just going to keep on rolling over for a while since we don’t buy a lot from Staples regularly. I wonder if they will expire after 6 months… Ah ha: “Unissued Rewards will expire at the end of the following calendar quarter, unless a qualifying purchase is made.” I suppose I can just keep them alive with a periodic purchase if I actually need something. Otherwise those rewards under $5 will just expire. JB is obsessed with Staples now, btw. PiC took them to run errands for me and they’re obsessed with ALL THE OFFICE SUPPLIES š¤©šš¤© Just like me. We are absolute suckers.
Spending
Masks. We were all set with reusable masks, just replacing the filters daily, but I had forgotten that summer camp operates with the same restrictions on clothing as daycare did: nothing that ties around the head/neck are allowed because they’re considered choking hazards. School doesn’t care about choking but daycare and camp do. We had to buy a set of disposable masks for JB to wear to camp. We got a large bundle because Smol will need some too eventually. Be Healthy had a 25% off promo so 130 masks ran $192. We bought both the Tiger and Posh brands assuming we’d have a difference in fit. Unfortunately the ear loops on the $1/ea Tiger masks are too loose for JB, the Posh masks ($3/ea) are the right fit. Go figure. They reuse the masks when possible but several were discarded during the week of Extreme Snot.
We also needed more filter material for JB’s reusable masks so I loaded up on that as well from filti. That next roll should cover JB through the end of 2023. $110.
Activism spending: I’ve been struggling with the inability to decide where to donate to fight gun violence. I beat myself up for days for not jumping to action but the reality is that I’m both overwhelmed by how hopeless it feels AND know that as long as the gun lobby is as powerful as it is, as long as the NRA is as powerful as it is, as long as white supremacists control as much of the power as they do – none of these organizations that mean well will get true traction. It’s been years since Sandy Hook and nothing has changed for the better. I’m going to fight, but in other ways. Thanks to Nicole and Maggie for their regular activism shares, which helped get me back on track. We donated to support a classroom in Texas, to support keeping the Dem majority in the House even if I’m angry at Congress for being useless because giving more power to the Republications is not the answer, and to support keeping Raphael Warnock’s Senate seat in Georgia. We also supported abortion funds again since SCOTUS overturned Roe v Wade. Those festering pustules.
Not spending
Decluttering is a fantastic exercise in shedding household deadweight. I regifted still new in packaging electronics and bedding that would have taken more time and energy to sell than it was worth. None of my stuff listed on Poshmark is moving so I might just de-list and donate those too. I don’t consider this”giving” since this is about finding good homes for things so they’ll be used and out of my home. It’s much less about benefiting people or animals in need though that is a happy side effect.
Giving
On giving: we have worked really hard and been very fortunate that our hard work paid off in significant ways that I couldn’t have dreamt of when I first started this blog. Though we have not reached our FI number where I can feel like all income is gravy, we’ve always felt it was important to lend a helping hand. Many people say they’ll give back later, when they’re financially set. I say that if we don’t practice and prioritize giving now, we won’t give later either.
All year round I run the Lakota Giving Project, donate to organizations that help people and animals in need and do direct aid.
Since the last update, I’ve shipped 81 lbs of clothing, baby supplies, and other kid supplies to the Allen Youth Center where they will distribute things to the community at need. We normally help specific families who need large swaths of basics but since we had so much perfectly good stuff here already, it made sense to make it available to the folks who could need and use it.
We are also helping out specific families as usual.
Saving and investing
Our savings and investing are trucking along. I got greedy and double invested one week this month because the prices were low and therefore tantalizing. That created a bit of a fix. There’s a schedule for a reason! I scrambled a bit to fix the shortfall I created. Whoops!
Net worth
No surprise that the numbers are down this month with the market losses. We’re back to less than where we started a year ago. It’s easy to be calm about the presumed temporary invested losses when we don’t rely on them for income. I wonder how sanguine I’ll feel when we do. Hopefully by that point we will both have enough saved and my confidence will have adjusted to the account for the change in how we operate financially. My hope is that this downtime will let me make up for some lost investing time from 2020 when I was holding cash instead of investing.
On Life
Books!
The Better Part of Valor #2, Tanya Huff (Amazon, Bookshop). Book two had me grinding my teeth about the internal politics. I hate politicians. Not just the government elected type but the politicians in the workplace who are only concerned with their own power and gain. But there is something rather satisfying about Torin Kerr kicking ass as needed so of course I finished the series: The Heart of Valor #3 (Amazon, Bookshop), Valor’s Trial #4 (Amazon, Bookshop), The Truth of Valor #5 (Amazon, Bookshop).
Blood Price (Amazon, Bookshop), Blood Trail (Amazon, Bookshop), Blood Lines (Amazon, Bookshop), Blood Pact (Amazon, Bookshop) Blood Debt (Amazon, Bookshop), Tanya Huff. I actually got into this world the wrong way around, with the Tony Foster series. I liked them well enough to want to read this earlier series.
Digital Divide, KB Spangler (Amazon, Bookshop). I’m really liking the Rachel Peng series. Eagerly awaiting the next one on the wait list.
Ballad & Dagger, DJ Older (Amazon, Bookshop). Older’s books are always rich tapestries.
The Last Emperox, John Scalzi (Amazon, Bookshop). This took a turn I wasn’t expecting and my sentimentality was unhappy with it while my appreciation of cleverness, well, appreciated it. Scalzi’s a solid writer.
The Kaiju Preservation Society, John Scalzi (Amazon, Bookshop). I really liked this and Scalzi’s description of it fits perfectly: “Itās a pop song. Itās meant to be light and catchy, with three minutes of hooks and choruses for you to sing along with, and then youāre done and you go on with your day, hopefully with a smile on your face.” I need more of these.
Is the term ālimpwristedā kind ofā¦ anti-gay? I canāt really think of another way to interpret it. Agreed that the Dems have not been strong or forceful but using that phrase his a strange note for me. Funny how language works.
This market downturn is a bummer but itās great that you get a do-over from when you were holding cash. I have another friend who was in a similar position so hopefully heās taking advantage of this dip too. As for me – some of my fun spending money do my year of has vanished, but itās a good lesson to me and wonāt hurt me too terribly.
I love that JB is starry-eyed over office supplies!
Language fail on my part! I don’t think I knew the origin of the phrase but you’re right about the negative connotation and I’ve replaced it.
Was some of your fun money still in the market? I feel like it’s such a roll of the dice whether it makes more sense to pull the cash ahead of time or to leave it in until you’re going to use it.
Gives us something to bond over and fight over š
Oh good, Iām glad you changed the language. Itās so easy to use idioms without thinking about their origins. Just this weekend I was digging into ābeyond the paleā – itās not based on skin tone or on being dead, which was the two theories that came up in the moment! (It has to do with a safe space.)
Yep, about 40% of my sabbatical money was still in the market when the market started dropping. I can still do what I planned on doing, but might be a little more careful about spending, or may have to do my job search a month or so sooner than hoped. A lot of my non-bills projections were numbers that I made up, so weāll see how it plays out. I will have to tap that money in December/January, so Iāll just have to wait and see what the account is worth and what it means for my plans. Makes me really cognizant of Sequence of Returns Risk!
It is. I’m usually more careful to think them through but this one slipped right past me, so thanks for calling it out!
Ohh, hopefully the numbers you projected turn out to be on the higher end and the cash on hand stretches longer than year end. My fingers are crossed!
May you avoid even the micro version of SoRR in your sabbatical.
You summed up my feelings on news/politics/gun violence. It’s so hard/impossible to stay motivated. I’m working on my mental health right now, because otherwise, things feel insurmountable. I’m back to meditating more regularly, and a lot less media consumption. It helps. I’m also trying to do things that are useful, but a bit more approachable for where I’m personally at right now. I’m reading Biased, for Juneteenth, which has helped open my eyes to how deeply ingrained biased is in everyone. It’s a fascinating read.
I maxed my 401k in January (bonus), which hurts a bit, but I do after tax contributions each month, so I guess maybe I’m offsetting some of that pain? š
And, I can’t remember if you like these type of recipes, but since I just discovered a dead easy one, and loved the flavor (increase the jalapenos/peppers, if you like spice), I’ll recommend this, as one busy mom to another. https://www.the-girl-who-ate-everything.com/one-pan-coconut-chicken-curry-and-rice/ š
Hawaii Planner recently posted…Goals for July
I’m glad you’re meditating again. I lean hard on therapy to keep an even keel.
It’s great to max out account contributions early in the year isn’t it? It feels so satisfying.
Thank you so much for the recipe!