Money & Life Report: May 2024
June 4, 2024
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. The sidebar has ways to support the blog and our charitable giving.
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 $1,053.00 in dividends from the stocks portfolio. Bigger than usual big month, but it all averages out to only a few hundred dollars a month. It was all reinvested immediately as usual.
I moved our emergency fund to Vanguard’s Cash Plus account to get more interest there as well though that might have been a futile attempt since it looks like that APY went down from 4.7 to 4.6 (vs Ally’s 4.2%). Oh well, every penny and dollar count.
Spending
Sandals and sandals: replacement sandals for me (3) and the kids (1 each), $110.
Not spending
Whenever the daycare has extra boxes of crackers that Smol Acrobat likes, they’re destined for the bin so the teachers send them home with us. We always appreciate the extras, and the few dollars of savings.
Giving
We have worked really hard and been very fortunate that our hard work paid off in significant ways that I only 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.
We donate to organizations that help people and animals in need and do direct aid.
The Lakota Giving Project is year-round now and we always welcome donations to support Lakota families. See how you can help at the link.
JB and I hauled home 13 giant bags of donated clothing and washed it all in one long weekend. We shipped them out to the Youth Center to be distributed in the community. They were a big help with this round, and I’m grateful they’re learning to be helpful to others with no expectation of reward. (I did thank them for the help with a sushi dinner. It was a treat for their helping me, not a thanks from the recipients of the help.)
Saving and investing
For the first time in many years, I will be contributing to a 401K. I’m working out a new money plan for the year to allow us to max out that 401K out of sheer PF delirium and to offset some of our tax burden. I plugged in some placeholder numbers for my paycheck for the 5-6 months of contributions to give myself a starting place. It looks like the best game plan is to reduce both the amount and frequency of my weekly contributions: half the amount and every two weeks.
If all our FSA and dependent care reimbursements are processed and paid, it’ll close the gap on our cash flow enough that I can make this work and still offer direct aid to folks who are struggling this season.
Net worth
On Life
Reading
Learn to Howl, Jennifer R Donohue. In all honesty, I was expect to DNF this book. Not sure why, other than perhaps judging a book by its cover and the brief description totally incorrectly. It’s a bit too short for my taste but it probably ended in a logical place.
The Curious Secrets of Yesterday, Namrata Patel. This was pretty good. There was a bit of predictability to it towards the end which isn’t a bad thing, I don’t mind feeling occasionally like I can actually catch foreshadowing once in a while. The premise of familial duty was an awfully familiar one but not so close to home that I couldn’t read it. That was my problem with Erin Entrada Kelly’s Lalani of the Distant Sea. I wanted to read it but when I read the book jacket (mom dying, terrible stepfather and stepbrother, plus magic and other interesting things), those specific details were too depressingly close to home for me to want to read it. I bet it’s a terrific story but it’ll have to wait until I’m in a very different frame of mind.
Black River Orchard, Chuck Wendig. I frequently say I don’t do horror, and definitely absolutely I never do horror movies but occasionally I’ll pick up a book by a writer I like enough to trust, a little, with my deeply susceptible sensibilities and then spend the entirety of the book possibly regretting my life choices but still being unable to put the book down. This was one of those. I averaged a “holy shit” once every 2.5 pages. Possibly 1.5 pages.
I have what is probably an obvious question – if you weren’t doing a 401k, were you doing something else? I would have assumed you were already doing that so am curious. I also 100000% know it’s none of my business, and you’re very very fiscally conscious, so if the question gives you any Feelings, please disregard.
I have a nibling who is about a year or so younger than JB and they have read the first 3 harry potters and are looking for more books that are world-building and meaty and appropriate for an 8-year-old who is reading at a higher level. Is that something I can find in your archives somehow?
Yes! Oh gosh I love money questions, it’s the whole reason I started blogging a lifetime ago right here š I started my own brokerage account at Vanguard to invest post-tax pay and do my own catch-up contributions to make up for the many working years I didn’t have a 401k or couldn’t afford to set aside more than a few percent.
I have to slash those contributions in order to divert the money to the actual 401k now but I’m attached to my brokerage so I’m having silly feelings about the logical reduction of contributions to the brokerage. š I know they’re silly. I know I’m having them and I know I want to have my cake and eat it too but the money doesn’t stretch that far.
I will find more for you but the first thing that comes to mind is the Diane Duane Wizard series. I started reading them to vet them for JB and they’re engaging and meatier and better world building than JKR’s world building.
Oh yes! Off the top of my head also I would say anything by Rick Riordan and anything in his RR Presents line will be great. They might have to work up to DJ Older’s books but he has a wonderful historical fiction with dinosaurs that I love and is middle grade IIRC. Amari and the Night Brothers plus sequel is delightful. Also delightful, Ruby Finley vs the Interstellar Invasion. The Land of Stories series, Song for a Whale, Wish by Barbara O’Connor, The Sweetest Sound by Sherri Winston, Other Words for Home by Jasmine Warga. These last ones are more one offs but the authors may write more, if their first/early books sell, which would be good. I read and enjoyed all of these.
JB currently loves the Spy School series right now.
I usually record all my reading, including for kids, in my monthly net worth posts so you can flip through these for any that I can’t recall right now but I’ll pop in more as I recall.
Strong second for anything in Rick Riordan presents. Both my kids also liked the Land of Stories. An the Spy School series (that’s by Stuart Gibbs?)
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