By: Revanche

Money & Life Report: May 2018

June 4, 2018

On Money

Income

Our normal income comes from two full time day jobs. We earn money on the side, including minimal cash flow that we don’t touch from an investment property and investing in dividend stocks.

Our side income comes from Swagbucks, infrequently selling on Poshmark, using cash back sites like Ebates, Mr.Rebates, and tracking physical activity through Achievement (my introduction to it). Some posts have affiliate links that pay a (very) small commission to keep the blog lights on.

Our long term goal is to replace our day job income before my health declines enough to prevent me from working.

***

I forgot to mention some of these in April’s update so I’m taking credit this month!

Craiglist Sales. PiC had some luck offloading some of our spare parts. That brought in a small handful of cash: $40.

Legal settlement. I got an unexpectedly large check for a lawsuit for a brand of dog food that we’d bought for years. It turns out that not enough people claimed their share so my check was almost twice the amount originally projected! Score! $280.

Decluttr. I tried selling off some books and DVDs. Sadly, most of the DVDs we have aren’t desirable but oddly enough some old Meg Ryan movies were. And I sold PiC’s smashed to heck phone for a few bucks which was more than I thought we’d get: $10.

Freelancing. I picked up a little bit of freelance work. That brought in almost $400 between March and April. May was too busy with work to do much on this front but I did manage to squeeze in another $100 worth.

Spending

Dental care for Seamus. I’d estimate this will cost about $1000. Brushing his teeth and a daily bully stick can only do so much to fight the plaque and gingivitis.

Long term care insurance: I spent over an hour submitting applications for PiC and myself to Genworth. If approved, I’ll need to find an extra $1900 a year to pay for these policies. I’ll write more about it when we get an answer.

Stockpiling gifts for birthdays: We ran across the closing sale at Aaron Brothers and made it out alive. We picked up five painting projects for kids 5+ for $28, to supplement the dwindling stash of puzzles from PiC’s stocking up. They’re pretty cool, too, canvases with cute animals on them, plus the necessary supplies attached: paint brush and seven tubes of paint, and a paint tray. So we are now prepared to attend three 5th birthdays and two 8th birthdays which is coincidentally all I can stand in a year anyway.

We also bought $25 of painting supplies for home – a dozen bottles of paint, two pads, and no brushes. PiC didn’t exactly complete his vision for these art projects here. But that total also includes a 72-count pack of colored pencils for $5.50 which I’m going to sort into 6 sets of a dozen pencils with “all” the colors so I can dole them out to zir and zir friends slowly. No 3-year-old can handle the magnitude of a 72 pack of colored pencils. I can barely handle it!

Highly recommend:

• OXI CLEAN! How is it that I’ve been a parent for over three years and I’ve only just now discovered this miracle substance?? We’ve had JB come home with all manner of stuff all over: dirt, paint, ink, gobby gucky stuff, and the worst stained clothes are given up for lost. Now I can soak it overnight in Oxi-clean and most things come out clean!

Wish list:

• Basic gardening tools. To start with, a weeder, a big shovel, rust resistant hand tools, and gloves for all (his, hers, kids).  We’re almost ready to start tackling at least the weeding part of working in the yard.

Not spending

Months since last shoe purchase: Nikes, July 2017, 9 months!
Months since last clothing purchase: Jeans, October 2017, 7 months!

Note: I’m not being a martyr about not buying clothes, I’m just keeping track of it for my own amusement right now since I don’t have specific needs that are worth indulging.

Saving and investing

A friend has convinced me to rethink my highly conservative approach to our money. We hold 15 months of expenses in cash and cash equivalents because, quite frankly, I’m scared and scarred. It’s not just the experience of being out of a job for almost a year. It’s also the knowledge that if either of us were to lose a job now it would be an even rougher transition because our base expenses are so high: mortgage, insurance, property tax, childcare, etc., and also because we currently have really good jobs that suit our lives. It’ll be hard to replicate the kind of money and benefits and lifestyle we currently enjoy if these jobs go away.

I’ve held tightly to a large cash position but it’s also at a high opportunity cost, and one that we can ill bear if we are to double our investments in the next several years. I’ll talk more about this as I work my way through it.

Miles & points

Alaska miles: 215,045 and $120 in travel credits
Chase Ultimate rewards: 310,262
Starpoints: 165,074

Net worth

On Life

Pot Roast. I should stick to making this fabulous dish on weekdays, not weekends, so that my schedule doesn’t get derailed and the roast can truly braise for a full 3 or 4 hours. I know that’s an odd statement but weekends are far busier and more stressful than the work week. It does make me want a much larger dutch oven, though, because it’s only big enough to make two large meals for our family of 3, and I’d really like to be able to cook 6-12 meals at a go.

The Decluttering Life. I spent so much time cleaning up the room that was intended to be my office over a year ago that it’s starting to look like a place fit for human use! There’s a floor in there! There will eventually be a desk and fewer than ten boxes! There will be organized media and files and a place to sit, even a place to stand! I’m “verra excited”, to quote JB.

The unscheduled (mostly) weekend. Memorial weekend snuck up on us. I vaguely knew it was happening but was totally unprepared with a list of things to do, except for “playdate with JB’s bestie”. This was the best thing ever. I didn’t really think about work until Monday and even then I kept my day abbreviated. We greeted Saturday morning at an utterly humane 8 am, and worked on cleaning my office while JB sat on the floor with me, sorted paperwork, and colored. PiC got to clean and wash the car which he lives for. We spent Sunday having fun, and just having more fun, which hasn’t figured largely into our lives for a while. Monday was partly doing things, leaving us wrung out by late afternoon but the dogs and all their bedding were clean and fresh. There was so much less frustration with JB. It turns out that if you don’t have pesky places to be like work or school, there’s much less tension.

:: How was your May?

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