Money & Life Report: March 2026
April 8, 2026
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 $544 in dividends from the stocks portfolio.
A couple of our local restaurants are giving 60 points per dollar on purchases now in Fetch so we got $2 cashback through TMobile dining and 2300 Fetch points on the $40 of dumplings. (I don’t know what the conversion rate on the Fetch points is off the top of my head, I’m too tired to figure it out.)
Spending
Summer camps. Most people booked up in January (or even DECEMBER in some states) but we had our eye on a few camps that didn’t open registration until March. Thank goodness. I could barely get my organization together in time for this late in the year. We had to pay for 3 out of 4 of them upfront, that’s $1600. The last $600 will be due when they actually get to the camp time. We haven’t figured out SmolAc’s summer schedule yet so we assume their care bill will remain astronomical through the end of summer maybe.
Our home insurance is going up another 20% this year, taking us to a 50% increase total in 2 years.
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.
Lakota: We helped two families this month. The first family we’ve helped a couple times in the past. Though they have trouble keeping the human members of the family fed, they’re known for taking in stray dogs and they’re at a whopping 7 large dog, 3 small dogs and thirteen puppies. We sent them a lot of food for both humans and canines but I’m honestly not sure how far 8 bags of dog food stretches when you’re feeding ten adults and 13 pups. A proper rescue will come get the puppies when they’re a little older and I hope they’ll spay/neuter them ASAP.
The second family is new to me. A woman recently lost her husband. She is in ill health herself and lives with her daughter, and they’re nearly out of food and household supplies. We sent them a lot of staples, hopefully that will help stretch their dollars.
Saving and investing
Our bonuses came in this month. I split off money for giving first, then sent it over to our savings accounts to be split up further. I’ve set aside 10% to replenish our Big Spending buckets, which were depleted by the roof replacement, and the remaining cash will go into our investments. If Vanguard’s (and other friends’) predictions are accurate for the future decade, that definitely changes our Coast FIness. Which is to say, we are not Coast FI after all, much as I had hoped we would be in preparation for my future job redundancy.
Net worth
Everything went down to the tune of six figures this month. That despite significant contributions to our retirement savings. Ah well, one hopes that that means we bought low. Too sick to try to put together the usual graph, so please imagine the lines diving downward.
On Life
Reading. Lots of new books this month.
Charlie Jane Anders, Lessons in Magic and Disaster
Grace Draven, Radiance
Elizabeth Wheatley, Tears of the Wolf
K.A. Linde, The Wren in the Holly Library and The Robin on the Oak Throne
Jupiter Nettle, Sangu Mandanna
Lindsay Buroker, Shockwave
Robert Jackson Bennett, City of stairs
Megan Bannen, The Undertaking of Hart & Mercy
Renee Watson, This Side of Home
Angie Thomas, Nic Blake and the Remarkables The Manifestor Prophecy and The Book of Anansi
BB Alston, Amari and the Night Brothers; Amari and the Great Game; Amari and the Despicable Wonders
Robert Jackson Bennett, Foundryside