February 6, 2017
On Money
Income
Our normal income is two full time day job salaries.
We experiment with earning money on the side, including minimal cash flow that we don’t touch from an investment property.
The goal is to replace our day job income before my health gives out and prevents me from working.
Spending
Our normal spending includes the living expenses for two households, these updates ignore those ordinary expenses.
I stopped tracking our expenses to the penny five years ago because it was too time-consuming. That was fine for a couple years but I’ve observed increases in our spending in the last three years, mainly unusual expenses, that need to be budgeted for. For a fresh start this year, I’ve created a new spreadsheet where we list the bills we paid with an average spending amount listed in the budgeting column. Specific types of spending (food, gas, groceries, utilities, insurance, etc) are paid by credit card, so those will be mildly opaque but we seem to do better when we aim at reducing aggregate amounts rather than “$100 per month on drinks”. Not that we spend that on drinks. (more…)
January 9, 2017
2016 highlights
EARNING, SPENDING, SAVING
The good
My day job income stayed the same, PiC’s increased a little. My competitive side HATES that mine stayed the same but my realistic side knows that was part of the deal of accepting the job with more risk. With more risk, I should remind myself to be glad the job is still alive and kicking!
We focused on our areas of our side money project which generated the funds to send much needed support to friends who’d hit rough patches: severe illness, loss of loved ones, injuries.
We didn’t splash out on a jumbo loan for a bigger house, nor did we add a second dog to the pack. I wanted to but reined in those currently unsupportable desires. Reminder, I need early retirement more than I need to take on more responsibility and I don’t want the guilt that comes with taking on more dependents than we can truly care for.
1. Debt reduction is saving. We refinanced our mortgage, freeing up our cash flow, halving our interest, and sending more straight to principal. We had the original mortgage for 4 months of the year, and the refinanced mortgage for the remaining 8. (more…)
January 4, 2017
On Money
Income
Our normal income is two full time day job salaries. We experiment with earning money on the side, including minimal cash flow that we don’t touch from an investment property. The goal is to replace our day job income before my health gives out and prevents me from working.
Our incomes remain the same. I don’t anticipate any danger to them this year, but the election result is very likely to impact both of our industries to varying degrees. I think we have at least a year before we start to see negative changes but that might be optimistic.
Spending
Our normal spending includes the living expenses for two households so this update ignores those ordinary living expenses. (more…)
January 2, 2017
More than ever, it’s been important to do what we can to remember the bright spots in life. Even while I’ve immersed myself in what we can do to make the world a better place, I’ve kept on with paying attention to life and participating in it.
What I read
Jaran, by Kate Elliott. A generous gift from a good friend, I’d been hankering after a new world in a book and I got just what I was hoping for from Jaran.
The Woman Who Breathed Two Worlds, Selina Siak Chin Yoke. This was a surprise and a pleasant one at that. Maybe it’s the geographical proximity that I responded to but there were so many parallels between my family and that of the protagonist’s that it felt like reading the biography of grandma’s second cousin. And it was oh so well written, too, blending languages like the flavors of blended cuisines. Oh and life with the changing of the times, losing grip on old traditional cultures with the British influence increasingly encroaching. That too could have been grandma’s dictation as she bid goodbye to her children going abroad for a better life.
Fate of Perfection, K.F. Breene. This was the December free Kindle book for Amazon Prime members. This seemed like it could be interesting but the writing felt stilted and awkward. I wanted to like it but I’m spoiled by excellent writers, who probably also have excellent editors who know how to bring the best out of their raw material, so this was an uncomfortable read. There was exactly one good pair of lines that hit the right note and tickled up a smile in the entire book. Just one pair. And that was my only reaction. Much of the time was filled with painfully overwrought emotions or action. Bored, I was mentally asking, “where’s the baby??” and “when’s the last time you fed her or changed her?” instead of being enthralled by the plot. Clumsy is the word I’m looking for. It’s how I feel my writing is on days when the words just won’t flow. They clunk around, they do the job of conveying what I’m thinking, but there’s no pleasure in reading the result. (more…)
December 5, 2016
On Money
Income
Our normal income is two full time day job salaries. We experiment with earning money on the side, including minimal cash flow that we don’t touch from an investment property. The goal is to replace our day job income before my health gives out and prevents me from working.
Our incomes which I am exceedingly grateful for remain the same. This is good from a stability standpoint. There have been too many nights lying awake after working a 100 hour week for the overtime and wondering how long it was before I fell apart completely and could I get us to a safe place before then? So I’m grateful for what we have.
I’m also aware that the clock could run out on my particular job, whether it be my patience or my professional stagnation, so there is some internal buttkicking going on in trying to nail down the important things I need to address when crafting my next step. (more…)
November 7, 2016
On Money
Income
Our normal income is two full time day job salaries. We earn money on the side, including minimal cash flow that we don’t touch from an investment property. The goal is to replace our full time job income before my health gives out and prevents me from working.
Poshmark: I talked about the reselling experiment earlier this year as part of an ongoing effort to earn money separate from our day jobs. It’s quite slow, no doubt because I don’t own spectacularly covetable items, but I’ve made three additional (small) sales since, netting an additional $32.
I have no intentions of becoming a boutique shop so using Poshmark to move used clothing and shoes out (shipping is paid by the buyer, I can schedule free USPS pickup for the items I’m shipping, money is available for transfer 3 days after delivery) is worth the fees ($2.95 for sales under $15, 20% for sales over $15). The earnings are almost secondary to clearing up the clutter on my ongoing closet curating quest. (more…)
October 12, 2016
In February, inspired by Cloud, I decided it was high time to get back to the business of being me. Life isn’t all about work, money, and family. Life is meant to be lived, and we are meant to grow.
What I read
Last Woman Standing, by Thelma Adams
I can’t recall why I snagged this one, might have been free on Kindle for a limited time, but I loved the idea of reading up on the woman in Wyatt Earp’s life. I’m familiar enough with Wyatt Earp’s general legend, but I was always curious about the woman by his side.
It was a mostly satisfying read.
The Daughter of Union County, by Francine Thomas Howard
This was an Amazon Prime First free book. Didn’t enjoy it. Maybe it was just too hard reading about the horrific American racism towards black people in the past that simply has not stayed in the past. This is racism now, and it’s not even subtle or that much diminished. Interracial marriages aren’t illegal anymore but we haven’t come very far beyond that.
Sorcerer to the Crown, by Zen Cho
This was very different in style from her last book. It wasn’t hugely complex, but I really enjoyed the story and the characters. Also the names. Nidget! (more…)