Money & Life Report: August 2025
September 3, 2025
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 occasionally 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 $1,141.16 in dividends from the stocks portfolio. It’s re-invested.
It’s taken five months to get to the point of someone processing my raise. Naturally, they did it wrong and it’s going to take ages for them to fix. Who knows when that’ll actually be done.
Spending
Annoying. The bank sent me a new debit card and told me to activate it upon receipt. I went to activate it online, and they said I didn’t have any cards to activate. I called the phone number and that said I didn’t have any cards to activate.
I finally bought the OXO oil dispenser I liked the look of, paid for with gift cards. It works so well! No more oil dripping down from the spout, no more putting a joint out of socket trying to pull the spout out to refill the jar.
$$$. Refreshed our supply of Vogmasks as the kids wear them most frequently and they do eventually wear out. Ten for each kid should last us another year. JB wears them a minimum of 5 days a week. Also refreshed my supply of flo-mask straps.
$$$. We’ve booked a dozen lessons with an online math tutor for JB this month. We’re assuming we have to try working with a few different people before we find someone who can teach them the way they need. Fourth grade math was a misery for us all so I wanted to get ahead by reinforcing their understanding in the fourth grade concepts before we hit the fifth grade despair.
$$$. We just got the notice that our water and sewer rates are increasing again for the next five years. Effective July 2025. That was last month! Not that it would change anything but it would have been nice to know before the effective date.
$$. Picked out a few more books for niblings for Christmas, redeeming some points for a discount, at Bookoutlet.com.
Not spending
PiC came thisclose to having to replace his driver’s license and credit cards after making a grocery run and dropping all of the cards while loading up the car. So close. Thankfully, a lady spotted them on the ground and took them to the customer service desk. So glad not to have to deal with the mess and cost that would have caused.
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.
This month’s support went to:
- Linda Tirado (who continues to help other people even as her medical bills from being shot in the eye by a cop while covering protests as a reporter),
- Quiara (who has gone back to school and now needs funds to move),
- Isobel Carr’s best friend who is caring for her through cancer treatment with the added development of a brain tumor,
- World Central Kitchen for Gaza aid.
- Mid-South Immigration Advocates, Inc Survivor’s Project.
- Norsled: a dog rescue
- DreamTree project: supporting unhoused people in Taos
Saving and investing
I’m locking in a slight increase in our savings rate for the rest of the year and into next year.
Net worth
Little ticks that generally trend upward which I’m grateful for but also confused by because I do wonder how long the US market can continue in the face of ever-spiraling fascism. We increased our investing into global markets but will US companies, like Fidelity and Vanguard, continue to function as things fall apart?
The yellow line needs to be over the black line by Jan 2026. We’re at 86% of the way to goal. At best, my guess is that it’ll get as far as (optimistically) 91% or 92% in the next 4 months. Historically, my Sept-Jan blocks of time are either low growth or stepping backwards quarters. My saving/investing doesn’t change in those months of the year so it’s down to whatever the market wants to do.
On Life
Health.
Insert image of garbage fire here. My body went into a full fibro and ME/CFS flare on a weekend and it stretched to … two weeks? We’ll see, it’s still going. Just the worst.
Watching
JB chose Mitchells vs the Machines for movie night one night and it landed very differently in 2025 than it did in 2021. The Instagram influencer-type is the same. The toxicity of Silicon Valley tech bros, more intense than before, as is the teen vs parent conflict.
SmolAc said it was scary and feels the robots that drew faces on their screens were silly. “But maybe there was a person in there,” they speculated.
Reading.
I was given an ARC of Hemlock and Silver by T. Kingfisher. It’s so good! And there’s a fantastic Easter egg in there (hint: bat) that made me chortle out loud. Let me know if you find it!
Untangled, Lisa Damour. This was a really interesting read about teen development. I wonder how much of the development “threads” they cover differ between boys, girls, and NB teens.
The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches, Sangu Mandanna. A comfy cozy read. Hit the spot.
I’m doing a speed run through the Toby Daye books again this month.
I am curious: do you remember how you chose the 5-year goal? Do you still agree with those decision points? I will wish hard for that line to kick up for you!
Every new month makes me happy because I want to fast forward through this timeline. But also – August was good! Got to spend a little time in Canada (I was surprised to feel teary when the agent welcomed me to Canada. Sigh.), celebrated birthdays with friends, supported some small businesses, saw a super fun play called POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass Are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive. HIGHLY recommend – it’s not specifically about the orange one. All the women are fantastic and clearly had fun staging it.
The amount or the timeline?
I can’t remember why 5 years, it was probably because I instinctively go with 3 or 5 year plans when going into the future.
The goal amount was, originally, a “generous” how much do I need invested to generate $$$,$$$ income at a 4% withdrawal rate? But I wasn’t sure how much to budget for healthcare for four people back at the end of 2020 so I left it out of the needed-income. We probably need a minimum of $48K/year for that. D: