Money & Life Report: January 2026
February 4, 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.
***
Dividend income. We received $222 in dividends from the stocks portfolio.
I’ve been working with JB to build their business little bits at a time. When we initially started this, we agreed we would be partners and share everything, costs and profit. But I’ve really been doing all the admin, site design and legal work and letting them keep all the money. After we upped the ante at last year’s little craft fair, having them pay for their materials out of their earnings so that they understand more about how a real business works, they noticed that I’d been letting them have all the proceeds. I admitted that I had been spoiling them a bit. We agreed that we’d split the proceeds of any future shows since I’m doing a whole lot of the legwork for these shows. I’m also working on adding my own little craft contributions to the table in hopes of beefing up our application.
Unfortunately we got hit by scammers testing stolen credit cards on the site this month. It’s cost us $55 in fees so far and it’s not over yet. This is really frustrating.
Spending
$7. We went to the creative reuse shop in the city and collected a bunch of little goodies (Part 1). We bought: four rolls of scrap or partially cut fabric of unknown length and size in fun bold colors. I want to experiment with making larger and lightweight bags. A SmolAc handful of fun shaped crayons. A PiC handful of meticulously selected crayons in interesting colors. A roll of blingy sticker tape. A micro sized mini hole punch. A coloring book. I’d given the kids a $4 budget each, and we came in well under for the whole family!
$199. The SF zoo had free admission for kids all month. We’ve never been so we took our two plus a bonus kid and met up with friends. We planned a “short” visit but ended up being there 5 hours, all for the price of 2 adult admissions ($62). When we finally dragged out of there, we agreed to upgrade to the membership for the year and take them all at least two more times this year to make the most of it and see all the sights. We had to skip a few this time. I swapped our tickets for a membership and paid the difference. I don’t imagine we’ll renew next year once we’ve seen all the exhibits and kids have ridden the rides. Aside: I’m really quite impressed with the Pixel 10 Pro – I wondered if I’d regret spending extra for the better camera but it has not disappointed. Coming off a terrible PEM episode the night before, I had to do a whole lot of sitting and watching the kids / exhibits from afar. The zoom let me take crisp and sharp pictures from wherever I was sitting, way far away, as if I were standing mere feet away.
Not spending
At the creative reuse shop (Part 2): we brought home 2 canvas tote bags from the free bags bin, designating one for freebies and one for paid stuff. In our freebies bag: a few scraps of fabric that I might fashion into backings for pins if we ship any. A handful of long envelopes for the kids to send mail to their cousins. JB scored a giant binder full of fabric scraps and a few sticker sheets.
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.
My first package of the year was filled and sealed up by January 3: One giant box of community donations for the Allen Youth Center in Pine Ridge Reservation.
We went overboard with direct aid this month and it’s still not enough to help people these days.
I’ve been hoarding a stash of gift cards to fund holiday gifts but learned that the local animal shelter accepts donations through their Chewy wish list so we sent off a donation using most of that gift card. I’ll need to replenish that gift card this year, the furry niblings need spoiling.
Saving and investing
I’ve increased our weekly savings rate a little bit. For now I’m going to behave as if we’ll have two incomes all year long. As far as savings and investing, that is.
Net worth
It’s time to move a goalpost here. The yellow line (all investments including the kids’ 529) is aimed at the black goal line. The gap’s not terribly big. Absent any massive shifts to the market, at the current change rate, we could conceivably reach that line in 5 months. Buuuuut that goal was picked 5+ years ago. Now that we’re coming close to it, I’m evaluating what’s realistic in this timeline where healthcare availability and affordability are giant question marks.
I’m debating: aim for the GREEN line (brokerages only) to meet the black line in the same place OR stick with the yellow line but bump the black goal line up. The former is much farther away than the latter. Money is fungible but what accounts the money is in makes a difference. The former is money we can access easily before age 65 free and clear, just with tax implications. The latter is all money for all things with various limits, like age 65, or for school expenses only. Those limits mean I’ll have to be a lot more fine grained about how and when to spend. I suppose that would happen anyway, once it came to that point. For now I want a big general target to aim at since we’re still a ways out from being able to give up the good benefits and the W-2 income.
On Life
Reading. Gail Carriger’s: Soulless, Changeless, Blameless, Heartless. Prudence. Imprudence. Competence.
Scalzi’s Starter Villain.
I’m always so impressed when organizations let you use your admission fee toward a membership. That sounds like a great visit!
I think my brother must have the same camera as you. He stood on his front porch and shared pictures progressively zoomed onto a tree branch in another yard – it was impressive how close it zoomed without distortion!
What is that brown animal in your lower left?
I think it’s a good policy if you want to bring in memberships, that way people aren’t pressured into making the decision on the spot. If you’re happy with the visit and don’t want more than a single ticket entry then you’re fine, and if you want to come back again, upgrading to a membership before you leave is great.
With my last phone I could zoom in a ton but the picture would be horribly pixelated and poor quality. This one’s impressive!
It’s a prairie dog! They were a lot of fun to watch.