February Income – $3785.28

Here is a breakdown of my income for January.

Interest$1.61
Tax Refund$2404.05
Amazon Merch$11.17
Mystery Shop$25
Dividends$42.23
Job$814.15
Swagbucks Deals$25
Bank/Broker Bonuses$50
Sportsbook Promos$315
Ebay/Other Selling$101.33
Amazon FBA(4.26)
Total$3785.28

February was a good income month

I made $814.15 from six days work at my doc review job.

Dividend income came in at $42.23. If you sign up using my Robinhood referral link we will both get one share of free stock. Thanks to anyone who signs up using my link. Every little bit helps.

I received $0 in cash back income. If you sign up for Rakuten using my referral link you can start earning cash back too and I’ll get a small bonus for referring you. These little bits of referral income help me keep the blog going.

I received $1.61 in interest.

I received $11.17 from Amazon Merch. My sales seem to be picking up as I got paid two months in a row which is unusual for me.

I received $2404.05 from my federal and Missouri tax refund.

I received $315 from sportsbook promos. I drove up to Iowa for Super Bowl weekend to take advantage of the promos from various sports books. I would have made a lot more if the sports books had allowed me to deposit more money.

I made $101.33 from eBay and other selling. I had a negative profit of $4.26 for Amazon FBA. They adjusted the shipping charge on an item I shipped back in December.

I also received $25 from a mystery shop, $50 from a bank bonus, and $25 from a Swagbucks deal.

It looks like I’ll be working most of this month so it should be another good income month. How was your month?

February Expenses – $915.13

Here is a breakdown of my expenses for February.

Household$16.95
Mortgage$355
Gifts/Charity$110.29
Entertainment$12.03
Transportation$183.38
Food$129.86
Phone$31.33
Health$57.89
Travel$18.40
Total$915.13

My February Expenses were quite low. They were under my old target of $1000 per month.

Entertainment expense was for a New York Times digital subscription, one month of Hulu at 99 cents, a couple of books from eBay, and a visit to the movies. I had some free gift cards that made the books and the movie super cheap.

The mortgage payment was my regular mortgage payment.

Transportation was for gas and an oil change. The increased cost of gas plus a trip to Council Bluffs, IA made this expense larger than usual. I don’t have any long trips planned this month so this expense should decrease.

My food expense was cheaper than it has been for quite some time. I used a free gift card, fast food rewards, app deals, and coupons to get lots of food for just a little money. This expense will probably go up a little this month, but I’m going to try to keep it close to this level.

My phone bill was $31.33. That is about normal. It will be a little higher this month due to failed attempt to reduce this expense.

The household expense was for some ice cube trays, a razor, and a photo pillow. I got quite a bit of stuff for what I spent.

I also spent $110.29 on gifts and charity. This was mostly for paying rent on my girlfriend’s apartment.

Health expense was for a used treadmill and blood pressure medication. Last year I was paying about $40 a month for a gym membership where I mostly just ran on the treadmill. Compared to that the used treadmill will pay for itself in just the second month of use.

Travel expense was for a flight from the small city near me to Chicago where I will later get a flight to Thailand. I had a voucher that covered most of this expense. It wasn’t an optimal use of the voucher, but the voucher was going to expire soon, and a suboptimal use was better than letting it expire.

This month’s expense will be higher since it is hard to keep expenses that low two months in a row. I’ll have some more travel expenses to pay for my trip to Thailand in April which will inflate this total somewhat.

How was your month?

January Income – $207.95

Here is a breakdown of my income for January.

Interest$1.68
Online Income(41.75)
Amazon Merch$13.44
Cashback$14.93
Dividends$44.74
Class Action$18.90
Swagbucks Deals$46.01
Bank/Broker Bonuses$110
Total$207.95

January was another poor income month. This was expected since I spent the month in Thailand.

I made $0 from a job, Amazon FBA, or Ebay during the month.

Dividend income came in at $44.74. If you sign up using my Robinhood referral link we will both get one share of free stock. Thanks to anyone who signs up using my link. Every little bit helps.

I received $14.93 in cash back income. If you sign up for Rakuten using my referral link you can start earning cash back too and I’ll get a small bonus for referring you. These little bits of referral income help me keep the blog going.

I received $1.68 in interest. Since interest rates are so low, I put some money in I bonds. They are paying over 7% interest right now. That interest isn’t reportable until I cash out the bonds.

I received $13.44 from Amazon Merch. Apparently, some of my shirts were bought as Christmas gifts.

Online income was a negative $41.75. I didn’t realize my hosting plan was ending and I had to purchase three more months of hosting to keep this site up while I look for a better deal.

I also received $18.90 from a class action settlement and $46.01 from some Swagbucks deals.

I’m now back in the USA and should be able to greatly increase my income. I already worked one week this month and will hopefully get more work soon. How was your month?

January Expenses – $1333.46

Here is a breakdown of my expenses for January.

Household$9.29
Mortgage$355
Apartment$242.46
Gifts/Charity$262.36
Entertainment$48.23
Transportation$44.74
Food$295.49
Phone$35.24
Health$30.42
Travel$10.23
Total$1333.46

My January Expenses were quite reasonable considering I was in Thailand and paying many daily expenses for my girlfriend.

Entertainment expense was for a New York Times digital subscription, one month of Hulu at 99 cents, and a few visits to the movies.

The mortgage payment was my regular mortgage payment.

Transportation was for public transportation in Chiang Mai and a partial tank of gas for my car upon returning to the U.S.

My food expense was way more than normal. This was due to eating out nearly every meal and also paying for my girlfriend for nearly every meal. This expense will be much lower this month since I am back in the U.S. and only paying for my own food.

My phone bill was $35.24. This was a little higher than usual due to using more data.

The household expense was for a haircut, dental floss, some KN94 masks, and some sleep pants. I got quite a bit of stuff for what I spent.

I also spent $262.36 on gifts and charity. This was for renting my girlfriend an apartment and buying her a few things for the apartment.

Health expense was for a gym fee, some medicine, and a health insurance premium.

Travel expense was for three taxi rides. Taxis are really cheap in Thailand.

This month’s expenses should be lower since I’m back in the US.

How was your month?

2022 Plans and Goals

For this post, I will share my plans for this year and some goals I’d like to achieve this year. These won’t be SMART goals now. There will be later posts where I list specific actions I’ll take to reach these goals.

My big plan for the year is to return to Thailand at later this year and marry my girlfriend. After that, I will apply for a visa so that she can live with me in the US. The visa process takes quite some time so it will most likely be next year before the visa is approved.

I have three simple goals for this year. The first is to weigh 170 pounds and maintain that weight. That is a healthy weight for my height. The last time I weighed that was probably sometime in the early 90’s. It will be difficult to get to this weight, but I do believe it is a reasonable goal.

My second goal is to finish hiking the Vermont section of the Appalachian Trail. Since my free time might be limited as an alternative I might hike or bike the Katy Trail. The Katy Trail is actually longer than the Vermont section of the A.T., but it would require less travel and I could do bigger mileage days.

My final goal is to make at least $30,000. Although that might not seem like much it is more than I’ve made the last couple of years. If this goal ends up being too easy, I’ll adjust the amount upwards. I’m going to have a lot of expenses this year so I need to make more money.

Each month I will share specific actions I am taking to achieve these goals. What goals do you have for 2022?