Andy Hough

September Expenses – $1440.43

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Here is a breakdown of my expenses for September.

Household$25
Mortgage$355
Entertainment$30.97
Transportation$270.12
Food$122,65
Bar Fees$606.67
Phone$30.02
Health$0
Total$1440.43

My September expenses were a little higher than normal due to some unusual expenses.

I spent $606.67 for some continuing education and my annual attorney enrollment fee so that I could return to active status. I’m hoping the return to active status will lead to a job and I’ll be able to recoup this expense. Even though the year is 3/4 of the way over I had to pay the entire annual enrollment fee to return to active status. If I have any associated income I’ll write this off as a business expense, but I don’t expect that to happen.

Entertainment expense was for seeing a movie and buying a large popcorn, and buying lunch for a friend. There were only three other people in the theater so it wasn’t difficult to stay socially distanced.

I made my first mortgage payment in September.

Transportation was for gas and six months of insurance.

My food expense went up a tiny bit. This was due to eating a lot of meals out. I need to cut back on the fast food and junk food snacks.

My phone bill was normal. It will usually be within a couple dollars of this total.

Household expense was mainly for a replacement blade for my Oneblade razor.

This month should have much lower expenses.

How was your month?

Dough App Free Stock Sign Up Bonus

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When you sign up for the Dough app through my referral link you can receive a free stock as a sign up bonus. Dough is a stock trading app that allows you to buy and sell stocks without paying a commission. It is similar to the Webull and Robinhood stock trading apps.

Here is how you can get your free stock from Dough as explained on their terms and conditions page.

How do I get free stock?

If You’re a New Customer: 

  1. Receive and click on a referral link from an existing dough customer or download the app.
  2. Download the dough app from the referral link and complete the application for a brokerage account.
  3. Obtain approval to open a brokerage account.
  4. Receive a share of free stock within seven business days.
  5. Electronically link an approved external financial account and deposit $25.00 USD into your dough account before withdrawing any proceeds from the sale of your free stock.

Another referral link in case you missed the first one. Friends who trade together – get paid together. Click my link to download the dough app and we’ll both get a free share of stock! https://dough.com/referrals?referral=DH6DG8F3G7&referredby=David

If you haven’t yet signed up for the Robinhood app they also have a free stock for signing up for their app. Robinhood free stock referral link.

August Income – $1111.99

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Here is a breakdown of my income for August.

Interest$11.48
Amazon FBA$99.13
AZ Merch$4.48
Job$790.09
Cashback$90.00
Dividends$13.03
Fidelity Bonus$5
Ebay/Other Selling$93.27
Stepbet$5.51
Total$1111.99

My income for was down quite a bit. I only had one week of work at my job and I didn’t get any unemployment due to procrastination on my part and the unemployment website being down when I went to make a last-minute claim.

My Amazon FBA side hustle continues to make a profit. I just need to get it higher.

Dividend income came in at $13.03. 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 made $790.09 from my job. I was laid off after the first week of the month. I received two paychecks and one of them was only for one day.

I made $93.27 selling stuff on eBay and locally. I also got $90 in cashback and made $5 for signing up for the Fidelity app. .

I made $5.51 from Stepbet. The Stepbet app isn’t really a money-maker, but it does keep me motivated to get my steps.

I made $4.48 from Amazon Merch. I have one t-shirt design on there that sometimes sells once or twice a month. It isn’t much, but I’ll take it.

Although my income was low it did exceed my expenses so I can’t complain. This month should be at least a little better.

How was your month?

August Expenses – $858.14

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Here is a breakdown of my expenses for August.

Household$31.72
Rent$208.44
Entertainment$130.44
Transportation$144.18
Food$121.28
Travel$193.12
Phone$28.96
Health$0
Total$858.14

My August expenses were once again very low. I had low expenses in almost all of my expense categories.

I had an entertainment expense for the first time in a few months. I had a date with a woman here in the USA. I also bought an annual pass to Shenandoah National Park and bought a couple of other small hiking items.

My first mortgage payment wasn’t due until September, but I made an extra payment since I knew my August expenses were going to be so low.

Transportation was all for gas. This included a trip from Missouri to Virginia and back or the expense would have been much lower.

My food expense went up a bit. This was mainly due to going on a week long trip and eating a lot of meals out.

My phone bill was normal. It will usually be within a couple dollars of this total.

Household expense was for a new pair of shoes, gas for the lawnmower, and some deodorant.

Travel expense was $193.12. I took a week long trip to Shenandoah National park and did some hiking. The total includes 1 night hotel, 2 nights at a campground, tolls, and a coin-operated shower. I also spent $81.71 for taxes on a business class ticket from Chicago to Spain next February. It is a longshot that I’ll actually be able to visit Spain at that time. The ticket was so cheap I felt it was worth taking a chance.

This month will probably be a low expense month again. If I decide to travel or I decide to pay extra on the mortgage then I’ll spend a little bit more.

How was your month?

Rakuten Ebates $30 Refer a Friend Bonus

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The shopping portal Rakuten, formerly known as eBates, currently has a promotion offering a $30 refer a friend bonus. New members sign up through my referral link will receive a $30 bonus and I’ll get a $30 bonus too. To qualify for the $30 sign up bonus the new member needs to spend $30 through Rakuten. The promotional period is from August 12, 2020 to December 31, 2020 (“Offer Period”). Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in the Referral Program Terms, this offer is valid only if the referral signs up and completes their qualifying purchase within 90 days.

I’ve had pretty good luck with Rakuten properly tracking my shopping purchases. If you look at the little image at the beginning of this post you can see they’ve paid me over $400 in cash back. Rakuten usually doesn’t have the highest cash back rates, but several times a year they run promotions making them the highest-paying portal for some merchants. This is quite a bit higher than their usual sign up bonus and should be easy money for most people who haven’t previously signed up for Rakuten. Here again is my Rakuten referral link.