Andy Hough

November Income – $1470.28

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Here is a breakdown of my income for November.

Qapital $15
Interest $1.41
User Testing $10
Online Income $61.91
Amazon FBA $1333.53
Cash Back $48.43
Total $1470.28

My November income was an improvement over October. It still needs to be a lot higher. It should get to an okay level once I start my tax job.

Most of the improvement in income in November came from increased Amazon FBA earnings. Black Friday shoppers and early Christmas shopping in general helped boost my FBA earnings. I’m hoping for a record month of FBA earnings this month.  I’ve sent in a lot of inventory and plan on buying and sending a lot more inventory before Christmas. Even with a record month I doubt I’ll make as much as I really should be making. I do feel like I’m slowly making progress on my FBA business, but I think I should be making a lot more. It would be nice to get my income up to about $5000 a month which I think is possible. I’m just not sure how to do it.  FBA will get put on the back burner once I start my tax job so it will be a while before I’m able to ramp up the FBA business again after this month.

Although the income is less than I like, it is enough to pay my basic bills and keep me going until I start making more money from the tax job.

 

November Expenses – $2040.40

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Here is a breakdown of my expenses for November.

Household $450.94
Entertainment $118.67
Transportation $82.53
Food $222.65
Student Loan $500
Travel $477.06
Phone $36.79
Health $151.76
Total $2040.40


November was a high expense month.  I had a few low expense months in a row so I suppose I was due for a high expense month. The expense isn’t as bad as it would first appear though since a good chunk of my November expenses went towards paying future expenses. Also we had a trip to Las Vegas for four days and Greenville,SC for another three days which increased my expenses a bit.

I signed up for the Chase Sapphire Reserve card and paid a $450 annual fee. Although I hate paying a large annual fee like that I will get much more value from the card than I paid for the annual fee. I’ve already used the card to get $300 credit for flights next year. I’ll get another $300 travel credit next year and I’ll receive a 100,000 point bonus that is worth $1500 in travel expenses. Taking that into account I paid for a lot of next  year’s travel in November.

I also bought a bunch of discounted restaurant gift cards and a couple of movie gift cards. My restaurant expense should be zero this month and probably next month as well. The movie gift cards should cover my movie expense for this month and possibly a bit of January’s expense. My gift card expenditures in November will lead to much lower food and entertainment expense this month and probably next month as well.

All of my other expenses were pretty much in their normal range. I don’t expect any major changes to my expenses other than the ones I already discussed. December should see my expenses return to their normal level.

How was your November?

5 Tips to Stay Cool When Teaching Your Teen How to Drive

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Your teen is turning 16 soon. Many parents dread this period. Not just because teenagers at that age can be difficult to deal with but also because they’re legally eligible to take a driving test and obtain a license.

Having your teen behind the wheel of a car can be the stuff of nightmares for many parents. This is understandable since the National Center for Health Statistics lists motor-vehicle accidents as the leading cause of death among people in their teens.

If you’re lucky, your teen may decide to delay getting their driving license and wait for a time they are more mature. According to the AAA Foundation, only 54 percent of teens that participated in the survey said they had a driving license by the time they were 18 years old. These findings show that teens are waiting longer to get their license.

While this may seem like good news, young drivers are still considered reckless. It should come as no surprise that insurance premiums rise when parents add their teens to the policy. You may score a better rate by changing your insurance provider even after you have included your teen on your policy.

If you want your teen to observe the law and be a more responsible driver, it’s a good idea to instill these principles yourself. There’s no better way to do this than to teach your teen how to drive.

The following are some tips to help you remain calm and cool during those trying trips:

  1. Practice in a safe place

The first step to ensuring that your teen learns how to drive properly is to identify a safe place where they can practice. This space should be free of traffic and other obstacles. A long empty stretch of road or an empty parking lot are great places to start.

  1. Agree on some ground rules

Agree on some basic rules before you begin the driving lessons. These rules may include establishing roles and ensuring that distractions such as smartphones are turned off while driving. Rules offer guidelines for lessons.

  1. Get the basics down

Begin with the basics necessary for driving a vehicle before you hit the open road. Make sure your teen understands just how important it is to learn these basics before you hit the highway. Learning the basics will not only help them to gain more confidence and become safer drivers, but it will also help to develop more confidence in your teen. Once these basics are mastered, it will be much easier on both of you when you hit the open road.

  1. Learn to ignore slip ups

It can be hard to ignore slip ups but doing so is essential to their development. Think about when you were first learning how to drive. You probably made just as many mistakes or even more. Expect your teen to make mistakes and be prepared to accept them. The whole idea of learning how to drive is to gain confidence behind the wheel and avoid slip ups on the road, where it counts most.

  1. Give them a little free reign

The best way to build your teen’s confidence is to be confident in their abilities. This often means giving them a little more freedom and allowing them to tackle bigger challenges. Allow them to drive on the highway once in a while (only after they have their learner’s permit and a licensed adult in the passenger seat). This will go a long way in helping your teen improve their skills quickly.

Don’t panic when faced with the prospect of teaching your teen to drive. Take it as an opportunity to instill good driving habits in them.

November 2016 Net Worth Update

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penniesIn order to keep track of my financial progress or lack of progress I have decided to calculate my net worth each month.

My net worth as of 11/1/2016 is as follows.

Assets
Cash – $3263 (-$447)
IRA – $23,212 (-$665)
Roth IRA – $10,281(-$169)
Solo 401k – 969 (-$19)
Car/Stuff – $4400 (-$100)

Liabilities
Student Loan – $130,775 ($594)

Net Worth = $-88,651

My net worth decreased by $1997 since the last update. That was the worst decline since I’ve started tracking my net worth. The decline was mostly due to a downturn in the stock market. My student loan interest continued to accumulate as well. I am making a large payment towards my student loan this month which will almost cover the monthly interest. If the market recovers a bit I should be able to reverse the net worth decline this month. If the market declines or stays flat then my net worth will likely decline since I’m not making enough money right now to add to my investments or pay much extra on my student loan.

I’ve been using Personal Capital (affiliate link) to help track my net worth. It keeps track of all of my financial accounts and my student loan making it pretty easy to calculate my net worth each month. It is free to sign up. If you would like to sign up I’d appreciate you using my link. All blog income, including affiliate income, goes to paying down my student loan.

Personal Capital

October Income – $1245.60

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Here is a breakdown of my income for October.

Mystery Shop $6.50
Interest $1.51
Health Survey $75
User Testing $23
Online Income $78.68
Amazon FBA $792.07
Decluttr $20
Cash Back $90.05
Bank Bonus $150
Delivery $8.79
Total $1245.60

My October income was an improvement over September which wasn’t much of an accomplishment given how low my income was in September.  On the plus side my income was greater than my expenses. Although I’d prefer to make more I’m okay with this level of income for now since I know I’ll be making a lot more once my tax job starts.

Most of the improvement in income in October came from increased Amazon FBA earnings.  Since there should be a lot more Christmas shoppers online this month I should be able to make more money this month. My week vacation might hamper that a little bit, but I’m going to try to work extra when I get back to get my earnings higher than last month.

I did have a couple of sources of income carry over from September. I made $20 referring people to Decluttr. If you would like to sign up for Decluttr you can get a $10 bonus by clicking through my referral link and using my referral code DXR9HCGXYL. You need to sell Decluttr at least $10 of stuff to qualify for the $10 bonus. I’ll receive a $10 bonus for the first ten qualified referrals as well. I made $75 referring people to an online health study. If you buy your own insurance then you might qualify for the health study. If you use my health insurance study referral link we can both make $25 when you successfully complete the study.

Overall, my earnings weren’t too bad considering I didn’t work a job at all and I spent less than 40 hours a week working on the various things that did make me money.