2021: Happy New Year, December side hustles and year end summary!

Happy New Year!  Goodbye 2020, hello 2021!  We had a quiet New Year's Eve As a new year begins, many of us think back on what went right and wrong about the past year.  There have been so many major events this year, including (in no particular order):  

The Australian brushfires, the death of Kobe Bryant, the impeachment of president Trump, the covid-19 pandemic, another oil crisis, major shut downs of the economy and small businesses, one of the fastest stock market crashes followed by one of the fasts bull market recoveries, travel bans, PPE (personal protective equipment) shortages, toilet paper shortages, cancelled holidays, distance learning school, Black Lives Matters protests, Joe Biden’s presidential election win, the fires in California, president Trump testing positive for covid-19, and finally the rollout of new covid-19 vaccines.

Our lives have been forever changed by the events of this past year.  Everyone has been affected by this pandemic, although not equally.  So many family gatherings and trips have been cancelled.  We have friends that have been unemployed since March.  My wife gets to work from home now.  All office meetings are done online through a web camera.  Some friends have contracted covid-19 and have family members that have had to be hospitalized.   Many of us want to completely forget 2020 and move on.  

Did you have a good December 2020? 

With the air quality clearing up around here, this has been the month of visiting playgrounds.  There are several playgrounds to explore around our neighborhood.  We bring masks for the kids and lots of hand sanitizers.  We also try to make outdoors time a regular part of our kids’ routine.  They love getting outside and exploring.

While inside, our kids have been painting and drawing.  

We celebrated Christmas at home this year, without any outside family members.  We haven’t seen any of our family since last Christmas due to covid-19 concerns.  We took our family to a Christmas lights drive thru event, complete with animated lights and holiday music.  The kids had a blast!  

This month our little girl turned 3 years old!  We are so proud of her and it’s been quite a fun journey having her in our lives.  As typical during the pandemic, we had a little celebration at home and FaceTimed with our family.

One of my highlights this year was getting my first shot of the Pfizer covid-19 vaccine.  I’m looking forward to getting my second shot on January 11th.  I will definitely feel much more comfortable visiting family after I am vaccinated.

Here’s our monthly summary of side income that we have generated in the previous month of December.

Cash Back 
On 12.1, my wife received a $20 statement credit on her AMEX Platinum credit card.  This was for $20 back on wireless phone purchases after spending $20+.  We made a pre-payment to our wireless bill at the end of November, and she got the credit on this date.
On 12.1, my wife received a $14.99 statement credit on her AMEX Platinum credit card.  This was an AMEX offer for up to $20 back on streaming services per month.  We enjoyed a free month of HBO Max.
On 12.2, my wife received a $1.99 statement credit on her AMEX Platinum credit card.  This was an AMEX offer for up to $20 back on streaming services per month.  We enjoyed a free month of Hulu.
On 12.5, my wife received another $20 statement credit on her AMEX Platinum credit card.  This was for $20 back on wireless phone purchases after spending $20+ in the month of December.
On 12.22, I received a $9.43 statement credit on my Citibank ThankYou credit card.  Citibank offered me 5% on online purchases for the month of December.
On 12.31, I received a $1.47 statement credit on my Chase Freedom Unlimited credit card from Chase Offers.  This was for 10% back at purchases made at McDonalds.

Rental Income
On 12.5, we received a net profit of $700 from our rental property.  The increase in monthly cash flow is due to our recent rental property mortgage refinance.

Miscellaneous Income
On 12.5, I received a $3 Amazon gift card from MyPoints.

Survey Income
On 12.7, I received a $20 check from M3 Global Research for completing a medical survey.  
On 12.9, I received a $50 direct deposit from GLG Survey for completing a medical survey.
On 12.11, I received a $30 check from M3 Global Research for completing a medical survey.  
On 12.11, I received a $20 check from E-Rewards Medical for completing a medical survey.  
On 12.19, I received a $220 check from M3 Global Research for completing a live panel discussion.  

Work Income
On 12.14 I received a direct deposit of $494.85 for picking up extra hours of work with my employer.  They needed extra coverage and the extra income is appreciated.
On 12.18, I received a $1,000 check for consultation income that I do on the side.
On 12.31, I received a direct deposit of $247.50 for picking up extra hours of work with my employer

Sales Income
On 12.4, we received a check for $1,074 from Midwest Refineries.  We sold them 0.675 oz of old gold jewelry, and received 95% market value ($1,767/oz) of gold.  Midwest Refineries is the easiest way to get rid of old and unwanted gold, silver and platinum jewelry - even Mr. Money Mustache recommends them!  
On 12.4, I received a net profit of $15.63 from eBay for selling an old Nokia phone. 

Monthly Totals:
We earned $67.88 from cash back income
We earned $740 from rental income
We earned $3 from miscellaneous income
We earned $340 for completing online surveys
I earned $1,742.35 from extra employment income 
We earned $1,089.63 from selling used items online 

All of this totals $3,982.86 from our side hustles for the month of December!  

Side hustle totals:
This is now the 7th year that we have been tracking our side hustle income.  Here are the numbers:

In 2020, we earned $25,563.67
In 2019, we earned $14,181.54
In 2018, we earned $14,802.47
In 2017, we earned $15,307.76
In 2016, we earned $24,195.44
In 2015, we earned $19,178.54
In 2014, we earned $28,633.42

This side hustle income adds to our quality of life and increases the amount that we are able to save and invest towards our financial freedom.  This year, our investments surpassed 600K as we continue to get closer to financial freedom.  

This past year I met my goal of focusing more on reading for pleasure.  I have been reading an average of 1 book every 2 months.  We have read our kids tons of books, every single day.  We check out all these books from the local library for free! 

For 2021, I want to continue maintaining my habits on reading and fitness.  Ever since I read Atomic Habits by James Clear, I have been working on creating and staying consistent with better habits.  One current habit I am proud of is that I have exercised every single day since April 1st, 2020.  I have not missed a single day.  Doing pushups, weight lifting, chin ups and pull ups are just a normal part of my everyday routine – like flossing and brushing my teeth.  At this point in my fitness habit, it’s easier to keep the trend going than to stop and start again.  I wrote my review of Atomic Habits here.  

As we begin our journey into 2021 I hope we all take a moment to reflect on where we’ve been and plan out where we want to go.  I am looking forward to seeing what 2021 has in store for us. 

Side hustles November 2020

The great thing about doing side hustles to generate extra income is that you can hustle on your own terms.  The more hard work, time, and creative effort you put in, the more extra money you can make.  You can hustle as little or as much as you want, whenever you want.  It’s your extra money, and you can choose how you want to spend it.  Instead of focusing on what ideas don’t apply to you, try focusing on different side hustle ideas that you can implement to work for your situation. 

Once a month (usually on the 1st), I like to post a short summary of our personal and financial situation for the previous month.  While I don’t often post articles, I am committed to documenting all of my side hustle income.  Here I’ll share some of what’s been going on with our lives and our side hustles.  

Welcome to December! Did you have a good November?  With coronavirus cases on the rise, it’s been a quiet month for us.  We are staying away from amusement parks, public dining and large gatherings during this time.  We did not have a big Thanksgiving dinner gathering this year, opting to stay home by ourselves instead.  While some might think that we are being overly cautious, we have been most thankful for our health this year.

We continue to try to come up with fun activities at home such as painting, reading, building Legos and drawing.  With the air quality clearing up, we try to go on outdoor walks regularly.  

Our son's latest artwork!

Here’s our monthly summary of side income that we have generated in the previous month of November.

Cash Back 
On 11.19, I received a $150 statement credit on my Chase Sapphire Reserve credit card.  Chase has been offering some users a retention offer bonus just for calling in.  It was worth a shot to get $150 cash after a 5 minute phone call!  Other users have reported getting up to $250 in statement credits.

Rental Income
On 11.5, we received a net profit of $550 from our rental property. 

Survey Income
On 11.3, I received a $10 check from M3 Global Research for completing a medical survey.  
On 11.16, I received a $70 check from My Impact Network for completing a medical survey.
On 11.19, my wife received a $5 Amazon gift card from WGU Labs for completing an online survey.
On 11.23, I received a $45 Amazon gift card from MNOW for completing a medical survey.
On 11.24, I received a $20 check from My Impact Network for completing a medical survey.
On 11.24, I received a $25 check from M3 Global Research for completing a medical survey.
On 11.26, I received a $50 direct deposit from GLG Survey for completing a medical survey.
On 11.30, I received a $25 check from E-Rewards Medical for completing a medical survey.

Work Income
On 11.30 I received a direct deposit of $247.50 for picking up some extra hours of work with my employer.  

Blog Income
On 11.28, I received a direct deposit of $13.46 from Amazon Associates from website income.  Thank you for your support!

Sales Income
On 11.1, my wife sold an old vacuum cleaner for $50 cash on Nextdoor.  
On 11.1, my wife sold an old purse for $30 cash on Nextdoor.
On 11.20, I sold a Staples coupon on Slickdeals for $1 Amazon gift card.
On 11.25, I sold an old iPhone 5s for $25 on MacRumors forums.

Monthly Totals:
I earned $150 from cash back income
We earned $550 from rental income
We earned $225 for completing online surveys
I earned $247.50 from extra employment income 
We earned $13.46 from website income
We earned $106 from selling used items online 

All of this totals $1,316.96 from our side hustles for the month of November!  It’s hard to believe that we are now in the last month of the year 2020.  Stay safe out there and keep investing towards your financial freedom!

Over 600K invested

This morning when I logged into Mint.com, I was surprised to see that our investment accounts have now hit another financial milestone: surpassing $600,000 in value!  

Our investment accounts include money in our 401Ks, Roth IRAs, taxable accounts, HSA and 529.  Index fund investing allows us to diversify our portfolio and keep our costs very low.  This does not include money in our checking accounts, savings accounts, home equity or rental property equity.

The stock market has been on a wild ride this year, triggered by uncertainty with the coronavirus and an unexpected oil crisis.  We had one of the steepest stock market drops ever: a ~34% drop from February 19th to March 23rd.  It was scary watching the stock market take a nosedive.  We lost over $50,000 in our portfolio within 2 weeks!  This type of drop was more than I could stomach.  This pullback tested our chosen asset allocation and made me realize that a 90% stock to 10% bond allocation was too aggressive.  I couldn’t stop thinking about losing money.

I’ll admit it.  I panicked.  I panic sold.  

When our portfolio was smaller, I never used to get worried about little drops in the market.  Once our portfolio surpassed 500K, I was more focused on wealth preservation than aggressively growing our balance.  On March 5th, when our portfolio was down about ~8%, I “cut my losses” and exchanged over $300,000 worth of stock index funds into a stable value bond fund yielding a guaranteed 2.5%.  Stable value funds are accessible in some workplace 401Ks and can offer a much better place to store money in the short term than a bond fund or cash.  This put our portfolio into a much more conservative asset allocation of 60% stocks and 40% bonds.  At the time all I could think about was how hard I had worked to save and invest only to be faced with an imminent stock market collapse.  I told myself that if nothing else, I could at least hold onto a quarter of a million dollars worth of cash in an ultra safe fund.    

As the stock market continued to drop by another 25% after I had panic sold, I felt great about my decision.  I gave myself a pat on the back, thankful that I had sold and “got out” just before the bear market.  I seemingly got one part of market timing correct.  By March 23rd, the stock market had hit the lowest point in the drop.

Then things started turning around.  Stocks started to rapidly recover.  The stock market has been on an unstoppable tear upwards since March 24th, resulting in the shortest bear market ever (33 days)!  My 401K plan requires a 30 day hold on selling and buying into the same fund to prevent excessive trading.  I was looking forward to April 5th to move money back into my stock index funds.  The stock market was continuing to surge at this point and (in hindsight) this would have been a great time to get back into a 90/10 portfolio.  

When April 5th came, I chickened out.  I kept thinking that there would be another stock market pullback; it was only a matter of time.  I knew this to be true!  Research tells us that losses generally feel about two times as bad as wins feel good.  Instead of moving all $300,000 over into stocks, I only moved a few thousand over.  Over the next few weeks, I continued to nibble at the market, reluctant to move anything more than a few thousand dollars at a time.  I kept telling myself that the stock market could still drop and that I would regret moving all my money from a stable and safe investment into a potentially volatile one.  

To properly time the market, one needs to make 2 correct decisions.  First, one needs to know when to sell.  Second, one needs to know when to buy back in.  I sold some stocks early to avoid the pain of the stock market crash.  But I missed out on capturing all the gains of the stock market recovery.  Very few investors have been able to properly time the stock market.  I’m not embarrassed to admit that I failed at my personal market-timing attempt.  My hesitation with fully investing back into the stock market will probably be the biggest investing mistake of my career.  As the stock market has come roaring back, I’ve been missing out on huge gains.  

Over the last few months, I am continuing to increase my investments into stock index funds regardless of which way the market is heading.  I've learned my lesson on market timing - IT DOES NOT WORK.  I didn't do too poorly, as I didn't sell everything.  I was also able to move much of my funds back into the market as it was rising.  Our portfolio is now sitting at about 65% stocks and 35% bonds.  Long term, I will be aiming for 70% stocks and 30% bonds.  This is a more conservative (less greedy) holding that I will be comfortable with long term.  I hope to be more calm in the face of uncertainty the next time we have another stock market pullback.

Here is a look back at the timeline of our previous investment milestones:

June 2, 2014: 100K 

March 12, 2016: 200K 

June 5, 2017: 300K 

July 15, 2018: 400K 

April 16, 2019: 450K 

November 5, 2019: 500K 

January 18, 2020: 550K 

November 6, 2020: 600K

In the long term, I expect that our investment account balances will continue to hit new highs - which I will share with you all. 

I have to keep reminding myself that stock market volatility is normal.  Repeat after me: “stock market volatility is normal!”  Time in the market surpasses trying to time the market.  We will continue to stay this new course with our investments on our way towards financial freedom. 

How did you feel during the recent stock market dip?

How are your investments doing?  Have you learned anything about your behavior during a stock market crash and stock market bull run?  Have you made any changes to your asset allocation?

Side hustles October 2020

The great thing about doing side hustles to generate extra income is that you can hustle on your own terms.  The more hard work, time, and creative effort you put in, the more extra money you can make.  You can hustle as little or as much as you want, whenever you want.  It’s your extra money, and you can choose how you want to spend it.  Instead of focusing on what ideas don’t apply to you, try focusing on different side hustle ideas that you can implement to work for your situation. 

Once a month (usually on the 1st), I like to post a short summary of our personal and financial situation for the previous month.  While I don’t often post articles, I am committed to documenting all of my side hustle income.  Here I’ll share some of what’s been going on with our lives and our side hustles.  

Welcome to November! Did you have a good October?  The big scare of our month was that there have been some big fires in Southern California.  At one point, our home was less than 5 miles from the evacuation zone and we were packed up and ready to go.  This has led to some very bad air quality with smoke and haze in the air.  Usually our kids love going outside to play – but they’ve been stuck indoors for the last few weeks.  

Due to the pandemic, trick or treating has been cancelled this year.  Our son was really bummed about that.  We got him a Captain America costume so he could still dress up and pretend to be a super hero.  A friend gave me a strawberry costume for our daughter to wear – but she wasn’t too excited about it.    

With interest rates continuing to drop, we finally decided to refinance to better rates!  We have refinanced our home mortgage from 3.125% to a 2.375% 15-year fixed.  Even though our home mortgage has been extended from 10 to 15 years, we have the flexibility to make more payments to reduce the length of our loan.      

We have also refinanced our rental property mortgage from 4.00% to a 2.99% 30-year fixed.  Rental properties usually have higher interest rates than primary residence rates so were excited to find that we could save over 1.00% in interest.  This refinance will improve our monthly rental income by about $190! 

Here’s our monthly summary of side income that we have generated in the previous month of October.

Cash Back 

On 10.21, I received a $1.27 statement credit on my SimplyCash AMEX business card.

Rental Income

On 10.5, we received a net profit of $550 from our rental property. 

Survey Income

On 10.6, I received a $20 Amazon gift card from MNOW for completing a medical survey.  

On 10.21, I received a $30 check from My Impact Network for completing a medical survey.

On 10.26, I received a $15 check from E-Rewards Medical for completing a medical survey.

Work Income

On 10.30 I received a direct deposit of $489.49 for picking up extra hours of work with my employer.  They needed extra coverage and I was happy to take it.  

Sales Income

On 10.10, I received a net profit of $216.97 (after shipping expenses) for selling an old TAG Heuer watch online via the Reddit subreddit WatchExchange.

On 10.13, I received a net profit of $111.70 for selling an old Apple Watch online via WatchExchange.

On 10.15, my wife received $15 cash for selling some old Halloween costumes on Facebook Marketplace.

We are slowly organizing our home by donating or selling used items.

Monthly Totals:

I earned $1.27 from cash back income

We earned $550 from rental income

I earned $65 for completing online surveys

I earned $489.49 for extra employment income 

We earned $343.67 from selling used items online 

All of this totals $1,449.43 from our side hustles for the month of October!  Refinancing our home and rental property mortgages will save us several hundred dollars each month and increase our cash flow.  We will still be able to pay off our home relatively quickly.  The extra cash flow will be used towards some home remodeling projects as well as investments towards financial freedom.  The recently stock market volatility has allowed us to pick up more shares for less money.  Keep hustling! 

FWOTW: lowering our internet bill

It’s that time of the year where our internet service provider (Spectrum) raises our monthly rates.  We’ve been paying $44.99 a month for our internet for the last year and our promotion is now over.  Unfortunately, Spectrum is the only high speed internet provider in our area so we cannot switch providers.  This month, Spectrum wanted to increase our bill to $59.99, a $15 monthly increase.     

After my wife receiving the new bill, she went to Spectrum.com and saw that they had now increased the new customer promotion for high speed internet to $49.99 for 12 months, a $5 increase from prior years.  She called customer service right away.  In the past, we’ve had to cancel and re-sign up for new service to keep our monthly rate down and get the new customer promotion.

To my wife’s surprise, the customer service representative instantly lowered her bill down from $59.99 to $49.99 to match the current new customer promotion.  It’s a shame that big corporations like Spectrum would rather reward new customers than keep their existing customers happy.  This quick 5-minute phone call will save us $10 a month, or $120 a year!

Side hustles September 2020

The great thing about doing side hustles to generate extra income is that you can hustle on your own terms.  The more hard work, time, and creative effort you put in, the more extra money you can make.  You can hustle as little or as much as you want, whenever you want.  It’s your extra money, and you can choose how you want to spend it.  Instead of focusing on what ideas don’t apply to you, try focusing on different side hustle ideas that you can implement to work for your situation. 

Once a month (usually on the 1st), I like to post a short summary of our personal and financial situation for the previous month.  While I don’t often post articles, I am committed to documenting all of my side hustle income.  Here I’ll share some of what’s been going on with our lives and our side hustles.  

Welcome to October! Did you have a good September?  Here in Southern California it’s been a very hot summer with record-breaking temperatures and plenty of wildfires.  Due to the heat and the poor air quality from the smoke, we have been staying indoors.  Our kids are old enough to start enjoying short movies, so we have been watching a few fun Netflix movies at home on the weekends.  Their current favorite is Octonauts and the Caves of Sac Actun.  Our kids are keeping busy making Legos, drawing pictures, and playing hide and seek around the home.  Here is our son's latest creation, a T-Rex he decided to convert into a Mosasaurus:

Here’s our monthly summary of side income that we have generated in the previous month of September.

Cash Back 

On 9.5, I received a $450, $37.30, and $7.34 statement credit on my Chase Sapphire Reserve credit card.  I don’t normally redeem Chase Ultimate Rewards points for cash back, but we don’t see ourselves traveling anytime soon while the pandemic is still raging on.  I just got charged the annual fee on my Sapphire Reserve card, and didn’t feel like paying for the fee from our checking account.  For us, the Chase Sapphire Reserve card is a keeper.

On 9.13, my wife received a $5 statement credit on her AMEX Gold card from AMEX offers, which offered $5 off a purchase of $10 or more at a small business establishment – a restaurant in this case.

On 9.20, my wife received a $5 statement credit on her AMEX Gold card from AMEX offers, which offered $5 off a purchase of $10 or more at a small business establishment – a vet bill.

Rental Income

On 9.5, we received a net profit of $550 from our rental property.  

Survey Income

On 9.8, I received a check for $15 from E-Rewards Medical for completing a medical survey.  

On 9.9, I received a check for $50 from E-Rewards Medical for completing a medical survey. 

On 9.10, I received a $50 Amazon gift card from MNOW for completing a medical survey.

On 9.18, I received a $30 check from My Impact Network for completing a medical survey.

On 9.28, I received a $20 check fro E-Rewards Medical for completing a medical survey.

On 9.28, I received a $30 check from M3 Global Research for completing a medical survey.

Miscellaneous Income

On 9.8, I received a $3 Amazon gift card from MyPoints.

On 9.18, I received a $3 Amazon gift card from Pampers Rewards.  While we no longer need diapers for our kids, I forgot that I had some unused points that I redeemed for this Amazon gift card.

On 9.25, I received a $10 Amazon gift card from Blue Shield of California, for doing an insurance survey.  

Monthly Totals:

We earned $504.64 from cash back income

We earned $550 from rental income

I earned $195 for completing online surveys

We earned $16 of miscellaneous income 

All of this totals $1,265.64 from our side hustles for the month of September!   We are continuing to save and invest.  We are saving money on fuel since my wife is working from home, and we don’t drive much.  We are saving money on entertainment expenses, since most places are still closed.  We are saving money on food, since indoor dining at restaurants have been closed and we mostly cook our food at home.  Pretty much all of our usual expenses have gone down – except for our electricity bill, which has increased due to being home more and using air conditioning to cool our home.  Keep saving and investing my friends!

FWOTW: free roadside treasure

I was walking my dog around the neighborhood earlier this week and stumbled upon a battery powered Lightning McQueen car that one of my neighbors had left on the street. Attached to the mini vehicle was a piece of paper with FREE written on it. I didn’t hesitate to pick it up and bring it home. 

The car had few dents and scratches on the paint, some missing stickers and a missing exhaust pipe but overall it was in good shape. We wiped the car down with sterilizing wipes and charged the battery. We were pleasantly surprised to find that the vehicle ran smoothly without any issues! Our kids have been so happy taking turns driving this car around the neighborhood and local elementary school! 

Picking up this car for free allows another family (ours) to put this toy to good use without it going straight to a landfill. Picking this item up also saved us $149 from buying it at a store. Picking up this roadside treasure allows us to be frugal and environmentally conscious. And when our kids are no longer entertained, we will be sure to pass it along. I think Frugalwoods would be proud of us.

Side hustles August 2020

The great thing about doing side hustles to generate extra income is that you can hustle on your own terms.  The more hard work, time, and creative effort you put in, the more extra money you can make.  You can hustle as little or as much as you want, whenever you want.  It’s your extra money, and you can choose how you want to spend it.  Instead of focusing on what ideas don’t apply to you, try focusing on different side hustle ideas that you can implement to work for your situation.

Once a month (usually on the 1^st), I like to post a short summary of our personal and financial situation for the previous month.  While I don’t often post articles, I am committed to documenting all of my side hustle income.  Here I’ll share some of what’s been going on with our lives and our side hustles. 

 

Welcome to September! Did you have a good August?  With all the fun venues like zoos, aquariums and playgrounds still closed, we are doing the best we can to keep our kids entertained.  Inside the house they are building forts with the couch cushions and are also enjoying hide and seek.  The kids are drawing with crayons and painting with watercolors.  We continue to check out a ton of books from the library for free. 

Our son got his first real Lego set and is quickly learning to follow directions and build his own creations.  He loves building something and then immediately having us help him take apart all of the pieces so that he can build something else.

It’s been pretty hot all month so we haven’t been able to go for family walks or spend too much time outdoors.  Looking forward to getting the kids outside more once the weather cools down.

Here’s our monthly summary of side income that we have generated in the previous month of May.

Cash Back

On 8.6, I received a $10.47 PayPal deposit from Mr. Rebates cash back shopping portal.
On 8.14, my wife received a $5 statement credit on her AMEX Gold card from AMEX Offers.  This was a deal for $5 cash back on purchases of $10 or more at local small businesses. 

On 8.16, I received a $0.64 statement credit on my AMEX SimplyCash business card from AMEX Offers.  This was a deal for 10% cash back on purchases made at Staples.  I needed some pens.
On 8.21, I received a $0.83 statement credit on my AMEX SimplyCash business card from my monthly cash back distribution.
On 8.22, my wife received a $5 statement credit on her AMEX Gold card from AMEX Offers.  This was a deal for $5 cash back on purchases of $10 or more at local small businesses. 
On 8.26, I received a $2.54 statement credit on my AMEX SimplyCash business card from AMEX Offers.  This was a deal for 10% cash back on purchases made at Staples.  I shipped a package through UPS from the Staples shipping department.

 

Rental Income

On 8.5, we received a net profit of $550 from our rental property.  Our tenants income situation has improved and they were able to make a full rental payment this month.

Survey Income

On 8.4, my wife received a $20 Amazon gift card from Amazon Preview for watching a movie and completing a survey about it.

On 8.21, I received a check for $30 from M3 Global Research for completing a medical survey
On 8.21, I received a check for $35 from E-Rewards Medical for completing a medical survey. 
On 8.26, my wife received a $3 Amazon gift card for finishing a review with Amazon Preview.

Miscellaneous Income
On 8.24, I received a check for $1,000 for consultation work that I do on the side.

 

Monthly Totals:

We earned $24.48 from cash back income

We earned $550 from rental income

We earned $88 for completing online surveys
I earned $1,000 of miscellaneous income

 

All of this totals $1,662.48 from our side hustles for the month of August!  How are your finances holding up?  I hope you have been able to continue saving and investing.  This stock market recovery has been nothing short of amazing.  We have already recovered from all of our stock market losses from the crash in March 2020 and are close to hitting new financial milestones.

FWOTW: disputing a medical billing error

This is the first year that we have signed up for a High Deductible Health Plan (HDHP) to take advantage of a Health Savings Account (HSA).  HDHPs have great benefits if you don’t usually have a high amount of medical expenses (such as someone with a chronic condition).  The downside of having a HDHP is that it covers just one wellness visit each year.  Other medical visits are not covered until you meet your deductible ($6,000 for our family).  An HDHP is pretty much a catastrophic plan.

HSAs offer tax advantages by allowing for pre-tax dollars to be contributed into the account.  For 2020, the maximum contribution amounts into an HSA are $3,550 for an individual and $7,100 for families.  This amount directly reduces taxable income.  You can choose to invest the money you have inside an HSA.  We are investing our balance in the Vanguard Total US Stock market index fund (VTSAX).  Withdrawing money from an HSA is also tax free for qualifying medical expenses. 

An HSA has no time limit for when you must use your account to pay for medical expenses – you can save all of your medical receipts and pay yourself back anytime later.  This essentially allows an HSA to act like a “medical expenses” savings account.  There are no taxes on the money you contribute and no taxes on the money you take out.  The Mad FIentist calls the HSA the ultimate retirement account.    

So far we have been enjoying our HDHP and HSA.  It’s nice to have another investment vehicle.  Imagine our surprise when we received a bill for $148.20 from our son’s pediatrician after his annual wellness visit! 

It can be difficult to make sense of all the random jargon that comes with a medical bill.  Instead of paying our bill right away, I decided to call our health insurance to find out why our son’s wellness examination was not covered.  A very nice customer service representative looked into the medical claim and discovered that the office had incorrectly billed the visit as an urgent care visit instead of a wellness examination.  Our claim was adjusted and now our balance due was $0.  

I’m glad I made the 5-minute phone call and saved $148.20!

Side hustles July 2020

The great thing about doing side hustles to generate extra income is that you can hustle on your own terms.  The more hard work, time, and creative effort you put in, the more extra money you can make.  You can hustle as little or as much as you want, whenever you want.  It’s your extra money, and you can choose how you want to spend it.  Instead of focusing on what ideas don’t apply to you, try focusing on different side hustle ideas that you can implement to work for your situation.

Once a month (usually on the 1^st), I like to post a short summary of our personal and financial situation for the previous month.  While I don’t often post articles, I am committed to documenting all of my side hustle income.  Here I’ll share some of what’s been going on with our lives and our side hustles. 

Welcome to August! Did you have a good July?  We’ve had another limited shutdown of businesses in California as covid19 cases continue to rise.  My wife continues to work from home and I have been professionally fitted with an n95 mask to wear at all times at my office. 

We’ve been trying to make the most of things by having our kids do lots of outdoor and indoor activities.  Our friend gifted us an outdoor pool and the kids have enjoyed splashing around.  We purchased a bubble gun for outdoor play. 

We’ve also been going on regular walks around the neighborhood.  Our dog loves all the extra time she gets to spend outside.  

Having access to free books from the library has been awesome.  We’ve been reading new books to our kids every week!

Here’s our monthly summary of side income that we have generated in the previous month of July.

Cash Back
On 7.14, my wife received a $5 statement credit on her AMEX Gold card from AMEX Offers spend $10+ at a small business and get $5 cash back.

On 7.19, I received a $6.73 statement credit on my AMEX SimplyCash business credit card.  This was for 10% cash back on shipping FedEx.
On 7.24, my wife received a $5 statement credit on her AMEX Gold card from AMEX Offers spend $10+ at a small business and get $5 cash back.

Survey Income

On 7.6, I received a $30 Amazon gift card from My Impact Network for completing a survey.

On 7.13, I received a $30 Amazon gift card from MNOW for completing a survey.
On 7.14, I received a $30 Amazon gift card from My Impact Network for completing a survey.
On 7.20, my wife received a $20 Amazon gift card from Amazon Preview for watching a movie and answering some questions about it.

Rental Income

On 7.5, we received a net profit of $550 from our rental property. 

Miscellaneous Income

On 7.1, my wife sold one of our old strollers for $60 cash through Facebook Marketplace.

Monthly Totals:

We earned $16.73 from cash back income
We earned $110 for completing online surveys

We earned $550 from rental income
We earned $60 of miscellaneous income

All of this totals $736.73 from our side hustles for the month of July!   I’m hopeful that scientists will continue to come up with ways to effectively treat coronavirus infections - we just have to be patient.  In the meanwhile, keep saving and investing!

FWOTW: library books

It’s time for another frugal win of the week (FWOTW) post.  I’ve written about the library before but I just want to remind you all what a wonderful service the library provides.

Our local library recently started offering curbside pickup.  The process of getting books has never been easier.  We log into our online account, select the books that we want to place on hold, and then the library sends an email when the books are ready for pickup.  Once we get to the library, we call a number and someone brings our requested books out onto a sanitized table for us to retrieve.  The whole process is run extremely smoothly.

There is no shortage of books that we can get for our kids and ourselves.  Currently our kids are enjoying Pete the Cat, Little Critter and Wild Kratts books.  Checking out books from the library helps us adjust to our kids’ rapidly changing interests – and saves us a ton of money!

Side hustles June 2020

The great thing about doing side hustles to generate extra income is that you can hustle on your own terms.  The more hard work, time, and creative effort you put in, the more extra money you can make.  You can hustle as little or as much as you want, whenever you want.  It’s your extra money, and you can choose how you want to spend it.  Instead of focusing on what ideas don’t apply to you, try focusing on different side hustle ideas that you can implement to work for your situation.

Once a month (usually on the 1^st), I like to post a short summary of our personal and financial situation for the previous month.  While I don’t often post articles, I am committed to documenting all of my side hustle income.  Here I’ll share some of what’s been going on with our lives and our side hustles. 

Welcome to July! Did you have a good June?  This past month, our son turned 5 years old!  Originally we had reserved a venue to have a birthday party with all of his friends.  Due to the shutdown, we had a nice Zoom celebration party at home instead. 

Recently the Long Beach Aquarium of the Pacific reopened with new strict safety policies including: temperature screening at entrance, required reservations, required masks, one way traffic and staff constantly sanitizing surfaces.  We reserved the earliest spot right when the aquarium opened and had a fun time visiting.  We felt comfortable visiting with the new safety protocols and the aquarium was quite empty.

My son started a summer program at his private school and he’s been so happy that he can interact with other kids again.  Being home the last few months has been very hard on his mental health.  My daughter’s daycare has opened up as well and we are glad that she can play and learn with other kids.  While we understand there is some risk with sending our children out, these centers have many safety protocols in place to reduce risk of infection.

While our anxiety levels regarding the coronavirus have calmed down somewhat, we still remain very vigilant and cautious when we are out. 

Here’s our monthly summary of side income that we have generated in the previous month of June.

Cash Back

On 6.29, I received a $4.99 statement credit on my Chase Sapphire Reserve card for dining credit with DoorDash.
On 6.30, my wife received a $10 statement credit on her AMEX Gold card.  This was for ordering food as a gift through Yelp and GrubHub.

Rental Income

On 6.5, we received a net profit of $450 from our rental property.  Our tenants income situation has improved and they were able to make a full rental payment this month.

Monthly Totals:

We earned $14.99 from cash back income
We earned $450 from rental income

All of this totals $464.99 from our side hustles for the month of June!  We continue to save and invest quite a bit of money each month due to our reduced spending.  Keep at it everyone!