My Frugal Miser - April 2026 Spending

In April I had a few large expenses, but my everyday spending was low.

• I made a quarterly tax payment ($3,000)
• I replaced all 4 tires on the Sportage ($1,000)
• I paid 6 months of car insurance ($1,084)

I spent almost $400 on shopping.  One of my Monos suitcases cracked, and the company offered to replace it if I purchased the extended warranty.  I also bought a few shirts.  We have pre-event days at work where we dress casually, but it's expected we dress professionally, meaning no faded or stained clothing.

Fun (aka Personal Travel)

We love adventures.  Spending on experiences makes us better humans.  

• We're taking two cruises this summer.  I prepaid the gratuities and purchased the "thermal suites" package on both, using a combination of onboard credits and cash.  I also booked our flights to San Francisco for the Alaska cruise.

April Expenses:  $7,716

$1,105 Auto (service, gas, insurance, AAA, etc.)

$0 Bank Fees (annual fees on credit cards)
$392 Shopping

$1,005 Fun (vacations, movies, gambling, alcohol, concert tickets)

$198 Food

$465 Health and Dental

$14 Household/Home Repairs

$1,206 Work Expenses

$7 Interest Expense

$0 Miscellaneous (cat sitter, gifts)

$3,187 Taxes

$137 Utilities 

My Frugal Miser - April 2026 Income

I worked Meetings & Events 18 days in April.  

Early in the month we traveled to Birmingham to check on the rental property.  Good news - after an agonizing 8 months vacant, my rental property is finally rented as of May 1st.  I'm charging $100 more per month than the last tenant, but that will never make up for the time it was empty.  Hopefully that extended vacancy was a one-time blip.

The condo tenant paid his rent and I received two distributions from Realty Mogul.

Open Door Capital continues to pay interest on the promissory note.

April Income: $11,526

$7,200 Meeting Jobs
$0 Gig Apps (Rideshare, Food Deliveries, etc.)
$0 Amazon Deliveries

$2,206 Rental Income (Rental Expenses: $1,351)
$2,100 Interest Income

$0 Other Sources

Investment Accounts Change in Value: $1,995

Markets were way up in April.  My balances increased, but barely.  I have a few bets against companies in my accounts (specifically AMC Theaters and Microstrategy).  Those lost value in April, but only on paper.

My Frugal Miser - 2026 Goals

Better late than never.  I've had a rough draft of my 2026 goals sitting here since December of last year.  If I don't publish them, I'm less accountable to achieving these goals.

Financial Plan 

I will increase my net worth by $100,000 in 2026.  I will reduce the real estate portion of net worth and increase the brokerage account portion.  Whenever a real estate syndication in my non-retirement accounts is closed, the funds will move to Brokerage accounts.

Manage Email More Efficiently

Simplify.  It's the overarching goal of just about everything I do... how do I eliminate the unnecessary?  The focus in 2026 will be to streamline my inbox.  Emails with outstanding "action needed" clog my inbox and waste too much of my time.  I'd like to end each day with less than 10 emails sitting in the inbox.

Read One Book per Month

I watch too much TV.  I'm already behind on this goal.  Time to catch up.

Mopeds

They have been sitting in the backyard and haven't been used in years.  It's past time to dispose or repair.

Prepare for the Next Chapter

I'm not ready to discuss this yet, but I am exploring some major changes to shake things up.

My Frugal Miser - March 2026 Income

I worked 23 days in March.  My rental property is still vacant (7 months and counting!).  I received income from the condo tenant.

Open Door Capital continues to pay interest on the promissory note.

March Income: $12,160

$9,288 Meeting Jobs
$0 Gig Apps (Rideshare, Food Deliveries, etc.)
$27 Amazon Deliveries

$750 Rental Income (Rental Expenses: $343)
$2,095 Interest Income

$0 Other Sources

Investment Accounts Change in Value: ($6,185)

The S&P 500 was down 5.09% in March.  My brokerage accounts also fell, but by less (down about 1.5%).