My Frugal Miser - March Update on 2025 Goals

 It's hard to believe it's already March.  I set several goals for 2025 and thought I should post an update about the progress I am making.

Financial Goals

My first financial goal is to fully fund my 2025 ROTH IRA contribution.  Earlier this week I made a $1,500 deposit.  I should be able to contribute more later this month.  I also want to add $1,000/mo. to my short term savings account.  I use this account for periodic large expenses like property taxes.  I've been automatically adding $500/mo. to that account for a few years, and I added an extra $1,000 at the end of January, so I'm on track with this goal.  

Lastly, I want to add $25,000 to my brokerage accounts this year.  I made a $2,000 deposit last week to a new account called Moomoo.  They have an aggressive promotion for new accounts.  Use my referral code:  MTX5GF9M when you sign up and you'll receive an 8.1% promotional APY on idle cash and get up to 30 free shares of stock depending on how much you deposit.  I think this promotion goes through the end of March but I'm sure they'll have more freebies after that.

Fun Goals

I aim to spend NOTHING on fun this year by submitting sweepstakes entries to online casinos and cashing out the proceeds.  So far, it's working.

The Other Stuff

I want to read a book a month.  I'm still on the first book, The Winner by David Baldacci.  I'm 400 pages into the book, but need to commit more time to this hobby.

I haven't done anything with our mopeds.

I haven't started to learn to play and instrument.

Overall, I'm super excited that I'm making progress towards my 2025 goals.  Publishing them is keeping me accountable.

My Frugal Miser - February 2025 Income

February continues the trend of five-figure months.

I received rent from both rental properties in Alabama. I also received a small monthly distribution from Open Door Capital and three distributions from Realty Mogul.

Open Door Capital continues to pay interest on the promissory note.  I also earn interest on the cash balance in my Self-Directed IRA. 

Meeting income represents only a portion of what I worked last month.  I earned over $11,000 from meeting jobs, and the rest should be paid out in March.

February Income: $14,265

$7,250 Meeting Jobs
$0 Gig Apps (Rideshare, Food Deliveries, etc.)
$90 Amazon Deliveries

$4,625 Rental Income (Rental Expenses: $693)
$2,287 Interest Income

$14 Other Sources

Investment Accounts Change in Value:  $6,050

My brokerage accounts were up in February.  I closed out a PUT option on Microstrategy and earned over $4,000 in one month.  

My Frugal Miser - February 2025 Expenses

I can't remember the last time my monthly spending was a net income, not expense.  I received reimbursement from job expenses incurred last month, which amounted to a surplus of $1,583.  I also won $1,700 playing blackjack at the Hard Rock Punta Cana where I worked last month.

• Spending on food was minimal because I worked almost every day and food is often provided by my clients.
• Bank Fees were for two credit card annual fees.  I called to cancel my AMEX Business Gold Card and was offered 15,000 points (minimum value = $150) to keep it open.
• Health and Dental costs were high again.  I paid $255 for my marketplace health insurance, $9 for dental insurance, $210 to have a dentist repair a crown that fell out, and $249 to Sesame for an online prescription for weight loss medication.  

Fun

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

• In addition to the $1,700 blackjack win, I received two deposits totalling $900 from Chumba Casino for submitting sweepstakes entries.  paid the $677 balance for our summer cruise.
• I bought our alcohol-substitute powder (U Relax) and our AMC A-List subscriptions.
• I bought tickets for a concert in April in Atlanta.
• All of my fun spending was offset by deposits from the Chumba Casino sweepstakes entries I submitted.

February Expenses:  $1,087 income

$185 Auto (service, gas, insurance, AAA, etc.)

$925 Bank Fees (annual fees on credit cards)
$47 Clothing/ Personal Care

($2,353) Fun (vacations, movies, gambling, alcohol, concert tickets) income this month

$66 Food

$745 Health and Dental

$2 Household/Home Repairs

$58 Unreimbursed Job Expense

($1,583) Reimbursed Job Expense income this month

$0 Interest Expense

$96 Miscellaneous (cat sitter, gifts)

$33 Taxes

$0 Utilities 

My Frugal Miser - January 2025 Income

January was another strong month for income.

I received rent from both rental properties in Alabama. I also received a small monthly distribution from Open Door Capital and Realty Mogul.

Open Door Capital continues to pay interest on the promissory note.  I also earn interest on the cash balance in my Self-Directed IRA. 

Meeting income was roughly in line with the work I did.  I had a gap in the month that didn't get filled = February is much busier.

January Income: $13,229

$6,452 Meeting Jobs
$634 Gig Apps (Rideshare, Food Deliveries, etc.)
$1,126 Amazon Deliveries

$2,674 Rental Income (Rental Expenses: $1,367)
$2,298 Interest Income

$44 Other Sources

Investment Accounts Change in Value:  $5,138

Stocks were up in January.  

My Frugal Miser - January 2025 Expenses

My spending in January wasn't too crazy last month.  The $1,100 I spent on reimbursed job expenses will be paid to me in February, and generally I make money in this category because it includes mileage reimbursement.  I also paid the yearly insurance bill on our house.  Take those out and it cost about $2,000 to maintain my lifestyle in January.

• I spent nearly $300 on gas.  I drove to Sarasota and Orlando a couple of times for work (mileage was reimbursed).  I also did several Amazon routes using my own vehicle.
• Spending on food improved, but I think I could do better.  The good news is that I spent less than $20 on eating out; the rest is for groceries.
• Bank Fees were for two credit card annual fees.  I generally recoup those fees with the value they offer.
• The largest expense was my Homeowner's Insurance payment.  It went up a few hundred dollars to $1,569.  Insurance in Florida is high.
• Health and Dental costs are creeping up, too.  I paid $255 for my marketplace health insurance, $9 for dental insurance, $90 for a dermatologist visit, and $249 to Sesame for an online prescription for weight loss medication.  If the medication works, I think I can offset it by spending less on food.

Fun

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

• I paid the $677 balance for our summer cruise.
• I bought our alcohol-substitute powder (U Relax) and our AMC A-List subscriptions.
• All of my fun spending was offset by deposits from the Chumba Casino sweepstakes entries I submitted.

January Expenses:  $4,794

$361 Auto (service, gas, insurance, AAA, etc.)

$547 Bank Fees (annual fees on credit cards)
$154 Clothing/ Personal Care

($452) Fun (vacations, movies, gambling, alcohol, concert tickets) income this month

$453 Food

$633 Health and Dental

$1,610 Household/Home Repairs

$140 Unreimbursed Job Expense

$1,109 Reimbursed Job Expense

$0 Interest Expense

$154 Miscellaneous (cat sitter, gifts)

$75 Taxes

$11 Utilities 

My Frugal Miser - 2025 Goals

Every year I publish a handful of goals.  I usually meet some and fail at others.  Without this roadmap, I would lack the direction I need to achieve anything.  Here are my 2025 goals.

• Learn to play an instrument.
• Read one book per month.
• Do something with our mopeds (carryover from 2024).
• Fun Budget:  Net Zero.
• Financials:  1) Fully Fund Roth IRA, 2) Add $1,000/mo. to short-term savings account, 3) Add $25,000 to brokerage accounts.
• Lifestyle:  Prepare for The Next Chapter.

Learn to Play an Instrument

Who doesn't love music?  I have wanted to have a basic understanding of music for years.  It's time to exercise my brain more.

Read One Book per Month

I watch too much TV.  This too will exercise my brain.

Mopeds

They have been sitting in the backyard and haven't been used in years.  Time to dispose or repair.

Fun Budget:  Net Zero

A friend of mine introduced me to sweepstakes-based online casinos.  It's been slow going, but it's going.  Basically, I send in a request for free sweepstakes credits.  The site I am using gives me $5 for each request.  To make things fun, I want to submit enough entries to completely offset my fun budget.  This could even give me the opportunity to take more trips and see more shows.  It will allow me to do these things "guilt-free."

Financials

It's straight-forward.  Last year I used percentage of income goals.  I'm making it even easier in 2025 with three financial goals tied to a dollar amount.

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 - December 2024 Income

Miraculously, I earned more in December than I spent.  

I received rent from both rental properties in Alabama. I also received a small monthly distribution from Open Door Capital.

Open Door Capital continues to pay interest on the promissory note.  I also earn interest on the cash balance in my Self-Directed IRA. 

Meeting income was overstated as I was paid in December for work done in November.  Since I didn't do much meeting work, I did several Amazon routes and began driving for Rideshare again.

December Income: $13,983

$7,200 Meeting Jobs
$551 Gig Apps (Rideshare, Food Deliveries, etc.)
$1,769 Amazon Deliveries

$2,162 Rental Income (Rental Expenses: $570)
$2,297 Interest Income

$6 Other Sources

Investment Accounts Change in Value:  $2,195

Stocks were up in December.  

My Frugal Miser - December 2024 Expenses

November and December are usually the most expensive months for me.  Since I don't have a mortgage, I pay my property taxes out of pocket.  I'm optimistic that January will be significantly more frugal.

• I spent over $300 on gas.  We took a road trip to visit family (over 2,000 miles) AND I started driving rideshare again.
• Spending on food is utterly shameful.  Blame that on the holidays, as we had several restaurant meals during our road trip and I paid for others' meals a couple of times.
• I bought an Amazon gift card because Discover card was offering 5% cash back.  I divided that between House Expense, Clothing/Personal Care and Food.
• Bank Fees were for the fees I paid to use a credit card to pay my property taxes and the quarterly tax payment.
• Speaking of which, I paid $3,000 towards my 2024 tax liability.  Hopefully I'll get some of that back when I file my taxes.

Fun

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

• We decided at the last minute to see Patti Labelle.  I bought same-day discounted tickets on Stubhub.
• I bought our alcohol-substitute powder (U Relax) and our AMC A-List subscriptions.
• Some of our fun spending was offset by the Chumba Casino sweepstakes and the annual credit on my Chase Sapphire Reserve card.

$330 Auto (service, gas, insurance, AAA, etc.)

$225 Bank Fees (annual fees on credit cards)
$626 Clothing/ Personal Care

$85 Fun (vacations, movies, gambling, alcohol, concert tickets)

$1,087 Food

$334 Health and Dental

$1,148 Household/Home Repairs

$477 Unreimbursed Job Expense

($1,898) Reimbursed Job Expense income this month

$0 Interest Expense

$488 Miscellaneous (cat sitter, gifts)

$9,634 Taxes

$325 Utilities 

My Frugal Miser - How I Did On My 2024 Goals

  Every year I set a few goals to keep me on track.  In 2024 I published goals in 4 categories:

Financial

• Increase Net Worth by $100,000
• Results:  Net Worth increased by $148,000.  Exceeded!
• Invest 30% of gross meeting income in index funds
• Results:  Achieved!
• Invest 10% of gross meeting income in more aggressive investments
• Results:  Achieved!

Health

• Exercise at least 5x/week.
• Results:  Achieved!
• Lose weight.
• Results:  Failed.

Simplify

• We have owned two mopeds since 2012.  They don't run.  It's time to either repair and use them or get rid of them.  I'll do that in 2024.
• Results:  Failed.
• I would like to eliminate 30-50 pieces of clothing in 2024, and remove at least 2 items per week from the house.
• Results:  Semi-Success.  I didn't track the count but made several trips to the local thrift store donation drop-off area.

Have Fun, On a Budget

• I will limit spending on Fun to $5,000 in 2024.
• Results:  Achieved!  I spent $4,248.
• I would like to take a few short getaways using points and miles to places I've never been.
• Results:  Neutral.  We visited Huntsville, AL for a music festival.  I'd been there before but never for fun.  We also took a trip to Asheville in July and had an amazing time, but have been there before.  Lastly, we visited New Orleans and took a cruise from there.  Again, not a new city, but was a fun trip.

I am happy with the goals I set and the progress I made.  If I hadn't set these goals, I would not have achieved some of them.  For example, it took a lot of discipline to invest 40% of my meeting income each and every month.  Knowing I was tracking it - and publishing my progress - kept me accountable.  How did you do with your goals?