My Frugal Miser - April Update on 2025 Goals

I'm excited to announce that I achieved my first goal!  You can check out my goals for 2025.

Financial Goals

My first financial goal is to fully fund my 2025 ROTH IRA contribution.  As of April 21, I have fully funded the $7,000 annual cap.  

 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 have added $3,000 to this account in 2025, so I'm a little behind.  

I also want to add $25,000 to my brokerage accounts this year.  Hopefully in May I can start ramping up on this goal.

Fun Goals

I aim to spend NOTHING on fun this year by submitting sweepstakes entries to online casinos and cashing out the proceeds.  In March I spent a lot of money on fun, but I have submitted enough sweepstakes cards to zero it out.  It just takes time for the entries to be posted and cashed out.

The Other Stuff

I want to read a book a month.  I finished the first book, The Winner by David Baldacci as well as the second book, The Lifestyle Investor by Justin Donald.

I haven't done anything with our mopeds.

I haven't started to learn to play and instrument, but I met a music teacher while I was doing an event job last week.  I may reach out to her.

My Frugal Miser - March 2025 Income

Although my spending was ridiculously high in March, I still earned more than I spent.

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.  Good news and bad news - the monthly distribution from ODC is suspended moving forwarded.  On the flip side, a major ground up multi-family residential/retail development I invested in Chicago has stabilized and made its first quarterly distribution, and it was a healthy one ($2,000+).

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

Once again, meeting income represents only a portion of what I worked last month.  I earned $9,200 from meeting jobs, and the rest should be paid out in April and May.

March Income: $14,265

$7,473 Meeting Jobs
$0 Gig Apps (Rideshare, Food Deliveries, etc.)
$710 Amazon Deliveries

$4,348 Rental Income (Rental Expenses: $560)
$2,215 Interest Income

$0 Other Sources

Investment Accounts Change in Value:  $3,394

My brokerage accounts were up in March.  I have several bets against the market that have started to pay off.

My Frugal Miser - March 2025 Expenses

Time to air out some dirty laundry!  After an amazingly frugal February, my finances went the other way in March... mostly affected by the Fun category.

• Spending on food was reasonable.  I worked fewer days out of town which meant I spent more on groceries.
• I worked more Amazon routes, plus I drove to a meeting in Miami, increasing the cost of gas for the car.  I'll be reimbursed mileage for the Miami trip.
• I redeemed points to reverse a bank fee from last month, so there's a credit to that category.
• Health and Dental costs will continue to be high while I am on the weight loss meds.  They aren't cheap but they work.
• The miscellaneous category is ridiculous.  I bought some expensive Mont Blanc pens in St. Maarten to use as gifts.

Fun

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

• I booked two new cruises.  Carnival made me a special offer (not free, but discounted) that I jumped on.  I worked an incentive trip on a Celebrity Cruise that I enjoyed so much I booked another cruise while on the ship.
• Also while on the Celebrity Ascent, I lost a lot of money in the casino.  That part wasn't much fun!  
• I pay for two AMC A-List subscriptions each month.

March Expenses:  $13,646

$452 Auto (service, gas, insurance, AAA, etc.)

($436) Bank Fees (annual fees on credit cards) income this month
$251 Clothing/ Personal Care

$8,196 Fun (vacations, movies, gambling, alcohol, concert tickets)

$488 Food

$891 Health and Dental

$0 Household/Home Repairs

$15 Unreimbursed Job Expense

($427) Reimbursed Job Expense income this month

$0 Interest Expense

$2,412 Miscellaneous (cat sitter, gifts)

$294 Taxes

$952 Utilities 

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.