My Frugal Miser - April 2022 Income

April's income was down a bit but I still managed to keep it over $10K.

I worked 5 meetings jobs, but have only been paid for 3.  One of the 3 was a single day gig.  

I did 5 Amazon routes.

The Airbnb was booked every day except four days I blocked from the calendar.  I listed the BNB for sale this week and the four blocked days were used by a handyman who made a few repairs and improvements.

Rental income came in as expected.  I am down to just three rental properties, all in Alabama.  I also received a distribution from Realty Mogul.

April Income: $10,564

$0 Mystery Shopping/ Merchandising
$2,875 Meeting Jobs
$24 Gig Apps (Rideshare, Food Deliveries, etc.)
$574 Amazon Deliveries
$3,994 Rental Income (Rental Expenses:  $706)
$3,041 Airbnb Income (Airbnb Expenses:  $1,711)
$8 Interest Income

$47 Other Sources

Investment Accounts Change in Value:  ($14,993)

April was a bad month for stocks.  My investments were down, but continue to outperform the S&P 500.  

My Frugal Miser - March 2022 Income

 March continued the recent trend of 5-figure monthly income.  

I worked 4 meetings jobs.  One was a single day gig.  I also worked The 80's Cruise, spent a week in Chicago and ended the month at a meeting in Denver.  April will only slow down a bit, but the payments for the last March job will help make April another solid month.

I only did 4 Amazon routes.

The Airbnb was booked every day except two days I blocked from the calendar.

Rental income came in as expected.  I am down to just three rental properties, all in Alabama.

March Income: $15,106

$0 Mystery Shopping/ Merchandising
$7,243 Meeting Jobs
$0 Gig Apps (Rideshare, Food Deliveries, etc.)
$306 Amazon Deliveries
$3,155 Rental Income (Rental Expenses:  $723)
$4,388 Airbnb Income (Airbnb Expenses:  $977)
$9 Interest Income

$5 Other Sources

Investment Accounts Change in Value:  $6,605

My investments were up, and continue to outperform the S&P 500.  

My Frugal Miser - March 2022 Expenses

March was another inexpensive month.  A lovely phenomenon helped me get my total spending under $1,000:  per diems.  Some of my meeting clients provide a daily allowance for spending on food, drinks and miscellaneous.  The average per diem is $75.  I often spend less than that, making the per diem pure profit.  A second unusual credit to the "fun" category lowered my spending even further.

• Auto expenses continue to benefit from the lack of driving.  I spent most of March working meetings and didn't use my car.  I spent $69 on a coupon book that included 4 oil changes and tire rotations as well as other discounts.  Even with minimal driving, gas prices over $4/gallon added up.
• Bank fees were high because I paid the annual fee for my Self-Directed IRA and the annual fee for my Chase World of Hyatt card.
• Food was low because most of the meetings we work either provide a meal or reimbursement for food.  I worked most days in March.

Fun

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

• I finally received the refund for the canceled Carnival cruise in Australia.
• I didn't spend anything on future travel.

March Expenses:  $819

$289 Auto (service, gas, insurance, AAA, etc.)

$595 Bank Fees (annual fees on credit cards)
$20 Clothing/ Personal Care
($1,336) Fun (vacations, movies, gambling, alcohol, concert tickets) (income - Carnival cruise refund)

$253 Food

$48 Health and Dental

$1,084 Household/Home Repairs

$359 Unreimbursed Job Expense

($1,001) Reimbursed Job Expense (income - my provided per diems were more than I spent)

$0 Interest Expense

$71 Miscellaneous

$248 Taxes

$190 Utilities 

Selling the BNB, What I'm Reading, Increasing Passive Income

2022 has been an incredible year so far.  I'm writing this blog from the Gaylord Rockies outside of Denver, where I just wrapped another meeting job.  This is #2 of 4 back-to-back meeting jobs I'm doing.  Things don't appear to be slowing down.  I love to travel, and it's great being able to make money while honing new skills.

One minor downside to all the work I am doing is that it's easy to let everything else overwhelm me.  This is just another reminder about why it's important to simplify my life.

Selling the BNB

This one was difficult.  As I quickly approach four years as an Airbnb host, I've decided to take advantage of the hot real estate market and sell the house.  I was contacted by an agent in March who was engaging and full of energy.  I usually ignore unsolicited offers from realtors, but this guy got my attention.  He had neighborhood comps that suggested my home would sell for healthy price.

I've been thinking about selling for several months.  When I was planning my 2022 goals, selling one of my rental properties was Goal #1.  I had a different property in mind - and am still strongly considering selling it.  So there is definitely a possibility of selling two houses this year.  The plan for the BNB is to list it in early May.

The Intelligent Investor

I'm talking about the book by the father of value investing, Benjamin Graham.  I aspire to make intelligent decisions about my investments, so I redeemed a Barnes & Noble gift card I was given for Christmas to buy this book.  Graham was Warren Buffett's teacher (literally), and this is considered the Bible of Value Investing.  If I am successful at selling the BNB I'm going to have a windfall of cash to deploy.  There's so much noise in the stock market these days.  A lot of what's happening is irrational, and markets eventually become rational, every time.  I hope that The Intelligent Investor will make me a more successful investor.

Increasing Passive Income

I've been actively working to increase passive income for years, but have put this into high gear these last few months.  I've purchased a number of bonds, most of them at distressed prices.  One of my favorite investments right now is a bond issued by the theater chain AMC.  It matures in 2025 and is the next substantial debt to come due for the company.  The meme-gamblers are responsible for a lot of the noise in the markets today.  These kids aren't buying based on fundamentals but instead on the greater fool theory that someone else will be willing to pay more than they did for a stock.  Why does this matter?  AMC took advantage of this noise by raising a ton of cash last year by selling overpriced shares of stock.  This gave the company a substantial war chest.  I think the odds are good that the company will honor its debt obligations, at least for the next few years.  I've bought a substantial amount of AMC bonds for less than 80 cents on the dollar.  If all goes as expected, I'm getting a 15%+ annualized return.

AMC is just one example of where I am growing my passive recurring income.  I've bought other bonds at similarly attractive prices.  I've also been investing in income properties on Realty Mogul.  Eventually I will set an annual income goal with the intent to earn enough passive income to pay all my bills.

The most important benefit to all this will be more freedom to do things I enjoy.  Owning an Airbnb has been one of the best financial decisions I have made.  But along with these golden handcuffs comes a lot of responsibility.  We have to plan our lives around the house.  I've tried multiple housekeepers, and am not satisfied with their attention to detail.  I would LOVE to be able to take a vacation and not have to think about some issue arising at the house that will require my attention.  Sure, I could put more effort into making this a truly passive source of income by hiring a management company.  But home prices are so high that, with a bit of effort, I think I can earn close to the same amount of income in a totally passive way via Realty Mogul or stock investing.