This year, I simplified the two monthly articles that I\u2019ve done for years \u2013 passive income and goals\/resolutions. I\u2019ve combined them and added some personal details.<\/p>\n
Personal Monthly Recap<\/b><\/p>\n Back to the Passive Income and Goals<\/b><\/p>\n I put my goals in a spreadsheet and review it once a month. I know that I have too many goals to complete them all. That gives me the freedom to work on a few different things. Most people focus on fewer goals and aim to complete them. They find it much less overwhelming. That\u2019s just another reason why I\u2019m weird. Do whatever works for you.<\/p>\n I just realized now that all year I\u2019ve had Hobbes in my spreadsheet. He\u2019s a great comic character, but I meant Hobbies.<\/p>\n I have three side hustles with a passive component: a dog-sitting business, this blog, and managing a website for a non-profit. All three require some active work. However, I can get paid for all three even while working a full-time job. That\u2019s why I consider them somewhat passive income.<\/p>\n If this definition of passive income seems off or confusing, please refer to my the last stand-alone article on passive income<\/a>.<\/p>\n Dog boarding was fairly average in October. I could have done better, but I went to the annual financial creator conference, FinCon. Not being around for a weekend meant that I couldn\u2019t take dogs.<\/p>\n Blogging income continues to be terrible. Much of my income comes from people finding the site on Google and seeing the ads. Google is sending a lot less traffic nowadays. They\u2019ve focused on showing results from big brands and shopping results. Of course, with AI results, much of the time, people don\u2019t even need to click on a website. I\u2019m going to switch some things up, so stay tuned for that over the next few months.<\/p>\n The non-profit website I manage doesn\u2019t pay much, but I love being part of the organization. I hoped to add more this year, but so far, I haven\u2019t come up with anything. I\u2019m doing more work than I thought I would for the non-profit, and it looks like they have some surplus income. I\u2019ve been trying to hint that the budget could go to technology, but it\u2019s hard because I originally volunteered myself. Next year, I\u2019ll have to take this out of the passive-ish income. They pay me every month, but I work enough that it doesn\u2019t fit even my stretched definition.<\/p>\n Finally, I started doing some web work for a restaurant. That\u2019s an hourly rate now, so I\u2019m not including it here. Hopefully, it will translate to some kind of retainer, which I might include here.<\/p>\n October\u2019s dog, blog, and website income was $3,888.72<\/b>. The previous month, it was $5,369.47.<\/p>\n Because this type of income requires some active work, I only count half of it as passive income. More on that later.<\/p>\n We have two rental properties. They still have 15-year mortgages, so the rental income is just a couple hundred dollars more than breaking even each month. We\u2019re almost done with the mortgages, though, and they\u2019ll make much more money (around $25,000 a year).<\/p>\n For the purpose of this report, I calculate their income using the following formula:<\/p>\n (Rents After Estimated Expenses) * (Equity Percentage Owned) = Passive Income<\/b><\/p>\n Estimated expenses are insurance, property taxes, condo fees, and estimated condo maintenance<\/a>. Equity Percentage Owned (EPO) is our total equity divided by the property value in Zillow. (Zillow is very accurate for our condos.)<\/small><\/p>\n Zillow says our properties were worth $5,000 more than last month. That breaks a string of drops. We pay off about a thousand dollars of mortgage debt on them every month. That\u2019s a recipe for gaining $6,000 in equity.<\/p>\n I calculate the rents on the properties at around $2,657\/mo., after expenses. This calculation is a little disingenuous because I average what our true rents are and what the market says they should be. We should be charging a lot more, but we have good tenants, and we\u2019re trying to be kind, considering the exploding housing costs.<\/p>\n This month, we owned 81.90% of the properties. Using the equation above, this would be $2,176 in monthly income<\/b>. For a year, using this method, we\u2019d net $26,113.<\/p>\n Last month, and the month before, it was $2,168<\/b>, so we gained $8. That\u2019s typically how this growth goes. It\u2019s slow, but real estate has been one of my most consistently growing income streams.<\/p>\n [While my wife was away the kids built a LEGO Star Wars Millennium Falcon<\/a> that I found on sale for under $100. They chipped in some of their money. Here, my son takes a break to read a book. (This is not the norm at our house.)]<\/em><\/small><\/p>\n Managing rental properties requires some work \u2013 a few days a year. For this reason, I only count 80% of this number as passive income.<\/p>\n My wife has been maxing out her retirement accounts for a little more than two decades. I maxed out my retirement accounts for my first ten years of employment, but it got much tougher when I became self-employed. At that point, I mostly focused on maxing out my Roth IRA and a little on my SEP-IRA. Investing this money for so long has created quite the nest egg for us.<\/p>\n For the dividend income portion of our passive income, I assume we invested all the money in brokerage accounts (retirement and non-retirement) into an ETF that conservatively pays a 2.5% dividend. I use this 2.5% number because I\u2019m too \u201cLazy\u201d to track the exact dividends from all accounts. Also, dividend payments are very inconsistent, with most payments coming quarterly. Is 2.5% a fair number as an estimate? I\u2019ll let you be the judge, but one ETF, iShares Core High Dividend (HDV), is paying around 3.63% right now.<\/p>\n I also have profit-sharing income with a private company in which I own a small stake. I get a check each month that behaves like a dividend \u2013 it\u2019s just taxed a little differently.<\/p>\n This month our dividend income using this estimation was $5,001. We finally broke the $5,000 mark! I grabbed these numbers on the night of the election, before the big run up the next day. Waiting would have made a significant difference, but I always try to grab the numbers on the 5th of the following month. Last month, September, this was $4,985 so you can see it\u2019s a decent $16 gain..<\/p>\n Unlike the previous two sections, this income is 100% passive. For this reason, I don\u2019t have to adjust the numbers.<\/p>\n Dog\/Blogs: $3,888.72 \u2013 Adjusted to $1,944.36 Dogs\/Blogs Blue Line Total Adjusted Passive Income: $8,686.16<\/b><\/p>\n That monthly income would be about $104,000 a year. I consider that financial indepence. We might be spending a little more than that as we make some home improvements and send our kids to fancy private school. We don\u2019t need to spend as much as we do though.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s a graph of the numbers since 2017, when I started keeping track:<\/p>\n (The blue line represents the monthly total adjusted passive income. The Red Line represents the 12-month average. This helps remove some of the seasonality of dog boarding.<\/small><\/p>\n Our 12-month average is $8,505.32. That\u2019s a sliver below our all time high of $8,581.87 last August. I didn\u2019t expect to make new highs this year and we\u2019re running out of updates, but it\u2019s possible. This is the core number that I want to beat because it shows that blogging doesn\u2019t have to make any money at all to still do well. (I would still need the dog boarding to grow this number though.)<\/p>\n My wife continues to work as well. She now has 25 years in the military and will be getting a pension that effectively doubles all this passive income. Her job has gotten easier and seemingly more fun, so she might stay 30 years and grow the pension more.<\/p>\n I can\u2019t think of anywhere else to put this information, but our net worth grew a modest 0.28% last month. Overall, it\u2019s up 13.51% for the year. Our liquid cash was very much the same as the month before. Some people track their spending to know where their money goes. I\u2019m too lazy, so I just look at the liquid cash number.<\/p>\n Two years ago, I made over $98,000 in side hustles. Last year, I made $88,000. I\u2019ve recently cut back on dog boarding a bit, so I\u2019m aiming for $85,000 this year.<\/p>\n Through October, I made $68,998, which is on pace for $82,448.52. I think I\u2019m going to fall short on this one.<\/p>\n After several months of not getting together with my wife to answer the lawyer\u2019s questions, we finally were able to get it done. I had expected this to be easy, but it really is difficult.<\/p>\n For the third year, I hope to get 50,000 page views on Kid Wealth<\/a>.<\/p>\n In 2022, I launched Kid Wealth and wrote a lot of articles. It had 4,200 page views that year. In 2023, I got involved in other projects, but traffic tripled to 13,708. This year, I\u2019ve only posted a couple of articles \u2013 ouch.<\/p>\n For some reason, traffic surged in October after an already good September. I\u2019m getting double the traffic that I was for most of the year. I have no ads and almost no way of making money. I\u2019ve got some renewed interest in this and also some ideas for 2025.<\/p>\n A few months ago, I worked on my website to show off my freelance skills. This past month, I updated my LinkedIn for the first time in about 15 years. That was a major goal for this. Additionally, I got the web work for the restaurant that I mentioned above.<\/p>\n I\u2019m putting more focus on health this year. As you can tell from the above, our financial situation is great. Now, we just have to be healthy enough to enjoy a few decades of spending our money.<\/p>\n Lose Weight and Body Fat (Goal: 175lbs, 22.5% body fat)<\/b><\/p>\n I started on January 1st at 192.5 pounds and 26.3% body fat, according to my Fitbit scale. Ouch!<\/p>\n At the end of October, my average weight was 180.2 \u2013 effectively the same as last month. My body fat was 23.1% on average. The 4-mile Pell Bridge run with my wife seemed to lower my body fat for a couple of weeks. Towards the end of the month, I started eating a little more healthy again. We\u2019ll see if it pays off in the next report.<\/p>\n Health Points (Goal: 350)<\/b><\/p>\n This year, I\u2019m tracking my health by giving myself a score at the end of the week for diet and exercise. The top score in each is five points.<\/p>\n When I give myself a five, I am saying that I generally had the reasonably best week possible. I can only have a couple of off meals a week and still get a five. The rest of the time, I have to eat with a purpose, such as half fruits and vegetables or half plant protein. If go out to restaurants and just eat whatever I want, then I\u2019m only going to get one point.<\/p>\n For exercise, I\u2019d have to put in a very solid effort every day to get a five. At the start of the year, I got mostly one point each week. The weather wasn\u2019t very good, and I wasn\u2019t motivated to exercise. Since spring, I\u2019ve started walking more \u2013 often getting in 10,000 steps a day. I need to do higher cardio and weights, but this is a step in the right direction.<\/p>\n With 52 weeks, I can earn a maximum of 260 health points each for diet and exercise.<\/p>\n At the end of October I have 222 points. That\u2019s a pace for 266 points. I\u2019m going to miss my goal, but I know it\u2019s helped me make much healthier decisions. Next year, I\u2019ll shoot for 300 points.<\/p>\n Health Appointments<\/b><\/p>\n Medical appointments are a very important part of staying healthy. Here\u2019s what I\u2019ve done this year:<\/p>\n Dental<\/b> \u2013 I had to do some deep cleaning this year. It was two separate appointments where they did one side and then the other. I had the regular cleanings and a couple of fillings replaced, including one in October.<\/p>\n ADHD<\/b> \u2013 I finally got diagnosed with ADHD. Getting the standard testing with a specialist was impossible, with the scheduling being months in the future and their insurance policies changing at that time. Finally, I did an assessment at ADHD Online<\/a> and paid out of pocket. I brought the results to my primary care physician, and she prescribed me a very low dosage of Adderall. It\u2019s been very helpful.<\/p>\n Body Analysis<\/b> \u2013 In February, I got a body analysis from DexaFit after watching \u201cYou Are What You Eat\u201d on Netflix. They scanned my body completely for body fat. I also got a VO2 max test for cardio fitness and an RMR metabolic analysis. The results weren\u2019t what I was looking for, but they will be a good baseline. I should get a follow-up, but I\u2019ve been busy. I don\u2019t know if I\u2019ll get another one this year.<\/p>\n Annual Physical<\/b> \u2013 I had my annual physical a couple of months ago. She had recommended a colonoscopy in the past, but I wanted to wait until I got my ADHD sorted out. I thought a colonoscopy was a quick procedure that took maybe a couple of hours. I don\u2019t know how to do a whole day cleanse and then manage the next day with my responsibilities of caring for dogs and kids. I think it makes sense to push this to 2025.<\/p>\n Finally, I\u2019m on quest to regrow hair<\/a>. July was my first month. I think it takes about 4-6 months to see results. I think this is going quite well. I\u2019m probably going to update that article within the next month. You can judge for yourself with the before and after pictures.<\/p>\n I almost never get time to do a hobby. I have too many jobs and house\/kid management going on. Below are just some of the things I\u2019d like to do:<\/p>\n My goal at the beginning of the year was to look into becoming a \u201cprompt engineer.\u201d AI was advancing so fast that I thought that \u201cprompt engineering\u201d might be dead. Regular readers saw that I used AI effectively in a few articles in the last few weeks. After FinCon, I realize that I couldn\u2019t afford to do nothing on this, so I bought subscriptions to ChatGPT and Claude. I\u2019ve been using them both for some research and projects over the last couple of weeks.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n My kids use Canva at school, and they are better than I am. However, I used it in September to make a \u201cgift card\u201d for dog boarding, and it was super easy.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Still no progress on using the 3D printer.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Last year, my 10-year-old mastered the Rubik\u2019s Cube. He can speed-cube it in less than 90 seconds on average.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve got about 92% of the algorithm memorized. I\u2019d say that 70% of it is in muscle memory \u2013 I don\u2019t need to think. About half the time, I get lucky and don\u2019t need the other 8% of the algorithm. I was able to solve it in 2 minute and 17 seconds on one of those lucky tries.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n I should be keeping a journal of some kind. Lazy Man and Money is my money journal. The goal is a journal for everything else. I don\u2019t think this is going to happen this year.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n I want to make a toy program to get my old software engineering skills going again. After seeing how the new ChatGPT can code, I wonder if this is even a useful goal.<\/p>\n Some of the new web work that I\u2019m doing above has knocked the rust off. I\u2019m giving myself partial credit for this one.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Let\u2019s push this to 2025.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n This may be a December thing to check a box off a box near the end of the year.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Another month with no progress on this one.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n Overall, I\u2019m doing much better with hobbies than I expected. I still have a couple of months left to make some more progress.<\/p>\n Declutter and Organize House<\/b><\/p>\n Every year, we have some home improvement goals on the list. Last year, we got new carpets and interior paint.<\/p>\n This year, we are looking to declutter, organize, and upgrade the whole house. We hired a friend who is an interior designer and she put together a good plan. For years, we had a lot of cheap Ikea furniture. In May we finished the dining room, which is one of our smallest rooms.<\/p>\n In July, we cleaned out the office to make room for new desks. We also cleaned up the basement and made it much more functional. We now have a little workout area and an area for the kids to play. I set up some of my old gaming consoles and made them easy to play.<\/p>\n In August, we got the new desks and bookshelves. It\u2019s fancy Pottern Barn \u2013 the stuff that lifestyle inflation is made of. Now, I just need to find the time to organize my existing stuff in that space.<\/p>\n In September, I got most of my stuff organized into that office space. I also did a little work on decluttering the garage. Our outdoor light fixtures were 30 years old and failing, so we replaced those. It sounds like a tiny baby step, but it required picking them out and scheduling an electrician. Finally, my wife has been listing and selling a lot of stuff on eBay.<\/p>\n Last month, we worked more on the office. My wife\u2019s part is great. My side\u2026 needs work.<\/p>\n Our 10-year old said that we\u2019re practically in a completely different house with every room getting upgrades. He simply volunteered this insight without me prompting him about the changes.<\/p>\n Travel<\/b><\/p>\n In March, we spent a week on a Yucat\u00e1n Peninsula cruise on one of Royal Caribbean\u2019s biggest cruise ships and another week at Disney World.<\/p>\n In April, we went to the eclipse<\/a> and did a day of skiing. Usually, I wouldn\u2019t count weekends as travel, but it was a notable life experience.<\/p>\n In June, we went on our annual trip to Block Island. We can drive to the ferry in a half hour and be on the island in 90 minutes. It\u2019s a nice staycation for four days. The highlight was a scavenger hunt that we did on our phones. It was all virtual.<\/p>\n Of course, the big August trip was to see Paramore and Taylor Swift<\/a>, go to Stonehenge, and do a Beatles tour in Liverpool.<\/p>\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.lazymanandmoney.com\/images\/posts\/2024\/11\/butler-did-it.jpg\")
[One of the thousands of carved pumpkins \u2013 an iconic moment in New England sports history.]<\/em><\/small><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.lazymanandmoney.com\/images\/posts\/2024\/11\/corn-maze-2024-rotated.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.lazymanandmoney.com\/images\/posts\/2024\/11\/lazy-man-goal-progress-202410.png\")
<\/a>
Click for a larger version in a new window<\/small><\/p>\nPassive Income<\/h2>\n
![\"Passive](\"https:\/\/www.lazymanandmoney.com\/images\/posts\/2019\/06\/PassiveIncomePyramid-300x240.jpg\")
Dog, Blog, and Web Income<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.lazymanandmoney.com\/images\/posts\/2024\/11\/sisters-playing-rotated.jpg\")
[Our puppy had a play date with her biological sister. They both came up to Rhode Island from Atlanta.]<\/em><\/small><\/p>\nRental Property Income<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.lazymanandmoney.com\/images\/posts\/2024\/11\/lego-millennium-falcon.jpg\")
<\/p>\nDividend Income<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.lazymanandmoney.com\/images\/posts\/2024\/11\/sub-zero-ice-cream.jpg\")
[Ice cream and a science lesson at Sub Zero Ice Cream in Atlanta]<\/em><\/small><\/p>\nTotal Passive Income<\/h3>\n
Rentals: $2,176.00 \u2013 Adjusted to $1,740.80
Dividends: $5,001 \u2013 Remains at $5,001<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.lazymanandmoney.com\/images\/posts\/2024\/11\/passive-income-streams-202410.png\")
<\/p>\n
Rental \u2013 Red Line
Dividend \u2013 Yellow Line<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.lazymanandmoney.com\/images\/posts\/2024\/11\/passive-income-streams-12month-202410.png\")
<\/p>\nBusiness and Other Money Goals<\/h2>\n
Personal Income ($85,000)<\/h3>\n
Complete Estate Planning<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.lazymanandmoney.com\/images\/posts\/2024\/11\/northern-lights.jpg\")
[We were able to catch the Northern Lights. I loved how the moon was peaking out of the clouds at our local beach]<\/em><\/small><\/p>\nKid Wealth (Goal: 50,000 Page Views)<\/h3>\n
Professional Improvements<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.lazymanandmoney.com\/images\/posts\/2024\/11\/praying-mantis-rotated.jpg\")
[This praying mantis was outside our garage. The prayers apparently did not help.]<\/em><\/small><\/p>\nHealth<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.lazymanandmoney.com\/images\/posts\/2024\/11\/Pell-bridge-2024-run.jpg\")
[Pell Bridge Run!]<\/em><\/small><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.lazymanandmoney.com\/images\/posts\/2024\/11\/newport-streetfair.jpg\")
[Went to a town street fair where this crazy marching band was.]<\/em><\/small><\/p>\nHobbies<\/h2>\n
\n
Family<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.lazymanandmoney.com\/images\/posts\/2024\/11\/harvest-fair.jpg\")
[Old school harvest festival!]<\/em><\/small><\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.lazymanandmoney.com\/images\/posts\/2024\/11\/atlanta-olympics.jpg\")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.lazymanandmoney.com\/images\/posts\/2024\/11\/ax-throwing.jpg\")