With a baby on the way, our focus in February has been house projects, baby classes, and collecting all manner of implements (apparently) needed to have a child!
For our monthly donation, our theme is helping women’s education. You can read more about the three charities we’re considering and vote for your favorite in the poll below!
We track our income, spending, and savings each month to stay on our FIRE path and share it with you. Keep reading to see our monthly updates, tips, and charity reviews.
Budget Update
In the Sankey diagram below, the income on the left matches our expenses on the right.
We’ll run through the income and expense sources for the month and remark on any interesting items.
Income Summary
Our income saw a little drought this month, though that’s not surprising, as our labor income continues to drop and our big dividend period was last month.
Dividends
We earned a few bucks in Treasury yields from shares of $SGOV and similar ETFs that are temporarily holding some funds.
We earned $81 in total distributions.
Local Sales
Last year, we earned a few bucks from upgrading our cell phones and selling the old ones. No surprise, we’re back at it—utilizing deals from the carrier Metro PCS. We sold a brand new Samsung Galaxy 9+ Tab for $100 locally, which was part of the signup deal (cost: $30). Jenni sold off her old Apple Watch for $80 (upgrade was $122 over Christmas). Also, we just upgraded our kitchen range from gas to an induction unit. A few of our old pans and accessories weren’t induction-friendly, which we sold locally for $35.
We earned $215 from local sales.
Expense Summary
From our $5,768 monthly budget, we saved and invested $877 dollars.
After subtracting our credits, savings, and donations—we spent about $4,864 on living expenses.
That’s 102% of our FIRE budget from 2022 ($4,787/month).
Let’s break down some of the more exciting details this month.
Food & Dining
Food costs continue to fluctuate with inflation, but our costs are pretty even. We spent the month at home, which tends to keep our costs a little lower than when traveling.
Groceries
We’re really leveraging Chase Instacart promos monthly (about $100 between the two of us). Time and cost savings! Still, our groceries are the bulk of our food expenses at $639.
Restaurants, Fast food, Alcohol & bars
With just a couple of times dining out over the month—a coffee shop and taco night—our dining out expenses were quite low at about $30.
We spent $668 on food & dining this month.
Home
Our big projects this month continue to be baby related—even in the home category!
Home Improvement
As mentioned in our post last month, we use natural gas in our kitchen range for cooking. Well, used. Now, we use electricity!
Induction Range
We’ve swapped our gas stove for an induction unit. If we double the time period we’ve been in our current place, simply swapping to induction should save of us about $3K!
Even accounting for our electrician costs to add the 240v line ($450) and the induction stove’s cost ($500), we’d still come out ahead by over $2K. The underlying electric costs for our cooking each month shouldn’t be but a couple of dollars.
After shopping and researching induction ranges for the past couple of months, we finally jumped on a “scratch and dent” unit on Facebook Marketplace. The Frigidaire model we went with typically seems to be around $1,500 at the big box stores. Our savings were significant, and though the unit was new, the “scratch and dent” was more significant than expected. Chris spent a while hammering out the bottom legs and structure to straighten them out. But it works great! We can’t complain too much about the massive cost savings.
Heat Pump
The other big home improvement project was replacing our outdoor AC condenser. Our existing unit from 2007 operated just fine, though perhaps not as efficiently as newer units. But it was just a cooling unit. Our community is looking to decommission our shared radiator/boiler system for heating. So, we wanted to get a backup heat source ready to go—as many of our neighbors have done.
We spent a while getting quotes for completely new systems: air handler, thermostat, and condenser from a variety of HVAC companies. Quotes came in at $12-15K. After considering it for the past few months, Chris did some research on our existing attic air handler and discovered it could operate with a heat pump. We managed to find a very slightly used Goodman heat pump condenser from a local HVAC company for $1,300 installed. It seemed like an incredibly good deal as the unit was only a couple years old and seemed to be compatible with our air handler which, also from 2007, still operates alright.
So, $1,300 later…and another $295 surplus charge (surprise) for extra condenser line set length/refrigerant, and we were in business! We’ve got efficient heat pump sourced backup heat and slightly more efficient cooling. They discovered an issue with our air handler to thermostat wiring that Chris is going to rerun himself—and save a couple of hundred bucks to do.
We spent $3,130 on home this month.
Childcare
It’ll come as no surprise that our newest spending category continues to have some transactions. 🙂
Baby Supplies
We wrote a little about our baby supply purchasing process last month. And, that continues. In February, we managed to hunt down Wirecutter’s #1 recommended newborn car seat for a great deal.
Facebook Marketplace purchases this month included:
- Used Graco SnugRide SnugFit 35 DLX $100 (new: $250).
We checked to make sure the car seat was lightly used and confirmed no crashes with the first owner. Car seats are also designed to expire after so many years, so we made sure it was well within the expiry range from Graco.
Of course, we’ve got more baby supplies to purchase still. We’ll probably do a roundup of everything we bought in birth preparation in the future.
We spent $100 on baby supplies this month.
Expense Conclusion
While that covers the big stuff, we still had a few random things or small purchases to mention that might be of interest.
Amusement
The circus came to town! We were very surprised to find a pretty full fledged circus made a stop here in Virginia. That’s not something either of us has seen in quite some years. We rounded up some friends and family to make a day of it on Valentine’s. Really, quite fantastic fun!
The tickets were about $61.
Shopping
As mentioned in our local sales income, Chris picked up a Samsung Galaxy Tab 9+ from Metro PCS for free. Of course, there was a catch. Existing customers only—and—you had to start up a monthly data plan for the tablet. But, at only $30 and no-contract—this seemed like an easy money maker. It turned out to be as Chris sold it locally for $100 at a cost of a single month of service. Chris also spent a few bucks on tools and batteries to repair his grandfather’s watch as well as one of his own.
Shopping came in at about $39.
Sports
Similar to our shopping category above, Chris bought a deeply discounted pair of Nike Pegasus running shoes—a very classic running shoe of theirs. But, they were just far too narrow for him, and so he embarked on eBay’s new Authenticated Items listings, which allow him to sell the shoes for significantly more than he paid, as they were closeout/out of stock by the new year. After fees, he covered the shoe cost along with a $25 gift card he gave to a friend toward his own pair.
ⓘ Curious about some of the other expenses that we didn’t address? We’ve written about every expense in this month’s diagram either in this post or in the past. Check out our previous budget updates for more details or ask in the comments below!
How Much We Work
We like to keep track of how much time we spend doing work that is paid.
Let’s add this month to the list…
History of Monthly “Hours Worked”
| Month | Chris (Hours Worked) | Jenni (Hours Worked) |
|---|---|---|
| May 2020 | 41 | 108 |
| Jun 2020 | 38 | 96 |
| Jul 2020 | 36 | 120 |
| Aug 2020 | 39 | 48 |
| Sep 2020 | 27 | 76 |
| Oct 2020 | 26 | 104 |
| Nov 2020 | 27 | 57 |
| Dec 2020 | 28 | 57 |
| Jan 2021 | 25 | 102 |
| Feb 2021 | 24 | 104 |
| Mar 2021 | 24 | 106 |
| Apr 2021 | 23 | 85 |
| May 2021 | 17 | 29.75 |
| Jun 2021 | 19 | 66 |
| Jul 2021 | 21 | 30.25 |
| Aug 2021 | 23 | 16.5 |
| Sep 2021 | 26 | 28 |
| Oct 2021 | 22 | 49 |
| Nov 2021 | 21 | 51 |
| Dec 2021 | 64 | 27 |
| Jan 2022 | 32 | 80 |
| Feb 2022 | 29 | 63 |
| Mar 2022 | 14 | 70 |
| Apr 2022 | 15 | 21 |
| May 2022 | 14 | 36 |
| Jun 2022 | 6 | 12 |
| Jul 2022 | 13 | 45.5 |
| Aug 2022 | 15 | 96 |
| Sep 2022 | 12 | 54 |
| Oct 2022 | 14 | 34.5 |
| Nov 2022 | 12 | 72 |
| Dec 2022 | 11 | 16.5 |
| Jan 2023 | 10 | 88 |
| Feb 2023 | 11 | 81.5 |
| Mar 2023 | 12 | 47.5 |
| Apr 2023 | 8 | 1 |
| May 2023 | 16 | 100 |
| Jun 2023 | 10 | 109 |
| Jul 2023 | 12 | 48 |
| Aug 2023 | 16 | 54.5 |
| Sep 2023 | 9 | 20 |
| Oct 2023 | 14 | 22 |
| Nov 2023 | 15 | 22 |
| Dec 2023 | 16 | 12 |
| Jan 2024 | 12 | 61.25 |
| Feb 2024 | 14 | 28.5 |
| Mar 2024 | 16 | 61.5 |
| Apr 2024 | 12 | 22 |
| May 2024 | 8 | 19.5 |
| Jun 2024 | 18 | 19.5 |
| Jul 2024 | 14 | 44 |
| Aug 2024 | 18 | 81 |
| Sep 2024 | 15 | 20 |
| Oct 2024 | 18 | 51 |
| Nov 2024 | 5 | 15 |
| Dec 2024 | 19 | 12 |
| Jan 2025 | 17 | 17.5 |
| Feb 2025 | 4 | 8 |
| Mar 2025 | 14 | 12 |
| Apr 2025 | 3 | 11 |
| May 2025 | 14 | 33 |
| Jun 2025 | 12 | 2 |
| Jul 2025 | 12 | 13 |
| Aug 2025 | 16 | 13.5 |
| Sep 2025 | 12 | 30 |
| Oct 2025 | 13 | 40 |
| Nov 2025 | 12 | 22.5 |
| Dec 2025 | 13 | 16 |
| Jan 2026 | 12 | 8 |
| Feb 2026 | 12 | 12 |
Neither of us did much in the way of paid labor this month, clocking in at about 24 hours. Most of the earned wages went to Jenni’s 401(k).
Net Worth Update
Net worth is not our primary measurement, and can understand it can be discouraging if you’re working yourself out of debt. We also understand it’s difficult to be transparent with our readers without divulging this information, so we continue to do so.
Account breakdown
Even with the wild swings in the market lately, our investments continue to be pretty stable. From a high level, our assets and liabilities are shown in the data table below as of February 28, 2026.
| Description | Value (USD, $) |
|---|---|
| 401(k) | 1,288,830 |
| Brokerage | 1,104,003 |
| Roth IRA | 338,848 |
| Traditional IRA | 47,640 |
| HSA | 73,902 |
| Real Estate | 457,800 |
| Mortgage | (128,270) |
| Miscellaneous Assets | 25,000 |
| Checking & Savings | 4,795 |
| Net Worth | 3,212,548 |
- Miscellaneous assets include specific investments we’ve made in physical assets (think collectibles) and treasury bonds
- Amounts do not reflect the value of the businesses Chris owns or their assets, which should appear as income to us over future years
- Jenni’s Prius is omitted
The S&P 500 was down about 0.9% for the month.
We were up about 1.2%. Most of this can be attributed to Chris’s investment in Seagate ($STX) that had a large run up recently. He’s since sold that off, putting the proceeds into $VXUS.
Overall, our net worth increased by around $38K this month.
Net Worth History
| Date | Amount | % Change |
|---|---|---|
| July 2020 | $1,555,289 | – |
| August 2020 | $1,597,334 | 2.7% |
| September 2020 | $1,566,393 | (2.0%) |
| October 2020 | $1,568,182 | 0.01% |
| November 2020 | $1,720,113 | 9.6% |
| December 2020 | $1,810,864 | 5.3% |
| January 2021 | $1,860,996 | 2.8% |
| February 2021 | $1,878,154 | 0.9% |
| March 2021 | $1,918,269 | 2.1% |
| April 2021 | $2,010,849 | 4.8% |
| May 2021 | $2,049,213 | 1.9% |
| June 2021 | $2,093,896 | 2.2% |
| July 2021 | $2,092,153 | (0.1%) |
| August 2021 | $2,130,761 | 1.8% |
| September 2021 | $2,070,730 | (2.8%) |
| October 2021 | $2,151,272 | 3.9% |
| November 2021 | $2,095,273 | (2.6%) |
| December 2021 | $2,160,235 | 3.1% |
| January 2022 | $2,055,292 | (4.9%) |
| February 2022 | $2,058,001 | 0.01% |
| March 2022 | $2,134,428 | 3.7% |
| April 2022 | $1,968,069 | (7.8%) |
| May 2022 | $1,975,569 | 0.04% |
| June 2022 | $1,868,397 | (5.4%) |
| July 2022 | $1,975,608 | 5.7% |
| August 2022 | $1,878,352 | (5.2%) |
| September 2022 | $1,735,997 | (7.6%) |
| October 2022 | $1,820,287 | 4.9% |
| November 2022 | $1,920,635 | 5.5% |
| December 2022 | $1,866,513 | (2.8%) |
| January 2023 | $1,953,691 | 4.7% |
| February 2023 | $1,882,656 | (3.6%) |
| March 2023 | $1,969,566 | 4.6% |
| April 2023 | $1,981,934 | 0.6% |
| May 2023 | $1,995,247 | 0.7% |
| June 2023 | $2,092,479 | 4.9% |
| July 2023 | $2,189,821 | 4.7% |
| August 2023 | $2,140,296 | (2.2%) |
| September 2023 | $2,042,865 | (4.6%) |
| October 2023 | $2,015,648 | (1.3%) |
| November 2023 | $2,157,404 | 7.0% |
| December 2023 | $2,261,458 | 4.8% |
| January 2024 | $2,296,269 | 1.5% |
| February 2024 | $2,365,110 | 3.0% |
| March 2024 | $2,434,250 | 2.9% |
| April 2024 | $2,371,284 | (2.6%) |
| May 2024 | $2,423,205 | 2.2% |
| June 2024 | $2,472,353 | 2.0% |
| July 2024 | $2,513,877 | 1.7% |
| August 2024 | $2,560,215 | 1.8% |
| September 2024 | $2,592,558 | 1.3% |
| October 2024 | $2,576,903 | (0.6%) |
| November 2024 | $2,685,615 | 4.2% |
| December 2024 | $2,621,732 | (2.4%) |
| January 2025 | $2,689,706 | 2.6% |
| February 2025 | $2,665,053 | (0.9%) |
| March 2025 | $2,581,708 | (3.1%) |
| April 2025 | $2,588,737 | 0.3% |
| May 2025 | $2,711,140 | 4.7% |
| June 2025 | $2,818,049 | 3.9% |
| July 2025 | $2,836,370 | 0.7% |
| August 2025 | $2,915,960 | 2.8% |
| September 2025 | $3,012,036 | 3.3% |
| October 2025 | $3,067,605 | 2.3% |
| November 2025 | $3,066,024 | (0.05%) |
| December 2025 | $3,077,922 | 0.4% |
| January 2026 | $3,174,543 | 3.1% |
| February 2026 | $3,212,548 | 1.2% |
Previous Donation Winner
Our grant this month will be helping RAINN keep its 24/7 crisis hotline open and operating for free to anyone who needs to speak to a trained specialist via phone, chat, or text. RAINN is the nation’s largest anti-sexual violence nonprofit organization and has been operating since 1994.
Our Reader’s Fund seeks to leverage the principles of FIRE to build a lifetime of giving.
Thank you for your participation in our polls over the last 5 years. We’ve given over $9,600 to deserving charities with your help in deciding which organizations to donate to.
Polls are now open for our next round of candidates: Women’s Education.
Charity Round-Up
This Women’s History Month, we honor the trailblazing women who shaped America by supporting three female-focused organizations. Each equip women with the education, skills, and support they need to overcome barriers and achieve lasting success.
Each organization has great charity ratings. We invite you to learn more about their great work and join us in donating to one of them by casting your vote.
Summaries below include the impact metrics and a link to their Candid profile, which details the nonprofit’s operations and transparency.
1) Girls on the Run International
Why? For the past 30 years, this organization has been inspiring girls of all abilities to embrace their inner strength and develop life skills through running.
Where? Canada and USA.
What? Girls on the Run International is a nonprofit organization inspiring young girls to be confident, healthy, and to develop life skills through physical activity. It is one of the only after-school physical activity positive youth development programs available to females in 3rd to 8th grades in the USA and Canada. A recent research study shows how the lasting impacts of this research-based curriculum are maintained throughout early adulthood. Young ladies participating in one of the following programs will develop confidence-building skills, how to make social connections, how to manage emotions, how to build healthy relationships, and how to set goals.
- Camp GOTR: A week-long camp designed for 3rd to 5th graders to develop physical, social, and emotional skills through physical activity, games, and creative workshops.
- Heart & Sole: An afterschool program designed for 6th to 8th graders that addresses their bodies, brains, hearts, and spirits. These activities help them develop social connections, emotional management skills, and confidence. Each season ends with a non-competitive 5k run.
- Girls on the Run: An after-school program designed for 3rd to 5th graders that teaches young ladies how to manage emotions, help others, make intentional decisions, resolve conflicts, and support others through a community impact project. Each season ends with a non-competitive 5k run.
2) Malala Fund
Why? Gender biases shouldn’t play a role in the education of our youth. All children should have the right to a safe and quality primary and secondary education.
Where? Afghanistan, Brazil, India, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Globally.
What? Malala Fund is a nonprofit organization founded by Malala Yousafzai in 2013. They advocate for 12 years of free, safe, quality education for girls. Female students in low-income areas are less likely to continue their education past elementary school. Dropout rates are as high as 81% for high schoolers due to gender biases, conflicts, early marriage or pregnancy, and just basic poverty or inadequate facilities at school. In many cultures, girls are just not given the same chances as boys. This organization fights to change policies and provide resources at the local, national, and international levels so that all girls can receive a secondary education in the following ways:
- Education Champion Network identifies, invests in, and scales the work of promising local advocates, activists, and educators.
- Publication of Assembly, a digital publication and newsletter, as a platform for girls to amplify girls’ voices and speak out about the issues holding them back.
3) Woman To Woman Mentoring
Why? Women who build relationships with other women over common goals have increased confidence, self-sufficiency, and connection to their communities. Support systems help women face challenges together, increasing long-term success.
Where? Maryland, United States
What? Woman To Woman Mentoring is a regional nonprofit organization that provides women with guidance, support, and community connections through mentoring relationships. This free mentoring program helps women improve their education, careers, and achieve their goals with the guidance of other professional women. They focus on long-term change through personalized support with mentors. A participant in this program is given the chance to make major changes or start their career, improving their earning potential. Donations to this organization help provide transportation to the programs, childcare during workshops, finding qualified mentors, funding workshops, or other mental wellness programs. Some of their free programs include:
- The Women in STEM Mentorship Program is designed for women ages 18 to 35 pursuing a career in STEM.
- Mentoring Circles for women ages 35 and up to explore what’s next and be held accountable for their goals.
- CORE Mentoring Program for women ages 18 to 35 who need guidance to help them move forward and learn personal development, skill building, and goal planning.
Nonprofit poll
After reviewing the list above, please take a moment to vote for which nonprofit you think will put funds to use in the best way.
(Have trouble using or seeing the poll above? Some reader tools or apps may not display it. View this page in a browser or use this link to our Reader Fund page, which has a copy of the poll!)
Thank you for taking the time to vote!
One of our primary goals with TicTocLife is building a stream of giving within the FIRE community, and that starts with knowledge.
Want to hear about the results? Sign up for our free FIRE Insider newsletter! We send it out every few weeks and include the monthly poll results and donation winners. You can see an archive of the FIRE Insider and sign up here!
What’s Next
As mentioned, we’ve got plenty more projects ahead of our expected baby delivery in early May. Chris has some HVAC wiring to do, ongoing appliance repairs/replacements, and general reorganization of the house. Jenni has been prepping the conversion of one room to a nursery—and, you know, growing a baby!
Much of March will be spent on these projects and other baby-related prep. Our doctor appointments are every few weeks now, so we’ll be getting to see a lot of baby! And, hopefully, all goes—at least close—to according to plan.
Meanwhile, our investments and finances are mostly on autopilot. Despite ongoing turmoil in inflation, fuel, and global finance—we’re mostly able to stay focused on what matters. The freedom in financial independence.
We’re starting to work on baby names—one for each gender. Hit us with your faves!
Let us know in the comments or on Threads and X (Twitter)!
