August shot by like a rocket as our son turned three months old and our nearly hundred year old house showed more of its tiredness. On the healthcare front, the federal and state governments finally caught up on our son’s new found existence, realized that changed our status and kicked our little man into CHIP insurance along with his mom over to new care, too. A busy month with a whole lot of change!
For our monthly donation, our theme is “A+ nonprofits”—a little nod to the matching contribution to Lukas’s 529 we received from Virginia. 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
The vast majority of our income this month comes from investment sales as we rebalance our portfolio and target some special offers.
eBay
Chris spotted a rare computer chip locally that was untested for a cheap price. After some negotiation, the seller agreed to Chris first testing the chip for a few extra bucks and then making the purchase. Well, that worked out great. He used it for a few weeks afterward, determined it was more than he needed and sold it on eBay.
We earned about $153 on eBay.
Credits
The Paze promo we mentioned in recent posts was put to good use—we got about $100 of Clover (restaurant/fast food) and Dominos rebates. We applied those directly to the respective purchases.
Our big $400 in credits this month is matching contributions to our son’s Invest529 account. That’s Virginia’s education savings account. There was a summer promo where investing into a specific plan within the account would be matched up to $100. And, it turns out, the match was valid for any student and adult combo. So, we signed up both of us parents and two grandparents. In total, we received $400 in matching contributions to our $400 contribution last month! Awesome. Lukas has nearly $1,000 for education expenses already.
We received $400 in statement credits.
Cashback
Chris cashed out his Bank of American 3% cashback card. We’re starting to look under all our virtual cushions for cash to fund some other offers this month.
We earned about $33 in cashback.
Investments
We are working towards a big business checking account signup bonus with US Bank that necessitates having $25K sitting in the account for about a month. And we’re doing it for two different registered businesses, back to back. So, we’ve pulled some funds out of low return cash-like investments (government bonds, target date funds) to give ourselves the cash cushion. But the bonus is huge, and we think, worth the effort. Should be $1,500 twice!
We received about $27,342 in investment income.
Expense Summary
From our $28,431 monthly budget, we saved and invested $24,055 dollars.
After subtracting our credits, savings, and donations—we spent about $4,376 on living expenses.
That’s 91% of our FIRE budget from 2022 ($4,787/month).
Let’s break down some of the more exciting details this month.
Home
Home costs continue to be our big source of expense. Lots of issues coming up.
Home Services
That slow roof leak mentioned last month turned out to be two separate leaks! A bathroom vent cap and attic vent cap were leaking.
We’ve got some minor ceiling damage to go with it.
We ended up hiring a small, local roofer to do the work after having a handyman take a whack at it. The local roofer did a great job—way cheaper than the quote from our regional roofing company that everyone uses. Best of all, the leaks are fixed and that’s a relief.
They pulled up the shingles around the two caps, put down fresh vapor barrier, reseated the shingles and replaced the caps. While up there, they noticed a worn slate ridge (our house is slate in the front, shingles in the rear). They pulled up the old ridge seal material, put down fresh and we split the cost with our neighbor (it’s a shared ridge). Total cost: $415.
But of course, that’s not all our month of Home Services expenses entailed. The gutters mentioned last month got even worse in heavier rain storms. We had water running down our front windows, threatening to penetrate brick and leak. We interviewed three local gutter folks and went with a company that our neighborhood HOA also agreed to start working with recently. Due to that partnership, we cut a few hundred bucks off the cost. We also went in with our immediate neighbors who share our gutter system to replace our whole shared run and downspouts at once with aluminum. The old copper, pretty as it could be, just wasn’t doing the job anymore. Total cost: about $1,488 minus neighbor contributions came to about $727. Chris saved a few more bucks using discounted gift cards to pay for it. We’re very happy with the results!
Home Improvement
Next up: that leaking toilet wax seal.
Fortunately a toilet wax seal is something that can be DIY. We’ve done it before. It’s a nasty job, but doable. We picked up a “better than wax” seal to try this time. It uses an innovative rubber and foam combo that should tolerate movement and uneven surfaces better. It’s only a few bucks more. Between that and a few additional tools for other projects, we spent about $34 on Home Improvement.
Furnishings
Each month we find new little ways to improve our storage and space use with our son now in the picture. This month it was a battery powered squishy silicone duck light. Silly, but honestly it’s pretty great for those late night wake ups and feeds. You just smack the duck for a night light and presumably it’ll help him as he gets old enough to use it. About $9 on sale from Amazon.
We spent about $2,468 on home this month.
Food & Dining
Our crazy number of promotions for Paze, Instacart, DoorDash, UberEats, and so on continue to keep our pantry and freezer absolutely stuffed.
Groceries
Chris renewed his Instacart+ subscription with an annual promotion for $49—which let us continue to get very literally hundreds of dollars of free food each month with all the Chase Instacart promos we have. Offsetting some of our typical grocery expense this month was a class action lawsuit settlement from Beyond Meat—about $23!
Restaurants, Fast food, Alcohol & bars
Convenience food is a godsend sometimes with a little one around. Thankfully, we’ve been able to avoid most of it. But, when out on trips, it sure makes everything else easier. We picked up breakfast and coffee from a local place while on our first overnight trip with our son away from home. The beach espresso bar worked with our Paze promotion which still kept costs down. Add in the occasional pizza or salad take out and we spent about $36 on dining out.
We spent $438 on food & dining this month.
Childcare
Lukas’s third month of expenses continue to prove quite low.
Chris picked up a set of Bluey themed tiny picture books for about $7 as well as a collection of Duplo (with a battery powered train!) for about $50 locally. Jenni found a play mat with little toys he can whack while on his back for $5 locally too.
We spent about $62 on childcare this month.
Health & Fitness
And just like that, our healthcare costs have dropped like a rock. A big reason for that is that Jenni and Lukas now qualify for Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) in Virginia which covers their premium. We were surprised to learn that the underlying coverage is actually quite good—we were initially skeptical. It uses the same commercial networks we’re already familiar with (Anthem, Aetna, UHC, etc). We’ll report back how our actual use goes.
Health Insurance
With mom and child on subsidized health insurance, what about dad? Well, Chris went without health insurance this month—though not intentionally. Once the federal health insurance marketplace and state systems caught up to our son’s birth report, they automatically enrolled mom and child in CHIP as mentioned above. We didn’t do anything to apply. But for dad… Well, Chris had selected a different plan since our options changed but that also seems to have been wrong and he’s apparently transitioning to a state program, too. But the effect?
Despite paying about $118 for a Bronze plan, it was canceled late in July leaving Chris without insurance and a refund. So, hopefully, in September, he’ll have worked out which plan he qualifies for (and Virginia figures it out, too). He’ll be crossing his fingers in the meantime.
And so, that means our only actual health related expense this month was for dental insurance for both adults.
We spent $95 on health & fitness 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.
Service & Parts
Adding to the sudden catastrophic problems around the house, Jenni’s Prius decided to join the fun. Fortunately, just a flat tire. But, it couldn’t be a simple repair right? Nope… Three separate nails/screws and replacement required. Installed for about $92.
Hotel
As mentioned in our food section, we took Lukas out on his first overnight trip! We made use of an expiring IHG certificate (earned from a $49/year annual fee IHG credit card) to stay at Virginia Beach on the water. Lukas did great on his trip, we all loved the ocean and the only additional cost was parking for about $5!
ⓘ 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 |
| Mar 2026 | 7.5 | 12 |
| Apr 2026 | 14 | 22 |
| May 2026 | 6 | 0 |
| Jun 2026 | 12 | 0 |
| Jul 2026 | 11 | 0 |
| Aug 2026 | 12 | 13 |
Our hourly labor remains low—about 25 hours.
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
The markets continue to gyrate, but fortunately our assets remain pretty stable. From a high level, our assets and liabilities are shown in the data table below as of August 30, 2026.
| Description | Value (USD, $) |
|---|---|
| 401(k) | 1,420,467 |
| Brokerage | 1,199,730 |
| Roth IRA | 371,905 |
| Traditional IRA | 60,324 |
| HSA | 75,327 |
| Real Estate | 461,800 |
| Mortgage | (125,552) |
| Miscellaneous Assets | 25,000 |
| Checking & Savings | 25,353 |
| Net Worth | 3,514,354 |
- 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 up about 2.6% for the month.
We were up about 2.3%. That’s roughly expected on months with big increases—we tend to lag a little.
Overall, our net worth increased by around $78K 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% |
| March 2026 | $3,107,967 | (3.3%) |
| April 2026 | $3,358,212 | 8.1% |
| May 2026 | $3,500,516 | 4.2% |
| June 2026 | $3,482,197 | (0.5%) |
| July 2026 | $3,436,262 | (1.3%) |
| August 2026 | $3,514,354 | 2.3% |
Previous Donation Winner
Direct Relief won in our poll last month. We’ve sent along the donation. Monsoons, flash floods, rock-ice avalanches and more disasters continue to ravage Nepal and surrounding areas. We hope our small donation can offer a little relief to those affected.
Just like last month, we’ve matched the amount personally in order to help grow our Reader’s Fund. More giving!
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 $10,000 to deserving charities with your help in deciding which organizations to donate to.
Polls are now open for our next round of candidates: A+ nonprofits.
Charity Round-Up
Recognizing the gift we received to our son’s educational savings account (529) from Virginia this month, we were on the lookout for top scoring charities to pass on the support.
We looked through Charity Watch’s list of highly rated organizations and narrowed it down to causes that can make a difference in many lives from organization scoring an “A+”.
Summaries below include the impact metrics and a link to their Candid profile, which details the nonprofit’s operations and transparency.
1) Partners In Health
Why? Partners In Health (PIH) tackles a deep inequality in the world: whether a person can obtain high-quality medical care. They recognize treating disease can require addressing food, transportation, housing, and other practical barriers to recovery. Its model combines direct medical care with community health workers, local partnerships, and health system strengthening. As our healthcare insurer gyrates, our access to care has to. Despite our difficulties with care lately, we recognize how fortunate we are compared to others with a deep lack of healthcare around the world.
Where? Haiti, Rwanda, Liberia, Malawi, Sierra Leone, Lesotho, Peru, Mexico, Kazakhstan, Navajo Nation, and other underserved communities.
Our Notes: Founded in 1987, PIH has become one of the best-known organizations associated with global health equity. Rather than operating primarily as an outside relief organization, it develops long-term relationships with local governments and organizations. They work to strengthen the health systems that remain after a crisis has passed. With millions of patient encounters visits annually, it has substantial reach beyond individual clinics.
2) Rainforest Trust
Why? Rainforest Trust protects some of the world’s most important and threatened natural habitats. Its work provides a direct way for donors to help preserve forests, wildlife, biodiversity, and the communities that depend on them.
Where? Tropical regions of Latin America, Africa, Asia, and the Pacific.
Our Notes: Rather than focusing primarily on environmental advocacy, Rainforest Trust works with local partners to create and protect permanent conservation areas. Since 1988, it reports helping protect more than 68 million acres of habitat. Its measurable approach makes it particularly easy to see the tangible results of donations—something we “numbers people” love!
3) CancerCare
Why? CancerCare helps people deal with the many costs and challenges of cancer that medical treatment doesn’t address. It provides free emotional, practical, and financial assistance to patients and their families. They even work in less obvious areas of friction—like connecting patients to other nonprofits to help keep their pets.
Where? USA.
Our Notes: Cancer is increasingly in our lived experience as we are aging—friends and family are experiencing it more. CancerCare has been helping people affected by cancer since 1944. Professional oncology social workers provide counseling, support groups, education, resource navigation, and financial assistance through one organization. Its services are free, making them accessible regardless of a person’s ability to pay—which goes along with our belief that healthcare should be more accessible, or at least, widely accessible.
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
With the gutters and roof knocked out, we have one big remaining house project: the HVAC air handler. Our AC has continued to work throughout summer, but like a little ticking time bomb. The internal drain pan is leaking which slowly fills up the emergency pan below. The leak could hypothetically be repaired at a fairly high cost ($1-2K), but the longterm issue is that the internal insulation is now soaked. And has been for a while. Mold heaven. So, that 19 year old unit is on its death bed. We’ll see if we can get the same local company in that replaced our outdoor condenser to just replace the air handler with a matching unit. That should dramatically cut down on the quotes we’ve received for a full new replacement ($12-15K).
And of course, Lukas will be a big focus in his fourth month of life. Hopefully we’ll take another short trip. Hopefully his doctor appointments go well. Just keep growing, learning, and loving life like you’re doing little man.
We’ll all try to do the same.
Have you noticed home services/contractors seem to have spiked in cost even worse than groceries?
Let us know in the comments or on Threads and X (Twitter)!
