May Budget

Obviously these budget updates are really exciting because it takes me two weeks to get around to posting on them, if I remember at all...

But I promised I'd let you know how much we saved from having the windows open rather than using the air.  I'd said in the earlier post that the savings were significant.  Upon actually examination, they were around $17.  Is that significant?  Not really.  My vote: Open up the house when it's 60s and 70s, but the savings are not worth being uncomfortable for.  (We weren't really all that uncomfortable, except perhaps toward the end when we were waiting to see who would crack first!)  I'd also note that fresh air is good for you!

In other budget news, our passive income from savings account interest and revenue from a kindle book = $5.92.  We aren't going to be able to live on that, even with the house paid off someday!

Which leads me to my investing for income plans. I had big dreams.... now I just have more patience!  I'd invested $250 in a conservative income-producing mutual fund February 2014.  I added another $20 in April for some unknown reason.  That's $270.  The account garnered .82 at the end of March as a dividend, and the value has been slowly creeping up, but because of the fees, I have yet to break even.  Today it's at $267.98.  My plan A is to add a little more occasionally when our total investments with that mutual fund company reach a high enough number that the percentage fee they charge drops.  My plan B is to leave it alone and hope that I get $200 after 30 years, which by that point will probably buy us a steak dinner.

I'm also reading The Prosperous Heart: Creating a Life of "Enough" by Julia Cameron right now.  I'll keep you posted!