Not everything valuable shows up on a paycheck. Some of it looks like: – a old dog still wagging his tail – a kid asking you to wrestle one more time – chores done before the sun remembers to rise – small wins stacking up, quiet and steady The world shouts about fast money and easy roads. But the good life? It’s usually slow… simple… and earned one honest day at a time.

Anyone else do this? February clearances are 🔥—grabbed $300 worth of toys (LEGO, Hot Wheels, DC, Volvo digger) for $100! Who’s stocking up early? 🎁

You see the wildest things thrifting 😆

Side hustle + dividend shares = the boss can fire me, but my money still clocks in. $strc $strd $sata

Side hustle + dividend shares = the boss can fire me, but my money still clocks in. $strc $sata $strd

Any day in February you can squeeze in a warm walk is a win 🏅

Bring back labels like this. “Crafted in the USA.” Not a QR code. Not a paragraph of excuses. Just pride. We don’t have a supply problem. We have a self-control problem. Americans are drowning in cheap junk we don’t need, bought with money we don’t have, to impress people who don’t care. Most of it breaks, gets tossed, and ends up replaced by… more junk. Used to be you bought one thing. It lasted. You fixed it. You passed it down. Now we buy five versions of the same garbage because it’s “on sale” and made as cheap as possible on the other side of the planet. If we want jobs here, skills here, pride here, it starts with buying less and buying better. Quality over clutter. Craft over convenience. America over disposable nonsense.

Stretching isn’t fun. After 30, it’s mandatory. Want to move at 70? Do the work at 30. 15 minutes a day decides your future.

I’m not rich. I don’t make crazy money. My portfolio isn’t impressive. But here’s the difference. I started. I invest what I can, when I can. I learn as I go. I don’t sit on the couch waiting for perfect. Slow money beats no money. Consistency beats excuses. It’s not flashy, but it works. Little by little, I’m getting ahead.

I’m using all my side hustle income to slowly replace our monthly bills. Money from raising cows and driving Amazon Flex goes into preferred dividend stocks that pay income every month or quarter. The goal is to cover things like: $STRC #STRD • Electric: ~$250/month • Phone: ~$150/month • Internet: ~$100/month Phase 1 is just building enough shares so the dividends cover each bill. No shortcuts, no lifestyle upgrades. One bill at a time. Not chasing big returns. Just building stability for our family.

Day 636 Phase Zero: Hustle Phase Bills don’t care about your goals. They show up every month and take what they’re owed. So I stopped negotiating with them. 2025 was cows and Amazon Flex. Cold mornings. Long routes. Missed comfort. Every extra dollar went into The Bill Kill Plan. No saving face. No lifestyle. No mercy. You don’t eliminate bills by wishing. You eliminate them by working first.

The logo is simple on purpose. A switch, a bill, and a line through it. Because the goal isn’t flashy returns. It’s flipping bills off. Side hustle money → preferred shares → utilities paid without a paycheck. I call it The Bill Kill Plan. Every share has a job. $STRD $STRC $SATA

Winter reminder: if you live north of the 37th parallel, your body can’t make vitamin D from sunlight in winter. Even sunny days don’t cut it. UVB doesn’t reach us. Go outside anyway for mood, but vitamin D comes from food or supplements until spring.

Laziness didn’t sneak up on me. I let it in. Missed the 100-pushup daily average. That’s failure. The fix isn’t thinking about it. It’s doing the work daily.

Day 632 Phase One: Kill the Electric Bill I’m using side-hustle income to buy STRD until I reach 300 shares. At that point, the monthly dividends should cover our $250 electric bill. No lifestyle upgrade. No timing the market. Just one asset with one job. Progress so far: 175 / 300 shares. Goal isn’t more income. Goal is one less bill every month. Not financial advice to just a side hustle experiment.

Day 631 I’m not afraid of hard work. I’m afraid of owing my time to someone else.

Every day is a choice: improve or drift into decay. Even on busy days, you can find 15–30 minutes for a mile walk. I walked while my kid was at practice tonight. Mobility slows aging. Keep moving forward. 🚶‍♂️🔥

Simplest wealth plan: Single? Save 50%+ of your income. Invest it. Married? Live off one salary, save/invest the rest. Assets that grow (stocks, real estate, etc.) do the heavy lifting over time. High savings rate = fast freedom. That’s it.

I didn’t fund this plan with a windfall. I funded it with cows and miles. Side hustles (raising beef + Amazon Flex) brought in ~$1.5k–$2k/mo. Instead of lifestyle creep, I used it to replace bills. The target: $800/mo in bills replaced ~$57k total capital Current progress: • STRD target: 300 shares • Current: 175 shares (~58% complete) Electric isn’t fully replaced yet, but it’s underway. One bill at a time. One asset per bill. Goal wasn’t more income. Goal was fewer mandatory expenses. Side hustles didn’t change my lifestyle. They changed who pays the utilities. Not financial advice just Hustle advice!

Good help is always around when you power up the shop vac!