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This month went by so quickly. I found myself not really motivated to push for payouts from surveys and Swagbucks like March. The Market was also kicking back up a little this month. So let’s break down how we’re looking so far for the year in bonus income plus investing.
| April | Vanguard | Robinhood | Wife’s Robinhood |
|---|---|---|---|
| Balance 1 April | $13,506.92 | $5,439.32 | $330 |
| Money added Apr | $0.00 | $2,150 | $1,805 |
| Dividends Apr | $223.85 | $260.06 | Included to left. |
| Balance Apr 30th | $14,443.92 | $7,875.02 | $3,070.90 |
Now before those numbers start to look wonky I’ll break down the confusion. First, once my wife’s account was able to reach $2,000 I was able to activate the $1,000 of interest free margin in her account. That’s why it looks like $2,800 instead of $1,800.
After long contemplation I decided to use that $1,000 to buy shares of O in her account. The BLOX is finished at its $1,000 mark, the MAIN is 1 share away from $1,000 which means I only need to put $1,000 more into her account to finish it off and fully focus on my funds. Her funds will be set to DRIP allowing the dividends to reinvest. While I am bearish on these weekly crypto funds I might have the BLOX also reinvest just so that I can be as hands off as possible on her account.
My Robinhood also has a bad looking calculation for several reasons. The first is I tested my covered calls last week by using my Emergency Fund. A bad decision, I know, but payday was only 8 days out when I did it and my Emergency Fund is back up to where it was supposed to be again. The money made off those calls isn’t counted in either dividends or money added, but $163 was pulled back to the emergency fund. $63 of which was to hold for taxes, and the $100 was to add back into the funds borrowed. The second reason is I had to remove my $1,000 of margin in order to withdraw funds out of my account. If I’m going to continue the covered call path then I need to be able to force my tax money out into the emergency fund.
| Source | Income | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Swagbucks: | $400 | Earned in March couldn’t cash until April. |
| Chase Credit Card: | $700 | Churned in March, settled in April. |
| Robinhood Gold Card: | $100 | 1st time using the 3% cash back rewards. |
| Added from checking/savings: | $2,955 | Borrowed $1850 from Emergency Fund. Repaid May 1st. |
$1,200 in bonus income, but $1,100 was earned last month. If we track the covered calls as income we add $198.94 that can be counted before May. That puts us at $1,398.
2026 Bonus Income Totals
Swagbucks: $300 Jan, $300 February, $0 March, $400 April ($1,000 2026).
Chase rewards: $100 Jan. $300 February, $100 March, $700 April ($1,200 2026)
USAA Rewards: $100 Jan, $100 March, $0 April ($200 2026)
Branded Surveys: $200 March, $0 April ($200 2026)
Chime Referrals: $300 March, $0 April ($300 taxable 2026)
SoFi Bonuses: $5 Jan $300 March (Taxable), $0 April ($305 2026)
FreeCash: $187 March, $0 April
Robinhood Gold Card: $100 April
Covered Calls: $198.94 April
Total: $3,690.94
Dividends: $370.53 Jan, $384.39 Feb, $480.59 Mar, $483.91 Apr ($1,737.30 2026)
Total with Dividends: $5,428.24
I really need to refocus my efforts on the side hustles. Only $100 extra from churning, points, or phone games this month. Here’s to continued progress!
~~Miniwing~~
Investor, Stoic, Parent