April 2026 Update
Time for the monthly update on how I’m doing. This time, I did much better. I’m writing this a few days before April 1st, but I actually took my credit card out of my wallet to force myself not to spend anything for the last six days of the month. I should be able to stretch it out — I have a full tank of gas and a fridge stocked with at least a couple weeks’ worth of food for me and my family. So realistically, there’s no reason for me to spend any more money this month. Let’s review the budget and see where things stand.
Spending
Remember, controlling your spending is the #1 priority when it comes to saving money. You can’t fix what you don’t track. That said one thing I’m pretty proud of is that I gave my Budget a FULL make over.
Where I Slipped:
Eating Out
Yeah… this one has always been a little difficult for me to control. But I did MUCH better this month compared to last month — only $30 over budget versus $256.69 over in February 2026.
I meal prepped more this month than I did last month. The meals were definitely a little more boring, but that’s part of the adjustment. I haven’t found a recipe that’s versatile and consistent enough yet to confidently put in the meal prep section of this blog, but I’m working on it.
I’m hoping to experiment next week with something centered around fish — maybe salmon or halibut with vegetables and a solid stock or sauce that can rotate easily.
Progress, not perfection.
Groceries
Groceries can be a little misleading if you just look at the raw number. I’m actually much closer to my goal than it seems.
The main reason I’m about $60 over budget is because I bought long pillows for all three of my kids at Costco — about $16 each. That’s roughly $48 right there. If you subtract that from the overage, I’m really only about $12 over budget on actual food.
And when I look at what’s currently in the fridge and freezer — frozen cauliflower pizza, a full Costco pack of salmon and halibut, and at least two more days’ worth of potato breakfast bowls. enough for a day of frozen fish tacos — I’ve already prepped enough to cover the first week of April.
So while it technically shows that I overspent by $60 this month, a portion of that spending is rolling into April. The meal prep gains will mostly show up next month.
I don’t know if that’s hard to follow, but from my perspective, I actually feel good about this “overspending.” It wasn’t careless — it was strategic — and careless spending is ACTUALLY what a budget is helping you track.
Where I SUCCEEDED (Can’t always just say when you FAIL, you need to pat yourself on your back too):
AEGIS Game (was Archon Games)
This category was WAY under budget this month, mostly because my contractors were sick. For some reason, this month everyone seemed to catch something — just one of those bugs going around (at least it wasn’t another round of COVID).
However it happened, it worked out financially this mon
Plans on how to do better:
Eating Out, Diet, and Groceries
I need to have a little more foresight in this category. I barely went over, and honestly, if I hadn’t bought those burritos yesterday, I would’ve hit my goal and been about $3 under. LOL. But I’m not perfect. What matters is that I DID DO WAY BETTER THIS MONTH. The discipline grew a lot. That’s progress. But I still need a better plan. I think part of the issue is that I only build one meal when I meal prep. I can push through it — I really can — but you also have to study yourself. That’s important. For example, I need to lose weight. Not a good-or-bad thing. Just a fact. I’m 5’6” and 222 pounds right now. I want to lose about 60 pounds. So whatever food strategy I build has to support that goal too.Another issue: I can’t eat the same meal for more than two days in a row. That’s REALLY hard with traditional meal prep. Instead of cooking one meal for four straight days (which I’ve been doing), I probably need to cook three different meals that each last two days. That means cooking more on Saturday — maybe three hours instead of one — but I need to account for my food psychology as well as my budget. So let’s make a plan. Let’s lay out the constraints and build a system around them. And yes… I think I need to lay out the plan.
Constraints:
I need at least 3–4 different meals per week because I can only eat the same meal two days in a row before I start to lose it. (Three days in a row is pushing it.)
I need a variety of flavors. One meal needs to have a different flavor profile than the previous one — for me, that usually means alternating between savory and something slightly sweet or tangy, or even Italian / Korean (and Asian). [ I just love Italian food and well I’m Asian soo…]
To lose weight, I’m removing most carbs and replacing them with vegetables. That means no more heavy pasta or rice bases for now — more greens, roasted vegetables, and higher-protein plates.
My food needs to be separate from my kids’ meals. I enjoy cooking anyway, so making something fresh for them is fine — but I need to account for that time and cost in my planning.
Plan:
Alright, here’s the plan. I still have two burrito bowls left in the fridge, and today I have my kids. Since it’s Wednesday and I’ll be cooking something fresh for them anyway, I don’t need to meal prep for myself right now. I can stretch what I have until Saturday and then fully meal prep without work or other responsibilities getting in the way. Saturday will be the easier, more focused day to do it right.
Let’s build the grocery plan for the week.
1) Vegetable + Fish Dish (2 Days)
I want to try a vegetable + fish dish with cream and stock. I already have the fish and stock — I’m just missing the vegetables and cream.
Grocery List (have everything else):
1 bag of baby spinach (Costco — use what I need, freeze the rest)
1 quart skim milk (Vons)
1 head of cauliflower (Costco or Vons)
2) Thai Curry (Vegetable + Chicken) (2 Days)
I want to make a Thai curry with vegetables and chicken breast. I already have most of the ingredients.
Grocery List (have everything else):
Thai basil (Asian market)
Bell peppers (Costco usually has a 3-pack)
1 cauliflower (part of the sauce base)
1 eggplant (Asian market)
3) Something Sweet
Okay… this one is trickier.
The sweetness should come from fruit — not added sugar. I’ve never really cooked with fruit much. Pineapple fried rice is out because it’s just CRAZY carbs.... I do have frozen berries in the freezer.
Maybe a large smoothie bowl? The question is whether it’ll actually fill me.
Alright, here’s the plan:
Grocery List (have everything else):
1 quart skim milk (Combining this with the vegetable + fish dish above, I think I’ll need one full gallon — a little more for savings)
Granola oats (for topping — I already have chia seeds)
Vanilla yogurt (Vons / Ralphs / Trader Joes)
1 small container of fresh strawberries
1 small container of fresh blueberries
Plan is set have no idea if it’ll work out but it’s something I can stick too.
AEGIS Games
I’ve taken over the programming side of the project. I’m a software engineer by trade, and I’ve learned enough of Godot at this point that I don’t think I need outside help on the programming anymore. However, I didn’t want to just fire my engineer contractor outright. Instead, I redirected his work toward the final pieces of the game that still needs to be built out and not focus on the bugs on the parts of the games that are already built out, and I’ll handle the bugs and use cases of things that are already built out myself.
I believe this will drastically reduce my expenses pretty quickly.
I still need the designer, though — I have absolutely no design talent whatsoever.
Net Worth
This month shows continued progress and, more importantly, stability. As of the latest update, my net worth stands at $157,982.42, up from $156,594.91 at the end of February. The growth wasn’t explosive, but it was real and clean — no ACATS timing distortions, no consolidation noise — just steady execution. Investments remain the engine at over $140K, cash is stable, and liabilities are basically negligible. The big difference this month isn’t dramatic gains; it’s consistency. No major swings, no hidden adjustments — just disciplined tracking and incremental progress. And at this stage, steady forward movement matters more than flashy jumps.