The Work
That is the Engineering Problem.
This is where I work the questions underneath it — with real data, real comparisons, and a decision at the end of each one. The evidence stays attached, so anyone can check it.
One Problem. Three Parts of The Work.
Build the financial resources and sustainable earned income to support a life I love.
Career · Income · Investments · Banking · Credit Cards · Points
This is the work of figuring out how that life gets funded—and how I can take greater financial ownership of it.
Make the systems around my life work better when improving them is worth it.
Expenses · Apps · Tools · Comparisons · Automation · Systems
The goal is not to optimize everything. It is to improve what genuinely saves money, time, effort, complexity, or mental load.
Use the money, time, and capacity I create to live the life I’m building.
Travel · Health · Relationships · Experiences · Joy · Home · Family
Funding and optimizing the life are not the finish line. Living is the point.
Some of The Work fits naturally in one part. Some belongs in more than one.
Completed Work
See the finished analyses, decisions, and results.
FUND IT · IN PROGRESS
Since July 1, 2026, I've been separating my own spending from shared purchases, reimbursements, and transfers to get one reliable number: what my life costs in a year. I already have broad estimates for several major expenses. Once the baseline is done, I'll turn it into my Financial Requirement: the yearly amount needed to sustainably support the life I'm building.
What I know now: No answer yet. The yearly number needs at least one full year of sorted transactions: July 1, 2026–June 30, 2027.
Next: Finish the baseline, then calculate the Financial Requirement.
Updated: September 6, 2026
What Success Looks Like:
Working Expectation: I expect the final baseline to look different from raw account totals—and to capture irregular expenses that a typical month can easily miss.
Tools Used: Monarch captures and organizes the transaction context, including ownership. Excel lets me analyze the data in ways the raw transaction view cannot.
Started: July 1, 2026
Time horizon: At least one full year of data.
FUND IT · IN PROGRESS
I’m taking a closer look at the investments I already own: what to keep, what to change, and where new money should go. I use AI for the research, so I wrote a set of rules any capable AI tool can follow, not just one brand. The rules make the AI double-check its facts, argue against its own answer, compare other options, and count taxes and the effect on everything else I own before it recommends anything.
What I know now: The first portfolio audit showed that fund fees weren’t the main concern. The bigger questions are: How concentrated is my portfolio, and where should I put the next dollar?
Next: Continue the deeper holding research, starting with Amazon.
Updated: September 6, 2026
How the System Is Built:
I built the system to be AI-portable rather than tied to one model or platform. A governing master holds the durable rules, a workbook holds the changing portfolio data and facts, and a reusable prompt tells a capable AI how to analyze, verify, red-team, and report.
My husband’s portfolio uses a separate version of the same system. The two versions can share useful methodology improvements in either direction while keeping our holdings, balances, tax facts, goals, preferences, and policies separate.
Questions inside this work:
What Success Looks Like:
Working Expectation: I expect the biggest value to come from disciplined portfolio structure, concentration management, and better next-dollar decisions—not from generating more trades. The AI system should improve the quality and consistency of those decisions, not increase activity for its own sake.
This documents my own portfolio decisions, not financial or investment advice. See Editorial Standards.
FUND IT · IN PROGRESS
I earned my master’s degree in mechanical engineering in May 2014. My career did not follow the path I expected, but the years since have not been an empty gap. Now I’m figuring out where my engineering training and strengths in systems, analysis, spreadsheets, research, and process improvement fit—and which roles offer the challenge, compensation, growth, flexibility, and boundaries I’m looking for.
What I know now: Narrowing the roles that best fit my strengths, income goals, growth, flexibility, and boundaries.
Next: Review 25–30 postings for roles I would realistically want and could pursue, then track which skills and tools appear most often.
Updated: September 6, 2026
Questions inside this work:
What Success Looks Like:
Working Expectation: I expect the strongest fits to be roles that use analysis, systems, research, and process improvement with clear boundaries and predictable expectations—likely in analytics, operations, finance-adjacent, engineering-adjacent, or systems/process work rather than sales-heavy, commission-dependent, or on-call client service.
FUND IT · OPTIMIZE IT · IN PROGRESS
I’m building a Points Tracker from my actual redemptions so I can see what my credit card points are really worth to me—not just what a theoretical valuation says they’re worth.
What I know now: I have real redemption data from multiple trips, but I do not yet have a system for comparing those decisions over time and across points ecosystems.
Next: Build a Points Tracker to track redemptions and cash-vs.-points decisions over time — including which points I use most, my highest and lowest redemption values, transfer bonuses, and the value I personally get from each ecosystem.
Updated: September 24, 2026
What Success Looks Like:
OPTIMIZE IT · IN PROGRESS
Starting with my August 2026 bill, compared with Columbia Gas of Ohio’s Standard Choice Offer (SCO).
On July 6, 2026, I locked in a 12-month fixed natural-gas supply rate of 49.9¢/Ccf with Utility Gas and Power. It first appeared on my August bill. Each bill, I compare what I paid with what Columbia Gas of Ohio’s Standard Choice Offer (SCO) rate would have cost for the same usage.
What I know now: Three low-usage bills in, the difference is only cents: my fixed-rate supply cost was about 1¢ higher in August, 10¢ lower in September, and 21¢ lower in October. Natural gas use is heavily seasonal for me, so the winter bills will be the real test.
Next: Add each new bill and compare it the same way. Reassess after the February or March 2027 bill, once winter usage is in.
Updated: October 6, 2026
What Success Looks Like:
Working Expectation: When I signed up on July 6, 2026, Columbia Gas’s SCO rate was 54.81¢/Ccf. I expected the fixed rate to reduce my exposure to monthly price changes, especially during higher-usage winter months—but the $150 early-termination fee would limit my flexibility if rates later fell enough to make switching worthwhile.
Started: July 6, 2026
Evidence so far: 3 of 12 bills (August 6, 2026 and September 4, 2026 and October 6, 2026).
OPTIMIZE IT · IN PROGRESS
Starting with my December 2025 bill, compared with Ohio Power Company’s published Price to Compare (formerly AEP Ohio).
The contract is signed, but the 36-month value test is still in progress.
What I know now: So far, the fixed rate is ahead. Through the October 6, 2026 bill, my Ohio Gas and Electric generation cost was $39.06 lower than the Ohio Power Company Price to Compare cost for the same 5,700 kWh — 6.5% under the published Price to Compare.
Next: Keep measuring. Through the October 6, 2026 bill, the fixed rate is ahead by $39.06 on generation charges. The contract has no early termination fee, and later bills could change this comparison.
Updated: October 6, 2026
What Success Looks Like:
11 billing cycles into a 36-month contract.: So far, the fixed rate is ahead. Through the October 6, 2026 bill, my Ohio Gas and Electric generation cost was $39.06 lower than the Ohio Power Company Price to Compare cost for the same 5,700 kWh — 6.5% under the published Price to Compare.
Formula: Cost difference ÷ cumulative Ohio Power Company Price to Compare cost × 100
$39.06 ÷ $602.78 × 100 = 6.48% ≈ 6.5%
| Bill month | Usage (kWh) | Fixed rate | Price to Compare | Difference | Published rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-12 | 283 | $27.99 | $27.73 | $-0.26 | 9.80¢/kWh |
| 2026-01 | 407 | $40.25 | $43.35 | $3.10 | 10.65¢/kWh |
| 2026-02 | 342 | $33.82 | $36.42 | $2.60 | 10.65¢/kWh |
| 2026-03 | 293 | $28.98 | $31.20 | $2.22 | 10.65¢/kWh |
| 2026-04 | 249 | $24.63 | $24.75 | $0.12 | 9.94¢/kWh |
| 2026-05 | 288 | $28.48 | $28.63 | $0.15 | 9.94¢/kWh |
| 2026-06 | 524 | $51.82 | $53.03 | $1.21 | 10.12¢/kWh |
| 2026-07 | 865 | $85.55 | $94.89 | $9.34 | 10.97¢/kWh |
| 2026-08 | 932 | $92.17 | $102.24 | $10.07 | 10.97¢/kWh |
| 2026-09 | 764 | $75.56 | $83.81 | $8.25 | 10.97¢/kWh |
| 2026-10 | 753 | $74.47 | $76.73 | $2.26 | 10.19¢/kWh |
Only electricity generation charges are included. Delivery and non-generation charges are excluded.
Working Expectation: On October 3, 2025, I signed up for a 36-month fixed electricity supply rate of $0.0989/kWh with Ohio Gas and Electric and no early termination fee. I expected the rate lock to protect me if electricity prices rose, while the lack of a termination fee limited the downside if better rates appeared.
Time horizon: 11 of 36 bills analyzed.
FUND IT · OPTIMIZE IT · IN PROGRESS
I paid $49.99 for my first year of Monarch Core on July 1, 2026. I’m using it heavily while I build the spending baseline; the test is whether it remains useful enough to justify the ongoing price afterward.
OPTIMIZE IT · IN PROGRESS
Since August 2026, I’ve been using ChatGPT and Claude side by side on Engineering My Best Life work to see whether one is stronger overall or whether each earns a different role.
OPTIMIZE IT · LIVE IT · IN PROGRESS
I bought Lifetime Flighty Pro on January 28, 2026 for $316.94, including tax. I love the travel data and have found the alerts and organization more useful than I expected, but I’m still evaluating whether the lifetime value justifies what I paid.
OPTIMIZE IT · FUND IT · COMPLETED
Result: Keep. At $1,609.53 in fare credits and refunds, JetBack’s $99.99 flat annual fee beat every commission model I tested — even a 10% commission would have cost $160.95.
See the full analysisOPTIMIZE IT · FUND IT · COMPLETED
Result: Yes. $1,609.53 in fare credits and refunds as of August 20, 2026, versus a $99.99 annual fee.
See the full analysisOPTIMIZE IT · FUND IT · COMPLETED
Result: Yes. CardPointers+ reduced manual work and recovered more on my eight cards than its purchase price.
See the full analysisOPTIMIZE IT · COMPLETED
Result: Automatic direct withdrawal. The July 2026 credit-card test was financially positive, but credit-card autopay wasn't available. Capturing the extra rewards would require a manual payment every month, so I chose automatic direct withdrawal.
See the full analysisOPTIMIZE IT · LIVE IT · COMING UP
Once the spending baseline is reliable, I can ask which expenses genuinely earn their place in a life I love—and which are not worth the money, time, effort, or complexity they require.
FUND IT · OPTIMIZE IT · COMING UP
I can choose cash back or American Express Membership Rewards through Rakuten. I currently choose points, but I want to compare the guaranteed value of cash with the value I actually get when I redeem those points — including transfer bonuses, redemption value, and how often I can use them well.
FUND IT · OPTIMIZE IT · COMING UP
Treasury bills are short-term loans to the U.S. government that pay interest. CDs (certificates of deposit) are bank deposits that generally pay a fixed rate when held for a set period. I want to compare interest rates, access to the money, time commitments, early-withdrawal penalties, and how much flexibility I would give up for a higher guaranteed rate.
FUND IT · OPTIMIZE IT · COMING UP
Before renewing a card with an annual fee, I want to compare what it actually gave me—credits I used, points I earned, and useful benefits—with the cost of keeping it. Cards without fees still have to earn their place by being useful, not adding unnecessary complexity.
LIVE IT · COMING UP
Peru is one of the clearest examples. Hiking to Machu Picchu is something I want to do while I have the physical capacity for it.
How Do I Decide What Works?
I use five Design Criteria to keep the larger life in view.
I use only the criteria that matter to each problem. There is no universal score.
Health is the constraint I design around. Joy is the reason I design at all.
Explore the Design CriteriaResults, Not Just Projects
What was I trying to solve? What evidence mattered? What happened? What did I decide? What happens next?
The Work is not about complexity. It is about making better decisions—and preserving what I learn.
Follow The Work
The Engineering Report is where I’ll connect the most useful results, decisions, wins, mistakes, changes of mind, tools I’m testing, experiences I’m planning and living, and the questions I’m tackling next.