I thought I had posted the round up from last week. Looks like I just saved the draft. So I really haven’t posted in almost a week. Sorry about that.
As I am sitting here cradling my head (allergies are NOT fun) and thinking about how much I need to get done before I go to work at 4pm to - maybe - make $100, I start wondering if this is worth it. I don’t mind hard work, but at the same time I’m not the pseudo-masochist (not sado, pseudo) that Mr. Grump is, either. I do enjoy being able to relax every now and then. He has to be constantly moving and doing.
I’ve been doing this *on the side* stuff from about 7am-3pm or 4pm every day, then going to work at night from 4-10 or 11. Then on the weekends I work at least Saturday night 4-11 and Sunday from 10am-8pm. So really I’m working about 60 hours a week for not a whole lot of money.
I figured out that if I hit my target, I am getting paid about $0.80 per hour. As depressing of a statistic that sounds, it really isn’t the thing that bothers me the most.
The worst part of it for me - I have no time to paint.
I keep telling myself that this stuff *should* eventually be basically passive income. (Honestly, I still think I’d be spending about 20 hours per week on it, regardless). But to get to that place, it looks like I’ll be doing this 80 hours and working at the restaurant for another year or so. Wouldn’t be a bad thing - if I had time to paint.
This is exacerbated by the fact that I’ve recently done some pretty kick-ass paintings. I really think I’m starting to finally “get” it. And my teacher and close artist friends have told me they think I should be able to get into a gallery - and that much closer to my dream - pretty soon. So theoretically I should be pouring all of my energy into art. I feel like something’s gotta give. The happiest two weeks of my life since I quit my job were when I got to paint for 3-4 hours for two weeks and make some of those paintings. This is not an easy path.
Sorry guys, I’m just a little worn out today. I realized I haven’t had a day off since we were in Kansas. And, although I very much enjoyed going, you can’t completely relax when you are visiting someone else’s house, you know?
My birthday is on Sunday, and I’ll be 24. I’ve been frustrated this week because it seems like it is going to take forever for us to get out of this hole - and get back to just being at $0. We’re not even at the stage where we can accumulate wealth.
The fiancee and I talked last night about some options. Because, really, we should be totally knocking this thing out. The kicker is really the car payment (his). If you add up the car and house payment, we are effectively paying the payment on a $300,000 mortgage, which if you have 20% equity - would be a $375,000 house. And here in Houston, $375k gets you A LOT of house. That thought was incredibly sobering.
But unfortunately, there is not a whole lot we can do about it at the moment, because 4×4 trucks (required for work) are pretty freaking expensive. A ten year old truck with over 200,000 miles on it was still worth $7,000. So at least we know the resale will stay high - but in the meantime, we just have to tuck in even more.
We’ve pretty much run out of notches in our proverbial belt. Dang. Truthfully, we should be more than fine, but this is definitely a precautionary measure.
I spent a good portion of yesterday trying to figure out how to skim from the budget, which we already thought was pretty bare bones to begin with. The reason? Our roommate will be closing on his first home November 8th, so we will no longer have that income stream. Having a roommate has definitely mad the financial road a little easier for us, and without one, I don’t think I would be able to be making the major life changes I am right now.
So how much did I have to try and cut out? About $800, because we also wanted to lowball what I am making. Here’s what we had to cut:
Gym Memberships: $60, net $40 <— we didn’t use them much, and there’s a local racquet club with a gym for $20 a household
Art: $100 <— this hurt a lot, I keep my sanity through classes
Eating Out: $100
Power: $100 (finally lowered our electric bill!!!!)
Cable: $30
Credit Card Payoff: $388
Reducing the credit card paydown hurt the most, but really, November is a five pay-day month, bonus month (which will help with December), and January we *may* have a roommate for a month, the February is another five pay-day month. So every bit of extra we have will go towards 1) our reserve, and 2) credit card payoff. Plus, by the end of February I should be up and running enough to give up the restaurant, or just have some mad money.
This is definitely not easy, but having everything paid off will be so exhilarating!!!
Well, this week has definitely been about working towards the future. Here is a round-up of my earnings this week:
Restaurant: $65
eBay (net): $24
Squidoo Payout: $34
Antique Store (net): $200
Total: $323
So, not the $400 I am supposed to get every week, but remember I had a surplus last week. I also will have listed about 60 items on eBay by the end of tomorrow with anticipated sales of about $1,300, and a net payout of $500 or so (these are consignments, so I get commission from them.)
Also exciting is that we got our first commission from the sale of an item on our website, www.dorkgamer.com. We are having a ton of fun building these. I know all of you guys out there who like off-line gaming just might get hooked. Okay kiddies, time to wrap up. I’ll probably post again about us readjusting our budget for the anticipated moving of our roommate - no fun. Have a great weekend!
In our society today, the word risk has a horrible connotation. Why? People associate risk with irresponsible behavior and high failure rates. In the financial world the term risk simply means uncertainty. If we can predict an event with accuracy on a regular basis, the event is considered low risk. Conversely, if we cannot, it is considered high risk.
Right now in my life I crave a certain amount of security. I would prefer to have a large amount of security. However, security can be just as damaging to your overall financial health as risk can.
If you save too much of your money without growing it, and you have a fear of the “risk” associated with higher yielding accounts or even the market, you may see a decrease in your buying power due to inflation.
True story, I swear, but when I worked with the bank I remember I had a client who distrusted banks and anything financial. Well, instead of putting her money into investments and higher yielding accounts, she put it in a drawer of a table. No joke, one day her house was hit by a tornado. Her money flew throughout the neighborhood, raining down on her joyous neighbors. Well, she thought she was doing something safe and secure, but she wound up losing a good amount of savings in the process.
I feel that If you never take any risk, you will never move forward. These “risks” you take could come in almost any form – asking for a raise, moving to a better neighborhood, starting a new company, investing in the market, selling your home. Because you do not know the outcome of any of these events, they all have inherent risk.
If you never ask for a raise, will your employer likely give you the value that you create?
No.
Why not? Your employer is most likely a smart businessperson. They will pay you the least amount possible to keep you happy and productive.
Nevertheless, if you walk into any of these major decisions lightly, and without thought of the possible various outcomes, the events can be disastrous. For example, take the person who decides to begin flipping homes – with no previous experience, and without considering current market conditions. I think the increase in foreclosures paints the picture of those who went into a speculative market uninformed.
What is the solution?Balance.
In order to move forward, to truly succeed, you have to take risks. Otherwise you wind up burying all of your savings in the yard and perhaps losing its location at worse, and at best, seeing a vast decrease in your buying power. However, you do need some security, some soft landing for the hard times. I really believe a good reserve fund will give you that security, as well as the capital and flexibilityto take other financial risks without devastating yourself if the results are not as favorable as you hoped.
Well, Mr. Grump and I have arrived back from our buying trip, er… vacation. Arriving with a large load of things to throw up on eBay and some new ideas for our other ventures I am looking forward to this next month or so.
However, the restaurant didn’t schedule me for work until Saturday night, which means at most I will probably work three days next week. Well, I guess I needed a small kick in the pants to get to work on our other ventures and get out of the (relative) security of the restaurant. But really, I’m glad. I feel like I was beginning to rely on it too much for my weekly income. Time to get my butt in gear.
We’re currently waiting to find out what our payout for Squidoo is, it seems they’ve been having some server issues the past couple of days. But our affiliate earnings through our lenses are up to $23.00, and we earned $50.00 this weekend while we were away on a couple of our other websites. Pretty exciting! Now, only $327.00 to go for the rest of the week. I better start listing…
Reason #564734 why it is good to have a (large) reserve and not be in our position of trying to get out of debt:
It looks like our roommate will be moving out into his new home by the end of the month. Looks like that little bit of income will be gone now. Le sigh.
We had to decide to not go to New Orleans for our school’s homecoming this year, despite our strong desire to do so. I guess I am growing up now or something…
Also, between the fiance needing new glasses, both our cars needing their respective check-ups, and the dishwasher kicking the bucket, we are digging into our savings. Well, the good side is that we’re NOT using our cards.
That check from the Antique Booth will be AWESOME. Now, to move onto work…
I think that I am usually going to be doing this on a Friday - but I will be out of town, so here is my weekly update a day early:
Earnings Paid Out:
Restaurant: $500
eBay (net): $ 45.30
Squidoo: $ 0
CJ: $0
Antique Store: $0
Total: $ 545.30
Doesn’t seem like too bad of a week, until I take into account that we are going out of town through Tuesday. This means I will be out of the restaurant during the 3 busiest days of the week, when I’m usually guaranteed to make $300. So that extra $145.30 will actually go towards what I (should have) earn(ed) next week. We also have a check coming from the antique mall for $260 or so, so between the extra this week and the antique mall, that should bring me up to my goal of $400 next week. Phew! We will also get our Squidoo payout on the 7th or so. I can’t wait to find out what that is. We have put so much work into it (I’ll post later explaining Squidoo).
Luckily, this weekend is not just a pleasant trip to see family. We are also going to be picking up a significant amount of inventory to list on eBay,so hopefully we’ll start to see some of that snowballing in the near future.
It is amazing how difficult it is to get a business started with little to no capital while still trying to earn money and pay off your debts - all at the same time.
And on this day, man also realized that he was in debt.
I too, have found both sweet tea and debt, although I am trying my hardest to get rid of the latter. I have a lot that I am trying to accomplish here, and there really aren’t enough hours in the day to do it all. But to give you an idea of what I am trying to do, here are my goals:
Plan my wedding (June 27th, 2008 is the date)
Become debt free by April 2008
Stop working at the restaurant and be working for myself by the wedding
Eventually stop working for myself (at home) and go back to school for art
Become a professional artist
RETIREby 35
That’s all doable, right?
Now, my definition of retirement isn’t exactly sitting on my butt and watching TV all day. If I am able to become a professional artist and travel the world to paint, I consider that my ideal form of retirement, even though I would be technically working. I think when you stop working and learning, you are dead.
In the meantime, I am taking a class or two for painting, waiting tables, and trying to get my internet business(es) off the ground.
In order for me and my fiancee’s budget to work, I need to make about $400 per week. Right now, these are my various sources of income:
Restaurant (waiting tables)
eBay
Squidoo
Affiliate marketing through eBay and Squidoo
Antique Booth at an antique mall (soon to be going bye-bye)
So basically, this blog is going to follow my quest towards accomplishing the above goals of becoming debt free, then weaning myself off the restaurant (although it is SUCH easy money sometimes), then going back to school for art and my quest as an artist, and finally - RETIREMENT.
I’m 23 right now, soon to be 24. I think I can accomplish those goals. Most people don’t really begin to save for retirement until their 50s, so why don’t I just start early? If I screw up and have to wait until 45, fine by me!
We’re getting a new dishwasher today. I cannot tell you how exciting this is. We just bought our home a year ago, and within a couple of months of being in the house, the dishwasher broke.
Lovely.
We tried fixing it ourselves, and it worked for a little while, but then it spewed water all over the kitchen.
So, my fiancee had me go out in search of a new dishwasher. Unfortunately, because we have just started consolidating finances and budgets, the pot for home emergencies is pretty low (we’re putting almost all of our extra budget into credit card payoff), and the $400 + $150 for install was going to be a rather large expense.
Then, we remembered something about a “home warranty” with American Home Shield that came with the home when we bought it. After washing dishes by hand for eight months, this was a brilliant thing to remember, especially since the policy was less than a month away from expiring.
AHS was very pleasant to deal with. They sent out a service rep who confirmed our dishwasher was pretty busted, but still possibly fixable, and AHS wound up giving us $215 credit towards a new dishwasher. Since they get dishwashers in bulk for a discount, our total cost with install is about $175, instead of the $550 we were anticipating. Glorious.
But should we renew? Well, for a year of coverage for everything from dishwashers and tubs to the air conditioner and roof, it costs $500 per year.
We decided: $500 is MUCH better put towards a safety reserve for the house in case something big breaks, because unless your air conditioner goes out, it isn’t worth it. Plus, most things in the home (shouldn’t) wear out for at least a couple of years, enough time for us to build a larger reserve.
However, for a house we have just bought that is older (ours is 40+ years old) I don’t think I would consider buying unless the seller had purchased such a plan to ensure peace of mind for at least the first year.
My fiancee and I just had the first anniversary of being in our first home. My fiancee chose the home (he bought it just before I moved here) because it was in a well-established neighborhood with good schools and custom built homes with nice trees. Good home values with slow, but steady appreciation.
The suburban dream, really.
Only problem is, we’re both 24. We don’t care about school systems and lots of space. In fact, once our roommate moves out, 2,800 sq. ft. is entirely too big for us. We want a younger, hipper part of town where people are more active and we can walk to a restaurant.
More urban, if you will.
The previous owner did a lot to update the home, but he never touched the most important part - the kitchen. And some of the other things he did, like the bathroom renovation, are ghastly. So, now here’s my question: do we move out, rent it, and rent downtown for a year, then buy downtown?Or do we renovate now, stay for an extra year, then sell?
We want to make some changes before we sell, regardless. The question is, sell now or later?
We bought this home for $135,000 (gotta love cheap homes in Texas!). If we were to rent this house, we can make it cashflow for about net $200-300 per month, so let’s say $3,000 over the year. Plus, if we were renting downtown, we figure we can knock our expenses down somewhere between $100-250/mo. or about $1,800 in a year because we are renting and our power would not be as much. So in a year, we could save around $4,800 in a year by moving and renting.
We figure we have about $10,000 to put it in to get this bad boy up to snuff, so really, I guess our break-even is somewhere around $153,000 for closing costs, etc.
Homes in the area are starting to list (and sell) for around $155,000+. I think it would be worth our while if we could get somewhere in the neighborhood of $175,000 or more for this. We want to be out within five years (for the statute of limitations for rolling capital gains), so I guess we just need to watch the prices to figure this out.
