Mid(ish) April
I'm going to post the numbers quickly, because I like to track that progress, in the event of progress :p but then I'm going to share some HARD LESSONS from my first real freelance contract. Stayed tuuuuned. Or scroll past the numbers. Follow your joy, I don't know why you're here.
Debt:
1. Current credit card bill (BoA Mastercard): $1390.00
2. CareCredit: $1900
3. ConServe debt collection: $895.28 (omg it's under 1k)
4. Amex credit card: $3600
5. Loan from parents $1300
6. Fedloan: $134,506.46
Invested and Saved:
1. Bank of America Savings: $1441.42
2. Acorns: $251.73
Trying to chip away at this is like watching a turtle cross the great expanse of the Australian outback. Debt fatigue, that's a real thing. And I really don't have anything extra beyond a couple hundred bucks to apply to debt each month.
I hope you find this satisfying in a voyeuristic way - I am going anonymous here (no. my real name is not James Snow) so I feel like I can give you a breakdown of what I spent my money on. I'll refer to the following as static bills on DTB from here on out:
1. Rent: $900*
2. Health Insurance: $170**
3. Phone/Internet: $110
4. Utilities: approx. $50
5. Metrocard: $128
6. Gym: $85***
7. Subscriptions: $25****
* I live in a gentrifying borough of Brooklyn with three other roommates. Our lease ends on July 31st; one of the roommates just landed a sweet tech job so he's going to upgrade his life. The rest of us will have to find a new situation, and I anticipate that that means I'll have to start paying more in rent.
** This special "catastrophic" rate is only available for those of us under 30. It isn't great, I can't, for example, go see that chiropractor that my primary care doctor referred because I'm not covered for any specialist visits. I can however see my Primary Care doctor a total of 3 times all year long, and if I wanted too, which I may want to, I can go see a therapist for a grand total of 3 times as well.
*** All of the "debt free living" blogs I read recommend getting rid of the gym membership. No. Fuck you. I live in a 9x10 box and barely have room to make my bed let alone do lunges. Also, yoga and the stream room and pilates are going to have to step in where my health insurance is falling short.
**** These include a subscription to Netflix, The New York Times and itunes.
So you see what I'm paying. Note that I did not include food. Quick math: Static Bills are roughly $1500 a month. My current salary is $43000 before taxes or $31,605 after taxes *cue CardiB asking Uncle Sam what he's doing with her fucking money* which leaves me with 2600 a month, make that 1100, because of Static Bills(tm), where that remainder is divided between food, drug store essentials, debt and my unfortunate addiction to Uber.
I started on a project late last month that I was incredibly excited about because it is more or less exactly what I want to be doing. I had a hard time though, fitting stretches of uninterrupted time to work on it however. The restaurant I work at has me scheduled only 3 or 4 shifts a week, but sometimes it's 5 or 6, you just never know, and the shifts can be 9 hours long.
I turned in the project two days after the deadline after two nuits blanches, now a little uncertain how to charge the client since I missed the deadline. My tentative solution is to not charge for any hours logged after the deadline. Which sucks. But I'd rather maintain good terms with the client.
How can I (or you) meet those deadlines in the future?
1. When discussing the deadline with the client, give yourself some padding. Now is not the time to make yourself look good. That comes later. When you deliver on time.
2. Start working on it right away, because it's only after you start working on it that you'll have an accurate picture in terms of time and effort.
3. Front-load that work. Several reasons: in the first days/weeks, I was excited about the project, towards the end, I very much was not. Also, obviously, if I had done the bulk of the work in the first couple of weeks, even if I was still running behind, I would have been able to send along a good portion of the documents to the client ahead of what remained to be finished.
All of the above I knew in an abstract way. But it's not until the two nights spent working, at 10 hours stretches at a time, schedule gone to shit, living off of granola bars and popcorn, that I realized that freelancing is not viable under conditions in which time is not properly managed.
I have a new project, due next week, that was sent over this afternoon. Am I getting up early to work on it? Hell yes. I cannot wait.
Debt:
1. Current credit card bill (BoA Mastercard): $1390.00
2. CareCredit: $1900
3. ConServe debt collection: $895.28 (omg it's under 1k)
4. Amex credit card: $3600
5. Loan from parents $1300
6. Fedloan: $134,506.46
Invested and Saved:
1. Bank of America Savings: $1441.42
2. Acorns: $251.73
Trying to chip away at this is like watching a turtle cross the great expanse of the Australian outback. Debt fatigue, that's a real thing. And I really don't have anything extra beyond a couple hundred bucks to apply to debt each month.
I hope you find this satisfying in a voyeuristic way - I am going anonymous here (no. my real name is not James Snow) so I feel like I can give you a breakdown of what I spent my money on. I'll refer to the following as static bills on DTB from here on out:
1. Rent: $900*
2. Health Insurance: $170**
3. Phone/Internet: $110
4. Utilities: approx. $50
5. Metrocard: $128
6. Gym: $85***
7. Subscriptions: $25****
* I live in a gentrifying borough of Brooklyn with three other roommates. Our lease ends on July 31st; one of the roommates just landed a sweet tech job so he's going to upgrade his life. The rest of us will have to find a new situation, and I anticipate that that means I'll have to start paying more in rent.
** This special "catastrophic" rate is only available for those of us under 30. It isn't great, I can't, for example, go see that chiropractor that my primary care doctor referred because I'm not covered for any specialist visits. I can however see my Primary Care doctor a total of 3 times all year long, and if I wanted too, which I may want to, I can go see a therapist for a grand total of 3 times as well.
*** All of the "debt free living" blogs I read recommend getting rid of the gym membership. No. Fuck you. I live in a 9x10 box and barely have room to make my bed let alone do lunges. Also, yoga and the stream room and pilates are going to have to step in where my health insurance is falling short.
**** These include a subscription to Netflix, The New York Times and itunes.
So you see what I'm paying. Note that I did not include food. Quick math: Static Bills are roughly $1500 a month. My current salary is $43000 before taxes or $31,605 after taxes *cue CardiB asking Uncle Sam what he's doing with her fucking money* which leaves me with 2600 a month, make that 1100, because of Static Bills(tm), where that remainder is divided between food, drug store essentials, debt and my unfortunate addiction to Uber.
I started on a project late last month that I was incredibly excited about because it is more or less exactly what I want to be doing. I had a hard time though, fitting stretches of uninterrupted time to work on it however. The restaurant I work at has me scheduled only 3 or 4 shifts a week, but sometimes it's 5 or 6, you just never know, and the shifts can be 9 hours long.
I turned in the project two days after the deadline after two nuits blanches, now a little uncertain how to charge the client since I missed the deadline. My tentative solution is to not charge for any hours logged after the deadline. Which sucks. But I'd rather maintain good terms with the client.
How can I (or you) meet those deadlines in the future?
1. When discussing the deadline with the client, give yourself some padding. Now is not the time to make yourself look good. That comes later. When you deliver on time.
2. Start working on it right away, because it's only after you start working on it that you'll have an accurate picture in terms of time and effort.
3. Front-load that work. Several reasons: in the first days/weeks, I was excited about the project, towards the end, I very much was not. Also, obviously, if I had done the bulk of the work in the first couple of weeks, even if I was still running behind, I would have been able to send along a good portion of the documents to the client ahead of what remained to be finished.
All of the above I knew in an abstract way. But it's not until the two nights spent working, at 10 hours stretches at a time, schedule gone to shit, living off of granola bars and popcorn, that I realized that freelancing is not viable under conditions in which time is not properly managed.
I have a new project, due next week, that was sent over this afternoon. Am I getting up early to work on it? Hell yes. I cannot wait.
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