View Full Version : Following up on debt part of life
I was reading the thread, "Is debt part of life," and agree with much of what's been said.
My question is this: What are the top two or three things one must do to begin working on this (auto/house debt for us) and saving for retirement when also not making a huge amount of money? Is a second job the only answer? Like many people, our family doesn't live extravagently--we budget and stick to it (almost) always, but there is little if any left over at the end of the month to pay down our cars or mortgage.
What's the first step? Second? And what have you found to be most effective when starting your own journey?
Well, I hate to be a blatant Dave Ramsey groupie, but his plan just makes it so darn easy--there is so little ambiguity in what you should do to make the debt snowball accumulate. He calls them the Baby Steps, so it would go like this:
1) Have an emergency fund of $1000.
2) Create a budget, together with your spouse
3) Order your debts smallest to largest (irrespective of interest rates) (these debts would include everything BUT the house)
4) Just start attacking the smallest one with a vengeance (he calls that "gazelle intensity")
And yes, he does say that sometimes you have a debt problem but sometimes it's exacerbated by an income problem. If that's the case, he encourages people to take on second jobs short-term, with the objective being to take down the debt ASAP.
I have found his system to be extremely effective for me. In two years, I eliminated 15 out of 22 debts (over $100k). Psychologically, that's huge! Even though the remaining 5 debts are large (student loan and a home equity loan), I know I can do it.
jennipurrr
3-30-12, 12:27pm
At the core, to pay off debt and get ahead there has to be some surplus of money - whether that comes from cutting your expenses or increasing your income is really a case by case basis.
For DH and me, cutting our expenses to the bone when we were in heavy debt payoff mode was how we approached it. We both had decent salaries but nothing spectacular, and DH had a ton of debt. We took our lunches every day, at at home for dinner, didn't travel, drove an old car, etc. It wasn't glamorous, and it wasn't particularly fun either. We really just lived the whole "Use It Up, Wear It Out, Make It Do, or Do Without" saying. That way we were able to pay $2000 mo to his private student loans. It took us about 2 years to pay them off...$48,000. It made us never want to be in debt again! After we paid them off we thought, ok, what do we need to do to achieve that, so we started saving for a car. We took a year and did that. Now we are in a mode where we won't have to have car payments. For a couple years or so we floated around and got sort of sidetracked. We weren't tracking our spending any more and we weren't actively working on a goal. That's the thing that gets us - if we have a goal we do MUCH better financially. Right now we are working on the mortgage.
For us, tracking your spending, as laid out in Your Money or Your Life has been key. Also, making a budget has been good for us to plan for the year...especially after we had a year of tracking and could look at what our expenses were, where we wanted to cut and project out. Also, we practice the "pay yourself first" thing with retirement savings. We have that automatically taken out each month and then its like we never really had that money to work with. Like Catherine, I totally agree Dave Ramsey's plan is really motivating and a good common sense way to being paying off debt. If you can stomach the sometimes religiosity, his radio show is great motivation. It is available on podcast for free. And these boards have been super motivating for me since we started this in 2005.
So here's the other side. Income. I thought about writing more about this, but I don't want to hijack your thread. If you have cut your spending down and you are still just barely making it, then the problem may be that you don't make enough. What to do about that? Picking up a second job is definitely an easy way to ear quick income to knock out some debts. Increasing your skills, applying for better jobs, working up the ladder, investing in some sort of schooling, who knows? All possibilities. Maybe think outside the box? I have always kept an ebay business on the side selling stuff I find on the cheap at the salvage store. Its more of a hobby (don't tell anyone here, they'll shame me, lol, but I still love to shop and find deals, I just don't want all that stuff in my life!) but it makes a good amount per hour, and its totally flexible depending on my schedule.
If you feel like it, post your expenses...people here will help you work on them!
ApatheticNoMore
3-30-12, 2:53pm
sure you couldn't get a higher paying job just as you are now? sigh ... I've worked a lot of jobs where I definitely think I am paid under market - geez but looking for work is such a pain :)
This was our process:
1. get all fixed expenses onto one income -- this included all debt payments at their base payment amount.
2. use second income to pay extra on debts to get them paid down -- started with the car (as it had highest interest and higher payment, so when it was paid off, we then focused on our student loan payments and paid off all of DH's and all of my private loans, and then started to pay more down on the mortgage -- all of this happened over five years, and we probably paid down $80k or more in that time).
I know that this may not be possible for some families without extreme austerity measures.
That being said, i would suggest additional paid work. My ILs worked part time (FIL in addition to his day job) for much of the time DH was growing up. My family lived largely on one income, but my mom would work at times to save more or pay off debt or what have you.
If one or both of you can take on part-time work, this would be a good start. Even seasonal work can be a big help.
I agree that tracking expenses, as described in Your Money or Your Life (or, if you don't want to adopt that entire system, just writing down every single penny you spend for a few months and reviewing the results for possible places to save) will probably help you to find at least some areas where you could save a little more to put toward debt, even though you are already "budgeting." So, if extra income is not an option, I would start there. Also, review and comparison shop all recurring expenses like phone, cell phone, internet access, utilities, insurance, etc. to see if you can find less expensive options.
Oooh, Jennipurr, I love the idea of a side ebay/online auction business. I too, love thrifting and that's something I can do with my toddler in tow! May I ask if you specialize in one certain thing (like Fenton vintage glass or something) or if you just pick things up that you think are cute or might be worth something?
Thanks for sharing about your experience, too. It's helpful. Maybe we aren't feeling the pinch enough to make a go of it--still eat out once a week and have an allowance. Something to consider. Also, it's good that you two could do it together. Thanks for the ideas and suggestions, they are great ones.
Catherine, thanks for your ideas. I have tried the Dave Ramsey plan in the past but had two problems with it: First, hubby isn't on board with it. He's a saver by nature but didn't want to follow a "plan" per say. The second thing was the envelopes--they sounded great and I liked that I could see the money all separated but I never once (I think I did it for nearly a year) managed to get my envelopes straight even one month. I was constantly running out or putting money in the wrong envelope or something. Grrrr, probably just a mis-management problem, but still.
Zoebird & Mamalatte, I think starting to track again would be a good idea. It's a bit of a pain but it does give some clear information--thanks for the reminder. Apathetic No More--sadly, more work isn't an option right now, unless I can find something that I can do with my son with me. It doesn't make much sense for me to pay for additional daycare (he goes 8 hours a week now) and I want to spend as much time as I can with him until he starts school. BUT maybe I can think of something (like the ebay idea) that I could do with him. That would be great!
Are you working while he is in care? Would you be willing/able to provide in-home child care when your DS is not in care? This can be a decent income, honestly.
I think the thrifting idea is a good one. Consider, though, your storage needs and the costs of packaging for shipping in your pricing/planning for this sort of business. :) I don't have storage, so there's no way I would be able to do that.
Yes, I'm a writer and do nonprofit marketing work so those 8 hours (and before my son gets up/nap times) are when I work. I did try taking care of another child previously but it was a bit of a disaster. However, that was 40 hours a week, maybe if I could just do a couple days or half days. . . it might work. It would be a good solution just not sure if I could handle mentally--ha ha!
The thrifting thing thing might work and is more attractive to me--but you're right, I'd need to think about storage and shipping. I think I'd better do a little more ebay research first.
I understand. I tried the same thing and it was a disaster for me too. I made it through three weeks. And then I said I just couldn't do it anymore! You gotta know your limits! :D
I don't know how much room you have, but a friend of mine runs a similar business. It's a small income, but it's something that he enjoys. He focuses on books and small objects/vintage linens. THings that arent' normally of value, but he can pick up online or at a thrift shop for under $1 or $2. Then he cleans them up and sells them online for much more. Every once in a while, he runs into an honest-to-goodness treasure and ends up making a tidy profit. He doesn't spend THAT much time doing it -- he says it's probably about 8 hrs a week, tops, and he currently makes about $200 a week at it once he's covered his costs (which includes gas to go to his favorite thrift shops). He also snags boxes off the street on recycling day -- instead of buying packaging. He's quite good at doing things in a thrifty way.
Another friend of mine runs in antiques. She actually finds most of what she sells in estate sales and auctions -- so hers requires a bit more work/effort. But, it is her full-time gig. She collects, refurbishes, and resells mid-century modern furniture, and also accessories. It is far more time intensive (and requires certain skills of course), but she usually buys things (like my mid-mod chairs that I got *for free*) for $5 or $10 or less. Then she spends a portion of every day cleaning up the furnishings, photographing them, and putting them on e-bay. People usually pay to have a furniture moving company pick up, so it works out for her.
She also does accessories -- such as pottery pieces. Some she'll pick up for $.25 or so, and realize that they are valuable and resell them for $150-500.
So, this makes a tidy income for her -- but this isn't really possible for your situation. :)
But, I mention it because you asked above if a person does general or specific stuff.
I'll be honest -- I would specify. I find that it takes moer effort up front (learning about what you collect and sell), but the income from it can be better over time. It's not quick money, and requires more time/effort investment as you go along, but in the longer run, you get a name for yourself (my friend is *well known* to be the go-to person if you are looking for mid-mod *anything* because she will source it for you -- and she charges a fee for doing so), and it coudl be a more sustainable business over time.
Anyway, a thought. :)
J-5,
Could you possibly do before or after school care for a child (or two or three) in your neighborhood? I find my own kids are actually easier to deal with when there are other kids around, and if the hours are limited it isn't too taxing. If you target slightly older kids (say 1st-4th grade -- a bit too young to be on their own but more independent than toddlers and preschoolers), they can be pretty low maintainance -- a snack, a bit of homework time, and a project or some free play and before you know it the 2-3 hours is gone.
Offering weekend evening care might also work -- I would sure welcome having a regular arrangement like that for my not-so-young-but-too-young-to-leave-home-alone-while-DH-and-I-have-a-date-night kids (ages 7 and almost 11).
Used books can be another way to make some extra money -- if you have a smart phone or similar device you can check prices on Amazon to see what things are selling for before you buy. You can make money on shipping even with books that only sell for $.01 (that's why you see them listed), but I would focus on things that make a profit on the book of at least $4-5. You can sometimes make a lot of money if you can find out of print or rare titles.
I feel like a bit of a tout every time I mention him, but I really like Ramit Sethi's stuff on how to generate more income -- he has some really practical approaches that work for a lot of people, much of it available for free on his website www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com (yes, cheesy title, but I still like his stuff). He's also got techniques for getting better paying regular employment, which your DH might benefit from.
Good luck and nice to see you back on the boards!
lhamo
jennipurrr
3-31-12, 10:25am
Oooh, Jennipurr, I love the idea of a side ebay/online auction business. I too, love thrifting and that's something I can do with my toddler in tow! May I ask if you specialize in one certain thing (like Fenton vintage glass or something) or if you just pick things up that you think are cute or might be worth something?
I have this fantasy that I one day have a kid, have quit my regular job and just shop around finding things to resell, carrying my baby around in one of those baby wear things. My Mom busted my bubble that babies aren't that easy, LOL. But, a lot of people that get into reselling do so because they are stay at home parents.
Like the others have said, definitely find a niche. Something you really enjoy and then it isn't really like working, and of course something you can find undervalued at thrift or salvage stores. I sort of fell into the areas of upscale women's clothing and linens because the local salvage store had a lot of stock initially and I knew something about them. When the recession hit, anything expensive kind of took a nosedive for me, so I steer clear mostly of the high end clothing now unless its a slam dunk. I honestly think people can make a decent amount reselling almost anything, for example I see tons of electronics at the salvage store, I just don't have time to learn about that and branch into that arena. Like Lhamo said, one good thing about items with UPCs (or other standard numbers like ISBN) is that you can use apps in store to find out the going value on the net.
There are really good groups in the ebay community online, while competitive, help people get motivated, help with authenticating items and provide a sense of community. A lot of the members of the clothing and purse forums on ebay are SAHMs too. They have days where they challenge each other to list, etc.
If you do go into it for real I highly recommend reading some books about setting up your taxes correctly. You can deduct all kinds of expenses like gas costs, etc. But, I would try for a month or so and see how it goes before I went all out with the tax set up.
Storage is the pain. I am down to 4 rubbermaid tubs of unlisted items but I am working on getting it all gone. At one point I had seven!!! Since I am back in grad school I have told myself I am going to try to get the inventory gone and not buy any more.
In direct opposition with the line above, I did buy a few books a couple weeks ago because I read a free kindle book on reselling books and it got me all jazzed about that. I haven't sold a single one! So far I am disappointed there but most of them are textbooks so likely they will sit until the semester changes. A lot of people do VERY well selling books. I'd like to get into that area but don't know much about it. This is the book...it had some dated info, but generally seemed on track. Its $4.95 now, but if you have a kindle/kindle app I think you can borrow it from me for free, just send me a PM/email. http://www.amazon.com/Home-Based-Bookstore-Business-Selling-ebook/dp/B001NMSSYY/ref=sr_1_1_bnp_1_kin?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1333203757&sr=1-1
Ok, sorry I may have successfully ended up hijacking the thread anyway despite my best intentions :|(
fidgiegirl
3-31-12, 3:09pm
I don't think you hijacked, jennipurrr . . . :)
I would echo the Dave Ramsey sentiment, except we never did envelopes. We made a chart, which made a huge difference, because it helped us put little amounts onto our loans. They made a difference, especially in the beginning. I can't tell you how excited I was to be able to mark this chart. Note that some are savings goals, too. Like, I couldn't help it that my sister decided to get married in Hawaii in the middle of the payoff program. I wasn't willing not to attend that! :) So rather than take out more debt, I looked at the savings goal as a "debt" to myself and incorporated it into the snowball plan. It worked beautifully.
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7109/7001802457_0a66937abe.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/7733846@N05/7001802457/)
debt chart (http://www.flickr.com/photos/7733846@N05/7001802457/) by fidgiegirl (http://www.flickr.com/people/7733846@N05/), on Flickr
I can't stress the idea of the $1000 emergency fund enough. It saved my hide several times when I was single and struggling to gain traction with the debt payoff. It kept the debt from growing, which looking back was more important for me than making huge headway. Even if I had to stop and replenish the $1000, at least I wasn't adding to the hole. Psychologically, it was huge.
Re: the additional child care: if it's too super duper stressful, don't do it. But if it was ok, just too much with a full-time kid, another niche to consider in addition to the after-school care would be to do care for a teacher. Teachers often have to pay full-time care throughout the school year and summer, paying for days they are off work in order to have care for the days they do work. If you are just looking for some supplemental opportunities and actually don't WANT to do full-time care, you could have a good partnership with someone.
Re: the resale, we did it for a while, and have made some decent money, but it has become so popular that we are not making what we used to, especially on books. We still do it off and on if we happen across something, or if we have some items of our own. We do better if it's something of our own that we've had laying around the house. I agree that specializing can be good, but not necessary. We discovered some niches by trying to sell anything and everything. Vacuum parts did well, as well as bowling bags for a while. We did learn (the hard way) that shipping is what can make or break a sale. We lost money on a number of items by miscalculating shipping. So be careful! And never pay money for shipping supplies, except maybe tape. You can get all the boxes, envelopes, etc. that you need by asking your friends and family and CraigsList. If DH is willing to ask at work, even better. You will increase your profits this way.
Here's a really niche idea for extra income, but I bet it would be sporadic: some of our local Adult Basic Ed sites, which are run through public schools, need evening substitute teachers. That could be something, especially if your DH home and so child care is a moot point.
How about mid-day dog walking? If you are home anyway, lots of people want this service. I made quite a bit of money by petsitting about seven years ago, but then everyone and their brother got into petsitting. At the end, just before I gave it up, most of the requests were for mid-day potty breaks and a walk. Since I had my own full-time job, I had to turn them down.
You can do it. And it will be SO WORTH IT!!!!!!!!!! If you can get that snowball rolling, it is amazing how fast it will go. But in my experience, that is the part that took a long time.
Join us on the frugals thread for continuing ideas on how to meet your goals. :) We have some wild ones :)
jennipurr:
babies actually ARE that easy.
when I had DS, i would wear him most of the time. He had access to food whenever he wanted, so I could keep on doing what I was doing -- whether I was teaching a yoga class, or on a hike, or working at the computer.
because I did EC, I just had to stop on a regular basis to potty him -- but it wasn't at all difficult.
I managed to organize the renovation of our house, work teaching yoga, and do all of our immigration paperwork (which was quite a lot because I had to write a business plan, do all of the medicals, etc etc etc). I was driving DH to and frm work as well -- because we had one car and I needed it to get around -- and I went on a hike pretty much every day.
So, I would say that a lot of "mainstream" ways of parenting are a lot harder because there are more processes and more stuff involved.
For example, my friend diapered and bottle fed (breast milk). She needed to carry: extra bottles, a bottle warmer (that plugged into the car), extra diapers, wipes, several changes of clothes. And then because she didn't wear, there was the stroller, too.
I put one "emergency change" in the car at all times. Then I would carry a bag that had a change of diaper (1) plus a change of clothes (1). It was a small cosmetics bag. And then the wrap was folded up. My bag would carry these two objects, plus my own notebook, pens, and book, and I would carry this out, my lunch box, and the baby to the car. It wasn't difficult for me to get out the door.
People make it out to be a lot harder than it is. But once you get to month three -- you'll be in good shape.
Thanks so much for all these great ideas~I feel excited now instead of overwhelmed. I had a very small, out-of-my-house vintage home decor shop for about a year in the past. I loved buying/cleaning/displaying all the items but hated being tied to my house on weekends. Sadly, I sold/gave away all of the merchandise. I do feel pretty confident in my abilities to be very frugal--both with finding items really inexpensively and gathering up packaging materials. Shipping is the one area that I am leery of--it's pretty easy as you said, Fidgie Girl, to get into trouble with that.
Here are a couple of my other ideas for things I can do alongside my son:
Home bakery--mostly bread and/or healthy baked goods (in my state you are allowed to gross $125 a week before you have to get a state inspection)
Cut flowers--we live in a cul-de-sac and may get enough traffic from neighbors, if they are flower-lovers!
Teaching in the evening--writing or maybe art or DIY classes--can't do with my son but my hubby would be here to watch him.
Selling my novel--yes, the publishing world is supposedly in the pits but I'm not giving up hope that it will sell! :)
Thanks again for each of you that posted your thoughts and encouragement. I am glad that I'm exploring some other options and looking ahead to where we want to be rather than just treading water.
PS I think that so much of babyhood/childhood depends on the child . . . I imagined an experience quite like yours Zoebird, but my reality was significantly different. One of the most important lessons I've learned so far as a mom is the importance of being more flexible. It's HARD cause I like to call the shots but it certainly makes life easier and my attitude more pleasant when I manage to do it. :)
I think that, as a mom or primary care taker of a baby, you have to do what makes your life *easiest*. so, I did. LOL
my guy is very outgoing and easy going. He loved to nurse, and spent most of his first year doing that. LOL He was also playful, and would roam around while i worked without needing much input from me. He had a mirror at his level, plus a lot of things on the floor that i'd put together for him:
1. jingle box -- a plastic trade-joes toffee box with jingle bells in it;
2. spoon -- love loves spoons still;
3. plastic jar filled with multi-colored beads, rocks, shells and just any other thing I could think to throw in there. he would sit and turn this in his hands for HOURS;
4. baby wipes box filled with cloth wipes (clean). he would reach in and pull one out, and pull one out and pull one out for hours.
5. playing buddha's dentist. we had an old wooden buddha with ivory teeth -- he loved to go over and touch the teeth and overall play with that buddha. so we called that 'buddha's dentist.' LOL
6. dancing to music. he loved bob dylan best (which is probably why he's SO good at the harmonica now. it's shocking.)
He loved to be out and about among people -- particularly when he was wrapped -- and i think EC was the most awesome thing ever.
I guess other babies ARE different -- which is why I'm seriously nervous about having another. LOL
flowerseverywhere
4-1-12, 9:01pm
E-bay is hard to make much money from but if you have the time why not give it a try? One of my family members who is out of work is trying to sell some stuff. We all gave him things and I even picked up a couple of things at the thrift store for him (not charging him of course, he didn't know I bought them), because he really wanted to give it a go and see what sells. He is having mixed success but he can fit it in between his job searching. You should give it a try if you want, sometimes it does well.
The first thing I would suggest if you don't already do it is to track each cent. Sometimes seeing how much cable, phones etc. cost can make you reconsider. For me weekly going out to eat would be gone, but of course everyone is different. For me, I would only have a pay as you go cell if I were here alone, as the library has free wireless and I don't watch TV which would save hundreds a month. But everyone is different.
In our case, we were living without cable (haven't had it since 1997), living without high speed internet (i paid a total of $20 for internet, and used it for work, so. . .), and basically were frugal to the max. So it can be tough to cut anything else.
It can be tough, once you've cut back to every austerity that you can. . .
jennipurr:
babies actually ARE that easy.
Thanks for the inspiration! If we have a baby I definitely know that I will be coming here to help simplify as much as possible. I have friends who have kids and it does seem that a lot of baby "stuff" is just really unnecessary. I was a difficult baby though, which is what my Mom was talking about, so I suppose a lot of it depends on personality.
BTW Zoebird, I was at a 5K recently and there was a woman there with her baby and she was doing EC in the back of the car in a little tupperware thing and I thought of you! Then I saw her later and she had completed the race wearing the baby...not sure if I could run wearing a child, but it worked for them.
jenni:
how were you "difficult?"
i had multiple expensive eye surgeries that my parents couldn't afford (as insurance didn't cover experimental surgeries). that made me pretty difficult, but i'm an easy-going sort, so. . . LOL
today, i chastized my husband for saying that DS was being "difficult." DS was being *delightful* and DH was pissy because he didn't get his way. *DH* was pissy.
It's a holiday, our normal buses aren't running here. DH treks to get the next bus, and the bus doesn't come, and doesn't come, and when the bus DOES come, it's only going half-way into town, wherein he'd have to transfer "holiday schedule," the driver said. So, he came back home and DS was playing with blocks (while I did our invoicing and taxes for this bi=monthly tax time), and when DH came in he was a grumble-grumble-fuss-fuss. Just . . . annoying as all get out.
So, DS asks him to play blocks. DH says ok, and then DS wants to knock it down (normal) and DH gets fussed up about how he'd "JUST BUILT THAT!" and how "difficult" DS was being.
NO, dumb-dumb, YOU are being difficult. He's 3. You are 40. Get your head out of your. . . LOL
He really ruins our mornings when he's in a mood.
DS was so playful and funny and DH was just pissy.
I notice that often times kids are blamed because their parents are in a bad mood because they didn't get to do whatever it is they wanted to (in DH's case, go to the office early and get to write all day long). OOH, poor difficult adults. Someone put them in the naughty chair, give them a time out, perhaps a spanking!
anyway. LOL
i'm on a tear today.
HumboldtGurl
4-6-12, 11:16am
Well, I hate to be a blatant Dave Ramsey groupie
Count me in, I don't mind.
Dave says...the first step, is you need a bigger shovel to dig yourselves out of your debt hole. That shovel is, more income. Either by getting another job that makes more money, or taking a second one until you have completed his baby steps.
fidgiegirl
4-6-12, 11:53am
You know, Joyous, I was thinking about you the other day, and how all the advice people (including me) had dispensed here almost all ignored the fact that you are a writer! What a great opportunity to do a blog, or write some ebooks, maybe self-publish that novel . . .etc.
Here on the boards - hopefully I'm getting this right - Happy Hiker has published a novel, I believe self-published, and Miss Minimalist also did (not sure about the details). We don't see Miss Minimalist around much, but Happy Hiker is around . . .
I like HumboldtGurl's image of the bigger shovel :)
True about that shovel. :D
DH was fussing about money today, and so we have seriously consider what we want to do. The real issue is not that we can't afford things -- we can. Everything is fine. We are sustaining ourselves. But, the anxiety around money is pretty intense. I get anxious about my school debt, and DH gets anxious about bill due dates. Understandable really. It's sort of like we are penny-wise and pound-wise but each of us has a different skill. LOL
We are looking at whether we want him to do this sort of ad-hoc work or go back for full-time contract work (a 6 month or year-long contract in corporate). Looking at what is available (there is a lot), DH would work normal hours (9-5), and we could put our housing/food/etc costs onto that, as well as pay for some more child-care for (to cover the hours that I'm and DS isn't in kindy -- it would be nanny care for about 2 hours after kindy days, and then two days at 6 hours each (so 16-20 hours per week at $15/hr), and be able to put into savings. Then my business would start to work toward getting itself doing awesomely (by having more in savings, etc), and then I can use what I earn there to pay toward paying off my school debt.
I'm always so tempted by this option, but DH . . . not so much. He loves not working corporate. He doesn't love the idea of having to chase small contracts, though. LOL
Thanks, FidgieGirl, for remembering that--I have a LOT of ideas for ebooks and publishing the novel I'm doing a second edit on (goal is to have that one published or under contract by end of 2012--wish me luck!). The problem is that my son will only quietly play by himself for so long while I write. Also, it's hard to really focus when he's in the room or nearby banging trains together (who said Thomas the Train was a quiet activity?) or making music with pots and pans. :) He's good for about a half hour then I feel try to play with him for awhile, then we run errands, etc. Right now I have some freelance magazine work that I'm doing. I also work 12 or so hours a week (from home) doing marketing for a nonprofit. That's why I'm trying to come up with ideas for things he can be involved with, alongside me.
I did a trial run of my Ebay/Etsy idea this week--we hit all the local (and a few not-so-local but we were in the area already) recycle zones where people leave stuff which otherwise would have gone in the landfill. Not too much to be had but lawn sale season will be here soon. I'm going to keep careful track time/gas/money etc., and then assess after a month or two if I'm actually making anything.
Here's my struggle: I want to write more. I need to build a platform for my novel (a suspense) before it's published, which means lots of time writing blog posts, twittering/facebook, etc. In addition, I want to start on another novel and possibly some nonfiction ebooks. But how in the world does one balance all that nonpaid writing (which is hopefully going to help later) with making real money now? Anyway, sorry for the rant--you've all offered some good ideas and suggestions. I think it's just going to take a bit of time to get up and running. But the first thing is to figure out WHAT I'm going to do and stick with the plan.
then I feel try to play with him for awhile, then we run errands, etc.
LOL, then I retract it all and go back to the idea of gettin' another kid in that house, preferably one they'll pay you to have around! Let them entertain each other, and then you can write! :D:D:D:D J/K. It is hard!!!
Keep us updated, 'k?
The idea that is kind of elusive but ever-attractive for me is the passive income stream. A blog, a drop-ship e-storefront, like that. But it takes a lot of work to get it going, and hasn't materialized.
How old is DS again? Sorry if I missed it.
you have the same problem that DH has.
he wants more hours to write. So far, he gets about 5 hours a day M-F. Two of that is his own material, three of that is material for the business AND material from contracts, etc. He would love to be 'full time' without having to give up certain aspects of lifestyle -- mostly working for himself rather than in a business.
But I'll be honest with you. He has *always* complained about not getting enough time to write.
I think that's just part of being a writer. LOL ;)
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