money money money money

I suppose I'm not the only one trying to save money and cut back on spending in a time like this but this is no new trick for me. We artists are used to income that is only dependable in the fact that is low. It's ok. We just earn here and spend there and maybe save a little here. I'm proud to say, though, and speaking very generally of course, that we do know how to enjoy life. We've decided to sacrifice certain things because we want our lives filled with inspiration and beauty. Or perhaps it was a decision made for us when we simply weren't blessed with the money-managing skills but instead with a set of useless beautifying tricks. Ok, yes, I'm just talking about myself. So this is where I am and this is where I have been. I go through the phases- 2 jobs, 1 job, busy, lazy, productive, spending, hoarding, saving- but I haven't given up finding a beautifully happy medium where I live at peace with my creative soul as well as the creditors. I am now in the verge of what I believe may be that very happy place. Here's what happened:

A couple months ago, I was working steady two part time jobs, making enough money to live on with minimal stress (for a frame of reference, that was no more than $2000 a month). I was fired from one job right before Christmas, leaving working 24 hours a week at an office and bringing home about $1000 a month. My being let go had nothing to do with the economy and I could get another restaurant job easily, i'm sure, if i were to look. I wrote what happened earlier if you wanna read what happened.. just some bullshit. Anyway, I really enjoyed having more time to spend with all the family that came into town and getting to be a part of all the fun Holiday events, including New Year's Eve which I would have had to work. As the holiday season settled down like confetti, I braced myself for what I knew would come as the last remnants of full time employment trickled away. I feel as if I am hinging on with one hand as a storm blows by. I can see the end and I just have to hang on! You see, my car, which represents a substantial portion of my bills, will be paid off in mere weeks and I have also been getting some vocal work here and there which could increase to a small but significant income supplement and with hard work, self-control, and creativity I could live on only this one job! Why is that so important you ask? Well, I will tell you. My eyes have been opened since being fired. I have made new friends, been there for people when they needed someone, supported my friends' art, written more, read more, gotten involved and actually met people at my church, I've been creating more art, and most importantly been making A LOT of progress with my music! This is what my life is about. If the trade-off is that i get to go to my friend's show but I can't drink at it cause i don't have any money, well, that's perfectly fine! I'll take it! Or maybe I get to spend the day writing music at home, but that means I can't go to the movies. No problem! However, these scenarios will quickly turn into ones such as: Can't pay my rent cause I had to fix my tire. You see, where the barely hanging on image shows up. But I have a newly strengthened will to live the life that is barely visible through the swirl of this financial storm: a life lived fully yet creatively within my means while building and aiming for a bright future. (haha that sounded like some sort of purpose statement or something..)

Wow, I'm long-winded today. I apologize to all two of you reading this. All of this has really been on my mind though lately. I just feel that I am in a very defining, pivotal, significant moment as far as this stuff goes right now, with being fired and being left with one job that is sooo close to enough and one that I actually like, and with my car about to be paid off and with so much happening with my music that I really need time for and then on top of all that, check this out. I never get to go to church things (or rather used to never get to) but I went to a group the other day for college age kids that was going to be discussing 'busy-ness'. I was actually a little bit disappointed when I heard the topic because i thought, 'I'm the least busy that I've been in a long time, this won't really apply to me', but I went to socialize and meet people from my church. I actually ended up getting a ton out of it! What I took was actually more of a look at values than busy-ness. Since that discussion I have been exploring the questioning of standards like 40 hour work weeks and week long vacations and credit cards and laziness. Am I lazy if I actually get enough sleep every night? Am I lazy if I only work 24 hours a week? Am I lazy to actually break on the weekend? Is a business man lazy if he leaves work everyday to eat dinner with his family? I think it's smart to take a look and perhaps readjust our American programming to line up with what's really important in life and that is people.

My goodness, I am the queen of tangents. What I intended on saying was a much more concise note of my strong desire to and need to save money in order to protect my precious freedom. Something like: Since having a significant portion of my income detached, instead of trying to repair the hole, I am adjusting my life in an attempt to fill the time instead of pass the time- to fill my life instead of watch it pass me by. Time that would be spent aimlessly earning money to essentially throw away will be creatively enjoyed with people that I love, doing things that lift my soul. I also wanted to pass along some moolah-saving tricks I've come across in my research.

Of course there are the usual things, most of which are old news to me: pack your lunch for work, do your own mani's, buy boxed wine (i promise it's not that bad), trade a night out for a game night or movie night in, coupons, generic products, matinees, craigslist (I'm an addict), etc... But let's dig a little deeper. This is what I call "How to Live on Love":

I bought $16 worth of groceries today and I am determined for them to last me 3 weeks. How do I plan on doing this? Well, I bought really cheap cans of soup and black beans, a bag of apples, saltine crackers, tuna and brown rice- not the instant kind, oatmeal- not the individual packets, and at home I think I have a little bit of pasta, potatoes and condiments. I am going to visit my parents for dinner often, attend evening events with food (church things, parties, etc), take free food whenever offered, only drink free alcohol, and take tea from work (ok, that's a little wrong..) and not munch just for the hell of it (which will also be good for my figure). If I have to go out to eat (maybe like a birthday or something) I'll pre-eat and then eat the free rolls or chips! (also just a tiny bit wrong) And if anyone has left-overs they are not taking, I will unashamedly box that shit up.
I am going to get very creative with how I hang out with friends. For example,
friend: Hey wanna get coffee?
me: Why don't we make some at my house and sit out on the balcony?
friend: wow! you're so creatively frugal!
Or when I'm bored and i call Aaron and he comes over and we watch TV for a little bit and then say what do you wanna do? i don't have any money. yeah, me neither. hmm.. I wil suggest that we just take a couple cds and go drive to the park or somewhere and sit in the car and listen to them. Or have some people over to play cards. And when the weather gets nice there will be even more possibilities! I used to do a lot of fun free things like sneak into pools at night and stuff. I guess those things are childish but we used to have fun! haha
The other day i hung out with my brother and his gf and Aaron and we made stuff out of beads.. random.. but fun! anyway, you can see some of the ways i want to be more creative with my recreational time.
Other ways to save money are go here, take free things, move to another country, always think twice before purchasing (Do I really need this? How could I get it for free or at least cheaper?), make stuff-i make my clothes and furniture (but I'm pretty crafty), go to house parties instead of out to a bar, look in the paper for free events, garage sales, waste your time writing the longest post ever, work out/run outside instead of the gym,
Basically my goal is to not spend any money at all, except for bills and food and gas. That's not entirely possible but it makes it way more likely that i will spend next to nothing. I'll keep you updated on how it's going.