Project Mayhem

Wow. It's not easy being a creative genius.

It seems a lot of people are thinking that I'm "crazy" right now. I didn't know that so many people had so little faith in me or in my ability to succeed. I always thought it strange when people would say that no one believed in them or people told them they wouldn't make it, but wow, do I understand that now!

Personally, I feel as though I have never had so much potential or excitement about my future. I feel free from the rat race and like my options are endless. Sure, I'm taking some chances, but while playing it safe all these years got me some dollars in the bank, it did not get me happiness.

I want to make money- don't get me wrong. I have an obligation to make money. Responsibilities. Etc. I'm not running off to join the circus here, but I found myself in this situation and instead of being devastated, I am using this time to regroup and not continue further on the path to a sad meaningless life.

I am still in the process of deciding what I'm going to do next, but let me assure you that whatever I decide, I will be successful at it. This isn't the first time in my life that no one has believed in me, but yet, still, somehow I managed to put myself through college, have a successful career in television, have another successful career in public relations, buy a house at 25 and achieve many other goals that I set for myself. I can take care of myself and in the wise words of The Real Housewives of Atlanta's Kim, I'm going to let my haters be my motivators.

I am not Jack's khaki pants.

Jen Cougar Mellencamp

Reinventing one's self is hard.  Sunday is my 31st birthday.  I'm not sure what this MEANS.

I'm weighing out the pros and cons of getting a subscription to the Atlanta Journal Constitution.  I read it almost every day, of course, since I'm a local news junkie, but I previously read the copy that came to my jobs and since then, I've been reading online, which is sufficient, but I'm thinking of just getting a Sunday subscription for the coupons.  I've never much used coupons unless they basically just fell into my lap, but since part of my job as a stay at home is saving money, I'm trying to decide if this would be a good investment.  It's $12 for two months worth of Sundays.  Would I save that much money?  

My sister says that every time she goes to the super market, they have to bring the manager out because she has more that $100 worth of coupons.  I don't even buy $100 worth of groceries at the super market.  My husband eats mostly fresh foods from the farmer's market and we get things like detergent from Sam's, so would I get my money's worth in coupons?  I guess it's not that big of an investment if it turns out not to be worth it.  As long as I don't buy stuff I don't need just because I have a coupon-  those sly coupon makers-  trying to make me buy swiffers and air fresheners!  

Also, thanks to a tip from my friend Kelly, I was able to keep my mindspring email address. She told me that she had recently downgraded to an email only account for $3, when I had been paying for 10 hours of dial up that I never use.  So, I called them up, and despite the fact that the guy could seriously barely speak English, I managed to change my plan.  

I'm also looking at cutting off the home phone and instead of getting our DSL through the phone company, switching to cable Internet access.  It's looking like I could have about $50 a month doing that.  We don't really use our home phone anyway.  

And finally, I think I'm going to switch to Metro PCS.  It's not like I'm doing a lot of traveling these days.  

I Heart CVS

After reading my friend Anny's blog, who is a guru of frugality, I was referred to this site.  Apparently, CVS is the place to be for saving money.  I immediately went to the CVS website and signed up for their Extracare card and I'm about to embark on the process of getting my toiletries for freeish.  Apparently, the way it works is you buy stuff at CVS that are on sale or that you can get a coupon for or that are rebateable that also give you these extracare dollars that you can spend at CVS.   So, you try to get stuff for free or really really cheap, that gives you these dollars that you can use to buy other stuff that you actually need.  It's like a game.

I'm also looking at cutting costs.  My husband and I have already cut most of our costs before I quit my job.  We're not big spenders to begin with, but there's always room to cut.  The first and most obvious cut I need to make it my old email.  It's an email address that I don't use anymore, but still pay $10 a month to keep.  The reason that I haven't already let it go is because it's a mindspring email address and mindspring doesn't exist anymore.  I've had this email address since 1996.  For some reason, I associate a certain prestige with have this anachronistic email address, but that's just silly.  I need to go in there and save all the stuff I'm archiving there and then cancel the account.  I will do that this week.   

Theme?

I'm thinking of giving this blog a theme, like "Adventures in Poverty" or "How to Make Money Without Working or Breaking the Law." Maybe "Poor Like Me." You know, so I can share my experiences trying to make ends meet during this time of my unfortunate unemployment.

Turns out merchants want cash in exchange for goods.  Housewivery would be a lot more fun if it paid better.  

I signed up today to be in a database for market research.  You know, when you go somewhere to be part of a focus group and they ask you questions and whatnot and then pay you.  My SAHM sister does this.  I'm also up to 23 cents on my eHow articles, so I should be able to live off that pretty soon.  

On the flip side, I love being at home all day.  I love the peace and quiet.  I love having a clean and tidy house.  I love being surrounded by my animal friends.  

I am getting some work, but not nearly enough to compensate for my fulltime salary.  I mean, I wasn't expecting to make an equal amount right out the gate, and well, I'm not.  

About.com

I applied for several interesting freelance gigs today including one as a guide at About.com, which is like the best possible freelance writing job. I've been watching their site, waiting for a topic that I was an expert in to come up and finally, today, one did. I applied to be the guide to camcorders. I figure with my professional videographer experience and my degree in film and video production, along with my writing experience, I have a shot, although I am sure that they are overwhelmed with applicants. This would be guaranteed monthly income in a substantial amount, which is a rarity in the freelance writing world. But, again, it's a long shot. The form letter they sent me said not to expect to hear anything for 8 weeks...

Speaking of long shots, I've decided not to try out for Design Star. I figured I'd wait a year and work on building up a decent portfolio and resolve some other personal issues and then try out. It's not like I was holding my breath. I think it would be better for me to focus on more realistic goals right now.

Boring.

I made that jive ass turkey. No problem.

Thanksgiving was a success and I've spent much of the past two days doing nothing, but it's back to the grind tomorrow because I have two articles due on Monday for an ocularist's newsletter. If you don't know, an ocularist makes ocular prosthetics.

This week, I've got to follow up with the substitute situation and get to work on the two grants I'm writing right now- one paid and one as a volunteer for AARF, the rescue that owns Douglas (see widget at right).

My craigslist selling has really picked up- I've sold everything that I've listed except for this horrible old couch and a dog crate, but I'm going to relist them both tomorrow. I thought I was going to sell the couch today. After asking me a thousand questions about the couch, the guy said that he'd be by to pick it up between 4 and 5, but he never showed. Annoying. I'm asking $30 for the couch. I'm asking for that amount because that's about how much it's worth. About the only good thing I have to say about that couch is that you can sit on it, but what do you expect for $30? This guy wanted to know if it had any tears. If I could take additional pictures for him. If we smoked. If we had pets. He just kept asking questions, which I can understand if you'd paying say over $50, but what do you expect for $30?

Likewise, the dog crate has someone who is interested in it and I've basically told her that I can meet her anywhere at any time with it, just tell me where and when and she keeps giving me the most vague answers- Like "southeast atlanta after 2pm." Sure. I'll be there!

I'm giving up on both of those fools and starting fresh tomorrow. We're also selling some stuff on ebay that has been sitting in the basement for a while. We sold three items and have 4 more listed. I'm hoping to make about $400 from those sales, but most of it goes to my husband since it's his stuff. I get a cut since I'm doing the work to get it sold like one of those "We Will Sell Your Stuff on Ebay" stores. I'd love to open one of those stores, but unfortunately, I just saw one located near me survive for several months and then die a slow painful death until is finally went under. No thanks. I'll stick to writing for now.