I always wanted to publish a novel. I know, that makes two of us. But I was so close. I have an agent. I have a finished manuscript. I've gotten encouraging letters from editors. And then.
Then I stopped working on it.
This may seem nuts, but it came out of a concatination of messy life events. I won't bore you with the details. I'll just mention they include a corpse, a PI license, and a plane ticket to Zürich, and we'll leave it at that.
So these days I'm living the American version of the vida loca. I have a mortgage and credit card debt. I want to redo the bathroom. I work 40 hours a week for a midsize company, and Powerpoint has become part of my life.
I hate it. My job isn't bad at all; what I hate is the realization, which hits late at night, that I have abandoned my dreams for the sake of a 401(k) and decent health insurance. There has to be a better way.
So this blog has two purposes: to document the journey from corporate working bee to cool artistic type, and to explore ways to finance the dream--my dream or yours.
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Do you wish you could chuck your day job and do what you've always dreamed? Me too. But I'm a big fan of having a roof over my head. I'm exploring ways to cut my costs, improve my life, and eventually break free of the 9-to-5. Join me.
about me: susannah
Thrills! Chills! The joy of frugality! The terrors of consumer debt! Watch one woman follow her dream without abandoning her mortgage payments!
Nothing a year? Do you mean that?
Well, no. The only way to live well on nothing a year is to go into debt. What I'm trying to do is to find a way to cut my fixed expenses and increase investment and creative income to the point that I can live well without needing a regular paycheck.
But why?
Conventional wisdom says that nobody really makes a living with a garage band or a manuscript or a talent with oils. Those of us in the underpaying arts (writers, musicians, actors and the rest) should give it up, get a real job, invest in our 401(k)s, and relegate our life's passion to the status of "hobby."
But what's the alternative? Moving to NYC, living in a rat trap, and working as a waiter until we get the Big Break?
There has got to be another way. This is about trying to have it all--the vocation we love, and a secure future that doesn't depend on the lottery or the New York Times Bestsellers List.
But what's the alternative? Moving to NYC, living in a rat trap, and working as a waiter until we get the Big Break?
There has got to be another way. This is about trying to have it all--the vocation we love, and a secure future that doesn't depend on the lottery or the New York Times Bestsellers List.
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I have no financial training or magic powers, so the financial opinions and suggestions made or linked to on this site are for your information only and provided without promise or guarantee.
Please use common sense, research financial decisions through a variety of sources, and remember that what you read should be evaluated on the basis of your own financial situation. What's best for me may not be best for you.
Please use common sense, research financial decisions through a variety of sources, and remember that what you read should be evaluated on the basis of your own financial situation. What's best for me may not be best for you.
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