Why Frugal Living?

I’ve read a lot on frugal living lately and I have to say it’s all getting to be a bit confusing. Some of the methods people use are reasonable while others make you wonder what tragic event they encountered that made them afraid to live. Then I began to take a closer look.

When it comes to earnings and savings there are a lot of factors in play. Married people are often assumed to have more income when in fact that’s far from the case. Some married people working age make about the same as a retired person living on the fixed income of social security. Add kids to this lower level of income and you have a formula for fear.

Then there are the single parents that seem to work so much they feel as if they never get to see their kids. It always seemed to me that when I left the house to go to work and put my baby in a daycare that I was missing out on something. The last few years at home with my Autistic little one have proven that I was right.

I spent the last three (almost four) years home with my little angel. When you go to work you miss the firsts, crawling, steps, words and boo-boos. So maybe even the most extreme of the extreme ideas aren’t that extreme if it means you can stay home with the baby for just a little while longer.

Relearning How to Meet a Deadline

I'm stuck lately on what to write, when to write and finding time to write. I am going back to research and deadlines. I have to have deadlines or I'm never going to get back to earning enough to make a living. I have a very limited time line to work in so I have to make the most of it.

I have two mornings a week to work uninterrupted that lately I've been using to catch up on housework. I have to clean the house but I need to get a lot of stuff thrown out so that I have less time cleaning up and more time working when I can. I also have a tendency to go to bed early lately and get up earlier although I don't seem to get much done getting up earlier.

I used to do my best work late at night I'm beginning to wonder if I can't do that again. Oh, well I've got to get ready to go before the kid gets home from school so I'll be back later.

Sold an Article and Did Most of the Budget

I managed to sell an article on the Gluten/Casein free diet to Associated Content this week. It seems to have taken forever to get it processed. I figured out that I don't see a difference in pay when I choose non-exclusive or exclusive. I also figured out that at my current rate I'd need to write and have approximately thirty a week excepted to help supplement my income enough to keep up with my rising costs.

I got most of my budget redone last night. My light bill has finally gotten the new budget amount; it's $200 a month and we were around $50 under budget for the current bill. That's good so hopefully we'll continue on that path so that we end up with a month we don't have to pay the bill so we can buy a few things we're gonna need by then. I know it seems silly to pay $200 a month for utilities when you don't use that much but if we don't we end up not knowing what the bill is each month. We also end up with just one month when the bill can be outrageous instead of several of them. My dryer hasn't worked in months so that's one temptation I don't have to worry about and the weather has been nice enough just to use fans for most of this month!

The afternoons are a little warm but the mornings and the nights are just right. I'd leave a window open at night but it's been too cold although my heat is only coming on once for about ten minutes. The bad news is that I have to pay the remaining $32 on my eye doctor visit next month and we get to start paying my auto insurance by the month on top of Theresa's supplements. One of her supplements went down to once a day which means it'll last 100 days at $15 a bottle which is less than $7 a month, I think that's just an estimate.

OK I have rambled long enough it's time to think of something else to write about.

Change of Plans

I've had a change of plans once again. This week I managed to sell one article to Associated Content and submit another that's still should be reviewed in the next week. I've found I work better listening to music so I'm going to be really tired with very little sleep as I find the times I get to listen to music uninterrupted.

Actually I can work while listening to a television show with the headphones as I type up an article. I figured out that I want a new computer, that way I have one to work on and one to watch shows on. Yes, I know it's not needed but it'd be nice to have so I'll dream. Oh, yeah I'm supposed to be talking about a change in plans so I guess I should get to it.

Monday and Wednesday mornings will be spent by taking two hours in front of the computer to write whatever comes to mind with my headphones on and the television set off. No exceptions for hubby since the baby will be at preschool during these times. Then I have from around 8pm until well midnight or later to get more work done. That's at least four hours.

What am I focusing on now? I'll be reviewing the items I'm buying of course since that's one of the easiest ways to earn. I may even review some television series if I can stop watching them long enough to write about them. There are a number of older shows that I could those "where are they now" articles about the cast; sadly enough I'm just old enough that those actors have started passing away.

The holidays are closer so a lot of stuff will be holiday related. I think I can find the time for two more blogs provided I pick the subjects carefully. Starting with one more should be best since I have very specific ideas for the next two. It shouldn't be that hard once the new schedule I have planned for the new year goes into effect. I'll be getting a new appointment book soon to keep up with everything or maybe I'll just buy an ink refill and print one out since the ones you buy never seem to have what I actually need in them.

Right now I've got an article on hold to write this. I couldn't figure out what to say next so I decided to come here and update this thinking maybe I'd get an idea. Well, I have one now so it's back to work.

One article Day so Far

Well so far today I've managed to write and save one article to be edited later. I noticed lately that when I managed to submit an article that was accepted for upfront payment that I had tiny typos that while barely noticeable stuck out like a sore thumb to me. I have an idea for an article related to the one that I wrote which will give me two articles to submit for upfront payments at Associated Content.

I did some math today and figured out that in order to supplement my income enough at the current rates I'm getting I can write 30 articles a week. That is provided that all thirty are accepted for upfront payments; I can also submit at least five a week just for performance payments in areas that don't usually get upfront payments to help my earnings. The whole point of sitting on the articles I'm managing to write today is to see if I can increase the earnings rate and make sure I haven't left anything relevant to the article out of it.

I bought a few bottles of Theresa's supplements today. Finally I had the money to replace three of the four she ran out of. Still need the fish oil, that's why I'm trying to force myself to write. I've got to pay hubby's phone bill too while still getting us where we need to go.

What did I spend today?
zinc $4 (bottle will last one month; hoping that they get the 30mg capsules in soon)
magnesium citrate $6
acetyl l $15 for a grand total of $25.

What's left to buy? The pro-omega fish oil for approximately $63 to ensure it last the month. There is also the matter of paying hubby's phone bill. It's only $21.80 and he's about out of time because he  seems to use it more when he has no choice but to conserve it.

I have a better idea now of how much I'm spending on supplements each month. The complete powder ($35), zinc ($4) and pro-omega fish oil ($63) are the only ones that I have to buy each and every month. (I think I could be wrong.) That comes to $102 each and every month. I may come off better when/if they get the 30mg zinc capsules in so she just gets one instead of two. I'm beginning to wonder if they are some supplements that would cover two or more areas that she has issues with. The next time I have to buy supplements I'll make it a point to figure out the average monthly costs.

It's time to go update everyone on the family side of the day now.

One article sold none written

Well, I just accepted an offer from Associated Content that I probably should have declined and resubmitted on to see if I could increase the rate. Oh well, I know what I'm writing for them next and the article should be live by tomorrow so that I can begin earning performance payments on it. One is an editorial and the other two I have in mind for upfront offers to see if they'll except them. Holiday related should do well in searches provided I don't get forgetful and lose focus. I have to get as many articles for upfront payment written as possible.

The article that was accepted is How to make it through the holidays broke. It's not my best but it's not my worse, I think I can do a few more along those lines.

I'm wondering if I can write enough to put hubby's cell phone back on a monthly plan before he runs out of money in his account for it. He's the whole reason I pay for roll over minutes, he doesn't do well conserving his time for emergencies. Two cell phones only cost me $43.60 a month for a total of 400 minutes that roll over to the next month when all of them aren't used up to 1000 minutes. That's not too bad but given the way he went through the money in the account this month I think next time I lower the bill I'll change my phone plan to $15 every three months and add a little bit of money for text to save the minutes.

I didn't write anything today I started to then I forgot what I was doing. I tried to join the call for the "How to" guides but my Google voice couldn't complete the call. It worked fine to call my cell phone however. Not sure what the problem was and I can't find the right place to ask the question.

My auto insurance is due next month, I usually pay it every six months and save about $100 overall. Well, this time we won't be doing that. The closest estimate I can get is that it'll cost me about $60 a month at most for basic liability. I meant to do some shopping around but I haven't had the time to gather all the information that I need to get an accurate quote.

We went grocery shopping today. I had a budget of approximately $63 to get enough food to last us until this time next week. I spent almost $89, that's what I get for waiting until the cabinets were nearly empty to go shopping. Theresa has healthy snacks she can actually have, the problem is I still have to go back to the store on our way home tomorrow.

I've been redoing the budget as best I can estimating everything. The good news is the bills are under $500 if I got all of them but that doesn't include buying the supplements, groceries or basics for the house. I have a feeling this month and the rest of the year are going to be kind of crappy. Maybe not if I can manage to get back in the mood to write. I'm almost there but I feel like crap thanks to the weather being hot then cold. Oh well, I've updated my work and saving progress now it's time to

Not a complete loss

Well, even though I didn't manage to write any articles today it wasn't a total lost. The journaling I did this morning gave me some ideas. I did manage to read through one article that was rather helpful this morning before I got kicked offline. I already carry a notebook with me to watch Theresa's therapy sessions. I go over the budget makes a couple notes on the session, etc..

Well, the problem is I may have to many ideas while I'm watching and waiting. I think that I'll start outlining at least one of those ideas to turn into an article when I get home.

Friday is hubby's payday and it's not going to help. The check is spent and it's not even here. On the bright side I got my performance pay from Associated Content even though it was less than I was expecting. I think the totals for last month and this month come to what I was expecting. Oh well, it'll be there next month. I have a few ideas for article to write for upfront payment. I just have to make sure that they're edited and on subjects that are actually being searched for.  I wonder just how many articles can be gotten out of the holiday season.

I'm thinking of starting a "how to" guide tomorrow but I'm not sure of the subject that I want to write about at the moment. I had a clear idea and I can't find it now. Well, it's time to end the work day and go to bed. Well, after I play a few games to clear my head.