Currently, my freelancing is bringing in an around $500/month. Which sounds pathetic, but isn't that bad considering I've barely done any marketing at all. I'd love to quadruple that, but given that I'm committed to spending a lot of time working on my novels and that Annabel will be of an age to need a lot of time and attention for the foreseeable future, I'd settle for doubling it. That's my goal for 2005, in fact.

Being self-employed and working from home is weird in that I no longer have work and not-work compartments for my life. Which is not to say that I don't track my hours carefully when I'm working with a client who pays by the hour rather than by the project, nor that I make no distinction at all between work and recreation, but there's no longer this strong dividing line where one part of time is MINE ALL MINE and the rest is grudgingly traded to an employer in exchange for regular pay and health insurance.

The "grudging" was a key part of it for me--I really had a messed-up attitude toward work. I think it was a combo of a really horrible first experience in a full-time job, the fact neither of my parents especially enjoyed their work, and my natural hierarchy-hating personality expressing itself. Even when I liked the work, I always kind of resented my bosses and was uncomfortable supervising others.

So it's been a huge revelation for me that it's possible to work and enjoy it. I honestly thought I was inherently a lazy ambitionless person before I found work I enjoyed and the right way to motivate myself. Now, I almost understand workaholics, because it is awfully hard for me to step away from my writing to relax or be with Dylan and Annabel. Which is not to say that I manage time well or don't spend too much time online. But I'm getting better.

Are you sad to sell your house, Anne?

You could trade it to me, for, umm,., I have some bottle caps and twine. And comics. And 23 bucks. And then you'd know it was still in the Buffista community!

Should I use it, or just use my "letterhead" with a couple of sentences on it?

I'd go with the latter.

Me too. I usually just have a brief description of services provided, hourly rate and hours worked (if not a flat fee job), the amount due, and whatever payment instructions I think are relevant/necessary.

Thanks, y'all. This is all so exciting!

Salary: $37,000
Rent: $520
Debt: $20K (half of that is my car loan, half is credit card)

My best friend makes close to 3 times what I do, which is just really really annoying. Not because I want more money, but because now she lives EXTREMELY large, and I can't keep up. We go out to dinner and she wants to split a $40 bottle of wine, on the grounds that "it's *cheap,* since we're splitting it."

Hello -- I rarely pay $20 for a bottle of wine, period. Or for a meal. So then I feel like a cheap-ass peasant next to her, and because I don't like to talk about money/debt (see discussion above, re: people don't like to talk about money troubles), I end up spending too much when we're out together and then I fuck my bank account up.

It irks.

So, I'm wondering, O Buffistae Mine, how do other people (meaning all y'all) deal with it? (If, in fact, you have to?)

Are you sad to sell your house, Anne? It's so cute....

Less sad than I was before. Repainting and fixing things up to get it ready to sell is doing a lot to help break those bonds of affection.

I'll have to have some sort of localista get-together before I move.

If all goes well, I will have a cute house in St. Louis in the not-too-distant future.

Speaking of which, ~ma for the out-of-state job hunt would be greatly appreciated.

I end up spending too much when we're out together and then I fuck my bank account up.

But that's why it's good to talk about it!

As we speak, I'm billing for almost $300! AND I got my tax refund money! I AM SO EFFING RICH RIGHT NOW! Bring on the $11 cocktails!

Has your best friend always made more that much more than you, Steph? I'd like to think my idea of "cheap" won't change, but I'm sure willing to work on "affordable," but that's only what's affordable to me. I've been the poor one around millionaires, and it sucked, and I was embarassed about how little I made, or the only one of my friends with a nine to five, instead of scraping from gig to gig, and that made me feel uneasy too. So there's no win for me, not without erasing a whole lot of J'can bougie instincts.

eta: Drinks are on Jesse!

but because now she lives EXTREMELY large, and I can't keep up. We go out to dinner and she wants to split a $40 bottle of wine, on the grounds that "it's *cheap,* since we're splitting it."

Yeah, that's tough. I have a similar position with regard to someone I work with who makes nearly double what I do - she keeps inviting me to go out with her and her friends, but that means trendy restos and bars that are way out of my comfort zone.

and because I don't like to talk about money/debt (see discussion above, re: people don't like to talk about money troubles), I end up spending too much when we're out together and then I fuck my bank account up.

Nodding. Spending too much or seeming anti-social by declining too often. It can be a real strain sometimes.

What really bugs me are people you send me work at like 7:00pm and then are surprised that I'm not still working. Hello?

Actually, what's worse are people who call me up at 7pm when I'm still at work, and are miffed when I tell them no, I can't do a rush job for them tonight. Because, hello, reason I'm still at work at 7pm is because I already plenty of work to do.