What Financial Health Means to Me

So, this morning I'm working on organizing part of my personal space. It's a mess. It's always a mess. I feel like Hoarders will be here to tape a segment soon! Look at what's piled on my bed... books, comics, and some miscellaneous stuff...






So, what does that have to do with financial health? Quite a bit. I don't have my own house or apartment... I live with my parents. It benefits both them and me. I have some issues that relate to my severe depression, and find myself unable to hold down a traditional job. My parents are also getting on in years, and while they could get by, my being here makes things easier. Honestly, Mom can't drive anymore, so if nothing else, driving her around is a big help.

So, I'm a photographer and artist. My photography is mostly "beefcake" style photos, and I draw a lot of sketch cards. I sell a lot in my eBay store. I also sell art in other places, like Etsy, Redbubble, Society6, Zazzle, etc... See my links and other blog posts if you're interested in checking out my art. (Hint: buying something from me, or any other living/struggling artist is a big help!)

I have also been working on other things to improve my financial health. I am an impulse spender, and I try to curb those impulses. If nothing else, I tell myself to wait an hour or a day and see if I still want that item. This works well. I don't need every t-shirt I see, or every action figure, comic, cd, etc... And all that stuff piled on the bed? Most of it has not been read yet! So, I need to spend time catching up my reading. Like many book-lovers, I do have piles of unread books.
 
Long ago, I learned that I will always want more! This helps with being able to walk away from things I want.

I also look at other ways to earn money online. It might just be taking surveys to get a rewards card, or it might be a small job to earn some cash or submitting receipts to earn cash back. I even enter a lot of contests - mostly ones that have a cash prize or a vacation. I long to travel, and I did win a trip to Montreal a few years ago. It was a great trip!

So, to me, financial health means that I'm able to take care of myself, pay my bills, get my own place, and still have some cash on-hand to buy things that I want.

It's an on-going process. I opened an online banking account, and use it to save money. My goal is small right now... I try to put a small amount in every week. Sometimes I miss a week, but I keep plugging away at it. I have ideas about what I want to do in terms of business/earning money, and I'm taking (small) steps towards making that happen. I'm also trying to be open to different ways of earning.

For your financial health, I recommend reading articles. Take inspiration from personal stories (like this one, even if you think "that guy's cray-cray!"), look at alternative methods of earning some cash, and how to save and budget. Take the advice that works best for you.

Take care, everyone! I hope you have a great week!

Comments

  1. Ha , yep yoo izz cray-cray ! Funny how similar our lifestyles are at this point in time .

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    1. It sucks being a poor artist. What's worse is everyone telling me how great my work is, but nobody buys anything. I get not having money, but... you can't buy a keychain off Zazzle? I try to buy from my fellow artist as I'm able to. Oh well... maybe one day my fairy godfather will bring me the winning lottery ticket...

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