Timewaster's Guide Archive
Local Authors => Stephanie Fowers => Topic started by: guitarbabe on February 23, 2006, 09:55:08 PM
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Okay, I'm starting a list of survival tips for starving artists...and since I figure most of us are starving artists here, we just might need the guide...well, at least I'd appreciate the tips.
So, I'll start it off. Here's my first one...water. Yep, it's my best friend. You can add it to shampoo, conditioner, make-up (not so helpful to the guys, sorry), lotion...it makes the shelf life of the typical household item last that much longer (well, you know as long as it's not electric)...and you can get all that gunk that sticks on the bottom, you know, that stuff. Oh, but don't use it on nail polish...well, you can if you're conducting an experiment.
Alright...annie body else? (man, that is such an Annie line...I love that show...the old one, not the new one), anyhoo, let's hear it!
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Canned goods. Really, they're not just for the homeless.
Find a restaurant that has one-two days a week where they serve all-you-can-eat spaghetti (means one, MAYBE two plates) for $2.25. That's right. Buffalo rocks harder than you thought, eh?
Get a job at a restaurant. That's how I've survived for a while. But now my time there is done and I have to find something else (being Target, but very little free food).
Gain lots of weight so you can pretty much eat less than you normally would on any given day due to having an overabundance built up already (like a freakin' bear!).
Mooch. Or go to events where there'll be free food.
Is it a good thing that I know all this, am only 20, and have been living on my own for about almost a year now? Ah well, that's what I get for giving my body hell I guess. Hahah.
Enjoy meatbags.
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Kill your Tivo. Stop paying for cable. go back to dial up internet. Cancel your magazine subscriptions.
All the above are luxury items that so many people think they need. If I ever hear people complain about not making ends meet and I find out they're doing any of the above, I instantly lose pity for them. If they do more than one, I want to stab the whiny git in the face.
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Okay, how about this? I totally agree...with the above anyway...but bargains. Oh yeah! For rent (at least in this Provo college town), find a contract two weeks into the semester (that calls for knowing someone, having relatives around to live close enough to get to school and all that)...but, that's when everyone is desperate to sell. We got our awesome place for an awesome deal...and even though we don't have Tivo, we get everything else (cable, internet) free! Hey, that's my second tip...the bargains.
Oh, and z eats e, we're called the institute crashers here. Well, seriously, you can never starve if you go to every activity, FHE, institute, birthday parties, any party. And on the up side, you get to be social.
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how 'bout this? Get a real job you freaking Hippies.
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Oh, and z eats e, we're called the institute crashers here. Well, seriously, you can never starve if you go to every activity, FHE, institute, birthday parties, any party. And on the up side, you get to be social.
I'm not sure that gemm (z eats e) knows what Institute is, not being LDS. But he has the mooch thing down, it sounds like. ;)
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how 'bout this? Get a real job you freaking Hippies.
Cause Night Auditing is a real job? ::)
So something helpful...
You can always stay in school and live off of students loans, scholarships and grants until you hit it big or they make you a professor.
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Learn to budget. It's important to know exactly how much income you can expect and what costs have to be paid out each month. Don't forget things like car insurance and anything that you have on autopay.
Cook from scratch, this is usually much less expensive, particularily if you menu plan based on sales items for the week at the grocery store. When you have a little extra pick up a can or two of staples and put them into storage for the weeks when there is no extra.
Work with temp services. They may not be your favorite jobs, but generally you can find at least stop gap jobs to keep the bills covered. The pro with temp services is that you're not tied down to a job if you have a school schedule that makes normal full time work difficult. If you're attending school see what's possible at the university for work. They tend to have flexible schedules, split shifts, etc.
Learn the power of numbers. IE: Carpool, share an apartment, split groceries and cooking duties, etc.
Delienate between need and want. Most wants will wait until you're in a more stable financial place, needs require immediate attention. Once you've narrowed these lists then prioritize.
Stay away from debt as much as possible. Your credit card may solve a short term problem but can turn into a long term one.
Look for freelance work. There are a lot of places that hire writers for short articles and such that can bring in a little extra cash without costing a ton of extra time.
Use your time wisely. I personally hate talking to people who complain about being a starving artist, but when you ask what they accomplished in a given day they didn't get out of bed until noon and then watched three hours of soaps before even approaching anything productive.
My .02.
~J
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Kill your Tivo. Stop paying for cable. go back to dial up internet. Cancel your magazine subscriptions.
I'd add cell phones to this list (or at least cut it down to one cell phone, which is normally the same cost as a land line with unlimited long distance). If you get free high speed internet, totally get Vonage. With taxes it's $27.50/mo and you have unlimited calls anywhere in the US and Canada. That's cheap!
And I totally get the magazine thing, but I'm keeping my Ensign subscription. :)
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how 'bout this? Get a real job you freaking Hippies.
Ha, got one, but it isn't exactly high class: assistant in kindergarten (I fit in really well), special ed tutor and recess supervisor...which I love btw, and since I'm writing on the side, I'm biding my time before I have to get a second job to make ends meet. Ugh, I'm a hippy, aren't I?
Anyhoo, good tips. Here's another one. Be sure to look down! We inherited some cereal when some roommates moved out and I ate a half a bowl of weevils before I looked down and saw what wonderful protein I was consuming. The funny part was that I had actually considered eating the rest. Ha ha!
And another...get some guts. Work on your bartering skills. I learned that in the Philippines. It works at DI and even at the regular stores. If there's something wrong with the clothes...or anything. I got twenty bucks off one of my brother's Christmas presents that way (we draw names 'cause there's ten of us). You just point out the defect and ask how much of a discount you can get if you buy it and generally they'll barter with you. It doesn't hurt to ask.
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Secondhand stores.
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ebay as long as you have a set maximum bid for yourself before you start bidding and can let it go if you lose. Also check the price of shipping before bidding.
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Nice, I haven't tried the ebay thing as much as I should. I have a couple of friends who make their living off of ebay.
Here's another one...friends. Get lots of them, real true blue friends. They know things that you don't know and you know things that they don't know. If you have a friend that knows how to fix cars (by hitting the starter with a hammer to get it to work for instance) or a friend that can take professional photographs (for the controversial SASE packet...or even for the back of that book when you finally get it published) or a friend that knows more about how to make websites than you do (and he likes food), that definitely helps.
Oh, but you can't forget the MOST important part of this...you can't be a moocher, not a real one, 'cause it will never work that way. You have to give back or you'll look stupid fast, and not very nice. So, you can help with all her papers or paint his house or help pass out fliers for his business or get a huge crowd to go to her recital, whatever...and you don't even have to pay taxes on it.
My dad's an accountant and these are the kinds of business deals he makes all the time. He'd do taxes and books and if they couldn't afford the service, they'd trade...we got a lot of cool gadgets that we'd never be able to afford that way. Taxes, well, I have no idea how that works, that's his field.
Why do you think when I go home for vacations I work at the office? It's payback.
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I would just like to point out that Landline + Dialup = more than I'm paying for high speed. So for me, having the highspeed internet is actually saving me money over having dialup.
Also, get your family to put you on a family cell phone plan. Suddenly your phone costs you $10/month rather that $40.
Also, a land line costs at least $30, and you can get a cell phone for that, so having a cell phone isn't any more of a luxury than a land line is.
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Yeah, to get my internet, I had to *get* a land land, which is costing me an extra $40 a month or so. Cable internet would cost the same amount. So it was sixes--they cost the same, out here.
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Cut your own hair. Or , if you're less adventureous, have a friend do it.
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The power company here in Salt Lake has a program where if you use less electricity between 7am and 10pm (or something like that), you get a discount on your bill. But you have to sign up for it (and if you go over, you get penalized), and you could really save on energy costs. You might want to see if your power/gas/water companies have similar programs.
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If you're not paying utilities through an apartment there are also equal pay programs, especially for gas, where you can pay the same thing every month all year. This balances out the times when bills would be high or low and gives you a predictable way to keep your budget.
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It is if you have both, which most people do.
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One word: Tax Returns (okay, that's two words). Yahoo! They just might be the thing to save you this time of year...unless you have to pay in....ugh!
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Yeah, definately starting to dislike tax returns. Bunch of money-hungry grub eaters they is.
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"Tax returns yahoo!" is three words.
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The problem with being a student and working student-ish jobs is that you often don't make enough for the employer to worry about withholding all that much. So be sure to take all the education credits (Hope, Lifetime Learning) you can--did you know you can get a credit for your tuition even if it's paid for by loans? Just that little thing, combined with the fact that I qualified for the whatchamacallit credit, which people usually think is just for families... ? I don't remember what it's called. Anyway, in a year at BYU (after I'd turned 25, which is the minimum age for that one credit I can't remember the name of) in which I hadn't had practically anything withheld, I ended up getting $300 or $500 back, a heavenly sum in those days.
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Earned Income Tax Credit?
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On that note!
Get your withholdings reduced on your paycheck if you're getting big tax returns. In the long run, you'll be better off because you'll be able to buy the clothing/food as you need it instead of waiting for the beginning of the year all the time.
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Earned Income Tax Credit?
Yes.
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I loved earned income credit. I don't know why we get it, but I'll take it.
Okay, here's another one: dumpster diving.
I've had friends that practice this to different degrees, but the most extreme cases really got some good finds. Well, it always seemed that way at the time, but then everything's good compared to an old soggy banana peel.
Personally I haven't been able to eat 'my catches,' from the bakeries, but my friend, who took us has served them to us plenty of times without us knowing. Ha ha.
Other guys I know find furniture and computers, just random random stuff. If you go at the end of semesters when people are moving out, some people just chuck their stuff, instead of putting them in the DI boxes (that's another discussion).
Actually I got my dishes that way. They look like they're coated with yellow sugar cookie frosting paint with flowers (if anyone's missing them). I had no way they were dumpster dived for, lol (is that the way you say that?), but when I found out, it somehow made them cooler (even though they thought I'd freak out). I made sure that I soaked them a long time though.
By the way, is it just me...or do I see Irish People?
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is it just me...or do I see Irish People?
It's tradition to have holiday-ish names. Here's the old thread during Christmas:
http://www.timewastersguide.com/boards/yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=other;action=display;num=1134000003
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of course, it makes much less sense now that everyone's nick has changed.
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I loved earned income credit. I don't know why we get it, but I'll take it.
Its from the Bush Tax-cut that got passed 2 years ago. In a nutshell you get money from the government if you make less then a certain amount (about 12k for single students I believe).
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Its from the Bush Tax-cut that got passed 2 years ago. In a nutshell you get money from the government if you make less then a certain amount (about 12k for single students I believe).
Earned Income Tax Credit is much older than 2 years. It was most recently amended 4 years ago, in fact. According to wikipedia (if you believe the world's most reference missing database of knowledge, and in this case, I don't really see a reason not to) it was first enacted in 1975 in fact.
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Actually, the EIC is from at least back in Clinton's day, because I got it when I was still in Utah. Or... that *might* have been right after Bush was elected, but I'm pretty sure it was right about the transition time. At any rate, it's been around for a while, because I haven't been able to qualify for it for years. The last time I made under $10,000--which is what you have to make as a single person over 25 to qualify, or at least it was back then--was the year 2000.
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ahh that's right, he just raised the amount you could make and still get it.
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What about if you make more than the required amount, but you get your tax cuts (because you buy things for your biz, say a computer? Or road trips?)...that's what I had to do to get more money back. Once again, I don't know how it works. My dad is the accountant.
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I just had a strange dream where Italy declared war on the US over GuitarBabe's username because there was a GuitarBabe in Italy too and I guess for some reason they decided they can only be one person with that nickname on the internet.
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LOL, so, I'm your dream girl now? Alright!!!
Well, all I can say is that it's a good thing I'm bagpipe babe for the month. Anything to avoid war, right? But after this I'm going back to my old ways...war or no!
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It's not like a war declared by Italy on the US would last long or have many ill effects for the US.
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Not true. If they cut off our pizza supply, our nation would be devastated.
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I don't think that Pizza Hut or DOminos have anything to do with Italy. Not tasting very italian as they don't.
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Okay, here's another one (I'm writing this in between cleaning for our cleaning checks...oh dash everything, I left that cleaner on WAY too long).
Anyway, here it is (and I'm not denying that this will be controversial): Marry well.
Ha ha, I'm not married, so I can't swear by it, but all my married friends tell me to marry a geek (I know some of you have heard me say it). Apparently my friends married geeks, and they never have to touch the computer ever. Their kids are smarter, and blah, blah, blah.
However, I'll probably have to marry a lawyer. Let's face it, I'm a little accident/ trouble prone, and the way things go for me, I'll be needing to save on the legal bills.
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My coworker (whose wife just bore their sixth child--they're Catholic) jokes that he insists that each of his children go into a different profession. One should be a doctor, another a lawyer, another a mechanic, another in computers, and so forth, so that all their needs will be met through the family and they'll never have to pay for another service again. :)
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Anyway, here it is (and I'm not denying that this will be controversial): Marry well.
Heh. Got that covered. Except that being married to a doctor since before he entered medical school ... well ... it's a looooong road and, trust me, you aren't well off for a long time.
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My parents actually did fairly well with the children in various professions angle.
Geek
Interior Design
Mechanic
Psychologist
Engineer
Undecided - he's on a mission right now and not thinking about what else he wants to be when he grows up.
BTW...since we've talked about pizza in this thread.
Cheap Pizza Recipe
Here are amounts and approximate cost. This makes enough for 8 sizeable pieces.
1 loaf french bread - 0.89
2 cans tomato sauce - 0.20
Italian spices/salt/pepper - 0.10
1 cup shredded cheese - 0.75
Half a can olives - 0.33
Pepporoni - 1.25
Directions: Cut loaf of french bread in half lengthwise. You should now have two log pieces of bread. Place on cookie sheet. Set the oven to Broil. Place cookie sheet and bread into oven and broil until just slightly brown. If you like a chewier pizza skip this broiling step. Remove from oven.
In a small saucepan combine tomato sauce and italian spices. I use Italian Seasoning, Oregano, salt, pepper and a little bit of sugar. Bring to warm and spice to taste.
Spoon sauce onto cut and broiled French bread. Get it all the way to the edges. Layer other toppings over sauce until you have your desired pizza.
Place pizzas in oven, preheated to 350. Bake until cheese melts and the whole thing is warm through, about 10-15 minutes. Keep an eye on it.
Remove from oven, slice into pieces, eat. If still hungry, lather, rinse, repeat.
The more toppings you put on the more expensive it can become, but pretty much you can get a basic 8 pieces of pizza, hot and ready, for about $3.50.
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Man, this forum is like communicating with buckshot.
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That brings up unpleasant images of Dick Cheney and quail hunting.
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Man, this forum is like communicating with buckshot.
Communicating with buckshot is pointless: buckshot aren't sentient.
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[size=8]*BLAM![/size]
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Communicating with buckshot is pointless: buckshot aren't sentient.
Man, you HAD to make me look up yet another word!
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Which word did you have to look up?
(yes, I am preparing to mock you...)
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Buckshot...what did you think?
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Ah well, in that case, no mocking is in order. It's not unreasonable at all for a sheltered girl like yourself, a retiring flower per se, to be ignorant of the implements and tools of a bloody trade like hunting. Especially not in Utah, where hunting is looked on as a devilish pastime and rarely practiced save by the most unsavory of characters.
:D
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Excepting Deer Hunt, of course, when the entire state gets off school and work. Perhaps it's just because I lived in Spanish Fork for 9 months--saw a lot of hunters there.
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, a retiring flower per se,
:D
A retiring flower!!!? You'll get yours! in a very mannerly, genteel way...of course!
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guitarbabe = utah's emily dickenson?
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guitarbabe = utah's emily dickenson?
An Emily Dickenson that incites Italy to war.
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What can I say? I'm versatile. ::)
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Emily Dickinson was verse-atile.
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/me dispatches the Ninja Monkey PUNishers.
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Okay, now I've run out of Starving Artist Guide ideas. Ha ha!
I'm looking through my house...hmm, never throw away ANYTHING! Some people say this is obsessive compulsive, but in my experience everything will have a purpose some day...even those leftover five month old mashed potatoes from Thanksgiving. Oh yeah! Um, I'm not saying eat it though! There's a special purpose for the stuff, even if it's just to scare your friends with it.
Stay tuned...for more brilliant strategies...
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I'm going to have to disagree.
My mother-in-law, who is *not* a starving artist (she and her husband paid for their family of 10 and all spouses (ok, that was only 2 at the time, but still) to take a 2 week trip to Europe. They paid for everything but food. And they did pay for a few of the meals. She keeps hold of everything. She picks up anything people have put out on big trash day if it appears remotely useful to anyone she might possibly know in the next 6 months.
We are constantly trying to get them to throw stuff out. Most of that stuff is useless.
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I'm sort of a packrat too, I don't like to throw things away. Though I have over the past few years started doing cleanings about twice a year when I toss things I don't use or need. I started this mostly because when I moved out of my old apartment I threw away like 3 trash cans worth of junk I had collected over the years and I figure I'm going to have to move again sometime so I might as well save me some time and keep the clutter down somewhat.
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I'm there with Sprig. When I moved the last time, I hated having to move all that stuff and so I'd rather get rid of anything there's no way I'd need so I have less to move. I think if your mother-in-law, E, were to have to move, she'd realize how worthless it was to move all that stuff with her and get rid of it.
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You would think moving would be enough of a reason, but for a chronic pack rat it just means more boxes. I have a good friend who's mother moved the garbage with them when they moved just incase there was something in there that someone else who was helping with the packing might not have realized she still wanted. She had boxes that hadn't been opened in ten years that she still wouldn't part with. In my opinion anything that you don't use at least once a year should be significantly eyed for going away.
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Except for some memorabilia. I like the idea of being able to show my kids some stuff from my childhood. My mom has held to most of this stuff for me (mostly for lack of being able to get it here), but my husband's mother sent all of his to us. You just have to learn to keep this to a minimum. Like my mom kept a couple of my drawings as a kid and my kindergarten handprints, but not any more drawings than that. We both kept our high school diplomas. You know, just a few things that mean something to you.
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We have these huge baby boxes at home and there's ten of us...and we each have more than one baby box with ALL of our memorabilia. We keep them in rubbermaid containers now because our basement always floods for one reason or another.
Anyway, what I'm trying to say is...I come by it honestly.
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BTW...since we've talked about pizza in this thread.
Cheap Pizza Recipe
I just wanted to thank JenaRey for the recipe. I made it last Friday and it was a great Friday night dinner. I went a little spendy and used Prego sauce and shredded cheese, but it was really good and fast. Yea!
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Wooohooo!!! :) It is one of my favorite quick pizza recipes and can be made as quick and dirty or as fancy as you feel like, which is nice. I'm glad you enjoyed!!!