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Archive for November, 2013

End of Election and November Update!

November 6th, 2013 at 07:24 pm

Yesterday marked the end of the election, which is a huge sigh of relief for me. Our campaign won and the levy I was working to get passed did in fact do so- at 65% of the vote, which is pretty remarkable. Today I'm trying to catch up on some non-work related stuff (like paying bills!) and am struggling to stay awake. I haven't got much sleep in the last few days...

All that aside, I'm feeling really good. I have a trip to Seattle tomorrow with a girlfriend that I'm very excited about. Visiting one of my best friends I haven't seen in months, since he moved out there. The three of us were inseparable in grad school, and we'd looking forward to taking on the streets of that city in full force Smile

I'll be using my time in the airport to do some photo editing. I have two sets to complete in the next week. The business is going well. I had another engagement shoot last weekend, two more sessions booked, and 4 in the works. Not bad for only posting to Craigslist...

I have a job interview next week that I'm pretty excited about, so hopefully that will go over well and I'll have full time employment (wouldn't that be nice?).

November is really the month of adventure for me, though. On top of traveling to Seattle this weekend, I'm going to Frankfurt, Germany in just a couple of weeks! I found this gig through a friend for a logistics company that pays people to fly around and transport bone marrow donations to people who need it. They're covering my flights, hotels, and giving me $75/day to cover food and whatnot. I get to stay in Germany for 2 days and then head to New Jersey to drop off. It seemed too good to be true, but when my friend told me she did it without a hitch, I figured it was an opportunity I just couldn't pass up.

Consequently, I'm learning as much German as I can in the next two weeks and just reeling with excitement because I finally get to visit Europe. Adventure! I'll be doing some work while I'm traveling there as well. That's the nice thing about doing freelance work from home! I can take my work pretty much anywhere...

So while I'm a little worried about finding a full time job, I'm enjoying the flexibility of my current arrangement and am so very thankful that I'm in a financial situation that gives me that flexibility. I can honestly say this is the first time I've ever been able to say that. Saving has been pretty much nonexistent for me up to this point... and I know it is a luxury to feel comfortable in a state of uncertainty.

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As for my financial update: I paid all my bills for November, save the one that doesn't get sent to me until later in the month. My minimum payments for my student loans are now under $400 every month, which is very exciting. It's always uplifting when you visibly see your hard work paying off. It also relieves a lot of pressure when your debt payments are less than your rent :/

I transferred $1,000 to my savings account, so I'm 1/3 of the way toward my savings goal for 2013 taxes. Woo!

I'm clearly not going to be in a position to make my goal to hit $6,000 for my focus loan account, but it could be close depending on what my work situation is next month. I've got it under $10k, which I'm incredibly happy about.

I've been pretty good about not purchasing food at restaurants. Tonight I'll be cooking dinner. The rest of the week I'll be traveling, but thankfully my two friends are just as cheap as I am- so while I'm sure we'll get dinner out one of the nights, we'll be doing some cooking at his place as well.

I have a doctor's appointment next week, and I'm not sure what I'll end up spending, but I'm budgeting at least a couple hundred dollars. We shall see how this insurance works out.

I think that's about it for now. Sorry for the novel! Hope you all are doing well!