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Various money musings

November 16th, 2009 at 07:11 pm

OK, one non-money bit of news: My NaNoWriMo novel is up to 8099 words! I managed about 3300 words last night, my most prolific night to date. Now if I could keep up that pace for the rest of the month, I could actually achieve this! I had nearly a week of writer's block and lack of motivation, but hopefully that's over. If you divvy the month up evenly, I should have reached 25,000 words last night, but I'm trying not to think about that.

The other day NT asked if we'd have any money to give my dad for the personal loan when we see him at Thanksgiving. We won't, but it got me thinking. My dad doesn't trust the mail carrier they have due to recurring delivery problems, so he won't just let me send him checks for payment. I'll have to do a wire transfer from my bank account to his, which will incur a fee each time. I thought, maybe I should write out 6 checks for $1000 each, and leave the dates blank, and give them to my dad at Thanksgiving. I can e-mail him whenever I have $1000 ready for him so he can date and cash one of the checks. This way, I'll save money on transaction fees, and he'll have a concrete piece of evidence that I do intend to pay him the rest of the money, and soon. He's a very organized guy, so I know I can trust him to hold onto those checks and not lose them. Still considering it, but it seems like a good idea so far.

Got a surprise check in the mail this weekend, nearly $70 from our organic grocery co-op. AS and I bought a membership years ago, and we get special discounts, two $2.50 coupons per quarter, plus this profit-sharing check once a year. I always forget about the check so it's always a nice surprise! We're going to put half toward paying off my dad and half toward the laptop fund.

We've nearly decided to get a new oven! One of the big burners (the back one I used all the time for boiling pasta, grains and beans) went out a couple months ago. We've made some attempts to fix it and to find someone who can repair it, but the stove is 25+ years old so we're now leaning toward replacing it. Cleaning under the coils is a pain, so we'd want one of those flat-surface electric stoves. There are good ones to be had for $400-$700 at Sears, and we can do the no payments, no interest for 12 months thing. I'm confident we'd easily save up that much just with extra income streams once we finish saving for our laptop. We've bought a fridge and a dishwasher this way and didn't pay a cent in interest because we paid them off in plenty of time.

Speaking of extra income streams, the woman who wants me to do a little freelance proofreading asked my hourly rate. I'm stalling getting back to her because I have no idea! I know I get paid about $24 per hour (plus benefits) and that my company bills clients $150 per hour for my time, so I feel like it should be somewhere in between those. Not sure what to do. AS will help me come up with a price later if I haven't decided.

Had a delightful dinner at the home of some friends we see far too seldom this weekend. They have two small children and we really enjoyed seeing how happy and engaged the kids were, and how much the parents clearly liked having them around. At the end of the night, they gave us some baby equipment including a bouncy seat for infants, a breastfeeding pillow that helps support the baby, and a brand new copy of The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein. I know we have lots still to get, but our front closet is filling up with loads of useful (and free!) supplies.

I was bummed on Friday because I didn't find any change on 5th St. But this morning on the way to work I found a penny, so my lucky streak is back as far as I'm concerned! Smile

7 Responses to “Various money musings”

  1. whitestripe Says:
    1258409028

    If it were me working out the hourly rate, I'd factor in that you have less overheads than the company you work for so it should be less than their rate, but since it is your direct client you should certainly get more than your hourly rate at your normal job. and is the client a bargaining type? you don't want to have finally figured out an amount you're happy with only to have them counter it.

  2. homebody Says:
    1258417954

    Great idea for paying back dad! Is the pillow a boppy?? My YD used hers all the time and I have to admit it made even holding a newborn easier on the old arm muscles (mine not hers!).

  3. Apprentice Bliss Hunter Says:
    1258419620

    I think the paying back Dad plan and new oven plans are great !

    How much to charge for free-lance ? No idea... I'd GUESSING maybe 80 an hour ? Significantly less than your company charges but a nice earner for you too... Is she a friend of yours ? If not, I might even go 100 an hour... ballpark

    As regards the writing thing - I know exactly how you feel ! Where does the time go ? Why do seconds drag when you feel lethargic and hours fly by when you're motivated ?

    Apparently tho... action comes before motivation - not the other way round... meaning if you just set a target of writing 10 words a day, you might find yourself writing more each day... I dunno... it's such a personal battle ( and yet known to us all ! )

  4. ceejay74 Says:
    1258427748

    Thanks guys. She's a former colleague and self-employed, so I decided to go with $40 per hour. We'll see what she says. Since my company says my benefits are basically a third of my compensation, my "true" hourly wage would be $36 per hour, so I'd hope not to go lower than that.

    Glad you think the payment idea is good--hope my dad likes it!

    homebody, get this--the pillow is called "my breast friend." LOL, groan.

    Apprentice, I'm so interested in creative activities yet so apt to get lethargic and demotivated! In fact, I'm putting off writing right now. I'd better go get some done or I'll fall even farther behind! Just 10 words to start, hopefully followed by a few thousand more. Smile

  5. Apprentice Bliss Hunter Says:
    1258470482

    Good Luck !

    Have just come back from a funeral... isn't it sad to think about all the stories, poems, paintings etc that were never completed because of procrastination, lack of motivation etc... I think it's maybe got a bit to do with our lack awareness of our mortality... i.e. in 100 yrs time, we won't be able to procrastinate coz we won't be around... The world won't remember the stories we THOUGHT about, only the ones we wrote - if they're good that is !

    Sorry if that sounds negative.. I don't intend it to be... I think procrastination/lack of motivation would be an interesting topic for a short film - because it's known to us all - need to think of a way to tell it tho !

  6. ceejay74 Says:
    1258470777

    Thanks! I wrote about 1200 last night--not the 3000 I was hoping for, but progress nonetheless. And I have a fairly solid idea of what's going to happen to my protagonist over the next few months of her life, so it's just a matter of coming up with the details as I go along.

  7. Jerry Says:
    1258766599

    The plan to pay off your dad is great as long as you have insurance that he's going to keep track of everything... which I'm sure he is or you would not consider it! That leads me to consider which of my family members I would do that with, and there are a few with whom it would be no worries, and a couple who would turn it into a train wreck. =)
    Jerry

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