Archives for December 2018

A Year of Buying Less

December 16, 2018

I just read A Year of Less by Cait Flanders, and I loved it. I originally picked it up because I love books on minimalism and clearing clutter, but this one is truly about money, not clutter. I didn’t know I needed it, but I did.

She put into place a spending ban for a year, and her whole life changed.

I’m going to do something similar in 2019, and here are my personal rules (subject to change! but not at a whim so that I can buy a new blender or something):

MY BUYING LESS RULES

Do Buy:

Consumables that I regularly use like food, vitamins, cosmetics (only eyeliner, mascara and lipstick of the kind I use now), shampoo, cleaning products, etc, only replacing what I run out of, no trying new products.
Objects I use that need replacing (after trying to fix, borrow, or get secondhand).
Gifts for others
Travel expenses, including vacation if we take one
Work expenses, including Patreon experiments
Meals out (or delivered), no more than once every two weeks

Do not buy:

Clothes, shoes, accessories.
Books, magazines, notebooks, etc. (I have enough of all of these, and the amazing Oakland library will order almost anything I request if it doesn’t have it already.)
Yarn, fabric, craft supplies, art supplies.
Household items, decor, appliances. (This is where I spend the most. I justify that it’s for “us.”)
Electronics.
(On this list, I can replace what wears out/breaks if it’s regularly used and I can’t fix or borrow a replacement. I will look for a used replacement first from a thrift store or CL. This includes the very remote possibility I use up all my yarn and/or fabric. HA. As if.)

Wobble Zone:

Things that I suddenly believe I need (not just want) that I’ve never had before. I will put these into a 30-day time out zone. If I still want them 30 days later just as fervently, I might purchase them new after making sure I can’t get them used. I AM NOT A SAINT, PEOPLE.

My goal:

Ever since I quit my day job in 2016, my goal has been not to dip into our emergency savings. Breaking even was what I wanted for the first few years. But this year we have $3k less than we did when the year started. Unacceptable! I want to save for a rainy day. Our 90k debt (oh, yes, friends, I do understand if you’re in deep debt) is gone, accomplished by working two jobs for 8 years (so together we had three jobs and threw all our money at the debt). Now, once we’re done building a six-month emergency savings (currently only at 2.5 months), I want to put money away for our retirement.

How I’ll do it:

I’m moving $250/month to that savings now, as of this month. That will make up that $3k loss. Everything I want to buy and think I would have bought in 2018 and do not buy, I get to put that money in savings. Woo! Seriously, I’m excited about doing that!

I’ll be writing about this process for my Patreon essays this year, as I seek less of a material focus in my life and put more focus on mental, emotional, and spiritual growth. I’m going to be exploring weird things I don’t understand or believe in, for fun. I tried to look at that shelf in B&N last night and could barely handle it. CRYSTALS, REALLY? Oh! I’m allowed to spend money on this pursuit, like palm readings or astrologers, etc. The book is tentatively called Woo!

Oh! Lala is not in on this, nor am I trying to make her jump on board. She makes way more money than I do. I don’t get to make her rules.

I AM REALLY EXCITED ABOUT THIS.

(Want in or to play along? Pledge a buck a month and get access to every essay I write, including the 24 back essays that comprise the last two books!)

On Covers, Proofs, and Colds

December 4, 2018

(Oh, damn it! I wrote a post yesterday but it never posted, apparently. I didn’t win NaNo. I revised a book instead. I’m happy with that. There, now you’re caught up.)

I’m in bed. It’s gray outside, and I’m fighting a cold. Wait, why do I say that? The cold has me—I’m not fighting it. I’m reminded that I haven’t gotten my flu shot yet and won’t be able to until I’m well. Damn it.

Dozy is under the covers resting against my calf, lazily licking one paw. None of our dogs are people-lickers, which I appreciate, but I like the feeling of her whiskers brushing against the top of my foot every few seconds.

I’ve gone back to bed for the morning, and gratefulness fills me that I’m able to do this.

Those are proof pages for STOLEN THINGS.

And check out my amazing cover!

Oh! I have a new website! Go look at my scary thriller face with lots of eye makeup. And check out my new GORGEOUS cover for the new book (out in August, which is a long time away, but you can preorder it now so that you don’t forget to!). And follow me (RH Herron) on Facebook and Twitter and signup for that mailing list so you get all the notifications and so that I don’t feel so alone in the world over there as a newly-named writer!

Anyway, back to proof pages. This is the very last time I’ll touch this book. The edits are done, big and small. The copyedits are done. This is the book laid out as it will appear to you, and I need to go through it and make sure each word is as good as I can make it (while keeping changes minimal, as changes are expensive for my publisher to make at this point).

Have I mentioned how lucky I am to be with Dutton (Penguin)? My editor Stephanie Kelly is a dream. I love working with her, and she also works with Kitten Lady, so she has amazing taste. The head of the art department reads each book before working on the cover, and it shows. Dutton is a small imprint within a mighty publishing house, so I get the boutique attention with power behind it. (I am so very, very lucky.)

And it’s going to be in HARDCOVER. My first! I gotta tell you that when I learned this, I was gobsmacked. My book. A hardcover. I guess it feels like it’s taken seriously enough to be hardcover, which isn’t what it means—it’s a financial decision by the publisher, nothing more. But for my writer’s ego? Ah, the ego likes this stroke.

I love this book. I love the fact that I have a cold and that I get to work on it for the last time while in bed. Clementine is now also on the bed, looking regal. I’m warm. And I’m grateful.

No NaNo Win But That’s Okay

December 3, 2018

Well, I failed at NaNo, but what a good way to do it.

I didn’t finish my project. Hell, I barely started. But I learned two important things: the Venice memoir has no So-What yet, so it must sit on the back burner for a while.

And I learned that I don’t mind not winning Nano. In fact, on the contrary – I’m almost proud of my non-accomplishment! (I did write a whole book in October, so that does help with the feeling.)

But what I’d still really like to do is to blog more. Simply to write here, on ye olde blog. I’d like to catch a few words every day and tell you what’s going on around here. I forget to do that, as I get so busy with all the Shoulds. And I don’t want to make a big deal of it. I don’t want to be smart and insightful unless that happens on accident. I want to be okay with typos and half-formed thoughts.

So I’ll tell you what’s around me right now: a coworking space! This one is cheap and not as fancy as many of the others in Oakland, but I’m liking it. I’m not sure I’ll commit – I’m here on a single day pass. There IS something pretty great about working around other people who aren’t paying any attention to anyone else, and it’s especially great that I can leave my laptop out when I go to the bathroom, something you can’t do at the library or the cafe.

I have this idea that if I work at a coworking space that I’ll be able to go home and leave work behind, something I can’t do when I work at home. I’ve said for years that I love working at home because I love being at home, which is true, but the problem is that it’s almost impossible to get up from my desk sometimes. Today, when I leave, I’ll stop working. This is my pledge. And I almost believe it.