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cassurrjoybell-30 · 3 months

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Howling Love - Chapter 2

*Warning Adult Content*

Amille Laurent.

Starting something new is haunting.

It's as if you're so afraid of going wrong that you're actually tempted to have something go wrong so you'll have some semblance of peace.

I was such a person, first tries to anything made me jittery and nervous, I can never truly understand why but it just happens.

I'd woken up early, set up the extra bedroom on the ground floor next to the game room as my gallery, it wasn't going to have use anyway, why not give it some.

My inspiration on the painting had come from my very fear of first things, it was a painting of the school I was to be attending, one gate was mangled as if someone with really strong arms had tried to crush it, the other was pristine and perfect a contrast to how we all feel about school, great and really horrible at times.

"This is really good," dad says behind me startling me, of course I didn't scream, that was impossible but I did jump holding my precious heart.

[Dad, that was not cool.] I whined as he chuckled and came over to hug me.

"I'm sorry sweetie, I didn't mean to but you shouldn't be up so early in the morning, setting up all this by yourself, where did you even get the paint?" he questions as he lets me go from our embrace.

[I always have paint, plus I'm turning eighteen soon dad, I can do most things by myself and yes, I got inspiration. It's why I woke up early to paint.] I signed my response and has scoffed.

"You got first day jitters, couldn't sleep so you came down here to put your mind to some sort of ease," he retorted and I sighed.

[That too.] I admitted and he chuckled walking to the door.

"I know you lady bug, the painting is great, if the paint dries early enough you could actually give it to your headmaster today, now go get ready, you look like a hot mess."

I didn't know how to interpret that statement, was he complimenting me or was he throwing in some shade with that compliment but none the less I did as told, I was nervous but I'd try.

Getting ready for the day wasn't much of a hassle for me, styling my hair on the other hand was.

I had really curly black hair and it knotted most of the time if I didn't keep it short or use enough moisturizer or relaxer.

The rest of getting ready, needed minimum effort and I was out the door.

"Come on eat up, your bones need a little more meat," he asserted and I narrowed my eyes on him.

[Dad, I'm not thin, I'm petite, bordering on the edge of starting to get fat.] I retorted and he just chuckled as we ate breakfast, him going through his schedule.

"Mister Delano sent your payment for the portrait by the way and he sends his regards along with notice that he'll send a picture of his daughter next to be painted," dad informed me as we got into his car after he helped me put my bag in, for some reason I was fragile or short, I can't keep up anymore, I just let him.

[I hope he paid our agreed fee or I'm not painting anything else.] I signed and my father just chuckled.

"Look at you being cute and grumbling, yes he paid your fee," he replied patting my head and soon we were off, headed toward my new school.

[Good because I'm starting to lose it with that man's incessant need to have paintings of his family.] I added and dad just chuckled.

"It'll be over soon and you'll enjoy the money," he shot back and I just smiled with a blush, I would really enjoy the money.

"That's Selous Academy, it's different, a lot more buildings," dad remarked as he parked by the sidewalk and I got out to get to the backseat where my bag was.

"Do you have your tablet?" he asked and I showed it to him.

"The other one?" he asserted and I showed him.

"Your phone, your book bag, your glasses and your credit card and your lunch bag, I put another jacket in there just in case," he kept on rambling and I just groaned face palming.

[Dad I'm seventeen. I can handle this.] I typed on my phone and text to speech as a hero came through.

"I know but this is a new school and I won't be close by, I'm worried," he whined hugging me and I rolled my eyes hugging him back.

[You have work dad, so off you go. Shoo.] I signed and he held his heart in horror.

"You'd actually dare to shoo away your own father?" he dramatically put across and the both of us laughed.

[Love you too dad, now go before you're late.] I finally stated as he kissed my forehead.

"Have a great first day honey, your uncle will pick you up," he informed and I nodded as I waved him off.

So the daunting journey began as I turned to the gates I drew this morning, the painting hadn't dried so I left it at home, most of the students were preoccupied with their friends and paid no attention to the new kid.

I was glad, however there were a few groups who actually noticed me, some waved some just nodded my way as I made it through the crowds until I got to the double doors of the main building that opened dramatically when I got through, since they made a bang everyone turned to look at me and I cringed, so much for going unnoticed.

The stares, the waves and the nods increased, Goddess I felt awkward.

[Morning, I'm...] I stated but the receptionist looked at me and paused.

"Oh my goodness you look just like him," she shrieked and I cringed.

"You're Amille Laurent right, I'm miss Parker, I'm a friend of your dad's... well I don't know if we're still friends but we used to be friends, I didn't believe the rumor that he was back until I saw the student transfer scripts with his name and you're his son, oh my goodness, the guys are gonna flip," she rambled on and I was still dazed by her outburst, for someone supposedly as old as my dad she acted like a teen.

"Parker breathe," the man I assumed was the headmaster stated as he walked out of his office, he was obviously a wolf, no human man had that much of an animalistic feel to them.

"You must be Amille, our new student," he stated I nodded.

"I'm going to need a more verbal answer," he asserted and I typed on my phone to which he frowned then turned to miss Parker who was now frowning at the man.

[I have mutism, I can't verbally speak but I can hear, feel, see, touch the whole enchilada just can't speak.] I typed on my phone and a regretful stare overcame the man.

"I'm sorry, I'm very sorry, I must've seemed really ignorant, I'm sorry, If I had gone through your whole file I'd have known, I'm truly sorry, I'm Darwin Seras... you can address me by my last name, headmaster or Sir, it's alright," he expressed and I nodded, at least he had sense enough to admit his mistake.

[It's alright, no harm done.] I replied and he nodded.

Goddess I could already see that overprotective look in his eyes, most wolves had that look the moment they learned of my condition, oh well, I'm at a loss might as well roll with it.

"Let me show you your locker and first class," he offered taking what was my schedule, school map and locker number and code from miss Parker.

"Bye Amille, have a great day."

She waved me off and I nodded walking behind the headmaster.

"The school is inclusive to both wolves and humans, we have several after school programs, I see you have a long list of talents here, maybe you could breathe life into our art program," he joked and I smiled to that too.

"Your locker."

He showed me and I opened it putting most of my stuff in.

"Need help?" he asked and I signed no then realized he probably didn't know the language.

"Alright then, let's get to your first class, AP biology," he asserted and led the way as I familiarized myself with the school, it seems they were big on sports and not just academics.

"We've won the Bridgeton interschool football, lacrosse, gymnastics, cheerleading and tennis competitions for a consecutive six years," he pointed out and my jaw dropped.

[I just thought you're big on sports but that's wow.] I pointed out and he chuckled as he opened a door to an already filled class on the second floor.

"I know," he whispered back as we walked in and some students gasped.

"Good morning Richards, everyone this is Amille Laurent, he'll be joining us for the school year, don't cause him any trouble," he announced to the class as I stood awkwardly in the background.

"He uses his cell-phone and other gadgets to communicate, I'm sure Parker might've informed you so you'll have to make an exception, he can sign too," the headmaster added toward who I presumed was my teacher mister Richards.

"Of course, Amille take a seat next to Maxine," he responded and I nodded walking over to the waving girl with wavy hair and earthy green eyes, she was a wolf, I could just tell.

"Alright, Amille your schedule, find me if you need anything," the headmaster exclaimed giving me my papers, his behavior seemed to have really shocked the class, oh boy.

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anonil88 · 10 months

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Tech i sold around 1600 worth of pride shirts last month. I only made enough to cover one month of cable (200) ,my phone (60), and groceries/food (120). But I didn't have enough leftover to put on my credit cards to cover this month and last month's payment that all the shirt charges go on.

So now I'm late on 2 cards and the job I thought I would get is another rejection/taking so long I think I'm being ghosted again.

Hahah. I'm useless this is so pathetic I should really find a bridge.

But I can't cause I have to help my granddad but what use is that. He's gonna fucking pass and then what. Hey he gets better at least I can jump and feel a little less guilty because I did at least one good thing before I go. And here I was thinking hey my designs have gotten really good. Someone has to buy all these good clothes soon right? All the ones on poshmark but nothing only 1 of the brand new pairs of shoes have went and I guess thats a testament to how everyone else is struggling too. I'm so stupid why is it fair to make money off of others who are also struggling but at least they have jobs and I'm too fucking dumb to even get one interview. And now I cant afford to sell anymore shirts and no one wants a commission. God I really did end up a loser and a waste just like my mom said I would be if I chose to be a lesbian. And I know I have value and worth but it's not good enough in this world. I can't do anything right and I'm refreshing all of my emails hoping praying there is an interview there or a you're hired. But nothing. Like what is wrong with me everyone that was struggling the same amount of time as me has gotten something by now. It may not be in their field or what they wanted but it's something. I can't get a remote job that has benefits ive even lowered my starting salary to exactly minimum wage for my state because maybe if im not difficult i can get hired. Maybe that's the universes plan for me to just show the people that sometimes you never get a step forward and you just fail even when you succeed. I'm finally looking at the stuff I'm making and I'm so excited because I've really improved but there's no job to sit behind it. My grandma bought me milk the other day and I was really grateful but I get upset because she shouldn't have to do that for me. Or I should be able to pay her back but I can't all I can do is help my granddad get around the house, make sure he gets his pills, and check his blood sugar. That's nothing in comparison to what I should be doing or where I should be in her eyes. And I'm nowhere near that, my mom would have had a job by now. But she has networking skills and I have the social skills of a walnut.

I'm in a hole and it's of my own creation. I thought creativity, passion, and skill were enough to at least keep the wifi on. I was stupid, young, and wrong. It means nothing in this world it probably means nothing in other worlds. This is just the way it is. This is the curse my mother spoke my queerness would leave me sad and alone. I'm not alone just lonely and not sad but discouraged. But maybe this is what she meant.

#my thoughts

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prorevenge · 5 years

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Treat me like garbage for 3+ years and try to deny me my unemployment? We'll see about that.

This is a bit of a long one, so strap in, grab some popcorn, and enjoy. Happened some years ago. If you find any spelling or grammar errors. Keep them and breed them, they make great pets. Tl;dr at the bottom.

So some background; due to some personal reasons, I needed a new start. Years ago, I moved cross country to a state famous for its mountains, colours, and legal drug use. Since I had some family that wanted me to drive some items they'd stored on the eastern coast of the US to the state. I agreed and decided on moving since I could easily transfer all of my schooling to another college in the area. My folks were abusive and I moved out about a week after getting a job, but this isn't about them.

Enter my old boss. They came from the kind of money that paid their way into an ivy league school and owns several properties around town. Their also the sort of person who stopped their birth control just to get pregnant and keep their equally douchey boyfriend around. Just some background and used to establish character.

The Details & Background

My new job was working as an assistant. I thought that it was odd that the interview was at a Starbucks, but I needed the job. I accepted minimum wage as a 1099 employee--yes I know I was dumb at the time, don't worry, I've learned better--and started. My new workplace was out of their basement. Odd, but I'm a good guy, so I roll with it.

Folks I'm not exaggerating in the least when I say I worked sometimes upwards of 70+ hours a week. This was a job that was pitched to me as "part-time." After months there, I did everything from answering phones, running social media and websites, drafting estimates, doing all IT work, some minor cleaning, and generally trying to help out this business in any way I could. I bent over backwards and then some more. Years later I realized I set an impossibly high standard for myself and others as the first employee of this business.

Fast forward to some years in the future. I had left due to some stress-related health concerns. Essentially, I had a small stroke because of the stress and berating. I later came back, as I was and still am a very "pay it forward" person. And felt that I owed the company for getting me a start in an industry that got me out of retail. I've since learned better in this respect too.

The work environment was never great. Any small mistake was treated as a large offense. Instead of this being a red flag to me; I doubled down. Did beyond my best to check all work and even taught myself some coding and server management that would help the business. Business started to pick up and we were soon busy enough to be able to afford a new location (I had suggested leasing a place near our primary clientele). We also needed to hire more staff since the workload was too much for two people.

Before I left the first time, I had trained two office personnel. The company had also promoted me. As anyone who has worked in a small business can tell you, you'll wear a lot of hats. So my job title was somewhere around Estimator/IT/Office Manager/Field Representative. The owner had also bought a house in a residential neighborhood with the intention of renovating it to be our new office.

Problems & Red Flags

Well... any business has it's problems, here's the ones for this company: -New office was a house. The lot was zoned for residential. This was apparent at the time of purchase. -While homeowners can pull permits, you have to actually pull the permit for the work. -We couldn't keep staff or subs to save our life. Turn over was ridiculous. -The owner was using the business accounts as their personal accounts. -Anytime the owner came back in; all staff were expected to drop what they were doing and listen to their tirade and demands. Gods help you if you forgot anything or didn't do it to their exact--sometimes incorrect--specifications. Or the specifications they came up with and didn't tell you about. -The owner would scream, shout, and fume with staff. -The owner dated subs. -The owner often requested that I forge or backdate paperwork. (I'm a notary, this is not only illegal, but I could lose that privilege.) -The owner and other workers would smoke pot on the premises. (I'm cool with recreational use, but don't partake myself.) -We would have to constantly juggle credit cards, accounts, and other funds, often begging the owner to be able to pay our supplier(s) to end the throng of endless, angry phone calls and emails asking for payment. -The owner was a serial appointment canceller. Often, I had appointments dropped into my lap past the time I would need to actually travel there and arrive on time.

After more than three combined years of verbal abuse, threats and demands for payment, dealing with a revolving door of angry staff, and having more than one occasion where subs threatened me and the office staff for not being paid; I was ready to leave. I put in my notice as I was having the same stress-related health issues.

The owner panicked and offered to sit down and talk things out. I had no intention of going back to working for $13/hr, with no benefits, and dealing with downright childish behaviour. I hadn't even been sat down for an interview, offered any sort of salary when I came back, and jumped in because they desperately needed the help. I knew that and got straight to work.

But here we were in a public shop, talking things over and I explained the issues in this toxic environment and how it was affecting me. Why I was leaving and that I was sorry things had turned out this way.

To my surprise, they came back with a counteroffer for a fair wage, praised my work, threw in some benefits, and offered to let me work from home for a large percentage of the week. I was still working on lining up a better job at the time and due to a series of equally bad employment situations before; don't work for a GC if you can help it, I needed to rebuild my savings. I agreed and had written proof of this agreement.

Three months go by and for nearly every week I've received multiple calls after my shift asking, why I haven't been doing (x, y, z) task. Why (insert insurance or customer name) hasn't paid up yet. And, of course, being called into the office more due to the "needs of the business." Anytime I'm in the office I'm putting out more fires than the New York Fire Department. Their bookkeeping assistant treats me like garbage. Anytime I had to teach them how to use a new system or even Excel, I'm met with opposition, stubbornness, and later would receive complaints about how I was "being condescending" to them. (In truth, they were very computer illiterate and unqualified for their position.) But they worked for next to nothing and would flatter the owner. They were generally two-faced and a brown-noser.

The company also had a new office manager since I was working on mostly estimates and negotiations. This was one of the two I had trained and they were a sweetheart. They deserved more than they got there and were days where I had found them breaking down crying. The owner treated them worse than they had treated me and so did their "bookkeeper." I felt sorry for them and eventually, they were fired. It's unfortunate, but they are doing better now from what I've heard.

Well, when the office manager was fired, bookkeeper and the owner drafted up a TON of fake write-ups. Backdating them, forging signatures, and generally trying to make them look like the worst worker to ever exist.

I was upset. This was someone who had been in a similar position that I had been in; saved from the world of retail and trying to gain experience to get a better job. They were a hard worker and set the standard impossibly high. The customers loved them and they ran the office like a well-oiled machine. I honestly think that they had done a better job than I had in some respects.

I brought up how the office manager as indicated by the write-up form was entitled to a copy of the form. That backdating and what was done here was not only inappropriate but illegal. Both bookkeeper and the owner brushed off what I said.

Big red flag.

At this point, I started looking for other work. I was in the office nearly every day and I had even gotten there early enough to open up on most days, then close. I was miserable and kept having chest pains due to the stress. During this time, I was trying to get approval to go on hormone replacement therapy (HRT) since I am trans. In order to qualify, you have to be of certain health requirements. Having a high BP will disqualify you for very valid health reasons.

Due to where I live, I had to drive over an hour away to be seen for these services. Bummer, but I do it anyway. It takes over six months to get an appointment, where I'm told that I need to lower my blood pressure, or I can't safely start HRT.

I'm devastated, I cried, I got seriously depressed, and it only made things worse. To the point that my toxic work environment had stressed me beyond stressed. I came home one day, walked past my roommate like a zombie, went into the shower in our bathroom fully clothed, turned on the cold water, and just... laid there for an hour.

My roommate had been urging me to quit. Seeing the employer abuse, how upset I was, and how my depression was starting to spiral out of control again. Instead of quitting, I put together a solid business plan, job descriptions, improved workflows, and really just a huge document on "How to Unfuck Your Business." Presented the product of several hours of my own time to the owner. Who dismissed it in a loud bar where we could barely hear each other.

After three more months of waiting and trying to prompt change that would never come, I quit.

The Revenge

Since I had left without lining up another, immediate job; and frankly, need therapy, I applied for unemployment benefits due to health reasons. In my country, you can be awarded benefits if you meet a set of strict criteria. Which, after a good day of research, I realized I did meet.

I had never applied for unemployment in my life and having grown up with family that were a mix of benefits fraud poster children and welfare queens; I never wanted to "use the system." But I had bills to pay and needed the time off to pick up my mental pieces after everything that had happened and I was going through. My roommate and I were running low on our savings, so I needed the unemployment.

Swallowing down my pride, I applied and after over a month of back and forth and paperwork; I received my unemployment award.

We breathed a sigh of relief as I continued to recover and look for work. Three months go by and we're past the period of an employer being able to dispute a claim. Again, sigh of relief. I was nearly certain that they were going to try and file against me.

Well, I was right. Turns out they had lied and gotten an extension, filed against my claim. Claiming that I was fired for poor performance.

I was livid.

How dare they insinuate that I did anything less than give 100% at that festering hole of toxicity they called an office! I worked well past my shifts, I had learned and set up the systems and documents they used for nearly everything, and I had treated their company as though it was my own. Sacrificing time, sanity, health, and even some of my own equipment to ensure it succeeded. I kept going when so many had walked away from the dumpster fire that was their business.

Fuck this.

Fuck the owner and fuck this. I immediately and angrily started my research to build my case.

I read the document and the "hearing" was scheduled as a phone hearing in front of a deputy representing the department. There's also a deadline to submit supporting documents. The very latest you could submit documentation for both the former employee and employer was within 24 hours before the scheduled hearing.

Over the next three or so weeks I gathered up years worth of notes from medical providers I had seen, statements from former employees, witnesses to both my mental state and the state of the office environment, etc.

When the office manager had left, they filed for unemployment (which they were justified in). The owner had laughed, drafted up false write-up forms, filed for an extension, and the office manager's claim was decided that the office manager didn't have enough proof and documentation--they hadn't bothered to turn in any--and lost their claim. Which means that the claimant has to pay back any money awarded. The owner and bookkeeper laughed and carried on, bragging about their "handiwork."

Now, I knew that there was going to be a fresh stack of fake write-up forms with my name all over them. I was the one who had authored the write-up forms. I've never once had a write-up form in any job I've worked. I waited until 10 minutes before the deadline, used an online faxing service, and faxed over copies of all of my supporting documents to both the former employer and the deputy for the hearing. Leaving the company no time to turn in any documentation. I kept copies of the faxes to both of them, along with the successful notification that they had been received by both parties.

If they had any documentation, they had to send it to both parties. Since I hadn't gotten anything from them or the deputy, I knew I was the only one walking in with ammo.

Upon further research, I discovered that I could attend the hearing in person. Which, I was more than happy too. Armed with a bulging folder full of evidence, collared shirt, tie, and a beaming smile on my face, I shook hands with the deputy and they called my former employer.

Bookkeeper answers the phone, we're sworn in, all documentation is listed and verified that it has been received, and they give the employer's side of the story.

My gods, to say that they bashed me would be an understatement. Speed bumps take less abuse. "I didn't work." "My work was sloppy." "I was rude to customers." "I refused to go into the office," and so on.

At this point, I'm honestly doing my best to keep quiet and not laugh. They even tried to say that because I was trans, I left because of that. Makes no sense, but ok. I give my statement; which I had written out and practiced several times before this hearing. All the while bookkeeper continually interrupts me and the deputy has to tell them to let me speak, as I did the same for them.

I finish and we start going through the evidence.

Of COURSE bookkeeper is waffling, saying they have evidence (emails and write-ups, both easy to fake since they controlled my employee email account) and starting to reference evidence that neither I or the deputy have received. The deputy has to interrupt them and state that anything they have is inadmissible since they didn't turn it in before the generous deadline.

They are livid and I can tell in the background that the owner is feeding them things to say. (Bookkeeper is not the sharpest spoon in the knife drawer.) Which was an old habit of theirs for anyone who answered the phone in the office.

I spend my sweet, sweet time going through the mountain of evidence I have. I'm interrupted several times and politely ask in my most honeyed of tones, "Bookkeeper, I let you speak freely, can you please do the same for me?"

They are livid. Both the deputy and I could hear the seething rage over the phone and the poor deputy just rolls their eyes over the course of the hour. Having to remind bookkeeper that they are under oath. As they made several contradicting statements. After hearing the evidence from both sides and several claims by bookkeeper of, "This is the owner's 'bread and butter,' you're taking food from their kid's mouths." To which, I calmly reply, "Oh! Excuse me bookkeeper, I'll keep that in mind during this hearing, and when I go to pay rent." The deputy got a chuckle out of that but had to ask me to "keep it civil."

To add to this buttery, decadent roll of sweet, sweet revenge; one of my witnesses was called who was a former employee. Not only did they back up my story, but they got to enjoy jabbing them back too.

Needless to say, a few weeks later I got the results of the hearing and the deputy had ruled in my favour. There was a period of time where both parties were welcome to repeal the decision and we would appear in another hearing. At that time, recordings of the exchange would be made available to both parties. They never repealed.

You would think this would be the end of my revenge. Admittedly, it's not bad, but not pro revenge material yet.

It Gets Better

Before I had left, one of the many bills that had been perpetually left unpaid were the insurances for the company. Which included their unemployment insurance. I smiled each time I deposited my check, knowing full well that there was a very real possibility that over 7k of my unemployment came directly from them.

But I wasn't done. My professionalism had been insulted and dragged through the mud.

You see, I knew nearly everything that was going on in that company. I had made their systems, documents, edited contracts, and was ingrained in nearly every aspect of their operation. I knew they were facing an audit by their former insurance provider.

I called their former insurer and spoke with the auditor. I detailed all of the OSHA, federal, and state violations. I also informed them of the paperwork forging that I had seen while I was there and of several unsafe practices. They thanked me for my time and I happily ended the call.

Next stop, the IRS. I made a report and gave detailed information in regards to their records and even provided why they were not able to file on time. Again thanked for my time and honesty.

Afterward, I decided to touch up with a few of my friends with the regional building department. They were more than happy to listen.

In the three years I had worked there, I had the opportunity to meet and get to know several local businesses and their assistants around town. I spent the next two weeks calling and emailing several key businesses in the area that were their suppliers, vendors, subs, and labour suppliers. I never said an untrue word, asked if they had time to talk, and summarily, was thanked for my time. Funny thing about their assistants too; they control scheduling and well, answer the phones. I'm on good terms with several of them and they backed my story.

Wouldn't you know it, their business address was mysteriously devoid of their trailer, equipment, and signs not long after. They still have an online presence and probably will as long as their family continues to bail them out.

I'm writing this after years because after working for several bad employers, I now have a good job with an amazing company that supports me. It's the result of my years of experience, credentials, and having to eat shit for all those years.

Tl;dr: Abusive employer abuses employees, tries to deny me unemployment, drags me through the mud during the hearing. I not only win my case, but report them enough to drive them out of their location and likely, business.

(source) story by (/u/27thFrequency)

#prorevenge #by /u/27thFrequency #pro revenge #revenge stories #pro revenge stories #pro #revenge #last10

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sage-nebula · 5 years

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Commissions!

Hey guys,

So I recently had some unexpected financial difficulties spring up, and that---along with student loan and credit card debt that I’m dealing with---has led me to be in a bit more of a precarious situation financially than I envisioned myself being in at this point. With that being said, I’d like to open fic commissions again, for any and all who are interested.

How this works is:

I accept payment through Ko-Fi, which is located here. My Ko-Fi is linked to my Paypal, so it’s really the easiest way to go about it. If you want to commission a fic from me, start by going here and dropping some money in the jar. $1 gets you 100 words, and Ko-Fi has a $3 minimum. This means that the smallest fic you can commission is 300 words long, which is more of a flash ficlet. However, if you were amazing and dropped $30 in there, that would be 3,000 words, and so on and so forth. In this sense, the length of the commission is up to you!

Once your payment is in the Ko-Fi jar, come back here and let me know what you want by sending me an Ask. Please know that you have to say who you were on Ko-Fi so that I can know how much to write, and the best way to do this is to use the same name on both. (So say you signed the Ko-Fi message as “Apple”; if you sent me a message here for a commission, you’d want to say, “This is Apple from Ko-Fi!”) Once I’ve verified that payment has been received and we’ve worked out the details, I’ll get started on your fic, which will be posted here on tumblr once completed.

I do not write explicit fics, so please don’t ask for smut. Most anything else I’m willing to work with, though, so feel free to ask.

You can see samples of my writing on AO3, or by looking at my fic page here on tumblr (though my fic tag might contain more recent works than the page). I can write for any fandom I’m familiar with, and if you’re not sure if I’m familiar with a particular fandom, please just ask. I can also do original fiction if you give me a prompt (e.g. “two people meet in a diner at 3am and one is a time traveler while the other is an immortal”). Really, it’s up to you!

Bottom line, I could really use the help right now, so if you’ve got something you’re itching to read and you’d like to have me write it, please skedaddle over to the Ko-Fi, drop some money in, and then jump right back here to let me know so we can get started.

Thanks! 💜

#commissions #fic commissions #scrawlers commissions

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cindylouwho-2 · 4 years

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RECENT NEWS, RESOURCES & STUDIES, May 24 2020

Welcome to my latest summary of recent ecommerce news, resources & studies including search, analytics, content marketing, social media & Etsy! This covers articles I came across since the early May report, although some may be older than that. Due to a need to get my taxes filed, and a continued busy jewellery business, I don’t expect to be able to do another update for a few weeks. You can follow me on Twitter for important breaking news, though!

Have any topics you would like to see me cover in more detail? Drop me a line here on Tumblr, or email me through my website.

TOP NEWS & ARTICLES

Small businesses can survive the pandemic and beyond, if they learn to provide what customers are now looking for. From desks to 3-D printed face shields, to including toilet paper on your takeout menu, to moving online, acting quickly has given these businesses hope. ABC also did a piece on this topic. [text & video; mentions Etsy & masks] Here’s another article discussing adapting to pandemic ecommerce “new normal”, with interviews with staff from Etsy, TechStyle and Zulily.

Ecommerce is about to get way more competitive (it probably is already), & arguably the retailers who will succeed are the ones who already put plans in action, including advertising plans. (mentions Shopify, Google Shopping & Etsy.)

Facebook and Instagram will now have “Facebook Shops”, which are free to set up. Sounds like it will be a slow rollout, though. Many take this as direct competition for marketplace sites such as Etsy, but it will probably also have a large impact on small website builder sites such as Indiemade.

ETSY NEWS

Etsy’s first quarter for 2020 was good, but April was astonishing by any standards; I covered it all here.

Etsy Payments will soon be available to sellers in Turkey, Malaysia, & Mexico. This will likely be welcome news to sellers in Turkey in particular, who haven’t had an easy way to accept payment for Etsy orders since PayPal left Turkey a few years back. It looks like this move will be optional at the moment for those 3 countries, unlike those of us who are forced to use EP if it is available in our countries.

Etsy gave some listing credits and ad credits to shops who had substantially lower than normal sales in late March through April; the credits don’t kick in until July, though.

Etsy is beta-testing a new listing video tool. You can join here; if you want more info first, here are some details. Note that the videos must be quite short, and will not include sound.

Etsy is still getting some good traction from the face mask initiative: “I would argue they were just in the right place at the right time," says Kodali. "When you think of who is able to consolidate the power of a million sewers in the country, the only answer is Etsy." However, they are also getting some criticism for masks taking forever to arrive, if at all. The slow customer support is also annoying many of these new customers that the CEO was so happy to attract, with little to no response from Etsy.

The Wall Street Journal did a well-received article on people buying food (mostly baked goods) on Etsy [paywall]. Other sources have picked it up, although some are a bit skeptical about safety.

More trend info directly from Etsy: first, summer at-home ideas with Dayna Isom Johnson [podcast links with transcript]. It also covers what to do for socially-distanced celebrations. “[P]eople are taking what they would typically do for a birthday, but then doing it virtually. So many people love paint night parties and I've actually seen quite a few paint kits that Etsy sellers are creating. It’s a wonderful way to celebrate your birthday and still have that experience of expressing your creativity and having fun with your friends, but just through a screen.” Also, “tie-dye is blazing hot right now.”

Second, craft supply sellers get their own trend article for a change. Supply searches close to doubled in April, with “346% YoY increase in searches on Etsy for “diy”. Many buyers are making their own masks with supplies from Etsy; “2,089% YoY increase in searches on Etsy for “elastic”. Do read the whole article if you want to spin your shop in this direction, as there is a lot of good info included.

SEO: GOOGLE & OTHER SEARCH ENGINES

Google pushed out a core algorithm update starting May 4, which finished rolling out on May 18. It seems fairly large, maybe the biggest in some time, and may have hit more areas than other recent core updates. They did take some criticism for releasing it during a pandemic. Possible targets aren’t agreed on yet by the people tracking it, but could include cryptocurrency, travel, real estate, health, tech, finance & dating. Or maybe we shouldn’t rush to pick winners & losers so quickly? News media changes may be affected by the regular algorithm reaction to people reading a lot more news these days, and some ecommerce companies had a boom that could affect their rankings. This article discusses Etsy among other companies, who might have benefitted from the update. [I’m not sure on the Etsy complaints, as I have been seeing multiple links for some searches for well over a year now.]

Link building is generally the hardest part of Google SEO, in part because you aren’t allowed to do any of the obvious things that might get you easy links. Anyone confused about the rules & the benefits should check out this guide for 2020.

While you can learn a lot from general SEO guides, if you have a Shopify site, this guide provides some specific SEO tips.

LinkedIn managed to de-index itself from Google on May 6, at least for the United States. Here’s one theory. Well-paid webmasters for major internet companies can still screw up, it turns out.

(CONTENT) MARKETING & SOCIAL MEDIA (includes blogging & emails)

If you are one of those organized marketers who plans their campaigns ahead of time, here are 5 content marketing ideas for June.

With so many people not working as much as usual, this might be a good time to start a podcast. Gizmodo has compiled instructions on doing it cheaply.

The best time to send an email depends on the purpose of the email. For example, “General site traffic emails have always been most effective mid-week — mid-morning or mid-afternoon. Mondays and Fridays tend not to perform as well” while “A general awareness campaign can be sent almost any time to be effective.”

Refreshing your evergreen content can be more productive than producing new content. That has some really good ideas for many types of businesses produce

Facebook bought Giphy, and while it will still be available to people without Facebook-owned accounts, it will be integrated directly with Instagram.

Instagram is testing new fonts in its Stories feature.

Twitter is enabling users to see how many people quoted a tweet, but so far only on IOS. They also have a new test where you control who can reply to your tweets.

LinkedIn is rolling out both video events and polls, but maybe it is too late to get a big bump from either change?

ONLINE ADVERTISING (SEARCH ENGINES, SOCIAL MEDIA, & OTHERS)

Online advertising can be expensive; here are some stats on the cost of various search engine ad clicks as well as a bit on social media.

Google Merchant accounts now let you compare your prices to other sites and also look at trends in clicks.

Here is a good brief overview of the new free Google Shopping listings, including the 3 main reasons the author believes Google made this change. Here is another much longer overview, with screenshots for those not in the US, and info on how to set this up for your website. The PayPal integration is now available.

Online advertising clicks seem to be bouncing back from the worst of the pandemic, according to several sources, including this one. It is still far too early to tell if this will last, however.

YouTube has re-conceived its premium ad program, now called YouTube Select.

If you have ads that slow down people’s computers or drain batteries by being too “resource-heavy”, note that Chrome is going to begin blocking those in August. “Chrome will filter ads based on the following thresholds: 4MB of network data or 15 seconds of CPU usage in any 30 second period, or 60 seconds of total CPU usage.”

STATS, DATA, OTHER TRACKING

Seeing all hits to one page in Google Analytics is a lot easier if you exclude the URL query parameters (but note that sometimes they are useful, such as for various pages on Etsy.) If you like the idea of filtering your GA results in general, here is another tutorial on that.

If you want to do A/B testing on your website, here is a fairly straightforward introduction to Google Optimize, which is free to use.

ECOMMERCE NEWS, IDEAS, TRENDS

Many online companies had a good first quarter despite the pandemic, including Shopify, which beat income estimates and saw its stock rise 5% after its first quarter report. “New stores created on the company’s online platform jumped 62% between March 13 and April 24 as many brick-and-mortar businesses migrated online.”

Shopify rolled out software that allows its users to more easily do curbside pickup orders. “...Shopify was already in the process of redesigning its POS before the coronavirus, but decided to accelerate the development of a few new features, namely fulfilling curbside pick-up orders and home delivery. Shopify said that by the end of April, 26% of its merchants with a brick-and-mortar presence were offering local delivery or buy online, pickup in-store, compared to 2% in February.”

Rolling out for the US first, Shopify is also getting into financial products, offering a new debit card which you can use to receive your sales income on the same day you earn it. Shopify Balance can be described as “a merchant account with no fees and no minimum balances.” It’s also setting up an instalment plan feature for customers.

Also new with Shopify: a Pinterest app for turning all your products into shoppable pins.

An Amazon VP quit - very publicly - over the company firing several whistleblowers and labour organizers. “Amazon declined to comment.” The company is taking heat for those issues as well as poor management of and information about how many employees have tested positive at various warehouses. Several employees are known to have died of COVID-19 so far.

Amazon has extended its order performance suspension exceptions for the pandemic to May 31. Which is a good thing, because it seems that buyers are leaving more bad feedback than ever before [soft paywall] “More than 11 percent of reviews left for sellers in the past 30 days are negative. That’s nearly twice the level of frustration vented by shoppers regarding Amazon’s third-party sellers during the holidays, when customer anxieties spike over not getting presents on time”. eBay extended some seller protection changes until July 19. [note: if you sell on these platforms outside of the US, lease check for your own country’s rules, as some of them are different.]

Amazon Handmade sellers from the US got a boost from a new local makers page and the accompanying blog post. [I was unable to find any similar promotions for other countries; seems like a missed opportunity]

Buyers in Canada and the US are trying to get class-action lawsuits certified against Amazon for their policy preventing/discouraging its vendors from offering lower prices elsewhere. This article includes the US class action complaint paperwork.

If you are wondering about Prime Day, Amazon is apparently going to try for September, but there is no official announcement yet.

eBay will be changing the fee structure for sellers using managed payments, including charging one fee on the entire transaction instead of separate commission & processing fees.

USPS, complaining of deficits and being pressured by Trump, is reportedly reviewing its package delivery contracts with large companies such as Amazon. “According to the Washington Post, over the last few weeks the USPS has been seeking bids from consulting firms to reexamine what the agency charges companies like Amazon, UPS, and FedEx. Contracts are generally reviewed on a yearly basis, and analysts have repeated warned that suddenly raising package prices that drastically would cause more bad than good, not just for the USPS or Amazon, but for small businesses and individuals too.”

Square has created an easy online checkout option that works without being connected to a website/shop. (US only)

BUSINESS & CONSUMER STUDIES, STATS & REPORTS; SOCIOLOGY & PSYCHOLOGY, CUSTOMER SERVICE

Google has introduced a new Trends-like tool that covers recent top product searches by the amount of growth. Yes, it is free!

Gen Z wants to see “fun and exciting advertising” during the pandemic, because they are bored. They are apparently not really fond of “things are different now” ads. Also: “A survey taken seven weeks ago indicated that younger consumers were more likely than older adults to say they wanted to see purpose-driven advertising that showed how companies were helping others.” Actually, Gen Z isn’t alone in wanting something different from commercials right now

Consumers want to see companies taking positive action and supporting their employees during the pandemic - and claim they will remember who did a good job, so they know who to support with purchases.

Not surprisingly, mobile usage is up during the day time since the pandemic was declared, and people are also staying online later during the week. Web browser usage is up, and more serious news and information is getting attention.

There will likely be many more bankruptcies as the effects of COVID-19 ripple through the economy, but some businesses don’t have enough cash flow to go bankrupt. [text & video]

Canadian retail sales were down 10% in March compared to 2019, but many things went up, including general merchandise stores (6.4%) and online retailers (40%). Note that the online numbers didn’t include sales made from Amazon.com or Amazon.ca and delivered in Canada, so ecommerce was actually higher than that. In the US, March retail sales were down 8.7%, but April looks like it turned around for many ecommerce sites.

MISCELLANEOUS

So-called “cookie walls” are not enough to comply with the EU’s privacy laws. “[I]n order for consent to be legally valid under Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) there are specific standards to meet: It must be clear and informed, specific and freely given. Hence cookie walls that demand ‘consent’ as the price for getting inside the club are not only an oxymoron but run into a legal brick wall.”

Website layouts (and even other elements) are starting to look like each other more & more.

#search engine optimization #EtsyNews #content marketing #smallbiz #ecommercetips

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accidentallyadrift · 5 years

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Credit Cards and Finance Things: The Good, The Bad, and the Honest Truth

First off, if you’re dealing with an annoying mound of credit card debt you’re not alone. I used to swear up and down that I would never get a credit card...until I got to college. It was just one, with a manageable limit through my bank, but then it was two and then a Victoria’s Secret card and a Best Buy account, Amazon, American Airlines. It got out of hand quickly and now at 23 I’m still dealing with the repercussions of irresponsible decisions I made at 19. But, in dealing with all of the BS that comes along with credit cards and paying them off, my friends started asking me for advice with handling their own. Which seemed...Bizarre? Now initially I would have told you under no circumstances should you ever get a credit card ever! In reality this isn’t really a practical thing, and here are a few reasons why.

If you have any plans to travel, rent hotel rooms or cars you’ll need a credit card. Most if not almost all rental car companies will not let you use a debit card when you’re renting a car. And if they do they increase the already ridiculous hold on your account and unless you have a major amount of liquid cash and you can stand to not access $400-$600 on top of your rental fees for the duration of your trip it’s a necessity. I’m often surprised at how many people don’t know this, the best man in my best friend’s wedding found himself stranded in New York City without a way to get to Vermont because the rental company they had booked with didn’t list that you had to pay by credit card and you had to be over 25. (Also age isn’t won’t always stop you from renting but it will almost always increase your rental price so check to see if there’s a young renter’s fee!)

Certain hotels follow similar policies, and at minimum it’s always a good idea to have some way to cover your ass if you find yourself in a bind while away from home. Lost debit cards, emergencies, accidents, or traveling for work where you’ll be waiting to receive reimbursement from you employer are all things you could encounter where not having one is going to make for a giant pain in the ass.

Different types of credit help you build a strong credit profile and no credit history can be just as frustrating to deal with as bad credit history. Credit Cards fall under the revolving debt category and help show that you can faithfully pay down or pay off a balance to a lender. They’re also how most people establish their length of credit history, which is a pretty large factor in your overall credit profile. Now, you don’t want just revolving accounts, installment accounts (usually car loans are where the average 20 something will pick this up) are even stronger for your credit profile and honestly look better than accounts with a revolving balance. Services like Credit Karma offer great break downs about all of this and how each type affects your credit scores. I highly recommend getting in the habit of checking your credit score on a regular basis if you don’t already. It’s free and it’s one of the first ways you can spot if something that doesn’t seem right shows up on your credit if you don’t pay for any kind of credit monitoring service. Having no credit history makes things like trying to rent an apartment or get a vehicle loan difficult. My current roommates previous roommate had no credit history or rental history and because that was viewed as a risk factor for the rental company their security deposit jumped to over $600 from $250. As for a vehicle loan you’re more than likely going to need a co-signer or co-borrower which can be difficult if you don’t have someone that is willing to put their name and credit on the line to help you.

Long story short. You need to build credit history some how, credit cards are kind of the path of least resistance to do so but I will say if you don’t think that you have the self control to keep your “emergency” card in your wallet for actual emergencies. I would suggest holding off.

Your bank and local bankers are excellent resources for financial questions and concerns! You can always go in and chat with a banker about your financial goals or to seek some advice. Debt, budgeting and finances are tricky and no one is expecting you to understand it all so use the resources around you and don’t be afraid to ask for help if you need it.

The best thing I can recommend is to be SMART about what you choose, stay away from store cards with attractive incentives. “But what about the rewards?! And the freebies!? It has to worth it” Absolutely not, this is just a great way to build up unnecessary excess debt, and trust me the perks don’t take the sting out of the 29% interest rate once you realize how much you’re paying back for your retail therapy.

Airline cards have the worst annual fees and ridiculously high interest rates, if you do want something travel specific that you can build miles up on the only one I suggest is through American Airlines specifically their Fly Now Pay Later program. This can only be used to purchase flights and has 6 months interest free financing on all of your flight purchases, you still earn miles and it’s tied to your frequent flyer number. Over all, this is a card I plan on keeping because it allows me to grab flights at any time when the prices bottom out because we all know that great deal won’t usually stick around till your next pay day. Just make sure to pay it off within that 6 month window and you’re good!

Really you want to look for a card that gives you cash back on your purchases, that you can either redeem for other things or you can roll back into your monthly payments. Personally, I have a Discover It card and although the interest rate is a little on the high side (which differs for everyone depending on your credit profile) it is nice that I can take whatever cash back rewards I have and roll them into my payment.

If you’re like me and are dealing with multiple accounts and trying to tackle getting them all paid off. USE GOOGLE CALENDAR. I used to end up with late fees because I would space a payment and not realize it till the next morning when that stupid late fee had already been posted to my account. I wanted desperately to be an organized planner girl that could keep everything written down but it just doesn’t work for me, and I have to remember to write them all in every month and to be honest ain’t nobody got time for that. My google cal took me a bit to set up but the nice thing is, once it’s up you can set it to just auto repeat every single month until the end of time if you would like. Every single one of my accounts is listed on its due date, they start out green and when I’ve made the payment I go in and switch them to red for that month. If an account is paid off, I switch it to orange and just tell it to change all the following events to match. Easy, simple, and no late fees. And since I get paid bi-weekly it really helps with pay mapping and knowing what I need to set aside to make sure everything is covered. 12/10 for the very visual planning type! Also, I know most banks have a Bill payer feature, I’ve just found that this is what works best for me. And if you’re like me and paying off multiple accounts tackle them one at a time! Make minimums on all of them except one, when that’s paid off move on to the next one. Everything is still getting paid but you’ll actually start to see productive results sooner. (This one came straight from my banker and let me tell ya it works!) Start with the smallest one and work your way up to the highest ones.

Going Back to Pay Mapping, this is a great tool to tackle paying down debt and keeping your monthly budget on track. This allows you to sit down and see when you have money coming in and when money needs to in turn go back out to cover your bills and where you’ll need a little extra or where you’ll have some cash leftover. I usually pay map for a month out from wherever I’m doing my budget. Starting with my current account balance, adding in my upcoming paycheck, deducting all of the payments that will be made in that pay period until my next check and then adding that next check in and repeating the cycle. So I can see if one week I’m going to come up a little short then I need to keep some of my over flow cash from a previous week in order to make sure I don’t over draft my account. It seems simple, and you would think that it’s just basic knowledge...but again I’ve heard so many times “If I would have realized that I wouldn’t of done _____ last week!” The best thing you can do for your financial mind set is to alway be thinking forward, don’t let that extra 20 bucks burn a hole in your pocket if you haven’t checked to see if it really is extra. Better yet, just move it to your savings account (which you should also be dumping at least $10 in to whenever you can...I’m still trying to get better about this one myself).

And if you’re on top of it and pay your card off every month! Pay it off before the due date and then a revolving balance will never hit your credit report. Having accounts that are consistently paid off and don’t carry a revolving balance is the ideal way you want to deal with having credit cards. It looks great on your credit report that you pay faithfully, your usage stays low, and your still establishing length of credit history.

Wow okay this got much longer than I expected it to be but I feel like these are like the financial FAQs I usually get so now maybe I can just send it on as a master post the next time someone asks? But if any of this is unclear or you have other questions I’ll do my best to answer them! Again, by no means am I an expert this is simply a collection of things I’ve figured out through trial and lots of error. So if anything learn from my mistakes lol and if there’s anything you would like to add feel free! I’m always looking to learn more!

Also, remember it’s not forever. It may be stressful and not very fun right now but if you keep working at it and you learn from it and you make sure you don’t end up there again. I know it can be incredibly overwhelming and it sucks when you have to make the choice to stay in and be responsible when all you want to do is go out and have fun. But, it’ll feel so much nicer when you know you’re doing it all cash and you don’t have to worry about paying for your fun at the end of the month. You got this! Now go color code your calendar and get that shit paid off!

#millenials #adulting #credit cards #debt #debt stress #student problems #finances #budgeting

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nicosroom · 5 years

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My Money Snapshot

[Inspired by Corporette]

Location: Ohio, small college town

Age: 29

Occupation: PhD candidate (English)/half-time instructor

Income: $16,000 before deductions

Net worth: $588 (I’m crying)

Current Debt: $12,844

Living situation: Renting with a roommate

Money Philosophy:

I grew up in the “working poor” category. My parents are divorced and my father never contributed much financially. Mom made around $21,000 per year at work and she cleaned houses “under the table” to supplement that. Somehow, we never went hungry, what we ate was relatively fresh and healthy, and she managed to put two of us through Catholic schools for a total of 14 years. I know now that mom is still paying some of those loans and credit card debts and that part of her strategy included not contributing more than the 3% that her employer matched in her 401k. Every time I complain about the financial stress I feel at my salary level, I have to remind myself how comparatively unstressful my financial life is.

I’ve always been poor and I always knew that graduate school/academia is not a lucrative career. I tell myself that if I can make things work at this pay grade, then I’m ready for just about anything. My main strategy is to have a budget, stay in the budget, and save every bit that I can.

Monthly budget

$1000-1100 for the necessities each month. Monthly spending on eating out, entertainment, shopping and other categories varies widely. I also won’t lie... dating someone who makes 4x more money than me helps... I’m fairly frugal on all of these fronts: I buy most of my clothes second hand and I tend to shop seasonally. Spikes in spending occur around the winter holidays when I’m buying gifts and when I am doing traveling. And I also have totally weak, impulsive moments - like the $3 soap sales at Bath & Body works, or that time I spent $110 on bras and underwear on a whim. Anyway:

Rent: $272.50/month

Other living expenses: $130-170/month (electric, internet, phone, renter’s insurance - lower in summer, higher in winter)

Transportation: $332/month (gas, insurance, car payment)

Healthcare: $162/month (health+dental insurance, no vision coverage)

Groceries: $120-150/month ($30/week)

Debt Picture

Student loan: $2000

Car loan: $10,488

I’m a career student & my motto for all the years I’ve been in school has been “follow the money.” I went to college on very hefty scholarships and I only had to take out the $2000 loan to cover housing costs during my first year. For the subsequent three years, I was an RA, so I never had to take loans again. I applied to graduate programs based on the research fit, and when I got my offers, money weighed heavily in the decision. I would have loved to live in Boston as a wee 22-year old, but I wasn’t about to take out loans for a year’s worth of tuition and the living expenses. And to get a PhD while living in Minneapolis, my very favorite city in the US? It would have been such a dream, but for the quite steep difference in stipends and the significant disparity in cost of living compared with Ohio. My only regret on this front is that I haven’t started paying back my tiny student loan. I’ve been able to defer it since I’m in graduate school, which was a great idea when I was a master’s student who didn’t know the first thing about budgeting. But if I had just paid $25/month from the start of grad school the balance would be $0 about the same time I graduate from this PhD program this August. Instead, I’ll be scrambling to pay off the whole balance before my 6 month grace period ends.

The car loan is less than a year old. I finally broke down and bought a new (by which I mean used) car last summer after really pushing it with the car my parents had bought me in high school. Repairing that car put me into credit card debt more than once and I was getting so stressed about it. It was time. I have a very good credit score, so I qualified for a nice loan rate with my credit union, and to get a better rate I got my mom to co-sign my loan. It’s a popular rental fleet model so there were tons of them on the market, but average miles were high - so when I saw one that was two years old with only a years worth of miles on it at $1000 less than the average price for that make, model, and year, I jumped on it. My payments are $231/month on the 5-year plan. Currently, I’m paying that minimum, but I plan to escalate my payments as my income goes up (I’m on the academic job market now, pray for me). I folded this car payment into my existing budget by giving up solo-living and finding a roommate. When I had my own apartment, very spacious with a huge kitchen and tons of windows/natural light, I was paying about $585 for monthly rent. I hate living with people, but I hated the idea of being trapped in this college town without a car even more - one of my other mantras is “you can do anything for a year.”

A note on credit cards: I love them. I’m one of those responsible people that charges everything and pays the balance like clockwork every month. This is the only way to make sure you’re actually taking advantage of the cash back/reward perks! Currently, I’m using Capital One’s Venture card and stockpiling airline miles for travel (it has a 40,000 mile sign-on bonus). If you’re good for it, I also recommend one card with a great balance transfer program. For me, when I get into an emergency situation, it makes me feel like I have options. It’s been about 4 years since I’ve had to use my balance transfer card to cover costs ($1400 in car repairs, summer 2015), but at my level, I can’t afford to not have back up plans.

Savings and Investments

$5,517 Cash

$7,861 Roth IRA + employer mandated retirement account

Retirement: The biggest financial mistake I've made in grad school is that I did not opt into the retirement account offered by the university when I started my M.A. in 2012. When they ask me that “what I wish I had known before I went to grad school” question, this is near the top of the list. I did, eventually, open a Roth IRA and slowly I started to build something. This year, when my graduate funding dried up and they made me a “half-time instructor” the retirement account for public school teachers was mandatory and the contributions are high: 14% of every pay check (annoying, yes, but on the flipside, there is an equally high employer match). While I’m contributing to this, I’ve paused my contributions to the IRA. I’ll roll this money over, either into the IRA or into another state/employer retirement fund when I move on from here.

Personal savings: I strive for a minimum of $100 per month and frequently do a little more, but each month is different and I consider it a win if I break even. Through most of grad school, I’ve taken on “second jobs” to bolster what I can save (and boost my resume). Both jobs have been through the university, so they limit me to five hours a week. When I max them out, this can be an extra $200-250 each month.

I took up a new savings challenge this academic year to build on my “play money” savings account (a high yield savings account which my bank labels a “goal setter” account). The challenge involves tallying the “total savings” printed on my receipts each month (i.e. when the grocery store is like “you saved $6″ because of sales and coupons). So, At the end of the month, I put that running total into my goal setter account. Sometimes the total savings are like $26, but others its as much as $171. It’s an interesting challenge because it encourages me to do tedious things, like scroll through all the digital coupons on the grocery store app; but at the same time, I know that the higher that number is usually coincides with a lot of shopping which encourages some self-regulation.

I initially set my goal at $2500 when I opened the goal setter account in 2014. When I had to dip into the account in April 2018 to pay $930 in car repairs, I finally set plans in motion to buy my car. Since I bought used, I only put 10% down on the car (just over $1200). When I sold my old car for $1000, I put that money right back into the account to start saving for new things...

What I’m saving for now:

travel: to celebrate finally finishing this PhD, I’m hoping to pull off a trip to Europe. Later this year, I’m also turning 30 around the same time that one of my regular professional conferences is meeting in Hawaii. If I can do one or both in the next year, that’d be grand. (As I mentioned, I'm saving up airline miles with my credit card program, too!)

a multicooker: think InstantPot...but more expensive because my dreams all revolve around small appliances that match my stand mixer.

What I do to be frugal...

I’ve been frugal my whole life, but a couple of major habits I’ve formed include:

Meal planning and home cooking (read my guide to meal prep here). The money part of that means planning what I eat around maximizing the ingredients I have to buy. I plan meals that use the same ingredients so I’m not spending on an entire bunch of celery and then throwing out 75% of it. Routinization also helps, so my grocery lists stay about the same week to week and the bill relatively predictable - for example, I eat avocado egg salad almost every day for lunch. I know, avocados are not cheap, but I also believe in spending on the things that nourish you––literally and “spiritually.” Roxane Gay once said that she never bought avocados or blueberries when she was a “poor grad student.” Once she started making money, she realized she would buy them because she could afford them, but she also threw them out all the time because she didn’t plan her meals right to actually eat them. The point is, buy the foods that you like/feel good about and build habits around them. It’s not wasted money. That said, I won’t pay more than $1.25 for an avocado!

Second hand clothes shopping, especially for my business casual (it’s amazing what people donate to the Goodwill, barely worn!)

#money #money snapshot #avocados #debt #savings #gradblr #gradschool #personal finance

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qilewidu-blog · 5 years

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The Appeal of Japan Olympics Visa

https://tr.ivisa.com/japan-olympics-visa

Again, this isn't the official rule. For the very first time, National Hockey League members, who include a number of the best hockey players on the planet, aren't going to take part in the Winter Olympics. Carnival is the largest celebration of the calendar year and the parties aren't restricted to Rio de Janeiro, it's celebrated throughout the nation.

For everyone wishing to earn a protracted stay, obtaining a job may be the best choice. At the present time, wearables aren't intended to change out your wallet and credit card. Needless to say, it needs power.

At this time, we can either catch a shuttle bus the remainder of the way or adhere to another path farther down the hill to the volunteer cafeteria. You will have the ability to visit Ninnaji Temple and Ryoanji Temple. It's possible for you to make an application for a lengthier stay but you have to have the ability to justify that.

What You Don't Know About Japan Olympics Visa Tokyo gets very minimum snow. In preparation for this substantial event, the nation is already taking action for all types of potential outbreak and to produce the event as safe as possible. On February 15, the huge hill jump competition happened.

Most Noticeable Japan Olympics Visa Accommodation As for accommodation normally it isn't provided and again you've got to hunt for it yourself. Now that you have all of the essential documents, it's time to discover an officially designated travel agency. Add the price of airfare and hotel, and that ought to be the minimum amount in your financial institution.

Bearing this in mind can assist you in orienting yourself and understanding the direction in which you're traveling. The neighborhood hat, but in addition the hat for global equity, understanding that global equity is just achieved one market at one time. Although some describe the custom of representing a country that one hasn't spent a great deal of time in as Olympic carpetbagging, it is not virtually opportunism.

Although he had a good deal of pressure on him, he managed to do it and it was very great. There are lots of opportunities for people with Japanese ability and should you have any excess abilities, you can definitely find a means to combine them to increase your hiring chances. The business's outlook assumes stability in economic problems.

Japan Olympics Visa Secrets That No One Else Knows About Should you do nothing else on your journey, while in the nation you will at least, for a couple moments, have been privy to an elevated experience that one may only dream about in the United Kingdom. Residing in Japan may be an exotic fantasy for absolutely any young American longing to see far-off places. In the eyes of a typical American smoker, it can be a very confusing place to visit.

Finding Japan Olympics Visa Getting in a position to speak Japanese will produce the organization more inclined to hire you. The medals that'll be awarded to athletes were created to symbolize tree trunks. Since you will likely not have your own bicycle on you, many bike rental stores are offered in Kyoto, particularly in the Arashiyama region.

Which means you may discover the correct opportunity that matches all of your requirements, then use our convenient system to apply easily. Japanese companies have branch offices throughout the world. Sign up now to start your search.

Most Noticeable Japan Olympics Visa If you're acquainted with the Japan Visa application procedure, it works pretty much the exact same. This section is just for people with a document called Confirmation of Visa Issuance. The internet application form only requires a couple of minutes to finish and is processed within five working days.

| Top Japan Olympics Visa Secrets Should you do nothing else on your journey, while in the nation you will at least, for a couple moments, have been privy to an elevated experience that one may only dream about in the United Kingdom. Residing in Japan may be an exotic fantasy for absolutely any young American longing to see far-off places. In the eyes of a typical American smoker, it can be a very confusing place to visit.

What Japan Olympics Visa Is - and What it Is Not The region is situated in the Taebaek Mountains and is famous for its world-class ski resorts, which makes it a perfect spot for the winter games. Working for the Olympics is a fantastic method to acquire event experience and training. It isn't the very first time we've hosted an Olympics,'' he explains.

The Good, the Bad and Japan Olympics Visa Both combined sets of businesses are considering growing their international footprint, which is very good for the payments ecosystem, Kelly explained. Finding work teaching English to Japanese students is among the simplest ways for an American to find work in Japan. The growth over these 2 years was 39 percent,'' explained Smith.

If you do this, you should not have any trouble locating a job in Japan. There are lots of opportunities for people with Japanese ability and should you have any excess abilities, you can definitely find a means to combine them to increase your hiring chances. The business's outlook assumes stability in economic problems.

All About Japan Olympics Visa If you decide to try it, just be certain that you're adding supporting documents or addressing the reasons you were denied in the very first location. The information that was previously screened on arrival is currently cross-checked during the on-line application procedure. There are a couple standard requirements which Japanese citizens must meet to be able to successfully get the Brazilian eVisa.

The Basics of Japan Olympics Visa Which means you may discover the correct opportunity that matches all of your requirements, then use our convenient system to apply easily. Japanese companies have branch offices throughout the world. It was quite a patient and easy game.

Getting in a position to speak Japanese will produce the organization more inclined to hire you. The medals that'll be awarded to athletes were created to symbolize tree trunks. The house of samba and lambada, Brazil is the ideal location for people who love to dance.

The Key to Successful Japan Olympics Visa If you own a sponsor, you will need to submit BOTH your sponsor's and your very own financial and employment documents. They'll ask you about a visa till they look this up on their systems. I just got my new passport that has somewhat inspired this post.

There aren't any specific health problems which you may encounter in Japan. The typical price of all of the Olympic tickets is 7,700 yen. Some countries don't need a visa provided that the visit to Japan is less than 90 days.

Moreover, you'll need to show that you are able to support the trip. At first, Nagano would appear an unlikely setting for a long and healthful life. We went out to find that end and, being a skip, it's hard once you miss the previous shot.

| Bearing this in mind can assist you in orienting yourself and understanding the direction in which you're traveling. The neighborhood hat, but in addition the hat for global equity, understanding that global equity is just achieved one market at one time. If you desire better odds of approval, an immediate family member is better to sponsor you.

If you do this, you should not have any trouble locating a job in Japan. There are lots of opportunities for people with Japanese ability and should you have any excess abilities, you can definitely find a means to combine them to increase your hiring chances. Nowadays companies wish to realize your solidarity attitude and your eagerness to obtain experience, even if it's unpaid.

The events would likewise draw in a younger and more diverse audience and the majority of the additional sports have international appeal. If you wantto watch all the Olympic games this calendar year, you're gonna desire a lot of screens, and lots of time off. If you want to stick to a specific sport, there are a few ways to do it.

The Truth About Japan Olympics Visa Moreover, you'll need to show that you are able to support the trip. When choosing a taxi, remember that the MK or Yasaka companies designated by means of a clover icon are generally less expensive. It has developed over time.

At this time, we can either catch a shuttle bus the remainder of the way or adhere to another path farther down the hill to the volunteer cafeteria. Its 15 stones cannot be viewed all at one time. The men's national team is called the Samurai Blue.

Participants have to use a classroom for a studio for 2 weeks to create an undertaking. The information that was previously screened on arrival is currently cross-checked during the on-line application procedure. There are a couple standard requirements which Japanese citizens must meet to be able to successfully get the Brazilian eVisa.

Applicants in Brazil has to deliver a police certificate from every state in which they've lived for over six months during the past five decades along with a federal police certificate. They'll ask you about a visa till they look this up on their systems. I just got my new passport that has somewhat inspired this post.

The Basics of Japan Olympics Visa Moreover, Kanjani Eight is a unique feature in the magazine. Japanese companies have branch offices throughout the world. It was quite a patient and easy game.

The Hidden Facts on Japan Olympics Visa There aren't any specific health problems which you may encounter in Japan. The typical price of all of the Olympic tickets is 7,700 yen. There isn't any limit on the variety of trips to Brazil as long as the entire quantity of time spent in Brazil does not exceed 90 days per year.

It's important to not forget that what could be acceptable behaviour, dress and language in your nation, may not be suitable in another. Residing in Japan may be an exotic fantasy for absolutely any young American longing to see far-off places. Only people dwelling in Japan are eligible to buy Olympic tickets online.

It is possible to also get to a number of the cities most well-known attractions is by employing the city buses. Along with the country's numerous golf courses, you will also find green-netted driving ranges almost anywhere you go in the nation. All our athletes would like to be treated as skilled sports women and men and their talents give us little selection.

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emosherlock-blog · 5 years

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I moved in with a

I moved in with a friend who webcammed and I was like Oh that sounds like something Id love to do! I already had a sex blog and I was already posting nudes of myself and I absolutely loved it, but webcamming was a bit more of a jump. I was shocked and cut the conversation short because a) I felt like I didnt need to deal with such negative bullshit and b) I needed to get ready for my next show. If you don't stick to your mandatory hours, you'll be fired. I've always wanted to try new things, but that's not because I felt like I had to. Cam girls still have to protect themselves, of course; making sure people can’t find out their addresses or real names. Those are things that workers in all facets of the sex industry have to worry about, whether you’re a stripper or an escort. In exchange, the studio provides them with a built-in audience, a technical infrastructure, a hair and makeup person, a wardrobe—they even have people that train them on what clients tend to like and how to keep people in a quiet room with you.On Instagram, because of censorship restrictions, you cant see her nude. All he wrote was get naked. Maybe you're working in a brothel where web camming is just another expectation. When asked how many cam shows she'd have to do to make roughly minimum wage at 40 hours a week, she said, "assuming I work with a figure of $10 an hour @ 40hrs/week, this would work out at roughly 4 shows for me. It’s a ton of emotional labor—like any type of sex work. If a client wants to book through MyFreeCams rather than sending money directly, Domino charges double. It's a web red light district, and unlike some gaudy Dutch strip or seedy sidewalk, you're completely anonymous. In my 7-inch heels and latex leotards and frilly skirts, my body feels beautiful in a way that I dont see it in everyday life, and I feel confident and empowered.

After eight years of observation, Mila says, straight up, that camming is a criminal business on an international scale.Most of the time youre just talking and keeping people company.We work for ourselves and these are our decisions, and we should be respected in the same way everyone else is respected.By this time I’d masturbated on camera for a few guys, but I was starting to get a little bit paranoid about my face appearing in an advert on another website somewhere and someone I knew seeing it. But what about cam girls that don’t use studios? I decided to interview a cam girl name Ona Artist who is essentially a camming celebrity—she has 1.3 million followers on Instagram—to find out what that life is like. They don't touch you - nobody touches you. You go online alone and you work online alone. This has nothing to do with prostitution.I think we often forget that being a sex worker is essentially working in the service industry.And I am lucky that I have people who do love me, who can hold me after work and let me be still for a moment. I know that not everybody has that and I am never ungrateful for that privilege.It also gives Domino a chance to indulge in her geeky professionalism: "I like being able to network with people who aren't my strip club customers, [and] it's a way for me to see how good I am at SEO and social media. On both IM and video chat, she's prone to mannerisms and quips that make you want to pay for her time. A lot of it. you need to entertain those people who are going to stay for hours and hours in your room, even if they finished what they came for — they want to get to know you. I have nothing against sex work, having worked in the industry three times now, but I don’t like the idea of say my boyfriend's brother or housemate or one of my own family members opening a webpage to a moving image of my face mid-orgasm purely because well, I don’t think my family would support that decision."I teach them about fetishes - what a fetish is, why a person has one… We study Freud and a lot of psychology. But when her camera first flipped on for me, I didn't see the stained walls of a prostitute's den.

Women already have plenty of dick pics, thanks. It's just like any other online business, really.I met Anna because she flatly offered to talk to me — clothed or unclothed — in exchange for money. It's a very underground industry, and there's no governing body you can turn to, so people can be taken advantage of. Peel away the sex and pixels and money and you're left with the cloudy truth about the internet's relationship status with these on-demand entertainers: it's complicated.I made $20AUD in ‘tokens’ (how payments were recorded via the site) my first night. Her friend, "gave [her] sex toys" and she was on her way, waking at 6am each morning in order to hit American-internet primetime. I feel like webcamming is fully me and something I wanted to do; the money was a bonus. All that's available is a semi-robotic technical support chat, which fields basic questions about how to use the site and credit card processing. If you've looked at porn online (which we pretty much all have), you've likely been propositioned by advertisements for cam girl networks. But thats not always the case. Basically you get to be your sex-positive self to your full potential.And so far all Id done in a chat room was flash my boobs for an influx of tokens. But many women feel like they need to stay because of the money.

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newloanforbadcredit-blog · 5 years

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Reasons You Should Fall In Love With Loan For Bad Credit

Overcoming financial pressures is made easier with a loan. I'm inspired by the growing ranks of ohioans for payday loan reform, a coalition that includes community, faith, business, veterans and shopper groups from across the state. Lendingtree isn't a non-public mortgage provider or a p2p lending website, however it might join you with many Bad Credit Loan Lenders different lenders and is a good clearinghouse for finding mortgage charges and data.

This pre-approval process analyzes your revenue, bills, credit score, and credit score report and determines when you qualify for an auto loan from the lender and how much the lender could be prepared to lend. Fee quantities: discover out the amount of the monthly loan payment, how it's calculated and ways to barter the cost, if essential. Hello everybody, my name is maria smith and i am a monetary creator for greatest short-time period loans in the uk. My job is to unfold awareness about unsecured loans and the present trade insights. So that you might not happen your a bad credit score wedding ceremony ceremony ceremony mortgage at every mortgage Where Can I Get A Personal Loan With Bad Credit lender. Short on cash to make a automobile insurance coverage payment, she borrowed $four hundred, but two weeks later she nonetheless did not have sufficient to pay it again — so she borrowed more.

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Lenders know you now not owe a ton of cash and may in all probability pay again a loan. There are particular companies that supply payday mortgage services in canada like cash mart, lend direct, icash, my canada payday and many other smaller, native corporations. If in case you have a really low credit rating and assume you won't pre-qualify for a mortgage, your different choices are to get a co-signer on your loan, borrow towards your home's equity or ask a relative or buddy to Loan For Bad Credit take a loan out for you of their identify. In complete, 18 states ban payday loans. It is not uncommon for lenders to approve you for greater than you want hoping that you'll take the higher quantity so they can make cash off of you through interest and fees. A bad credit score automobile loans: they provide automobile loans to clients with poor credit and loans with bad Bad Credit Boat Loans credit. The trouble is, he used the bank card of his taxpayer-funded group to pay for it. The payday lending downside is exceptionally bad in ohio. The lender, often a monetary institution, is given security - a lien on the title to the property - till the mortgage is paid off in full. Interest-only lifetime mortgage schemes are supplied by two lenders at the moment - stonehaven & more2life. Though they are not considerably better, installment loans can come with slightly less egregious phrases and extra manageable funds.

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