Online Money Calculators
Over at MSN.com, check out these nifty, easy to use money calculators that can help you suss out your debt ratio.
Then look at the links on the left of the same page and try the savings calculator, and the spending quiz.
My favorite? The Time Valuator. What is your time actually worth in dollars and cents? Better yet, how much are you REALLY making as an artist? How much does your leisure time cost you? And would it be better to hire help? Are you wasting your more valuable earning time doing chores you can pay someone else to do for you for less than you would be earning in that time yourself?
Since I basically work 1 1/2 -2 times the normal work hours a week, I earn a lot more money than the average person, but in terms of hourly rate, the earnings are actually quite modest. Essentially, I am making money because I am producing the equivalent of two people. But in pure cash, I could earn this kind of money working almost any middle class job (while working fewer hours). After years as an artist, in pure money terms, I would be better off working a government job.
I gave myself a thrill by calculating my hourly earnings from my bad, sad artist days: roughly $1 per hour.
While a government job will feed you better than art will, the perks of not working a government job are obvious: no commute, low daily stress, and doing art you love.
Even though I work far longer hours than most, I can work in my comfortable home and putter in the garden when I need a break. I am not driving two hours a day five days a week. In the ten hours most people spend commuting, I can be earning income drawing.
When I was living in the city, I eventually made enough money to hire part time help. I hired a personal organizer service, and a maid service. This seems like an extravagance, but it wasn’t. The time I was spending sorting papers and scrubbing the bathtub was time I wasn’t drawing. The maid service and organizer got chores done in less time than I did. So, I made more money by hiring help than I did by doing the same tasks myself.
Obviously, I’d also make more money if I didn’t putter in the garden, but I consider that both leisure and exercise time. And I don’t do most household chores, so my time is free to draw and paint. And blog.
My debt ratio wasn’t nearly as good as I thought it would be.
c
PS: Winter storms have made communication problematic. If you have had trouble contacting me, please try again. The power went out while I was on the computer and blew the mail program. It had to be reinstalled.
“While a government job will feed you better than art will, the perks of not working a government job are obvious: no commute, low daily stress, and doing art you love.”
As a government worker, I understand where you’re coming from with this. In this economy I’m grateful for the job that I have and even though I sometimes get infuriated at my boss, I think of the alternative.
Some people have jobs that they loathe but have them out of necessity. If someone can do what you do and enjoy their work, then that is great! Sure it is far from easy (as your blog has shown us time and again) but the benefit of being your own boss and in some control of your life is inspiring.
As someone who has a two-hour roundtrip commute everyday, I usually zone out on the train. Woohoo, the Mardi Gras that is my life!
Man, I am so frazzled by traffic when I do have to deal with it, I can imagine what a cumulative effect it has on a person.
While I have to deal with slow-paying clients sometimes (dealing with one now), on a daily basis, I have almost no conflict except between me and the drawing board. I can go for months without even encountering an unpleasant word from a fan or a client.
It has made me very mellow, but at the same time, when things do pop up, I am a little out of my element. I’m not always prepared for hyperbolic, forceful people.
It must be such a bummer to have to work with unpleasant bosses. If I don’t like a client, I can just walk. I’ve dumped only three in the last decade.
It’s a real trade off. Freedom for security. Some people have a higher need for security, and freedom can be a bad deal when you have no food to eat on the side!
Security has been a factor for me. I grew up broke most of my life and I didn’t want to ever be like that again if I could help it. So I pushed myself in school so I could move up. A drive is needed. All the talent in the world doesn’t mean a thing if you don’t apply it.
I know people that went into Sales professions who can handle working on commission. I know my tolerance level and I prefer to know every two weeks I’m getting a paycheck.
Wow, I can relate. I grew up very poor. We were homeless at one point, but I don’t remember it all very well.
It wasn’t until I was an older kid that we moved to the affluent suburbs. I had no idea we had been poor. I had no frame of reference. I was never materialistic, and never felt the need for fancy clothes or anything, until I was working in publishing, and one male client ridiculed me because I was so poor I had been wearing the same coat I had owned since I was 12. It began falling apart when we were walking down the street. He thought that was hilarious.
Since the mean fellow owed me money, and later ripped me off pretty badly, I guess I should have known that someone who would mock someone for being poor and poorly dressed would end up being cruel enough to take a teenaged girl’s money and try to steal her creations.
I went through a period where I was very self conscious of my appearance, and recall spending an entire paycheck on new clothes after that incident.
However, I got over it.
On a daily basis, I have no trouble with being plain and living simply.
I have never gotten used to having to follow up with clients to get my money, and I don’t like juggling the accounts any more than anyone else does.
But I have never lived any other way. When money has been very good, it feels odd. I’m never really comfortable with it, and never really feel like there’s any money there, even when I have it.
When I don’t have it: eh, par for the course.
I have no qualms about shopping in consignment shops and bargain bins.
I got a genuine Chanel suit and handbag that way. People think I am rich because I dress very well. I just know where to make my dollar make me look rich.
Colleen: “It’s a real trade off. Freedom for security.”
Having lost three supposedly “secure” jobs in my career, I’ve come to believe “security” is an illusion. Nothing is safe, no business is easy. The best bet is to follow your heart, because that will give you the strength to face the challenges inevitable in any career.
Jeremy: “I know people that went into Sales professions who can handle working on commission.”
As a salesman, I can attest that working on commission can be a bitch. The last company I worked for was a dog, with declining sales and profits. My commission dried up, along with most of the other salespeople I knew, and then I got laid off along with everyone else in my division.
I got a new job that may be better than the last one, though. Also, while I was unemployed I was able to use the time to make some wonderful progress in other areas of my life. I know it’s a cliche, but crises really can be opportunities. That’s why I actually laughed the day I got the axe at work, rather than cried. (And why everyone around me looked at me like I’d lost my mind.)
Colleen: “On a daily basis, I have no trouble with being plain and living simply.”
Yeah, I really need to get the hang of that. Money comes and money goes (for me, until I start my new job, it mostly goes!). It’s the things you do and the people you know that form the experiences that make life worthwhile.
“While a government job will feed you better than art will, the perks of not working a government job are obvious: no commute, low daily stress, and doing art you love.”
That’s certainly true. The day job here at Saltmine U. definitely served a purpose (more money, let me pay off all my post-divorce debt, insanely good benefits), but I’m looking forward to the day when I’m good enough to do nothing but art, instead of art direction. I will not miss my 30-hour/week commute, at all.