MICRO BLOG: Save Money, Work Less, Write More!

December 8, 2015

WELCOME BACK!

Hello again you beautiful souls.

To all my regular readers and those who are visiting for the first time I want to thank everyone for their patience these past couple months while I managed difficult times with my health, loss of a dear relative and the unfortunate flooding of my home.

With that said lets get on with it. This post is coming to you for two reasons. Recent events and a request from a twitter follower @StookoDavis.

 

SO WHAT’S ALL THIS ABOUT NATHAN?

Now, I’m no genius, here to give you life changing advice. I’m just a guy who loves to write, telling you how I made a few changes so I could write more.

I have spent the better part of three years cutting back on non-essentials in my life in order to reduce the hours that I work in my day job.

At long last, this week I was able to reduce my hours so that I now only work four days of the week and have EVERY single Wednesday to dedicate to my writing.

I am proud of this milestone in my journey as a writer, and the sacrifices that were made. Since I have had a couple of private messages and comments on Twitter, I have decided to write a very brief blog with a few examples of how I did this.

SO WHAT’S THE SECRET?

There isn’t one. I’ll be honest, this is not going to be some amazing strategy on how to change your life. It is simple common sense, and above all asking yourself a question.

Is this more important than my writing?do-you-really-need-this

WHAT DID YOU CUT BACK ON AND HOW?

Again guys, this will be different for us all, but in each life there is excess that can be sacrificed in order to save money. By doing so you can cut hours and give that time to your writing.

Now I have a very supportive partner and understand that making cuts can be far more of a challenge for some of us. Below I give just a few quick and basic examples of the type of things that were cut back.

  • ALCOHOL – I stopped drinking altogether. I did so enjoy a bottle of fruity and crisp white Rioja, but this was the first stop on getting where I needed to be
  • CONVENIENCE FOODS – I work down the street from a supermarket, filled with convenient pastas and sandwiches. But I never noticed how quickly the money evaporates from you pockets when you have so many options. So I started making meals at home to take to work. Batches of soups, Spaghetti Bolognaise, my own sandwiches and snacks. A small and obvious change, but saved so much money.
  • WRITING MAGAZINES – Lets face it, we all wait for that time in the month when the latest copy of our favourite writing magazine comes out, but simply switching to digital copies on my tablet has saved a great deal of money (and space).
  • GAMING – Okay, this one hurt. I looked at my other love of video games and it had to go. Not only a huge distraction to an unfortunate black hole for my finances. I sold my consoles and now play what games I do on the much cheaper PC platform.
  • PUBLIC TRANSPORT – As much as hated this change, the move to taking the train has not only saved a huge amount of money but at the same time offered great time to write on the commute.
  • BUDGET – I started planning on what cash I needed per month and take it out of my bank account each pay day. This then sits at home and when it is gone, its gone. I refused to take my bank card with me and its so easy to lose track of what you are spending. Again, its nothing special, but making the choice to use cash again instead of a card helps you to take conscious charge over your finances.

There were many things that I changed in my life, all small things that have all mounted up and its all about challenging your own spending habits to give the attention and passion your writing deserves.

THE OBLIGATORY … AND FINALLY SECTION

I just wanted to keep this short as this is something that I couldn’t fit on Twitter.

So let me just say that I will be writing much more regular blogs from this point on, with a number already half written.

As for this blog subject let me leave you with the words to carry with you.

  • DO I REALLY NEED THIS?
  • IS THIS MORE IMPORTANT THAN MY WRITING?

Please feel free to leave any comments and questions below. Thanks for dropping by, and I hope to see you all again really soon.

Leave a comment