Creating Your Own Snowflakes
As I sat here working from home today because the roads were too slippery to make it into the office, I was admiring all the snow that was falling. It was quite pleasant to watch, and got me thinking about snowflaking and my debt. One good thing about working from home today was the fact that I saved on gas. I was going to have to fill up the tank today, so staying home meant I got to postpone that till tomorrow.
But the real snowflakes got me thinking about my debt snowflakes, and how I need to get a few together to start that whole debt snowball thing. I’ve actually been trying to get a bit of freelance work on the side partly because I want to transition to full-time freelance work in the long-term, but of course it has the short-term effect of lowering my debt. Initially the freelancing money would go 100% towards my debt, but I think once I was able to cover minimum payments on all my current debts, then I might start putting any excess towards topping up my emergency fund. Once that was topped up to my “comfortable” level, I’d start divvying some of it up towards my “fun” savings accounts.
To that end over the weekend I sent out a few emails in response to some job postings I’d found. I’d also installed Google Analytics on my freelance website, and when I checked today, I was happy to see that I’d gotten a few clicks. I’ve started leaving comments on a few freelancing websites with my site in my signature, so it was nice to see that the traffic is slowly starting to trickle in. My main focus will be freelance technical writing, as that’s what I do for my day job. It’s specific enough that I can focus pretty well on those specific jobs. But I’d also like to branch out into other types of freelance writing, as I do consider myself a writer first, and a computer geek second.The next step is for me to start practicing other types of writing as well, so that I can market myself in those avenues as well, and increase my chances at earning a decent enough income to eventually do it full-time.
I don’t expect the money to start rolling in quickly, but like the snowflakes that built themselves up into a snowdrift on my balcony during today’s storm, I’m hoping that the money will slowly trickle in. Slow and steady is what I’m looking for. The old adage is cliched, but true: slow & steady wins the race.
