So, I have hit 20,000 words as of today :) Kendra has said she will help me with the artwork. At 50,000 words I am going to start a fundraiser on kickstarter.com for it.
Here is the rundown of the costs I'm looking at.
540 for a banner ad on the top of the page of in5d.com, a website Kendra pointed me to. It fits my demographic, so that's not a bad idea. I'm also going to do some CPC (Cost per Click) ads on FB for 3 months. They give you a "daily limit" and a price per click, you get to choose both. I am thinking 10 cents per click, with 10 dollars a day- that's 100 clicks a day.
10 dollars a day times, say, 45 days is 450$. I am also going to self publish 50 actual books. 40 people who donate more than 100$ will get one.
A website for myself as an author will cost 10$. Some costs will go to Kendra for doing art for me and helping with my website.
Anything left over will get funneled into marketing or books.
Here's a rough idea of how the funding will go:
1+ dollars- you get a copy of the ebook.
10+ dollars- you get a mention in the ebook and an ebook
25+ dollars- mention in the ebook, a shout out in my blog, and an ebook
50+- character cameo- your character is seated on a bench or something, and gets a conversation.
100+ gets you a physical book
200+ gets you a physically signed book
300+ maybe custom designed artwork by Kendra
500+ full blown character in my next book
800+ gets you a character in TWO books, a crossover maybe (depending on the stories)
1500+ gets me coming to meet you(in the US) and a photo, meet up, thank you, and if I get famous you have my number :P Hahaha. But seriously, a photo, maybe eat at a restaurant together, and you can come to some awesome event when I'm famous :)
Anything above 250 gets a personal email thank you from me, not copy pasted.
Anything over 500 gets a permanent thank you on my website(in a page dedicated to thanks to people who deserve it)
Again, Corporate Wars is a book set in the future(about 150+ years out) where Corporations own people. In the City the three Corporations are at war with one another, and use people as pawns. If you owe money, they can send you to the Farm for at least a decade. But a Resistance is rising...
^_^ Hey, nothing happens unless you try.
Showing posts with label money. Show all posts
Showing posts with label money. Show all posts
Saturday, May 19, 2012
Monday, May 7, 2012
They're Revolting!!!
No, really. Call it what you will, the French have changed the paradigm. About fucking time. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/07/opinion/krugman-those-revolting-europeans.html?_r=1
At least someone is. I keep hoping America will do something to fight the status quo but for a multitude of reasons, a good portion of Americans are content to sit swilling beer and griping about the current president, as if he is to blame for all our ills.
Yeah, I said it.
I have a problem with people. Not merely my social anxiety, I have a fundamental issue with people. At least, a lot of the ones I've met. I'm sick and tired of people being content with the problems of the world, accepting it as just how it is, not accepting that they have the power to change.
I know, I know, we have essentially been taught our vote doesn't matter that much. After all, we are just one person, right?
Yes, that is true. However, it is also true that most Americans are furious as to what's going on in our wallets, our government, our lack of jobs. We are getting pissed. So why the hell are we not doing anything about it?
My opinion? We don't know what to do. Occupy started something that's helped. Do I think that will be the end of it? No. Do I think that that is what will fundamentally change it? Read the article I posted yesterday about the woman evicted at 3 am at gunpoint. The cop in there didn't even believe that Corporations have a great deal of power in this country. Sure, he's in Georgia. That's no excuse ;)
We are all angry, and upset, and scared, and we feel powerless. Right? You walk through security at the airport and you're treated like some kind of sociopathic criminal who must be bringing a bomb on board. Yes, I understand we have had problems with terrorists. I won't go into that here, though, that's a whole 'nother ball of ranting.
We have been slowly taught, due to perhaps our parents, perhaps the mainstream media, perhaps public schools, that we are just one person. We can't make a difference. Even though every day we see the results of other people who finally got upset enough to say something, we just write it off as there's something special about them.
I think the one problem America might have is the laziness and fear. Not just laziness as in sitting in front of a couch and watching football. I mean the entire paradigm we have. People don't always vote. My dad doesn't, he doesn't see the point. With the electoral college, I kinda don't blame him, but still.. Until you say something, you're just one more person who has stood back and let it happen.
I for one am sick of letting it happen. I'm not out on the streets because I have a 4 month old I'm breastfeeding and cops have a bit too many frustrations they like taking out on peaceful protestors. But I will blog. I will talk. I will vent, I will vote. I will make my point clear.
France realized how ridiculous the "suck it up, it gets better" mentality we're being force-fed is. They stood up for themselves, and it's changing. They did something about it. So when are we? I can pretty much garauntee you that something else needs to happen than Occupy. Some other movement will spring up because of it, and then there will be two.
We need to do something. Otherwise it's just going to get worse.
At least someone is. I keep hoping America will do something to fight the status quo but for a multitude of reasons, a good portion of Americans are content to sit swilling beer and griping about the current president, as if he is to blame for all our ills.
Yeah, I said it.
I have a problem with people. Not merely my social anxiety, I have a fundamental issue with people. At least, a lot of the ones I've met. I'm sick and tired of people being content with the problems of the world, accepting it as just how it is, not accepting that they have the power to change.
I know, I know, we have essentially been taught our vote doesn't matter that much. After all, we are just one person, right?
Yes, that is true. However, it is also true that most Americans are furious as to what's going on in our wallets, our government, our lack of jobs. We are getting pissed. So why the hell are we not doing anything about it?
My opinion? We don't know what to do. Occupy started something that's helped. Do I think that will be the end of it? No. Do I think that that is what will fundamentally change it? Read the article I posted yesterday about the woman evicted at 3 am at gunpoint. The cop in there didn't even believe that Corporations have a great deal of power in this country. Sure, he's in Georgia. That's no excuse ;)
We are all angry, and upset, and scared, and we feel powerless. Right? You walk through security at the airport and you're treated like some kind of sociopathic criminal who must be bringing a bomb on board. Yes, I understand we have had problems with terrorists. I won't go into that here, though, that's a whole 'nother ball of ranting.
We have been slowly taught, due to perhaps our parents, perhaps the mainstream media, perhaps public schools, that we are just one person. We can't make a difference. Even though every day we see the results of other people who finally got upset enough to say something, we just write it off as there's something special about them.
I think the one problem America might have is the laziness and fear. Not just laziness as in sitting in front of a couch and watching football. I mean the entire paradigm we have. People don't always vote. My dad doesn't, he doesn't see the point. With the electoral college, I kinda don't blame him, but still.. Until you say something, you're just one more person who has stood back and let it happen.
I for one am sick of letting it happen. I'm not out on the streets because I have a 4 month old I'm breastfeeding and cops have a bit too many frustrations they like taking out on peaceful protestors. But I will blog. I will talk. I will vent, I will vote. I will make my point clear.
France realized how ridiculous the "suck it up, it gets better" mentality we're being force-fed is. They stood up for themselves, and it's changing. They did something about it. So when are we? I can pretty much garauntee you that something else needs to happen than Occupy. Some other movement will spring up because of it, and then there will be two.
We need to do something. Otherwise it's just going to get worse.
Saturday, September 3, 2011
Retirement Savings
Now, I'm going to start this off by saying a few things. Firstly, I grew up in a motel with a dad who lived... in the moment. Due to this, I began to learn how to survive by thinking of the future (I'm making it sound a bit worse than it is, I guess, but I was very stressed out about money, even at the age of 12.) I started to learn how to make very little money last me quite a while. I have subconsciously fine-tuned said skills over the years, and now I want to share some of the knowledge I've gained.
We live in very stressful times. It may get better, it may get worse, none of us really know for sure, we can only live in the moment and hope for the future. Believe me, truly, I understand. It's scary. Terrifying, if we will admit the truth to ourselves. But even still, there is hope.
I've lived in poverty for most of my life. And I do mean that as in all but a year or so. I know how to take a dollar and make it stretch. And so, here's the actual blog.
There is a retirement fund called a Roth IRA. I don't know much about these specifically, I am not going to say I am a banker... However, you can look into it for yourself. I will post the links at the bottom.
If you start out this account with 50 dollars in it, and put 1,000 dollars a year into it starting at the age of 23 (that's about 82 dollars a month or 20.50 a week) you will end up with 329,850. Using the second link, I put in the full amount at retirement of the calculations I chose, and put 20,000 dollars a year as what I'd spend at retirement. Now, with inflation it'll probably be more than that, but even with that tiny amount put away every year, you'd be able to live for 20 years.
Now, here's the thing. That's assuming you are only putting 20 dollars a week away. 40 out of your bi-weekly paycheck. That calculation, that simple calculation is assuming you only ever put that away.. Here's how I think about it, in terms of myself.
Say I were to get a job again soon (which I hope happens..) that is 8.50 an hour, 40 hours a week. I am married, so I'll pretend Jason is my roommate for those people who aren't. That will come into play in a minute or two. I did the calculations just now, and at that wage, with 15% tax taken out, (and I'm not counting the government giving it back to you at tax time) you have 1252 to play with.
Now, here's my logic on the next part. Theoretically, whether you live in the city, where most people get roommates to be able to afford anything, or you live in the suburbs/normal sized towns across the US, rent is about 600 bucks. By that I mean if you have a roommate in the city and rent is usually idk, 1200, you're forking over 600. Generally water etc is included, not counting that. For transportation (i.e. a car or public transportation monthly I'll say idk, 100 bucks a month for that. I'm leaving some room throughout all this for personal adjustments.. car insurance etc I don't know much about tbh, I don't drive. But so far you're up to 700 out of the 1252, so I'll say about another 150 or so for utilities if you're living alone and living frugally. Now you're up to 850. For basic necessities for the month, 50 bucks. (Toilet paper, paper towels, dish soap, laundry, bathroom stuff(shower)) you're up to 900. You still have 352 left to work with.
Here and there you might miss a five due to your own personal living habits, etc, but again.. Trying to be as general as possible. 352 is quite a bit. Let's just take that 85 out right now (rounding up to make things easier . That leaves you with 267.
I'm hoping you're able to keep up with my scatterbrained tendencies, sorry.. if not feel free to contact me and I'll try to explain better.
Now, if you're paid bi-weekly, here's what you are looking at. 300 for rent, give or take. 50 for transportation (bus pass or gas) 75 for utilities, 25 for necessities, and 100 for food. (I'm just going to say screw it, and give you the other 67 to play with, but you can always put that away too, or save *that* in the bank for emergency funding like losing your job.)
200 a month for food is the next thing I am going to talk about here. That's a lot of money on food. Honestly, it is. You can if you buy intelligently and can do basic cooking, live really well off that. Use coupons, stock up on pasta and rice. Get some bulk pasta sauce (like, big jars.) and parmesean. Bread and lunch meat or pb and j. Eggs, milk, if you get some of it store brand you'll be saving yourself money. Cereal, bagels even if you want. Chicken and meat.
Some tips:
-Invest in ziplock bags. Portion up the meat into serving amounts (1 chicken breast, half a lb of ground beef, etc) and freeze some.
-When you get the rice, freeze the bag for a week. Not to sound gross, but sometimes they do have eggs in them, and it's better to be safe than sorry. By freezing it for a week, it kills all the eggs. Also, keep it in a cool dry place. Above the stove is a very bad idea.
Get vegetables when you can, whatever kind you like. Salad fixings. You really can afford all of this if you aren't buying munchies and soda first. Figure out how much you'll go through of real food a month before getting soda and stuff. Stock up on rice and beans or ramen and butter and canned veggies(which often go on sale) for if you ever miscalculate.
Now, keep in mind.. You won't be working minimum wage forever. Eventually as you live your life, you will grow into better jobs with better pay, and be able to save more and use more.. So this is only a bare basics thing. You have 40 years to put money into this account. There is hope. Every day you live puts you one step closer to new experiences and new things. I guess I'm done now, feel free to comment if I left anything sort of hanging (I might have, I forgot). Most of all, good luck and stay safe. And remember.. If all else fails, you can always go for food banks.
Roth IRA Calculator: http://www.dinkytown.net/java/RothIRA.html#calc
How long your retirement will last: http://www.dinkytown.net/java/RetirementDistribution.html
We live in very stressful times. It may get better, it may get worse, none of us really know for sure, we can only live in the moment and hope for the future. Believe me, truly, I understand. It's scary. Terrifying, if we will admit the truth to ourselves. But even still, there is hope.
I've lived in poverty for most of my life. And I do mean that as in all but a year or so. I know how to take a dollar and make it stretch. And so, here's the actual blog.
There is a retirement fund called a Roth IRA. I don't know much about these specifically, I am not going to say I am a banker... However, you can look into it for yourself. I will post the links at the bottom.
If you start out this account with 50 dollars in it, and put 1,000 dollars a year into it starting at the age of 23 (that's about 82 dollars a month or 20.50 a week) you will end up with 329,850. Using the second link, I put in the full amount at retirement of the calculations I chose, and put 20,000 dollars a year as what I'd spend at retirement. Now, with inflation it'll probably be more than that, but even with that tiny amount put away every year, you'd be able to live for 20 years.
Now, here's the thing. That's assuming you are only putting 20 dollars a week away. 40 out of your bi-weekly paycheck. That calculation, that simple calculation is assuming you only ever put that away.. Here's how I think about it, in terms of myself.
Say I were to get a job again soon (which I hope happens..) that is 8.50 an hour, 40 hours a week. I am married, so I'll pretend Jason is my roommate for those people who aren't. That will come into play in a minute or two. I did the calculations just now, and at that wage, with 15% tax taken out, (and I'm not counting the government giving it back to you at tax time) you have 1252 to play with.
Now, here's my logic on the next part. Theoretically, whether you live in the city, where most people get roommates to be able to afford anything, or you live in the suburbs/normal sized towns across the US, rent is about 600 bucks. By that I mean if you have a roommate in the city and rent is usually idk, 1200, you're forking over 600. Generally water etc is included, not counting that. For transportation (i.e. a car or public transportation monthly I'll say idk, 100 bucks a month for that. I'm leaving some room throughout all this for personal adjustments.. car insurance etc I don't know much about tbh, I don't drive. But so far you're up to 700 out of the 1252, so I'll say about another 150 or so for utilities if you're living alone and living frugally. Now you're up to 850. For basic necessities for the month, 50 bucks. (Toilet paper, paper towels, dish soap, laundry, bathroom stuff(shower)) you're up to 900. You still have 352 left to work with.
Here and there you might miss a five due to your own personal living habits, etc, but again.. Trying to be as general as possible. 352 is quite a bit. Let's just take that 85 out right now (rounding up to make things easier . That leaves you with 267.
I'm hoping you're able to keep up with my scatterbrained tendencies, sorry.. if not feel free to contact me and I'll try to explain better.
Now, if you're paid bi-weekly, here's what you are looking at. 300 for rent, give or take. 50 for transportation (bus pass or gas) 75 for utilities, 25 for necessities, and 100 for food. (I'm just going to say screw it, and give you the other 67 to play with, but you can always put that away too, or save *that* in the bank for emergency funding like losing your job.)
200 a month for food is the next thing I am going to talk about here. That's a lot of money on food. Honestly, it is. You can if you buy intelligently and can do basic cooking, live really well off that. Use coupons, stock up on pasta and rice. Get some bulk pasta sauce (like, big jars.) and parmesean. Bread and lunch meat or pb and j. Eggs, milk, if you get some of it store brand you'll be saving yourself money. Cereal, bagels even if you want. Chicken and meat.
Some tips:
-Invest in ziplock bags. Portion up the meat into serving amounts (1 chicken breast, half a lb of ground beef, etc) and freeze some.
-When you get the rice, freeze the bag for a week. Not to sound gross, but sometimes they do have eggs in them, and it's better to be safe than sorry. By freezing it for a week, it kills all the eggs. Also, keep it in a cool dry place. Above the stove is a very bad idea.
Get vegetables when you can, whatever kind you like. Salad fixings. You really can afford all of this if you aren't buying munchies and soda first. Figure out how much you'll go through of real food a month before getting soda and stuff. Stock up on rice and beans or ramen and butter and canned veggies(which often go on sale) for if you ever miscalculate.
Now, keep in mind.. You won't be working minimum wage forever. Eventually as you live your life, you will grow into better jobs with better pay, and be able to save more and use more.. So this is only a bare basics thing. You have 40 years to put money into this account. There is hope. Every day you live puts you one step closer to new experiences and new things. I guess I'm done now, feel free to comment if I left anything sort of hanging (I might have, I forgot). Most of all, good luck and stay safe. And remember.. If all else fails, you can always go for food banks.
Roth IRA Calculator: http://www.dinkytown.net/java/RothIRA.html#calc
How long your retirement will last: http://www.dinkytown.net/java/RetirementDistribution.html
Thursday, July 28, 2011
It's true, but it's not okay.
This is one of those things that just really, really sets me off. Our entire society is so cutthroat, that it doesn't care about the lowest on the financial totem pole. "They brought it upon themselves". "They're too lazy". "They're screwing the system". No, that's not true.. Not really. Getting screwed by the system and by other people is what got them to that point. Can someone please tell me why it is, that we just sit back and watch the massive corporations who are leeching off our life get away with crazy shit? I mean... Okay.
For example.. Did you know it costs about .0052 cents for the concentrate to make a glass of soda? At McDonalds, it's what, at least a dollar for one. Major profit margin there. I get the point of it, it helps the places pay for electricity etc, but still.. I mean, how much does it really cost to MAKE this shit we have to buy? (Not soda, you don't HAVE to buy soda).
It's totally okay for corporations to be utterly cutthroat and not give a shit about their own employees. Oh, minimum wage went up? Okay, cut hours, try to get rid of some people making more so we can pay them less. And we don't fight this. The government doesn't care. Why? Why is it okay that minimum wage, if you're living alone, doesn't cover rent and food? At most places in most cities, you have to make at least twice or 3x the rent.
Minimum wage doesn't garauntee that for people who work at McDonalds or any job like that where the hours are flexible. Why do we just sit idly by and just.. let it happen???
When they moved all the jobs overseas because of minimum wage going up, I really think they should have had some sort of "punishment tax" because of it. We lost a LOT of jobs that way. And what really pisses me off is, the American people don't seem to care enough to do anything about it. Is it because they don't know how, or where to start? Or do they feel like it's useless to bother??
Why does it seem like so few people care about this? About things like this? Yeah, it happens. Minimum wage goes up, so they lose a little bit of profit. It's not like they can't afford it. Ugh. It really, utterly sickens me.
For example.. Did you know it costs about .0052 cents for the concentrate to make a glass of soda? At McDonalds, it's what, at least a dollar for one. Major profit margin there. I get the point of it, it helps the places pay for electricity etc, but still.. I mean, how much does it really cost to MAKE this shit we have to buy? (Not soda, you don't HAVE to buy soda).
It's totally okay for corporations to be utterly cutthroat and not give a shit about their own employees. Oh, minimum wage went up? Okay, cut hours, try to get rid of some people making more so we can pay them less. And we don't fight this. The government doesn't care. Why? Why is it okay that minimum wage, if you're living alone, doesn't cover rent and food? At most places in most cities, you have to make at least twice or 3x the rent.
Minimum wage doesn't garauntee that for people who work at McDonalds or any job like that where the hours are flexible. Why do we just sit idly by and just.. let it happen???
When they moved all the jobs overseas because of minimum wage going up, I really think they should have had some sort of "punishment tax" because of it. We lost a LOT of jobs that way. And what really pisses me off is, the American people don't seem to care enough to do anything about it. Is it because they don't know how, or where to start? Or do they feel like it's useless to bother??
Why does it seem like so few people care about this? About things like this? Yeah, it happens. Minimum wage goes up, so they lose a little bit of profit. It's not like they can't afford it. Ugh. It really, utterly sickens me.
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