How To Survive as A Low Income Person

Somehow, on an income of six hundred or more, I survive as a low-income person. I manage to save $100 a month, give or take what I have left. I’m trying to save more money this year and to make more money. I used to have incremental spending, which meant to spend gently around a certain amount like $600, then $500, then $400, etc. I need a part-time job by now to pay for extra expenses like therapy. I’m glad my schizophrenia is finally treated long enough for me to be able to keep it together at work. I’m looking for work in freelance article writing as well as writing copy. It might be time to take my skill into some company out there.

I have rules, though. I do not commute more than 20 minutes. Anybody with a longer commute, I frankly have to ask: “Are you crazy?” Taking two bridges to a job is not even cool for me. I can’t do that, since I have practical limitations that affect my energy reserves. As in, how many spoons do I have on any given day? How much can I get done? These days, I have put all my bills at the beginning of the month, something nobody in my family suggested. I figured that one out on my own. I’m still paying off my Penn Foster private investigator class. I get placement with a real PI to do an internship and see how it really is when I pay it off. I have around $157 left, which will be easily paid in the next few months, give or take.

I need to get that internship done eventually, just not right now. My next program will be a paralegal program. I need to get this done as a pre-law school event because I’m certainly not able to pay for conventional school. I’d rather just do online school again. I’m willing and able, and I think I might get good grades now that I know the conditions I need to pass academic work.

I spend money on groceries first. I also use it for gasoline. I only drive the car sparingly, though. I use it to go on errands, but I do not drive it to the North Bay anymore as I live in California. My car has a rather small gas tank. $20 is a full tank for me. I usually fill it to $18 since I never let it go all the way down. Ways of making money besides a job include starting my own t-shirt business. In class, we worked on real world numbers, calculating our supply purchases. I try to eat from home as much as possible. I make my budget last. I have to do my taxes this year as well as monetize my blog. If I can afford to save more than $300, I’m good to go. I need a new pair of glasses, which will have to wait, and I’m also looking into contact lenses.

I apply at one job application per day so as to not over do it, or set off stress. Stress makes it hard for me to focus. I can’t think of anything but what is stressing me out and that is an OCD thing. I get manic from stress, which is a bipolar thing, and then when I am delusional about how much I can get done, in which I over extend myself, well, then all is lost. Waking up stressed out while in the midst of stuff to do is ridiculous. So I have to limit what I get done. I know my triggers and my limitations by now. It took years to learn it but at least I’m familiar with this process and I can now make something out of my life. I try to push myself daily to get somewhere. I will eventually persevere. I have at least 12 completed business plans and around 80 ideas for a business. I have a list of books to keep up with writing, which means the work will be endless for the next thirty years or so. It is time for me to quit being low income, and to make money. I have a lot of work ahead of me.