Hey everyone! Happy Monday. I’m technically not on vacation yet, as it doesn’t start until 5 p.m. today, but it starts soon!
I have the rest of the week off and I’m going to New Orleans with W and another couple. None of us have ever been. So many of you have given us great recommendations, thank you so much! Sounds like we have a ton of restaurants to try 🙂
Did anyone watch Trueblood last night? Crazy! Now I cannot wait until Boardwalk Empire and Walking Dead both start. What’s your favorite TV show?
After Trueblood, W and I went to get ice cream. Simple as that, right? Nope! We left our house to go to Dairy Queen which is only about 2 miles away. On the way there, W started yelling that this guy was getting too close and swerving in and out of lanes. I wasn’t paying attention because W is a very paranoid person and I just shrugged it off.
Then at one point the driver nearly clipped us (literally an inch away), and W swerved to avoid him, and the driver of the truck swerved ACROSS FOUR LANES and hit 2 huge telephone poles and went straight through them. The poles were laying on the road and the lines were completely down. The driver of the truck then flew down a hill and into a ditch. And he was drunk and drove away after all of this. No one is sure how he managed to drive his totaled truck away or how he survived.
Anyways, to completely change the subject, thank you to everyone who said so many nice things about my blogiversary and my blog. I love you all! The giveaway still has over a week to go, so make sure to get your entries in. There are so many ways to enter, and you can do them all or just do one.
Spending
We did do some spending in the past week. We needed some things for our bikes, such as for maintenance or repair just in case something goes wrong for when we are on a long ride.
My bike surprisingly broke a couple of weeks ago while riding it. I am still not too happy about this as we spent a decent amount of money on it. Luckily it was nothing major. The pedal came undone and fell off, and I came crashing down (boy, did that hurt) while we were riding on a trail fairly fast.
Luckily, there was a construction crew on their lunch break and they were more than happy to help us. They even offered us beers while they were fixing my bike! And yes, they were drinking beers while working on building a busy bridge that hundreds of thousands of people drive over every single day. Lets not even talk about how much that scared us…
Extra Income (does not include income from our main jobs)
Extra income was good in the past week. Nothing too extraordinary, but I’m not going to complain. I can already tell that September will be a great month. Hopefully I don’t jinx myself but I have had a good amount of freelancing leads right now. WOOHOOO!
A lot of you have also been asking about taxes. Around 35% of my extra income goes towards taxes, and I will have a post on my other site, Diversified Finances, about that sometime soon.
I still don’t know when my 100% self-employment switch date will be. I’m still a little afraid to give up such a stable income from my day job, and I’m not going to lie, I am afraid of failure and that something will go wrong.
I will say that these feelings aren’t as big as they used to be. All of this doesn’t bother me as much, and I know that I am ready now. Now, we are really just trying to increase our emergency fund before I make the actual switch, so that we are as prepared as we can be.
Posts from my websites:
- What not to do when leaving your job – There will always be crazy people out there, right? People quit in the most ridiculous ways. What’s the craziest quitting story that you know of?
- 2 Year Blogiversary – WOOHOO! I still cannot believe that it has been two years. It’s crazy to think about. I dived into the blogging world, not even knowing what I was getting myself into. Now, I am in love with it all.
Being healthy
Being healthy has definitely been much better lately. The weather has been so great lately, so it’s hard to just sit inside and not soak it all in. I went on a couple of long walks with my dog, ran on the treadmill a couple of times, and road my bike. We’ve been eating kind of more healthy, but we definitely went out to eat way too much last week. And this week will just be a disaster with being healthy since we will be in New Orleans, but oh well!
We went on a nice bike ride yesterday of around 15 miles. It would have been longer but we made the mistake of going out for a ride without eating at all beforehand. After about 7 miles I felt super hungry so we had to turn back!
Have you been doing well with your extra income, spending and being healthy?
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I soooo can’t wait for The Walking Dead to start up again. Have you seen the new 4 minute trailer? Ca-raaazzzzyyy!
Yes I have! It looks awesome.
My spending has been good, but we have to make a big purchase soon. My extra income has been terrible this month and I am not sure why.
What’s the big purchase? And sorry about your extra income 🙁
I’m also a pretty paranoid driver, lol. Glad you both are ok! Have fun on your vacation, will there be a lot of pictures like last time?
Yes, TONS of pictures hopefully!
It’s definitely scary that the construction workers were drinking on the job! But it’s good they were there to help you fix your bike.
My input on the job switch: I understand being scared to leave the guaranteed income. Ask yourself, “What’s the worst thing that can happen?” Do you have skills you can fall back on in case your writing jobs slow down? Are you going to lose your house, car, or not be able to feel your family? Chances are, you have a few things you could do to make money, and you’re definitely not going to drive W and the dogs into financial ruin by leaving your day job. 🙂 In fact, I bet you’ll double your monthly income once you kick the day job!
You are right Alexandra. I am just so paranoid!
I know, I’m the same way. 🙂 But once you take that leap of faith, I’m sure you’ll be wondering, “Why didn’t I do this sooner?!”
I understand you being scared to leave but you need to take a chance. I think you will be just fine. You are by far one the most successful bloggers I know.
Thank you 🙂
Yup, the guy was crazy!
I haven’t seen either of those. I need to check them out!
Haha thanks!
I’m going to bring it back one of these days and have the place look at it. I was not happy!
A couple of great restaurants are Acme Oyster House, Dante’s Kitchen and for the best Muffuletta sandwich go to Central Grocery Co.
Thanks! I’m so hungry for it all 🙂
Ugh, drunk driving is something that I don’t get – if you want to have a good time, then plan for it! Get a DD, or even stay over at a friend’s house if you can’t drive! You’re just putting not only yourself, but others in danger!
Anyways, enjoy your vacation in New Orleans! Can’t wait to hear from ya when you get back!
Yup! It is stupid!
Yikes, I’m glad that drunk driver didn’t hit you!! Scary!
Enjoy your vacation!!! 🙂
Craziness about your bike and that whole experience. I’d be pissed about an expensive bike breaking too. Also, at the WTC site here in NY, they have busted construction workers drinking on their lunch breaks which to me is so scary, considering the amount of damage that can result when you’re building a giant skyscraper!
Have fun on vacation! Enjoy the music while you’re there and eat plenty of beignets.
Great job Michelle! In response to #3 Daycare Dilemma – consider nanny’s as well. Rebecca at Girls Gone Child uses a nanny and she’s a work at home mom. I also know (personally) another couple that the dad is work from home, and the nanny watches the baby while he works. Personally to me it would be the best of both worlds – someone to help watch the baby while you get work done, but you are there for nursing time thus eliminating the need to pump (if you decide to go that route). Definitely don’t let people tell you to watch the baby yourself while you work – it’s impossible. I’ve done it. People try to make it sound easy, but it’s not.
Anyway…soooo far down the line. Just wanted to put that in your mind.
Have a wonderful vacation, Michelle!