Investing, Freelance Money & Happy 2020
Life is short but also unbearably long and here we are in another year
Hello! It is the end of the beginning of the new year and I am excited to be overworked and underpaid in media yet again. Lol, just kidding.
What I’ve Been Up To:
I wrote a quick post for a Medium blog about code-switching in professional environments, mainly because I’ve been confused for the cleaning lady at different events despite not wearing a uniform.
I recorded, produced, and edited a podcast episode for my job about fintech and partnerships between startups and large banks. I am now my publication’s multimedia person and somehow have to write article everday and produce other content.
I’ve also been taking more naps and catching up with work that I had to push aside thanks to being sick all the time. If you have any tips (and home remedies), I’d appreciate them.
And I did some freelance fact-checking at The Nation during the holidays (because what is sleep), and that check just came in the mail and it brought my heart a lot of joy.
More Money & Freelancing Advice for the New Decade:
I started dipping my toes into investing in 2019. So I wrote a quick blog post about why it’s important to start investing small amounts, even if it’s scary and even if the word investing makes you think about douch-ey bros. I invest into a few different accounts each month and I’ll be outlining pros and cons in a few blog posts in the future.
In another blog post, I outlined how randomly blogging made me over $1000 on the side last year. Is that a lot of money? No. Is that a lot of platanos? Yeah. The glass is half full on blogging because it’s $1000 more than I expected to have. It’s not for everyone, and I get super lazy about it sometimes, but it’s worth considering and trying even just for half a year.
Also, back when I was a student I did a ton of psychology studies to pay for food. It was weird. But sometimes fun. And sometimes painful. I wrote about how I (sometimes) gave my body to science for lunch money.
And if all fails, here are some free online resources for personal finance in 2020. It’s on my mini Medium pub/blog called Cheap AF. If you’re on Medium, you can submit your ides for the pub. Here’s how.
All of the above being said, you can’t save money if you aren’t making enough money. So advocate for workers rights, support entities/groups like unions, advocate for better wages in media and beyond… and ask for a little bit more money whenever a publication quotes you an amount for an assignment.
Employment:
Markets Insider is looking for an associate editor.
Digital Trends is looking a freelance entertainment writer.
All That’s Interesting is looking for an assistant editor.
Around this time last year, a ton of people in different publications were laid off. So don’t forget to always always always network and update your resume and have a small emergency savings account. Stay safe, stay employed, or at the very least booked and busy in the new decade.
Also it was my mom’s birthday this month. Look at this Caribbean queen. But like also it’s her fault I’m here alive and paying bills:
Bye!