So, October. This was the first month all year I didn’t travel anywhere! Which was good, because I had a lot to deal with this month – mailing several hundred books, production issues with my planner, teaching workshops at the youth drop-in shelter, rethinking the OMD show, Budgetober over on the OMD forums, and getting back to figure skating properly training after barely skating in August and September. Here’s me not at all seriously skating dressed as a dinosaur:
I tested if my dinosaur costume was skatable today. The tail balances out my sitspin quite well, but it is very warm. pic.twitter.com/FAm579Fcqg
— Lillian Karabaic (@anomalily) October 25, 2019
I spent most of this month sorting out what is happening with the Oh My Dollar! podcast and radio show since my co-host and editor Will left last month to become a malter in New Hampshire. Now that I’m editing the show (both audio and video), scripting, hosting, transcribing, and producing the show – it’s a lot. I got pretty overwhelmed and ended up taking a short break from uploading new episodes while I figure out the new show direction and processes.
While I did that, I ended up also deciding that after nearly a year of working full-time for Oh My Dollar!, I want a source of income and a place to work outside the Oh My Dollar! brand. I plan to make a video about this, so more is coming. For my own creative freedom and work satisfaction, I decided I would be happier working outside of my home office more than the two days a week I’m at the station right now. So I started looking in earnest for jobs, something I haven’t done in a few years – everything from on-air host (my preferred role) to barista to data analyst work.
Nothing’s solid yet, but I’m in the final stages of interviews for few roles and hope for an offer before the end of November. The big thing is figuring out how to scale back OMD to a sustainable pace around another job.
New OMD experiments started this month:
- Trial video version of the OMD podcast (see one below)
- Budgetober – a month-long budgeting challenge with weekly check-ins and cute badges on the forum. Here’s the cute cat sticker that people that completed all four weeks of the challenge got:
Full October 2019 Spending Report
Total Spent: $1,015
Just about on target – 81.5% of total annual budget at 83% of the way through the year.
Household & Insurance – $697.18
- Rent: $615
- Water, Commons: $32.50
- Garbage: $7.50
- Electricity: $33.16
- Household Goods: $9.02
- Internet at Home: $0 This is now paid for by SSO’s employer due to being remote employee, was $20 per month.
Basic Food – $140.10
- Groceries: $123.06
- Treats (non-essential snacks): $17.04
- Coffee/Tea For Home: $0
Giving – $20.00
- Charitable Giving: $20.00
Medical – $41.99 ***Why this is so cheap
- Health Insurance Premium: $29.00
- Optometry (contact lens solution): $12.99
Fitness – $38.98
- Gym Membership: $38.98
Looking Good – $19.17
- Hair Color: $19.17
Random Indulgences – $9.46
- Spending Money: $9.47 (Candy and app)
Figure Skating $49.00
Figure skating is super expensive- ice time is one of the most expensive things you can buy. Currently, I’m mostly skating on low-traffic public session at a mall instead of the advanced freestyle sessions and only started taking private lessons this month (which are essential at my skill level). I pay for 7 weeks of public skate time at once and try to get my marginal cost per hour as low as possible. Year to Date, my marginal cost per hour of skating is $5.10/hour.
- Ice Time: $24.00 – two freestyle sessions, regular pass paid for last month
- Skate Sharpening/Blade Mounting: $25.00 – had to get my blades fixed and remounted
Sinking Funds – not yet spent
- Renter’s Insurance: $13.00
Retirement savings: $100