Posted on by Female, Single & Hustlin'

Wine Wednesday: A Sea of Emotions

I’ve got a lot on my mind right now that if I stopped and entertained just one emotion that’s been running through me, I’d be a hot mess.

Nothing, it feels, comes without a price. And I do my best to celebrate the small victories here and there. They help make the journey worrh bearing. But then I’m brought down to earth again it hurts. Reminded of the intracies of relationships, family, mental health and all the stuff that latches on to the dark side of small wins.

How can I be happy for progress I am making when someone I love and care about is motionless. Unable to move because they believe there’s nowhere for them to go. Unwilling to try becauae they believe there is no point. They don’t eveb fight because they know they’ve lost.

I’m rambling, I know. And it ain’t even the Naked Grape Pinot Noir I’m drinking on either. I’m a sea of emotions right now hoping the storm calms down.

Thanks for just listening.

Posted on by Female, Single & Hustlin' · 1 Comment

Monday’s Money Tip: File Your Taxes Today

The best money tip I can offer my fellow side hustlers is file your taxes today!  The IRS is officially open and is accepting filings.   And if you typically receive a refund, then there is no logical reason for you to wait to get yo’ money, honey!

Okay, let me take it down a notch.

If you file your taxes electronically with the IRS today, you should expect to get your refund in about three weeks.  I’ve learned, much of the time, it’s a little sooner than that.  And that’s good.  Because February’s a short month.   And for all us hourly employees, are checks from our full time jobs are not going to be as stocky as they would be if there were 30 or 31 days in February.  So, getting your money now will help cover the cost of March’s rent and get you back on track — in case you weren’t — with paying all your bills on time and in full.

Now, I’m happy to say that I’ve estimated my tax refund a few times throughout January (like a dozen, really) and I’ll be getting the best refund I’ve EVER received.  Yes!  But, I’m an adult and I want t make sure I am as responsible with my government windfall as I can possibly be.  So, 67% of my refund will be going into two separate savings accounts: my Dream Home Fund (self explanatory, right?) and my emergency fund.  A girl’s gotta be ready for those rainy days.  What about the remaining 33%?  It’s going to cover any cost of rent and bills I may be short on given the fact that’s February is a short month.  And to some personal investment for myself.  Gotta be wiling to be a little better than the day before.

Happy filing, Side Hustlers!

Money Tips

Posted on by Female, Single & Hustlin'

Side Hustlin’ Sunday: Cat Jobs

I’m not a cat person.  Maybe in the least, but not really.  But I know too many people we are.  I have this thing about having any sort of pet who doesn’t really need me that has an attitude living in my house — I don’t know, maybe I’ve seen one too many comedy parodies.  All I know is that I could never be a cat “cuddler”.

Yes, that’s a thing.

And Penny Hoarder, a great website I follow, shared an article about how people can be a professional cat cuddler.  Skills necessary?  Well, you must like cats.  Duh.  Be gentle with cats.  Being bilingual is a plus.  Now, be forewarned, this position is based in Dublin, Ireland, but I’ve heard from cat-loving coworkers that there are “cat” jobs right here in the US, here in Los Angeles even, for people who have the extra time and warmth to care for cats.

So if you work from home and want a little bit of furry company or wanna get out there and be the best damn cat sitter, cuddler, lover or whatever it is people are doing with cats these days — go for it.  It’s a paid thing.

 

Cat Jobs

Posted on by Female, Single & Hustlin' · 1 Comment

Foodie Friday: Penne Spaghetti

If you read my post from yesterday, I’m an obsessed advocate for eating and cooking at home.  I like to eat out too, but cooking at home is so cost effective! And delicious.  And never let it be said with any sort of conviction that single gals don’t cook!  Oh, yes we do!  If we’re trying save our money and build a little side business, we adore preparing home cooked meals.  In the words of Sophie Amoruso, “money looks better in the bank!”  (ladies, I suggest you buy or rent a copy of Girl Boss.  I got me a copy for less than $4!)

One of my favorite go-to meals is spaghetti.  It should be a staple in every household if you ask me.  I’m been a spaghetti lover since 3.  It’s sad that I remember that, but I do.  It’s simple and quick to make.  Below is my take on spaghetti using whole grain Penne pasta and ground turkey.  I’m no chef and I’m no photographer.  Just a foodie.  Someone who appreciate a good meal.  If don’t believe, ask my hips

Penne Spaghetti (1)

If you’re at all curious how I made my spaghetti:

  • Boil your pasta how you normally would
  • Because I used ground turkey, I added some milk to my skillet.  Yes, milk.  It makes white meat creamier. How much milk?  Maybe a 1/4 cup.
  • I love seasonings so I added: black pepper, pink salt, sage (goes good with white meat), fresh chopped red onion, garlic powder and dried oregano.
  • Ground meat till brown.
  • I used canned sauce.  Sorry.  I can make homemade sauce, but that requires a lot of tomatoes.
  • I do add fresh tomatoes.  Just one.
  • Add the sauce to your meat.  Your pasta should done about this time if you start cooking the noodles at the same as the meat (just makes sense)
  • Once the sauce has been stirred in with you meat and matches it’s temperature, it’s time to plate eat!

*Homemade garlic bread?  Use any bread you want.  Seriously. Combine melted butter, garlic powder and parsley flakes into a spread which is going to go on your bread.  Put bread into oven at 400 (or whatever) and give it about 10 minutes.

Posted on by Female, Single & Hustlin' · 2 Comments

Thursday’s Thoughts: The Women Who Are Too Good to Learn to Cook

I expect some backlash from this.  Bring it!

I have very little respect for women who talk about how they don’t like to cook because they don’t want to be labeled as domesticated or be treated like the good little housewife.   They’re all about their careers, they want to be movers and shakers.  They want to be the best in the business, whatever their business may be.  They’re 21st century women and they want to be treated as such.

I support that.  Whole-heartedly.

But don’t tell me that you’re too good to cook or learn how to cook because that’s not your thing.  Or you’re a more ‘evolved woman’ than the rest of us because you designed your life around being a breadwinner and not a homemaker.  Bish, please! You obviously haven’t evolved from eating, so how do you get food down your throat?  Oh, you order in  Or you go out.  And how much is that costing you?  Seriously.  Let’s talk about the finances of the Miss Independents who don’t cook.  Because you’re probably dependent on GrubHub or Postmates.  And that $3.99 to $4.99 delievery fee (I can’t get with that, I’m sorry).  Or some other delivery service or restaurant for meal nourishment.  Spending too much money — money you could otherwise be saving or investing — on something you’ll see in the toilet (gross, but point made).

There’s this guy at my work who buys breakfast and lunch together 3 times a week.  Each meal is $8.45 (I used to have a meal and here and there). That’s $16.90 a day.  Three days in a work week, that’s $50.70.  That’s $202.80 a month.  I spent less than that on groceries last month!  And that’s probably the average I spend on groceries in general!  And that only covered 24 meals for that guy at work.  So what about dinner on those same days?  Or the other two days of the work week?  Or the weekend?  How do people really get by spending so much money something they shit out?!?  Why is are so many people turned off to cooking at home?

As single female hustlers — and my male hustlers too — not only is wasting so much money on eating out detrimental to our personal bottom line, it’s not healthy.  It’s not logical. It’s not what hustlers do.  Every penny we earn matters and serves a purpose before it leaves us.  That penny is going to go into a pre-planned budget we’ve already created before the month started.  Or it’s going to be re-invested in ourselves (workshops, classes, etc) or in our side hustlers (business cards, websites, paid networking events) or we save it for a rainy day.  And anyone who’s been hustlin’ for a while knows of them rainy days.

I’m not saying you can eat out once in awhile. Treat yo’ self.  But become wiser about your money and what it takes to keep it.

So, ladies.  Get over yourselves with this whole I don’t cook, I can pay people to cook for me thing.  I’m sure you can.  I don’t doubt that for one second.  But wouldn’t it be better for that disposable income of yours to go to something more useful than meals eaten out all the time?  If you think I’m gonna spend $202.50 on groceries and then turn around and spend another $200 on just food I eat outside of my home, you’ve got another thing coming.

True hustlers know they value of money and how to make it work for them.  And we cook.  We’re a different breed, y’all.

 

Posted on by Female, Single & Hustlin'

Wine Wednesday: Having A Tribe

I love the idea of having a bunch of people I run to for support — if I got questions, need help, just wanna vent, need an introduction — whatever it may be.  But for the time being, my tribe is me and my girl Elle.  We’ve been friends since high school, but we’ve been on this hustlin’ journey together since 2012?  I don’t know, maybe longer.  And there’s nothing like having at least one person in your life, who gets it.  Who has the same drive and ambition and passion to make something out of life.  She’s in North Carolina doing her fashion thing, I’m here in LA, probably doing too many things.  But it doesn’t matter the mileage of time difference between.  We always seem to on the same wavelength.  It’s crazy.  But it’s wonderful.  I don’t know what I’d do without someone like her.

So I finished off the Bay Bridge bottle of Merlot I had in fridge, gave her a call and really felt like I had a meeting of the minds with my sister from another mother.  One of our weekly check-ins.  It matters so much to have that.  To have a tribe of my own — of even just one.  Grab you a bottle.  Find you a friend.

Wine Wed. Jan. 24th

(trying to bring the little plant back to life, having little luck)

Posted on by Female, Single & Hustlin'

Money Tip: Pick ‘N’ Save Days

Money TipsI’m all about keeping more money in my pockets.   I don’t work at great place that plays me well, so every hard earn dollar I make, I want to either save it or make it last longer.   So I have days which I’m not allowed to spend ANY money.

None.

Nada.

Zilch.

This isn’t an extreme overhaul.  This is just two nonconsecutive days of the week where I give my little coin purse a break.  That means no running to the store after work, no shopping on Amazon, nothing.

First of all, I don’t need to be spending money every day anyways.  I ain’t go it like that yet.  Secondly, taking two days out of the week where I’m not spending anything, helps me take more days out of the spending equation.  I started off with not spending money on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  Now some days I go, Monday, Tuesday, Thursdays and Sundays with spending anything.

I don’t even look at the Amazon app on my phone.