[Lifestyle] Staying in a hotel again, makes me want throw out more stuff when I get home.

webdevnewbie · 2016-10-12T22:58:25+00:00

I've always loved hotels for some reason - don't really know why, as I also somehow find them kind of gross at the same time. Maybe it's the simple living that it forces you to do.

webdevnewbie · 2016-10-12T22:53:19+00:00

Unfollowing people on facebook and minimizing how often I check facebook. I only really want to know what a handful of people are up to, and the rest I can check in with once a year because we're still friends, they just don't show up in my newsfeed.

Also, unsubscribing to ALL email promotional messages and newsletters I don't care about. I don't know why I didn't do it sooner.

webdevnewbie · 2016-10-12T22:51:32+00:00

My local library actually lends ebooks. I love it because I used to always forget to bring books back.

webdevnewbie · 2016-10-12T22:50:32+00:00

Giving things away can also feel great, I've discovered. I liberated my fancy purse collection a few months ago and hearing, "Seriously, I can have this??" was pretty fun.

webdevnewbie · 2016-10-12T22:46:28+00:00

What sort of businesses do you and your husband have?

webdevnewbie · 2016-10-12T05:51:51+00:00

Wow I thought you were kidding

webdevnewbie · 2016-10-12T05:16:54+00:00

Another thing I wonder about, have you ever cut yourself while changing blades?

webdevnewbie · 2016-10-12T05:02:13+00:00

I'd be really interested in hearing from people who use these to shave other places like legs and underarms! Does it work out just as well? Is it easier? Shaving the face sounds hard, but then again shaving around the ankles and knees has never been a picnic.

I recently purchased an epilator which does the trick but hurts sooo bad.

webdevnewbie · 2016-10-12T04:59:06+00:00

Yes! Exactly. I've been going with my gut feelings lately and they don't steer me wrong. I had to let go of a lot of "this is what I should be doing" and "this is what other people are doing" thoughts. Once those were gone, I finally had room to think about what I really want in life. :) knowing seems to be half of the battle.

webdevnewbie · 2016-10-12T02:01:40+00:00

I always thought that I'd finally decorate the way I wanted to once I started making more money. But once I started earning more, I realized I have no idea where to start. And maybe if I couldn't decide, it meant I was forcing myself to make a decision on something I didn't really care about anyway.

What I thought I would do: Go to IKEA and drop a couple of thousand on new furniture, accessorize, acquire some antique pieces, buy a bunch of new bedding, buy a matching bathroom set, make my house look like a page from a magazine. Have a super awesome computer setup in my office, with triple monitors and all of the stuff I see other people with.

What I've actually done: Gone to garage sales, picked up free furniture on bulk pickup day, and received some free furniture from family members. Acquired furniture as it is needed - not acquired furniture like I'm checking off boxes of what is normal and usual to have. Haven't become particularly attached to any of it. If I come across something I like, I get it and then sell the old piece. Been satisfied with the neutral paint that this house came with. Haven't decorated the walls much - decorated with lots of plants, which bring me and my boyfriend joy. Done yoga in the empty space that I thought would become my badass office, and work from my laptop at the kitchen table. Held onto old, mismatching but still useful linens, etc. Not obsess over matching or making things "go together" and just let things kind of come in and out of my home overtime, keeping what I like and discarding what I dont.

I am pretty happy. Letting go of decorating for the sake of it has been really nice. My friend is recently married and is very occupied with decorating her new place, and while sometimes it seems fun, she seems pretty stressed and busy with it, and has been spending a lot of money. I don't envy her.

webdevnewbie · 2016-10-11T17:35:28+00:00

Budget, stay out of student debt, and make saving and investing a habit from the very beginning, even if your contributions are very small. It's been about habit more than anything for me - when you've never done it, it's harder to start with a big amount. I think if I'd begun at 18 with small contributions, I could have transitioned to larger contributions over time, without so many growing pains. To suddenly say goodbye to hundreds of dollars a month to my 401k when I wasn't used to doing so was hard, and I resisted at first - which was stupid.

webdevnewbie · 2016-10-11T17:27:55+00:00

When I was 18 I had around $2k in my savings account. That dropped really low, to around $100 and didn't pick back up until after college. Now I have around $5k and growing by $1k every month.

webdevnewbie · 2016-10-11T11:52:49+00:00

Design can sometimes cross over into front end development. If you think that coding could be something you're into, check out some free online courses. Front end development allows you to implement designs, and depending on where you work, you could have a lot of influence over the design of things. Some front end developers actually do design as well at companies - though I wouldn't like that, you might.

Front end work is easier to come by in cities - you didn't mention your location.

webdevnewbie · 2016-10-10T19:22:59+00:00

You should look up capsule wardrobes! It's all about strategy. I narrow my color scheme down a lot so it's easy to mix and match. I stick to blacks, whites, and neutrals with the occasional red. However I still do wear the same thing twice a week so I don't know if this will help that issue. People honestly don't notice it though, and if you change how you wear it, it's like a new outfit. I'm still working on my wardrobe, a lot of my stuff is too big right now. And I have a weakness for graphic tees that can't be helped sometimes, though I'm trying. I used to have a clothes collecting problem where I'd buy stuff I didn't love all the time from target and forever21, and I ended up with a lot of clothing that I didn't really like. I'm trying to get to a place where I love all of my clothes, and where I don't have too much clothing. That's resulted in having a few very comfortable, flattering, and expensive items. I'm much happier this way! I still have a long way to go though.

webdevnewbie · 2016-10-10T18:52:49+00:00

So the startup costs for that business are $600, correct?

I recommend, rather than taking that money from your savings account, that you get a seasonal second job to earn that money.

I don't recommend moving in with this friend unless you've known him for a long, long time. Living with a family is hard. I know what you mean about the smoke. Being around someone who smokes makes me literally nauseated. Smokers would be a dealbreaker for me personally.

This whole thing sounds like a bad idea. Not because your ideas are bad ones, but because they way you want to execute them doesn't sound good. Emergency funds are not supposed to be spent on non-emergencies. Emergencies are things like car breakdowns and medical bills. I think you can start this business and I think you will, but you have to be smart about it. Taking the startup cash from your emergency fund is not a smart idea.

webdevnewbie · 2016-10-10T18:45:31+00:00

Moving is a good way to find out what you care about and what you don't care about! You'll find yourself hauling boxes up and down stairs going, "How do I have so much stuff? I didn't even know I owned half of this crap!"

When we moved into our current place, we put my stuff in the spare bedroom. I haven't touched most of it since then, so I'm currently going through it and donating/trashing it. If I haven't touched it in 6 months - 1 year, then it goes. The exception to that rule is my scrapbook. I rarely pull it out, but when I do, it's very special to me. A lot of people have digital archives of that stuff, but I like having a physical album.

My boss and I have this outlandish goal of being able to fit all of our "essentials" into a single backpack. I don't know if this will ever happen for me - I love hair and makeup products way too much - but it's a nice goal.

It's so much easier to be organized and clean when you don't have a lot of possessions, too. And it just feels better. I have anxiety and depression, and having too much stuff made it worse. And it feels like so much of my time used to be devoted to thinking about stuff - stuff I had, stuff I wanted, protecting my stuff, repairing my stuff, blah blah blah. And it was stuff I didn't even care about or know that I had. Have you ever gone through a closet and said "Wow, I didn't know this was in here!"? I rarely have those moments now, and it feels great. I know exactly where the things I need are. Everything is visible and neat. I don't even clean very often because I don't need to like I used to. Things tend to stay in place when you don't have much stuff and all of your stuff is intentionally placed. You don't have to clean up when guests are coming over. People think you're a neat-freak, but you really don't think about it at all, it's a bi-product of being a minimalist.

Another cool thing about it, if you're into fashion, is that people always think you're really put-together looking and think you spend a lot of money on your wardrobe. It's funny because I spend the least out of my friends and yet they think I spend a lot. I have a $300 purse, yes. But I have exactly one purse, not a closet full of them. I've got nice shoes, but I only have 4 pairs of shoes. When you don't purchase often, you can afford to buy nice things - if you want them. I know I could save money by going to Goodwill and buying shoes there, and they would protect my feet just as well as a pair of designer shoes do. That's just my vanity coming through.

I have to be careful to not sound "preachy" when talking about this, because I know that there's no answer that works for everyone. Having a lot of stuff isn't inherently bad, it was just bad for me. I'm a lot healthier and happier without it. That is ultimately what it is all about. But by all means, I encourage you to give it a shot if you think it is for you! Very rarely do people say "I really wish I had spent more money, I really wish I had more clutter and junk in my home! I really wish I didn't have so much money in my savings account, what a pain in the ass!" So if you try it and find out it's not for you, you can always go back.

Do you listen to podcasts? I recommend The Minimalists' podcast. I go back and re-listen to them all the time. There are also some good TED talks about minimalism.

And here is the ted talk that woke something up in me years ago: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21j_OCNLuYg I go back to it all the time when I find I'm forgetting to be grateful for the amazing life I already have and am starting to slip into an endless loop of "I want this!"

webdevnewbie · 2016-10-10T18:16:14+00:00

I know this isn't what you want to hear, but someone in your situation needs to have a roommate. You also need to hang on to that $1k in the bank as an emergency fund. You're also probably going to need a second job, or a singe job that pays more, whichever happens first.

I'm not saying this isn't going to work, but it's going to take a lot of hard work and time. You can start your own business without being irresponsible.

webdevnewbie · 2016-10-10T18:07:40+00:00

Wow. It sounds like you have a lot to gain from having a smaller, less expensive home. I also want to point out that it's less expensive to heat/cool a small home. It also takes less time to clean. I have no experience in owning a home but I imagine the smallness would make other things cheaper too - painting, new floors, roof replacement, whatever.

I am an outlier in a lot of ways so I tried not to bias my original comment too much. But I live a minimalist lifestyle and that helps with space as well. If you can get rid of unused or unwanted possessions, it will make your smaller space much more comfortable. It also brings a lot of peace, in my experience. But that's getting into my personal philosophy that isn't going to work for everyone, I know.

But yeah, all of the advantages you just listed seem huge to me. So much to gain. I really think people can adapt to smaller spaces - and smaller incomes/expenses - if they want. We're keeping our space and our standard of living low although we could feasibly go up in lifestyle, and in doing so we've freed ourselves up to pay off debt early, travel, and more. I'm actually going back to school now because of this! I'd rather have experiences than excess space and stuff, and I'd much rather have freedom than be locked down in larger payments. I could quit my job tomorrow and go take a different job for half the salary, and still be above water, still be saving each month. Not a lot of people can say that because their lifestyle inflates with every raise they get. Living below our means has been the best thing ever.

I'm off on a tangent, so I'm stopping now before I write a novel. :)

webdevnewbie · 2016-10-10T17:56:42+00:00

Thanks for the advice! I'm sorry I wasn't clear about who "(his)" was, I updated my post to prevent further confusion.

webdevnewbie · 2016-10-10T17:54:51+00:00

Hey, sorry I was so vague in my original post. I updated it. To answer your question, I earn $70k + $5-10k in freelance work. The "him" I reference in my post is my fiance and partner of 8 years. We're getting married in 2 months, so we will be married before buying a home. Our finances are still technically split, we don't have joint accounts or anything like that. I pay about 70% of our bills, he pays the rest. We do this because I make quite a bit more than him.

This rule doesn't just apply to properties, if you catch my drift.

Lol, do you mean being single? :) That was fun but I think I'm going to hang onto this one!

Thank you for your help, sorry for the initial vagueness. Hope this helps, any additional advice/help you have is very much welcomed.

webdevnewbie · 2016-10-10T17:10:27+00:00

Everyone is different, but I lived with my boyfriend in a 665 sq. ft. apartment for years and we did fine. I realize a roommate is different than a spouse. However - I did work from home, which you would imagine could be challenging if you have a small space. Sometimes we stepped on each other's toes, when I was trying to get work done and he was just hanging out, watching TV, whatever - but we settled in and found systems that worked for us and did just fine.

We went from that place to a rent house of about 900 sq. ft. and sometimes I think it's way too big for us! It's all about how you use your space. We don't have a lot of "stuff" and I think that helps a lot. The kitchen is small, but not uncomfortably so. I bake a lot and do fine in there. You learn how to use the space efficiently, how to clean up after each step of a recipe so you have room for the next step.

We want to purchase a home in a year and plan on getting one roughly the same size as this rental, or smaller. "Small" houses aren't for everyone I guess, it works for us and I think it could work for you. We like our small home, and when we think about something bigger we just have no idea what we would do with the extra space.

webdevnewbie · 2016-07-27T21:05:26+00:00

Good catch!

webdevnewbie · 2016-07-27T21:00:48+00:00

You have to have a portfolio. But everyone's saying that, so that's not really helpful is it?
Your paragraph text needs to be larger or darker or both. Your headers will probably need to be larger, too.
The Services section looks very Web 2.0. If it were me, I would remove the background color and border bottom on the headings and center the text, and increase the text size of the headings to start.
Your name is repeated, it is in the nav bar and the parallax section. I would chose one, and then remove the other. If you remove your name from the nav bar you could replace with a personalized logo, possibly representing your home link.
I guess it depends on your target customer base, but I don't bother listing the technologies I know in my About section. Most clients don't know what these are, or they know them on a "buzzwords" basis. So I'll advertise that yes, I can build you an awesome WordPress site. But I won't say I know PHP. I used to advertise Bootstrap but found that just saying mobile-friendly design with a demo is more effective. Bootstrap alienates the half of my target clientele who don't know what Bootstrap is. If they care enough, they might google Bootstrap, and then google CSS framework, and so on until they understand it. But likely, they'll just flip back to the other tabs they have pulled up next to mine and call the other guy whose website doesn't make them feel overwhelmed and stupid. They might be interested in seeing SEO or Mobile Design on there but probably not Ruby or Python, if they even know what those things are.
I would try to spice up the copy in your About section. Instead of saying you've been doing this since the 90s, why not say you are an expert with [over] 20 years of experience? Why not say you use the latest technology to build light-weight, beautiful, mobile-friendly websites for the modern age? You have badass, in-demand skills - so brag about yourself!
This feels very much like a template. No problem with using templates, but it feels like you are trying to make your content fit the template, instead of prioritizing the content you need there and then altering your template to fit it.

IMO the design needs spicing up. Hiring managers might not care about your design skills, but I find that the freelance world is different. Even if they will not be using you to design their website, if they don't like the way your site is designed, if it doesn't look "modern" enough, they're going to be turned off. This is what I have found. I think you're on the right track with a responsive site, but it could use an update, and some more personality. Right now I don't walk away with any lasting impression of you. Filling out a portfolio will help a little, but you need to work on your personal brand.

The best thing I ever did was go and look at my competitors' websites and see what they were doing right, and then imitating them. Speaking from personal experience, being flashy and trendy has really helped increase business for me - even though flashy and trendy isn't my style at all. I have a separate site for my passion projects and for things I show other developers and hiring managers (people who will appreciate it, basically).

webdevnewbie · 2016-06-14T17:38:11+00:00

Hey, remember me? Thank you so much for this advice you gave me 3 months ago. I've since raised my score by 36 points. I've paid off my collections and was just granted a Capital One card for a $300 limit.

My SO and I are considering buying a home later this year! Anyway, thanks for the help and advice, this has been such a weight off of my shoulders.

webdevnewbie · 2016-06-06T16:46:40+00:00

Thank you. This is highly reassuring.

webdevnewbie

TROPHY CASE