Welcome to The Loaf - making money & business more approachable for self-employed creatives & freelancers
I've lived in apartments my whole adult life.
Last week, I moved into my first house 🏠
It's been a mess, but I couldn't be happier. It's right by a few golf courses, an off-leash dog park, and most importantly I have a yard and a porch.
I just wanna sit outside.
But as of now, I'm paying rent for my current apartment through June and I started this new lease in March.
It was hard to justify to myself paying double rent for three months, until I did some rough math.
My apartment is $1,134/month all-inclusive.
The house? $650/month before electric & water.
I can't use $500 worth of utilities in a month.
There's no way.
So.. let's call it +$150/mo, making my new rent about $800.
I'm paying $2,400 extra by starting the lease in March and I'm saving ~$350/month by moving, so it'll take about 7 months to make up for the double rent.
After that, my housing costs drop significantly compared to what they are right now (for a bigger space).
And that's just the math.. I personally couldn't live in my current situation for much longer.
My car has been stolen twice, I stopped counting the break-ins at nine, and I have to walk down 4 flights of stairs to take my dog out.
If you want to read more about my thought process & the personal side of financial decisions, check out the full blog:
Friendly money & business reminders for self-employed creatives
✅ Start wrapping up 2022 taxes
Why? They're due April 18th
• Waiting until the last minute means slower refunds (and more stress)
• Whether you're self-preparing or using a tax pro, get started on the process and file an extension if necessary
✅ Review your banking setup
Why? If you didn't see the news (or incessant twitter threads), a few banks have gone through some tough times over the past week. Customer's money was frozen, the government stepped in - you can read more about it here.
• I don't think it should be a huge cause for panic, but you should've gotten an email from your bank within the past week about whether or not they had any ties to Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), Signature Bank, and others:
• You're most likely fine, but this scenario shows how delicate the financial system can be and how important it is to take proper risk management steps (e.g. not holding over $250k in one bank because of FDIC limits)
✍🏼 How to write a sales page for any product or service
🎢 Disney artist's advice to make it as a full-time creative
😥 How to avoid disappointment as a creative entrepreneur
🎥 Watch: How to finance your music career without a label
✍🏼 Freelance Finds: 5 reasons you’re not hearing back on your freelance pitches (and how to improve them)
Thanks for reading 🖤
Treyton DeVore
