Why I STOPPED Powering Down
The past few years of my life have felt like an endless struggle...
Living from day to day, never having enough to cover my expenses and living with uncertainty for the future were slowly killing me from the inside. Anyone who's ever been in the situation where they have no promised work or income but have monthly expenses knows what I'm talking about. It can be absolutely daunting knowing that at the end of each month you'll need to have X amount of dollars else find yourself without a place to sleep or food.
Once you've been homeless you never want to go back...
There have been periods in my life where I've ended up laying in the gutter staring up at the stars wondering how in the hell I'd ended up there. I've battled with mental illness nearly all my life and in some instances have been so depressed or manic that normal human functions were impossible. Travelling through the STEEM ecosystem I see other users that share very similar stories, and I'm glad that they've managed to find the platform that's helped me take back control of my future and financial freedom.
For the first time in a long time, I live without fear...
Ever since I've started to dedicate a few hours each day to creating original content to Steemit.com, my life has drastically changed for the better. Not knowing if I'd be able to buy groceries to feed myself or pay my slumlord's monthly sacrifice used to cause me so much stress, anxiety and fear it was at times crippling. I've gone in the course in the past month from not having two nickels to rub together to having enough money to pay this next month's rent and saved up nearly a 1/3rd of what I need to move back into the city where there are more job prospects for me.
Why I stopped powering down my STEEM Power
Given the support I've received here and the fact I no longer have looming financial concerns I can now begin to save up to pay off my debts and start saving up for my first home. One thing that donned on me was that STEEM has a built in Savings account. Initially I was powering down to earn that little extra each week to help offset my expenses. I won't be powering down my account any time soon, Firstly because I no longer need to.. And secondly to show my support for STEEM, Steemit.com and the awesome developers that made it possible.
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Power down or no, keep drawing @klye!
<3 Will do sir! Steemit's been an amazing outlet for my creativity.
Thank you for your support and guidance. You're an asset to the network. :)
There you go again, being super supportive of the newbies. You're a class act smooth.
I do not know... but you should not stop powering down...even if you power up any (liquid) steem you get!
0.2 Steem
Do you see no long term value in STEEM? I personally do.
What sense would it make to power down and then power up the same steempower you just extracted?
Am I missing something here?
Yes, you missed that 102 months is a damn long time...
The best you can do is:
Reevaluate your believes as often as possible - 1% of this investment, each of those 104 weeks, in this case!
PS also read smooth's comment/response to jesta.
Powering down doesn't mean you're selling and cashing out. You can also convert your powered down STEEM into SBD, which earns interest. SP is only one way to hold value within the STEEM ecosystem :)
@smooth the other day in chat said something along the lines of "there's no reason to not be powering down". I've been thinking about that a lot and I agree, at this point, there isn't a reason not to be. You can always just convert it back to SP if you really wanted to, but it gives you a little bit more flexibility and choice each week.
I'm hopeful that I'll be able to add more than the 1/104th to my account every week and still see it's value increase, even while I am powering down. Who knows if that's realistic or not, but I think it's a good goal :)
You do lose a small amount of SP earnings in the time delay between when it powers down and when you power it back up (if you decide to do that). That's a tradeoff you need to make against as you say having more flexibility and choice each week. If you realistically know you just aren't going to cash out, or if your balance is small enough that paying attention to tiny power downs each week is a waste of time, then as an exception to what I said in chat it does make sense to turn the power down off.
Great point. It's likely an inconsequential amount (currently) for the vast majority of people, but something to definitely consider as your account grows.
I'll have to play with the math at some point to see what kind of impact it has on a few different sized accounts.
Thank you for the information above @jesta and @smooth - Much appreciated.
More & more big whales are powering down. That is the sad fact.
I'm not powering down. Strong hand holding. :)
@steembaby Actually, whales powering down is great for our economy. We benefit the most when there are less whales and the income is more evenly distributed. Right now a single vote from a whale means the difference between life or death for your post regardless of how many minnows vote you up.
If you are a whale powering down is good for the steemit economy. If you're a minnow or a dolphin, powering up is good for the economy.
@klye's all in baby! Let it ride and let the chips fall where they may! Good for you, man.
I view it more of a long term nest egg savings so to speak.
Wouldn't it be nice to write articles and save up for retirement? :)
I definitely don't see any issues with that. And that's what's going to drive Steemit's popularity, and by extension the crypto space as a whole!
Steemit is indeed where it's at man. Wouldn't be the same without the klyeart too!
I try to bring a wee bit of humour to the plate. :)
KLYE IS WINNING!
I think you are original and it was for sure that you will have success. Loving the art you're creating and I'm gonna use those "klyecons"
I'm preparing something for sunday and if you are interested we can talk more,I would love your contribution. I'm no whale but I think this is irrelevant You can check the teaser here: https://steemit.com/tech/@gaitan/atmos-be-ready-and-stay-tuned-write-and-win-check-this-out-to-begin
Regards,
Thanks gaitan. I try to bring my own spin to STEEM.
Will check out your article. :)
Proud of you for finding something you truly enjoy and can make ends meet with. :)
Also, it's hilarious how accurate your self-portrait is. :P
Thanks love. It's all to build a better future for us.
Absolutely. Invest in the places you love. I've never had the experiences I have here anywhere else, i.e. Facebook, Reddit, Twitter, etc. I'm never going back except for the occasional check-up with in-person friends.
I spend next to no time on any other social media site anymore.
Steemit is THE place to be. No other platform comes close.
nice post :D Klye keep up :D
Thank you bhutoijo. I look forward to more work from you as well. :)