Road to Steemfest3 (3): Choices made along the way

in #roadtosteemfest6 years ago

My third update in regards to the #roadtosteemfest, and this week a focus on the decisions made in recent time to support my mission to get there.

notmyboat.jpg
This is so not my boat - Cala Millor, Majorca.


If you missed the first two posts, you can catch up here and here if you wish. I'm likely to be covering some ground again so I don't think this is a requirement.

Speaking of old ground, I attended last years event in Lisbon, Portugal. And this has only made my desire stronger to make sure I make it this time around too. In order to do this, I've certainly had to make some decisions over the past few months, and although not huge, they've had a reasonable effect on my lifestyle.

Being a full-time Steemian is reasonable tough right now, especially if you are funding life on STEEM. The current market conditions favor those on full Power-up mode - not so great cashing out liquid for less than a dollar a go though. Perhaps when the next bull run arrives, I'll make the decision to take more liquid out, to sit on for the all to likely dip.

I mentioned to my mum that i'd received a couple of gifts to my wallet recently, and she replied with something like 'it's because you are stating poverty'. It really wasn't my intention to be holding the cap in hand, and I hope these gifts were just cause. I think they were. Anyway, thank you to guys for them - they have been banked into the Savings wallet for the festival :)

Scrimping on 'stuff' is something I've done reasonably well with over the past few months. The food I purchase is pretty basic, but I'm happy that i'm eating enough (even though I keep being told I look thin), and that what I eat is pretty healthy. Living alone seems to help with regards to things like toothpaste, and especially toilet roll. I'm pretty sure you ladies eat that stuff!

With regards to eating and drinking out, I've had to tell friends family that this will be happening even less over the coming months. When I do eat out, I'm looking at what's there and thinking 'I could make this at home for a quarter of the price'. Yeah I know, company, conversation, 0 preparation and washing up, etc. But still, when you are thinking about the cash side of things it's not a good place to be in. I'm probably not that excellent of company with this mindset anyway.

In order to help fund the trip, other decisions have been made and some of them already acted upon. My posting frequency has been close to daily over the past 3/4 months, but I'm pretty sure I'll be going for at least 1 every day without fail. This could well mean some more Pies being dished out, although I've not yet recovered from the last batches, and so you'll have to wait a few days if you are still hungry.

Perhaps vlogging more frequently is an option, and I have one in planning for the @blocktrades sponsored @openmic contest in which you can win your Steemfest 3 ticket and the accommodation in Poland. Clearly this would be huge for me, as I have no doubt it would for many. The competition looks pretty stiff though, and so I'm not expecting to win - but I should certainly have a go. One of the aspects of the contest is to talk about 'how you engage with community' - yeah I've probably got something to say about this at least!

Something else that I've been pondering, and actually took action on the other day, was to try to earn some fiat here in Mallorca. It's actually easier said than done as most of the jobs an English speaker/crap Spanish speaker can get are already taken, and those are mostly bar jobs. Saying that, there is a bar that have offered some adhoc/part-time work, and the other day I pulled a couple of pints, washed up, but the main job, as detailed in the Facebook DM, was to paint the kitchen.

Half way through the afternoon, my mother and partner popped into the bar, as they frequently do from time to time and spotted me up a ladder. This was quite amusing and surprising for them both, mainly due to me 'never lifting a finger' when I lived at home - 22 years ago. That's not strictly true mum, I do remember mowing the lawn, and watching up, at least twice :P My hamstrings are telling me I made a fair few trips up and down that ladder the other day. So yeah, this looks like an option to earn a few Euros, and you never know, make a new friend or two.


Alright then, thanks for reading today, and look out for a vlog or two in the near future. I hope these posts are appreciated as much as Pies, and help the reader get to know @abh12345 a little more.

Cheers!

Asher

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Well I think that most of us have been going through a dry spell at any point in their lives. The positive take-away is that it both makes you stronger and will let you appreciate your assets even more. Those who never worked hard in order to maintain their standard, will never be able to appreciate the real value of a.... mojito by the sea :-D

I'm pretty sure you gonna make it to SF3!
Big hugzzz

Marly!

I just saw the first round of mojitos :D

Thank you very much for this and the wise words above. This last 6 months has been a real eye-opener for me as it's the first time i've really had to live of a serious budget. I know I could 'admit defeat' and look for work, but I enjoy this place a lot and put much time into what I do here - I don't want to give that up if possible.

There are a bunch of contests open for tickets, openmic, and now smooth's this morning - both of which I will be entering to try to reduce the cost of making it to Poland.

Thank you very much for your support, it means a lot!

Asher x

You're more than welcome, Asher (not Usher)! :-D
Crossing my fingers for the opportunity to maintain your lifestyle such as it is today. Life's like that - a nice rollercaoster with ups and downs. The next high will come, I'm pretty sure about that :-)

xxx

Not Usher, or Ashley :D

I think you are right, it's a great time to be earning STEEM, just not so good if you are living off it also. Looking forward to the next swing upwards, I expect it to be a little while yet but hopefully the signs will be there come SF3.

Thanks again, very kind :D x

Bloody living the life of Riley never lifting a finger etc etc

;0)

I'll tell you boom, I almost got a blister from the brush and think I need the next week off to recover!

Haha, it's a hard life the painting lark!! Stick to the pints!

Sounds like a plan to me - just need to get round to the other side of the bar :D

Will you be attending Steemfest 3 as well?

Me? I had hoped so this year after not going last year but the bedtimes and double child thing is still quite difficult just now so will have to wait another year, boo hiss. You going?

It is nice to get to know the Pie guy a little better. Maybe one day that boat will be yours! But if that is your view then you have way more than a lot of people have!

I do, it's lovely to be so close to the sea :)

Thanks yes, I'm more than a pie, I hope!

Absolutely! I was pulling your leg. I grew up on our South African South Coast and I now live in the semi-desert Karoo. I only realize how much I miss the ocean on the rare occasion we get back there. Enjoy the salty air, crashing waves and the peace that you find on the seashore....unless there's tourists. Then run screaming

I could make this at home

That is why I prefer not to eat out much anymore. I can make most things better these days anyways. No more dealing with undercooked or burnt food. I’ve gotten sick one to many times eating out that I just that enough. Between restaurant staff having the flu and still deciding to work and make there customers ill to other issues.

Wish you luck on winning the ticket! If not at least you are able to put out a decent post everyday. In fact that just means we get more content to enjoy!

Yeah I forgot to mention the risk of poorly cooked food, plus, even the healthy choices arent't really that after the sauce/oil is included.

Thanks for the post appreciation and best wishes on winning a ticket - I'm working on something for smooth's contest right now :)

then do not come to Switzerland, I had a burger yesterday in Zurich and I do not go out much either for the reason that I got reminded of yesterday:
40 bucks for a burger and a cider... I am still hurting, lol
I know we make more money here but still its painful
For me it will hopefully be the first steemfest and I should be able to afford this myself hence I will not try to take part of any of the contests, there are others with less (some even have to paint bars) that need those tickets more then me...

good luck on the contests and on the saving (hoping my small upvote helps you along the way)

Did you explain it takes a lot of finger lifting and tapping to create all the little charts and graphs?
Maybe we should screenshot this moment for good joke material next year.

Not here I didn't but that may happen at some point. Those 2 posts probably produced 6 hours of pie baking in the comments :)

YES we woman ( read I ) eat the stuff ! Just because 😂😂😂
Being a steemian full time is hard now but better times are coming !!! So I Will help by upvoting you Thats the only thing for me to do right now,
and I Will always order pie!!!

haha :D

I was waiting for someone to make a comment about the toilet roll 😂

Thank you for your support @brittandjosie!

Read the blogs and See hidden humor!

Always! There will always be someuning 😁

Your mother sounds like a real firecracker :) I'm surprised they didn't chair up beside your ladder to critique your work haha

I don't know about other girls, but I go through toilet paper like wildfire :) Not sure you or anyone else for that matter, needed to know that!

Loved the pies, loved this post too, and I'm totally looking forward to your openmic contest. I saw when luzcypher posted that...pretty sweet thing to win!!

I was in the back, plenty of comments were made though when I came out for a break :)

Where does all the toilet paper go!?

There's another contest just annonced by smooth, which I'm going to have a go at. Saving your vid for my openmic one. Thanks for that Lynn!

If I told you where all the toilet paper went, I seriously have to kill you. It's that secret 😎

You're entering them all; good job. I can't wait to see how you use my bit of nonsense haha. When I didn't see it here, I thought maybe you just watched it at home, along with @davemccoy's rallier card ... poster size on your bedroom ceiling haha

I'm still a bit nervous on the ticket prices especially since they go down with STEEM donations but I suspect bills will have to be paid in euros :P Aiii. We'll see. After the ticket prices are announced I will scratch my head, cry my eyes out a bit, and breathe in, breathe out, and spend my last savings on tickets and such :')

I'm hoping 300-400 STEEM will get you a basic ticket - That's only a guess though so don't quote me :)

Save, save, save, it'll be worth it :)

silently cries with face in pillow

I’m going to scrape my euros together probably. Might take a fiat job as well to pay the ticket and convert the rest of the earnings to STEEM :D

It's probably a good idea right now - I'm looking out for bits and bobs where I can, as well as been super tight with my money right now!

sir Asher! I admire your work ethic and strategy to supplement your income, hopefully a year from now you'll be able to look back on this and laugh!

Thank you @janton. My work ethic here is fairly good but has been lacking at times in the past. I too hope that this point will be looked back on with a smile as we move on to a brighter future.

It's interesting how once there is a goal one wants to spend money toward, all the other possible uses get put into perspective. If only people could save like that before there even is a specific goal, then there would be fewer missed opportunities when the unexpected ones come along. Glad you have the time you need to prepare for this one.

Yes very true. Much money is poorly spent when it's in abundance I guess?

Thanks @indigoocean, still a few months to go so I think i'll be about set :)

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