Howard and I signed our income tax papers today. We’re getting a return. It is larger than I’d been anticipating. In fact it is almost 3 times larger. This was incredibly relieving, I can keep our financial ends together through May, possibly even June. Suddenly doing the accounting every week is fun again. My actual budget doesn’t change any, but my buffer is much much bigger. And hopefully Howard will now have time to take a break from heffty commercial contracts so that he can crank the schlock buffer up and do all the preparatory work for Schlock Book 1. I really want books in print because I want to have one. And I know other people want to have them. That means that the book will continue generating revenue without addtitional work put into that book. It would be nice to have sources of income that didn’t rely directly on Howard drawing until his hands fall off. T-shirts are good. Books would be better.
Today I’m also gearing up for spring clothing inventory. I’m going through everybody’s drawers trying to figure out what we have and what we’ll need during the next year or even two. That way as I hit garage sales, thrift stores, and other opportunities this summer I’ll know what to be looking for. I also need to break out my sewing machine so I can repair clothes, make over clothes, and make fabric into clothes. I scored some good fabric from a thrift store yesterday and I’m excited to make stuff from it.
Ooh, I can imagine the sigh of relief that must have brought… I’m planning on relying (partially) on my tax refund to get me through the time between school ending and work starting.
As for books… Rich Burlew of Order of the Stick got something like 2000 preorders for his first book. I can’t even guess what Howard’s book sales are going to be like… but I know I’ll be buying one!
*Starts saving money for Schlockbook*
And if I’m buying that, I may as well get some T-shirts, etc. as well…
Glad to hear about the financial situation. Sewing your own clothes can be a big saving, my mother used to do it all the time.
Sewing can save money, but only depending on how you go about it. If you march to the fabric store, buy a pattern at full price and buy new fabric at full price. Then buy all the buttons, zippers, thread, etc at full price you actually end up spending as much or more than buying new clothes at the store.
On the other hand if you work from a pattern you already have with supplies that you picked up for next to nothing the clothes become almost free monitarily.
And JoAnn’s, among others, often has $1 pattern sales. My wife drags me along. We own most of the renaissance patterns already.