Please consider helping or signal boosting? TL;DR I lost my job and am not certain how soon I’ll be able to get another and be able to make ends meet.
Skip to the end for links and stuff.
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Specifically, my entire office is getting liquidated on the 14th of December. I just found out yesterday (December 7th). Nothing beats a week’s notice that my job is going bye-bye on what would otherwise have been a pleasant day off.
So far, prospects of getting a new job seem low
My job was an internship. Internships are good because I’m a full-time undergraduate college student and internships tend to flex easily around school schedules and usually pay well above minimum wage which makes it easier to make ends meet on fewer work hours.
Unfortunately, I’m not entirely certain I can get another internship at another company. So far, all of the listings I’ve found have either wanted a 3.0+ GPA, somebody graduating by May 2017, or are looking to fill a summer position only. My GPA is under 3.0, I can only graduate in 2018 at the earliest, and a summer job won’t help me for January-May.
I’m still looking and I will likely apply to some of them anyway but I don’t feel confident in my chances.
I’m uncertain about minimum wage compatibility
I’m going to flat out admit that I have never worked a minimum wage job before and I have no idea how they work but, judging from anecdotal evidence and research, I am very uneasy about how hit-or-miss these jobs can be.
There’s no job security, there’s no guarantee of flexibility (the ol’ “you come in when we schedule you or you kiss your job goodbye”), there’s no guarantee of an hourly minimum (”oh, you need 30 hours per week to make ends meet? Best I can do is 12 this week.”), and sometimes you just can’t leave without consequences (e.g., customer rush). Of course, YMMV depending on where you work, so it seems.
Point is, while I’m not against working a minimum wage retail job, I just don’t foresee easily making ends meet doing so.
I can’t (don’t want to) quit college
I mean, if it really came down to life or death, I probably would. But more than anything, I want to graduate. I’ve spent 6-7 years trying to get through college and I’m so close to graduating. I have about 3 full-time semesters left if everything goes well.
I want to graduate because then I can get a salaried job that pays a lot, which is good! Because I want to live with my fiancee. Tessa is the love of my life and I want to live with her. Unfortunately, current situations conspire to prevent this. For one, I cannot move her in with me where I currently live. For two, I cannot move living space because my current is the cheapest in the city. This held true even when I was employed at my internship. For the sake of sanity, I want to be able to afford it myself, just in case my fiancee can’t find work in a reasonable amount of time.
Moreover, my fiancee herself isn’t in a great financial situation to begin with, either. I won’t dig into the private affairs, sorry, but know that the cost of moving her here to begin with would in all likelihood be mine to shoulder alone.
I probably can’t slow down college either
I really need to complete college in about 3 or 4 semesters. The only reason I can even afford college is thanks to federal loans and grants. However, due to some circumstances, I may not qualify for certain financial aids unless I am full time or at least above part-time.
Also, to be honest, I really don’t want to take another 4 to 8 years to complete college by picking away at it class-by-class.
Additionally, I’m Type-1 Diabetic. I use a lot of expensive medical supplies. I currently have a stockpile that will last me 3 to 4 semesters but if I need more time than that, things get iffy. I also need to see doctors regularly.
Suffice it to say, YMMV if you’re on medicaid or a super cheap insurance plan and you’re diabetic. It’s common for things you need to not be covered or for you to have to pay a 40-60% coinsurance on them. Neither of those are great.
I kind of want to not end up with diabetic complications. Well, at least not any more than I have to.
Transparency of monetary amounts
These are my current expenditures:
Rent: $495/mo
Utilities: $105/mo
Food: $80-$120/mo (trying to reduce but....)
Total: $680-$720 per month
Part-way into 2017, my expenditures may increase. Rent is one of them. But that’s a post for a later date when I have more information.
This also goes beyond just paying bills
Suffice it to say, I have... issues. I have mental issues, body issues, body-brain issues, a lot of issues. There are practical treatments to these issues (including therapy) but a number of these treatments cost money.
Supporting my art means not just paying bills but the potential for extra income I can put towards bettering myself and actualizing the true me.
I know it’s probably a moot point if I manage to graduate and get a real job. But, seeing how I’ve been lately, sometimes I wonder if I can really manage another year and a half on jury-rigged sporks (I never had spoons to begin with).
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I have two Patreon pages: one for regular art and comics, and one for R-18 and anatomy/sex practice sketches.
[SFW] https://www.patreon.com/IdiotNonoriri
[R-18] https://www.patreon.com/Sumiaki
All patrons who pledge $1 or more get art rewards (monochromatic or color sketches or full illustrations depending on pledge amount). You’ll get one for pledging and a bonus one for each month you successfully pledge if I’m below 10 active patrons. If I hit 10+ patrons, you’ll be entered into a monthly raffle.
Note that this reward system applies separately for each Patreon page. You can, in theory, pledge $1 to both and get up to twice the art.
If, for some reason, you can’t/don’t use Patreon, you can also commission me. I have a commission profile at:
https://artistsnclients.com/people/StarshadesJack
My profile needs a little updating but it’s free to sign up and the site’s designed to help make sure we both can feel secure in the commissioning process!
The only reason I push Patreon over commissions is that you can support me for a year at $1 or $2 per month and get way more art for less than the cost of a single independent commission which is a pretty decent deal.
Thank you for reading. Again, please consider signal boosting? I hate to beg but I really just am kind of a mess right now and feeling very uncertain about how I’m going to tackle losing my job....
Though, to be fair, I’m always uncertain about things. Life is scary....
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