This has got to be one of the worst months of 2018 thus far even though it’s only March. I’ve been feeling really depressed recently and some days I am filled with so much anxiety that it makes it difficult for me to get out of bed. You know that feeling when there’s so much you have to do but instead of attacking that to-do list, you just lay there in bed and cry? You cry as if it helps your anxiety. This will probably be one of the most vulnerable posts I’ll ever publish but there’s just so many things I want to get off my chest. I’ll also be including my expenses and income, which I am so excited to share with you all. Here’s my March 2018 recap post!

Highlights

• The barista at my favorite coffee shop made my drink prior to me ordering. (Read it here for the full story!)
• Did a couples shoot with my boyfriend! Also, thank you so much Charlotte Fears for taking our photos.
• Went to an escape room. Shout out to PanIQ Escape Room for the awesome experience. Check out the blog post here.
• Forgot my keys in an LYFT car and I had to break into my apartment. By far one of the worst nights ever, I will spare you all the gory details, but definitely learned my lesson to not be careless.
• Walked in On Central Fashion Show.
• My car got broken into and my Nikon DSLR camera was stolen.
• My boyfriend got me a Tiffany and Co bracelet hehe.
• Filed an LLC for my blog! Now, all we have to do is wait.

Photographer: Jennifer Perkins

Trust

Trust is a serious topic for me. My boyfriend and I have been together for over half a year and things got really difficult when he had to move to a different city for Pharmacy school. While the move isn’t too far (2 hours), it was definitely tough for me. He’s never really given me a reason not to trust him but there were issues such as miscommunication with his cohorts, which lead to even bigger issues. Also, it didn’t really help that I’m very easily swayed by my colleagues. I promise to not let things get to me and try to communicate better.

I just miss him so much and at times, it’s really hard to maintain a healthy long-distance relationship. Keyword: healthy. Maybe after a year or two (or when we’ve completely mastered this), I’ll write a blog post about how to make an LDR work. Haha, or not. :p

Comment down below if this is something you’d be interested in.

Car

One of the most upsetting things that happened this month is that my car got broken into. My Nikon D5300 camera along with a 35mm f1.8 lens was stolen. Luckily there was no memory card in there and nothing else was taken. I called the Tucson Police Department and they were no help at all. All they told me was to go online to report a case.

When I went to a self-service car wash to clean the shattered glass out of my car, an older man approached me. He asked if I needed help and we were talking about what had happened. I told him about the whole situation. Also, I ran out of quarters to use the vacuum and he gave me 50 cents, which was extremely kind of him! He even offered to go with me to the Family Dollar store where I bought a trash bag and duck tape in order to tape the nonexistent window on my car. The kind man taped my car for me and even offered to pay for the trash bag and duck tape. I’ve honestly never felt so blessed for what had happened. To be frank, I was a bit scared! HELLO, STRANGER DANGER!

Kindness

Throughout the whole adventure, he would talk a lot about his nephew and how his nephew lives in Phoenix. We talked about how he went to school for different fields but kept changing his major and ended up taking longer than the average years in college. While I didn’t want to pry into his life, I love talking to people. I love knowing where everyone comes from because we are all individuals and unique.

After he helped me, I gave him $20. I told him I would buy him lunch but I have to go back to school. It took him a while to accept my gratitude and kept saying that I could buy him lunch when he was up in Phoenix, but I knew that it would never happen. I made sure he kept it, even though he kept saying no. Haha. I’m just really thankful that while there are scary people out there, there are also extremely kind people as well. If he’s ever reading this, I just want to say that I can never thank him enough.

Now it’s time for the expenses and income! I’ve actually been keeping track of my expenses and income since the beginning of this year, but the reason why I want to start it now is that I filed for an LLC and feel like an official business owner, haha.

Expenses

• LikeGrowers – $34.99
• Google G Suite – $10.86
• Planoly – $24.99 (For three months)
• Tailwind – $15.00 (Suppose to be $14.99 but I changed from a yearly plan to a monthly so when they refunded me the difference, I lost a penny. Whoops!)
• eCourse – $20.00
• Arizona Corporate for LLC – $50.00
• Business Equipment – $273.03
• PayPal Fee – $1.24
• Meetings – $117.94 (Parking/coffee/food during business meetings/shoots)
• Blog/Shoots – $378.20 (Specific clothes/props used for blog posts/shoots)
• Website Theme – $45.00

Total Expenses = $971.25

This is by far the highest expense cost in 2018. Both in January and February, my expenses were less than $650 combined. One of the reasons for that is I had to buy a new camera since mine got stolen. Another factor was that I had to go down to Tucson for a couple of shoots and business meetings. Note: when I say business meetings, this usually refers to meeting up with photographers, other models, etc. Also another note: I have no idea what I’m doing. I heard you can even include milages in your expenses if you’re going to a shoot, meeting, etc. I’m still trying to figure everything out.

Income

• Google Adsense – $456.81
• YouTube – $11.73
• ShopStyle Collective – $2.00
• Amazon Affiliation – $0.42
• Blume Skin
• DIFF Eyewear
• Ellie
• PanIQ Room
• Nomad Movement

Total Gross Income = $988.76

I heard that if you get free products from companies, it counts as part of your income. When I found out, I was like “Are you serious? Free products don’t pay rent!” But the more I thought about it, the more it made sense. I didn’t break down the product value or how much the company paid me for sponsored posts. Trust me that this is all accurate. Question: Am I supposed to include the potential shipping cost of the items I received for free? Someone let me know, please!

This month, I’ve made a net income of $17.51. Great! Hopefully next month, there will be a higher net income. Thanks to whoever broke into my car because that totally messed up my expenses.

Read my other monthly blog post here!