Running My Writing Business – Another Savings Account
July 1, 2008 by Anne Wayman
Filed under Jobs
If I got everything my way, someone else would handle the business side of my freelance writing business… and probably do the marketing too. Or maybe not. Now that I’ve learned more about managing my money and have gotten mostly out of vagueness about my income and expense, it’s actually kinda fun keeping track of it all.
I’m learning to plan ahead a bit too. And play closer attention to my intuition as well. For instance, I’ve noticed my current computer is taking a bit more maintenance than it used to. I’m running disk cleanup more often because it’s slowing down more often. That’s a sure signal, as far as I’m concerned, that a new computer, or cpu is in my future… not tomorrow, but not in two years either.
Then yesterday I heard that Bill Gates and crew have officially stopped shipping Windows XP. I dread switching to Vista. I’m not at all impressed with what I hear about that operating system. So I’m wondering if Linux is ready for users like me or if I really want to switch to a Mac – either means a whole drama and considerable expense around software.
Finally, because I blog at b5media, I get to see the headlines from the business channel when I go into my own blog, and there’s: Oh Crap Situation 29: Computer Problems
I didn’t even read the article before I went to Ingdirect.com (a great online bank… if you sign up, mention me) and opened a new computer savings account. A new computer is in every freelance writer’s future. My experts tell me I should plan on buying a new one every two years or so… I often will got maybe a year longer than that, but not much more than that.
Why I haven’t set up a savings account for this expense before now I don’t know. But I’ve got one now, and I suggest every freelance writer and editor do exactly the same thing.
Write well and often,
Two newsletters:
Abundant Freelance Writing – a resource for freelance writers including 3x a week job postings.
Writing With Vision – for those who want to get a book written.
Image from http://www.sxc.hu
If you do decide you’re interested in switching to Linux, there are some great writers’ tools now available for Ubuntu — all of which are free. And you don’t need a great machine to run Ubuntu, either — you can set up a new system for surprisingly little.
Hi, Anne!
Just so you know, there are lots of manufacturers out there who make laptops already loaded with Linux. Yes — and I hate to say this because of my general dislike for the company — even WalMart now sells inexpensive (about $400) Linux laptops. They’re very well-reviewed and come ready to go out of the box. If you’re already familiar with the Linux interface, you won’t have any problems with using them. Plus, many come pre-loaded with open source software, too, including my favorites, GIMP and OpenOffice.
Good luck!
Cheers,
Marjorie
hmmmm, what’s ubuntu… a type of linux?
Yep! It’s a type of Linux — and it’s the most user-friendly type out there. There’s still a little bit of a learning curve when switching from Mac or Windows, but it’s much lower than most of the other types of Linux.
hmmm… got a website or blog you can point me at?
I’ve been using Mandriva Linux for several years – very easy install and the software is all there for you.
My recommendation to anyone planning to make the switch down the road is to start now using whatever software you can that is available for Windows. e.g., if you haven’t yet, make the switch from Word to Open Office, from IE and Outhouse, sorry, Outlook to Firefox and Thunderbird. See what other app’s you’re using and determine if you can make a similar switch. Some of the new app’s you’ll use will only run on Linux, but take this approach as far as you can. Once you’re comfortable with the new applications, changing the OS underneath them won’t seem like as big a change because you aren’t dealing with everything all at once. This should give the migration a higher chance of success — I think some who have changed and gone back have done so simply because the all-at-once effect overwhelmed them.
And of course, I *do* recommend the switch to Linux, whichever distro you choose.
That makes sense… is thunderbird the email program? I’ve been using eudora for a hundred years but that’s going away… have used firefox for a long time… will mess about with open office and see what’s up… thanks…
I really really really don’t want to ever use vista, ever!
Yes, Thunderbird is the email program. If you download it along with Mozilla’s Lightning (calendar) program, you’ll basically have MS Outlook, but way better. I’ve been using it for a couple of years and have never looked back.
Cheers,
Marjorie
oh boy, I need to spend a couple of hours just exploring this don’t I, and then actually do it… thanks – I think I will this weekend… July 4 seems a good time to get ready to dump windows ;)