Money is an almost universal worry of modern life, and we’re no different (for now). Autumn wrote about this beautifully about a year ago, and I mean to extend those thoughts. The thing she glosses over in her post is the cost of working on the boat. That has been our biggest expense by far. Ultimately, it’ll lead to the need for less money in the future, but we have survive long enough for that to be a reality. So, I’d like to go over some of the things we’re doing and not doing to survive long enough.

What we’re not doing

Go Fund Me: this one comes up often. The people that generally would donate to such a thing are family and friends. Family, in our case, helps us out generously already so prompting more from them seems greedy. And as for our friends, well, they’re struggling as much if not more than us with money so this would only put them in a position of contributing when they really can’t afford to or feeling bad that they can’t help. Beyond that, it’s a one way transaction and that just doesn’t feel right.

YouTube Channel: this one may be even more common than GFM. We’ve seriously considered it, but there are some problems with it. First, the market is flooded. I can literally name dozens of sailing channels. Then, there’s the capital investment. The gear is expensive to do it well and with so much competition not doing it well get’s us nowhere. And finally time. The editing process is slow, and the filming process significantly slows down work actually getting done.

What we are doing

Aware Copywriting: this is Autumn’s company and our primary source of income. She’s enormously talented and hard working. Unfortunately, work can be inconsistent and actually getting paid can be elusive at times. If you think you might need some work done, check out her Services Page and get in touch.

Novel Writing: Autumn has been working on a book series and has the first already out and more on the way in the very near future. We’re hoping these will catch on, and people will enjoy reading them. That will take time. In the mean time check, out her Perilous and Sparks website or order directly from Amazon.

Schwagg: this is our new project. We just got started this week. We’re making available clothing, stickers, and some other really interesting things with logos, art, etc. on it (hats will be a different provider). We’re just getting it together and figuring it all out so watch for updates in the near future. In the mean time Check It Out!

Amazon Lists*:ย  This is the safety list I’ve made for the Sea Shanti. It is the minimum safety gear we’d need to actually get underway. The list includes all the things the Coast Guard requires plus a handful of things that just make sense. The list totals around $800 and most of it is one-time purchase stuff. So if you feel inclined to stop in and purchase something for us that would be great, and if not, don’t worry, we won’t leave until we get everything. Here’s the link.

*my mother has been especially inquisitive about this safety list so I figure others may be curious as well.

Summary

Most of these efforts are Autumn-based because she insists I focus on the boat work. But recently, I’ve been looking into some other things like Upwork, Mechanical Turk, and working on other people’s boats. We’ll see if any of these things work out. Either way, we’ll keep exploring more opportunities. The strategy is to have many small revenue streams. If you have any ideas, please let us know. And if you’re out there, commuting to work every day, stressed out about money, know that you aren’t alone. We sincerely appreciate you taking the time to visit our site.