i know this is long, and i tend to get off point when i type, so bare with me. i just needed to write this all out to get a grip on my situation. i find it helpful. also, i know a lot of you are probably (or were) in similar situations. so i'm up for any advice.
here goes:
i started stripping in order to go back to school. prior to that i was a teacher. i found it difficult to be able to go to school full time -and- work more than full time and still barely pay my bills. so, stripping worked for me time/money wise and gave me the ability to be a student.
now i'm at a point where i want to get out of the stripping business, or at least cut back in a big way. problem is, i'm still in the same situation financially. how do i go to school full time and find anything that pays nearly as well as dancing for as little time?
even now i'm still living "pay check to pay check" so to speak. that's largely do to the fact that i won't do high contact/friction anymore and (of course) i work in tampa. that being said, i still make as much or more dancing 3-4 days a week, than i did teaching and working overtime.
i'm in school for fine arts. i want to eventually go into film or advertising (hopefully film). not actually filming, but the creative design/story board/concept art aspect. i'm interning (for free, obviously.. resume building) at 2 galleries right now and i've been using 90% of my "free time" to create art. i hope to open a shop on etsy.com within the next couple of weeks to try to sell some paintings. maybe even do some large scale abstracts commission based, if i get any takers, but that's only a small bit of help.
i'm rambling. i'm sorry. i'll blame it on paint fumes.
anyway, to make matters worse, i'm at a point now in school where it's become a HUGE issue that i don't have a mac. my instructor has us do projects which involve using mac specific programs... not to mention a mac IS a good tool for an artist. i don't even have photoshop and it's causing me to fall behind. also (i've mentioned it before but..) my digital camera was broken back in october. i'm having a -really- difficult time putting together my portfolio, taking pictures for an art department book (i'm in charge of two chapters) etc.. without a digital camera. then there's just the cost of art supplies period. they don't call it "starving artist" for nothing.
i thought i'd be able to manage all of this, but school is just getting more and more expensive, dancing is making me less (and driving me crazy), and i'm not getting any MORE time to "work more" since the gallery stuff, regular school work, etc is taking up more of my time.
i would get a credit card so i could get a macbook and a camera, since those are my two most pressing issues (well, besides health care, but that's another story) but i have no credit and i've been declined for everything.
you heard me right. i have no credit. i'm going to be 29 in may and i've never owed any company anything (besides hospital bills). i've paid for everything in cash my entire life because i was afraid of credit. i watched my whole family wreck their lives up playing the credit card game. little did i know i'd be nearly 30 an unable to get a credit card (let alone a house or anything like that). i plan on getting a secured visa through my credit union as soon as i have 500 bucks to say a long temporary good-bye to... but that won't be enough to do the things i need. it'll help in the long run, but it'll still be forever till it works me up enough credit to get a decent limit.
anyway. that's my current situation. any advice (besides winning the lotto) is welcome. i hope this thread is in the right place. i didn't put this in "stripping general" or "dollar den" because it was about more than just those things. i didn't put it in "ladies only" because i'm open to everyone's opinion.
*sigh*
i need a vacation



Reply With Quote



Bookmarks