people, friends, family,
i can't sleep and i can't paint when i am so worried about money and physical problems. you can all be my brother theo, if you know what that means. vincent van gogh would never have been able to paint if his brother hadn't helped him. i'm not comparing my artwork to his, just my desperateness.
i hate to do this but i have to beg.
i am really behind the eight ball. i don't eat out and i don't go to the theatre.
there are three automatic payments coming up before my disability check comes on the first. that's going to cost me another ninety dollars in overdrafts. time warner again, my esurance and netflix.
if you look closely you can see that even a .97 arbitrary charge cost me $30. i'm going to iron this all out and use the paypal card for recurring payments until 'my ship comes in'
my cable, internet and phone are all time warner.
every month they disconnect me because they won't change my payment date one single
day. i tried to reason with them but they were going
to shut me
down again… it's so agravating. i tried to talk to the
bank to give the little leeway but they are making so much money on me why should they overlook a little 24 hour meeting of ends.
i attached this page so you can see the problem and
maybe help to
catch me up. then i can make it on what i get.
there's more to
how this happened but it all boils down to the time
warner payment
which started this landslide. i thought i was getting an advance
on the venice mural job or i wouldn't have done it.
love,
scott
see my paintings at:
http://www.hungryeyegraphics.com
it you go to the I_ArtMan website, hungryeyegraphics.com, there is a paypal button for artist's relief fund. anything will help. even $2 from 30 people would cover my car insurance. i will be so thankful for any help you can afford.
you could even buy a drawing or a painting that is available.
once again i am so sorry to put you in the uncomfortable position of having to say no. or worse still that this will permanently change some people opinion of me. it's just a point of view.
…
335 is a two month bill, I have the same deal that you do. What you are going to have to do is cancel it and use dial up. You get quite a chunk there in SSI, but don't get enough for that Cable bill. :eyes: Cancel the automatic withdraws from them..the cable company…and GO IN to pay them instead. They will allow you to have a 2 month bill if you set up arrangements on the FIRST month….I would plan ahead and rely on no one if I were you….Sorry to hear that you got yourself into a pickle with that cable bill.
dear sarah,i thank you for the advice. i really paid them twice this month. $100 and then $335 but the monthly charge for telephone cable t.v. and the lan connection is $117 a month… i had fallen behind…. but am caught up with timewarner now. so the next bill will be $117 which is not so bad for the three services. if i bought them seperately, it would be close to that much and the advantages of cable are worth paying a little more.o.k., i'm a little bit spoiled. next month i will be short; as always i am broke by the fifteenth. it's just that i will be starting out with $90 less than i would have if i could find a little help.don't forget that $900 a month is only $30 dollars a day. and l.a. is a very expensive city. nobody can live on that little. sometimes i do make a little windfall from my paintings and that's what i am trying to get the attention of people about. how do i know that someone rich might read this… stranger things have happened… and i don't want to fall between the cracks. i want to go on working. i'm not nearly finished with the paintings i have in my mind.sarah, i remember you wrote a post some time ago where you expressed a desire to know what was really happening in people's lives.also, i see that my readership is strangely silent and am a little afraid that i shouldn't have spilled the beans… i just get so frustrated. and i appreciate your kindness in responding.
i´m here and worried… :worried: we´re also having similar problems over here… 😦
Welcome to the biggest Club on Earth: the WABGC (we are broke global club)My spending money: $ 2,000.oo mex pesos a month (less than $200.oo US Dlls) With that, I put gas on the bus, buy a gas tank for home (20 Kg), fix the VW bus "la Perica", and feed myself. Forget about clothing, shoes (thank the Godesses I'm a barefoot mechanic…and crayze, at that!) but I use "Huaraches" (prehispanic sandals) and I live in México.For taking care of the family hacienda: I don´t pay rent, have access to basic SKY programing (lousy!) and broadband internet conection with TELMEX. My son gave me a new cellphone (prepaid cards)But my enjoyment of life is based on this: I am so bussy fixing things, that I don't have time left to complain, nor time for charging any money…"lo que sea su voluntad" after fixing the stuff (PC's, aircooled VW's, somebody stranded on the road that NEVER carryes any money) and the "day of Tomorrow" does come ritch. (¿Who said "tomorow never comes"???)I have good health, I'm agile enough to go under automobiles to service them, and everything runs on bailing wire at home.Not trying to make you feel bad: just comunicating what I do. The VW bus "la Perica" is a 1973 vintage, had it for the last 10 years, and starts inmediatly. It was given to me by three italian kids who needed a mechsanic, because the Bus wouldn't run any more.So I changed the gas tank, cleaned the fuel pump & both carbs, and charged the battery. It was a grand total of…$ 160.oo US Dlls! The italians said "we'll pay you with the Bus"Well, I thought they were young, on a trip in foreighn soil, my sons were older. Maybe somebody will help my sons when in distress, like I help these "poor kids". So I told them: "You owe me nothing. Have a nice trip and enjoy México"But they did give me the Bus, three days later. And went back to Italy.I fixed a bus that didn´t run so I would receive a running Bus…¡for FREE! The junke owner/friend owed me that gas tank: so that was payment from past deeds too.Two years before, I had only the clothing on me. I was expecting death, had the liver stoped functioning & entered hepatic coma. Now, 12 years later, I'm still broke but in good health.Then I could not make any effort. I started drawing at "the Cafecito" place, on the puerto Escondido beach. When people asked "¿Do you sell them? ¿How much?" I would say $ 40.oo US Dlls. They would answer "I'll give you a hundred mex Pesos" and my answer was "¡SOLD!!!"After all, art has NO PRICE…(specially when you try to sell it!!!)So you see, we are not hiding or avoiding you. Simply put, we are just as broke. Welcome to the Club, DonYan
I know it is much more expensive in CA…:( It looks like they adjust the SSI for that a little, but not by much. We also receive for one of my children who is disabled. There is no way to get around it but by cutting back, unfortunately. I have noticed that EVERYTHING is so much more expensive now…and bill collectors are holding on so tight to their money. :rolleys: ugh. :irked:
i guess it's because of the war. artists only get paid when the cream rises to the top.and we do have plenty if we have a roof and food.in england during the war they were saving their pennies to buy an onion.yes i am grateful, just a little irritated.thanks isabel for the comment. and thanks for the hug in my shoutbox.something will happen i am sure… as we used to say in mexico, "fred saves" and sure enough after maybe three more days living on pan dulce and cafe' con leche, someone would get a check in the mail and we would all share.thanks to you don yan for the wonderful story of how you keep your chin up… i had great luck with a car too. paid $100 a month for six month to a friend and have owned it for six years. it's a noble destrier which has served me well. 1990 jeep cherokee limited.i remember those huarchees… the soles were like tire treads.i used to draw the ninos y ninas in the socalo of acapulco… no one paid me; i paid them a peso apiece for sitting still for twenty minutes. finally i sold my camera to get back to mexico city.i will never forget how the teenage guides would bring me to their houses and feed me. and when i walked to the bus station they fought over who would carry my duffle bag. there's a lot of good heart in mexico.yep, cutting back, sarah…. may be the only way; instead of waiting on tenderhooks for a miracle.
Hi Scott, How expansive is life in LA, and in the US !! My internet connection cost me only 30€ per month and it allows me to get a free phone connection and thus, I do not pay my calls (except international calls but I never call abroad, I use the net to keep in touch). For TV, I pay 116€/year, but I do not subscribe to the cable. Anyway, I rarely look at TV… And I am sure that in France, you would get some financial help according to the amount of your revenues… There are also social organizations that are helping you to recover a better financial situation. Please, don't be sad, you made the right choice by telling us your nightmares. We are friends whatever happens.Liu 🙂
not unless you are in borneo anyway. thanks for your understanding words.
I too have to pull names out of the hat to see who gets paid at times.You know what, Scott? You have friends and you have family. You are a rich man. I wish we could all be stable in our finances but if I lost it all tomorrow, they are only things.Please don't dispair. I have always said, They can kill you but they can't eat you.
That is so sad. I will help you anyway I can.
that's nice spero7000 thank you.
Hello there Scott: I was reading the part "artists only get paid when the cream rises to the top"…well, maybe in the US. Here in México, painters like me NEVER get paid. That's the reason I am a back-country mechanic. First, to get away from big city's. Second, because gallery owners hate my guts (I believe it's plain envy) and I don't like to deal with those lesser humans. Third, if I had money I would be poorer.POBRECITO DE MI PATRÓN: CREE QUE EL POBRE SOY YO!!!Big hug to you, Scott.DonYanPD.- In Europe, the rumor is that vanGog cut his ear after Theo spent the money from selling Vincent's paints…I would not like to have a dealer as a brother. Not even for a plate of "lentejas" (how do you name them in english???)DonYan
beans… i think, don yan. i share your opinion about gallery owners. for the most part it is envy mixed with a false sense of superiority because they have chosen to have money instead of doing something.
This was a fascinating read. Many South Africans want to live in america for the higher salaries. But most people don't consider how much more it costs to live there. I earn a fairly reasonable salary of ZAR4000 +- a month. Thats about US$400 . for ZAR20 , I can get a taxi to Durban about 80km away. The taxi I'm talking about is a 15 seater minibus and it doesn't leave untill it's full. ZAR6 will get you a loaf of white bread. ZAR15 will get you a 2 liter Coke (the real stuff not the cheap 'spaza' brand.) That's life in South Africa.
that's right aadil… it costs way more to live here. if i had twice as much, it wouldn't be enough. i really can't afford to be alive.still, there's hope.