Unlike other weekends where I’m usually out and about, I spent pretty much the whole weekend slaving away behind the computer as I had taken on some freelance work from clients in London and Singapore.
It’s not that I don’t treasure my weekends, but I think I shouldn’t let the opportunity to make some pocket money pass me by. I count myself lucky that these people still ask me to do work even though I’m not based in the same places as they are, and therein lies the flexibility of editing and writing.
I was talking to a few friends recently about the monetary returns of my work and one of my friends summed it up succinctly with this Chinese phrase: 吃不饱， 饿不死. So while I’ll never – fingers crossed – become down and out, I won’t ever become rich as an editor either. Such is the life of an editor and writer.
People in this industry are rather useless when it comes to knowing how to invest and make their money work for them. We are words, not numbers, people. Sigh. What can I do to build my egg nest?
How do some people just take off for a year or two and just travel the world without a care? And many of these people aren’t even rich. OK, granted they are young. But still, even when I was in my 20s, I wouldn’t have just travelled for a year, backpacking and couchsurfing etc. I figure it’s the Chinese in me. I can’t just take off and travel because at the back of my mind I’d be so worried about money that I wouldn’t even be able to enjoy myself.
Living in cosmopolitan and expensive cities like London, Hong Kong and Singapore, it’s hard not to be concerned about one’s financial situation. In Hong Kong especially, people are much more showy and flashy about their wealth.
What does it take to be less hung up about money? Someone please tell me.