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A History of Blood – Vol. 1, Chapter 8

I spent the majority of last night accounting for the income I’ve made this year even though I haven’t been doing it properly. Long story short I’ve been doing poorly this year, and I’m not sure if it’s a result of my mental health or if it’s something else.

Normally, I make about $24,000 a year, with my last few years being particularly good, with 2024 and 2025 earning $30,003 and $29,656 respectively. These numbers aren’t life changing by any means, but the point is that they are above average when compared to my previous earnings.

So far this year, I’ve only made $5,439 — an absurdly slow year for me, made significantly worse by how dramatic some of my personal relationships have been.

I’ve only made an average of $175 per week this year, which is far below the average of $474 that I usually make.

Hopefully, this slump will end next week once I start collecting unemployment, (giving me a few weeks of earning decent money) but considering it’s been an 8 month period, it’s a cause for concern, especially when my earnings around the same time last year were well over $28,000.

Looking at it like this is kind of insane. Even after taxes and deductions I still took home $20,000, which is almost 4 times as much money as I made this year; I genuinely made a mistake!

I obviously need to go back to what I was doing before, while also adding what I’ve learned recently. Start with an office job that pays $18-$22 an hour and then add the $14 an hour from doing deliveries, eventually replacing either one with Armed Security, and then replacing deliveries with luxury ride sharing.

The $1,200 every two weeks was enough to pay for my housing and transportation costs, but the main difference is that this time I’m going to be more strategic about things. I’ve learned the secret to my first car;

1. Start with financing or a monthly rental; monthly rentals start at about $600 a month which is significantly less than renting per week, while financing starts at about $400~ depending upon credit.
2. Part time driving earns about $300 a week (40 trips over 25 hours) while costing about $70 in gas, for a profit margin of $230 per week before factoring in the cost of rental/purchase and the insurance
3. The cost of insurance is about $200 a month, so the true cost would be $800 a month for a rental and $600 a month for financing. Adding gas, you are looking $1,200 and $1,000 respectively

The rental essentially just breaks even (assuming you are renting it monthly and not weekly) while the financed car actually turns a small profit. The real profit margins begin once the car is paid off, because prior to that, and profits will likely be set aside for maintenance, especially due to the mileage requirements of doing deliveries. Doing deliveries adds about 400 miles a week to the vehicle, plus whatever mileage from the daily commute; so 500 miles a week is a more realistic number.

As much as I want the Benz, it’s probably not a good idea to start with one. Instead, something like a Toyota Corolla (ideally in black or silver) would be a better vehicle to start with, due to the better mpg and lower costs of maintenance.

Once the car is paid off, the profit margins increase to about $700 a month, which is spectacular considering it’s part time work. The money from the office mostly goes to the housing costs, but should still profit another $700 after food and utilities are factored in. It breaks down as follows:

1. $2,400 from the office becomes $700 after food/housing
2. $1,200 from deliveries becomes $700 after gas/insurance
3. $3,600 becomes $1,400 after bills, or closer to $800-$600 if the car is being rented or paid off.

The housing should be ideally be relegated to a studio/1 bedroom where the rent is ideally around $1,100~ (which is what I was paying when I lived in Baltimore.) Based on the fact that I lived alone for 2 years, I already know I am capable living on my own, so now the question is can I live alone and maintain a car.

Living alone and having a car would put me in a position to realistically date/marry whomever I want, provided I am able to balance the schedule, which is the easiest part. 70~ hours for work, 50~ hours for sleep, and that last 48~ hours is divided between religious service, self-care, dating, and childcare.

The extra money would also mean the scale of the dates will be a lot higher; fancier clothes, fancier restaurants, fancier activities, fancier souvenirs, and more people involved, with overall a stronger impression that better separates me from the men around me.

So I’ll give my plan a year and a half. I’ll focus on getting an office job during the day, a driving job at night and over the weekend, and Armed Security to either replace driving on the weekends or replace the office job altogether. She will remain my focus for this time, and if she moves on to someone else AND they last the year and a half (aka new years 2028) then I’ll give her and her new man my blessing, be done pursuing her and move on to the next woman.

In the meantime, the smart thing to do, is try to avoid being alone with her. Thats the hard part about the apartment, but I should be fine since I can always get another woman to come over. I think I’d be fine if it was another woman but it’s her specifically I’ll have to avoid, unless she agrees to marry me for real this time.