FW Update11: The Countdown (Patreon)

You may have noticed that now I'm showing off where most of this money is going: my Student Debt. I figure this will be a clear enough way to show you guys how much your support ACTUALLY helps me, as it goes towards a REAL cause with a QUANTIFIABLE end-goal.

With that said, I should preemptively clarify a few things:

First off, the amount you see that my page makes per-month won't necessarily reflect the direct amount going to my student debt. Patreon has to take their 8% platform fee, and taxes get their piece too. Both of these amounts scale in accordance to how much money I make (with VERY limited deductibility), so this circumstance unfortunately isn't quite as simple as making "$87K to pay off $87K". I found that out the hard way.

It's worth mentioning, that I also have to pay for miscellaneous bills like rent, utilities, and daily expenses. Of course, I don't go buying anything that's not conducive to my goal --I literally cannot afford that-- so you don't have to worry about being swindled here.

Secondly, interest and inflation are the biggest obstacles in the way, as they are outright re-adding my debt on a daily basis. My country's economy is going through the wringer, and it's given my predatory loan servicer free-reign to increase my rates.

Let me put this into perspective: I currently pay $1,400 a month to a remaining debt of about $87,000. In a happier world, that'd take only 63 payments, or 5-ish years. But over the course of 30 days, I can end up having nearly 70% of my payment ($980) reinstated to my owed balance.

Thanks to interest, I'm instead projected to finish in 113 payments; that's almost 10 YEARS and $158,200 to pay off $87,000. Possibly even more if the economy continues to suffer.

Because of these catches, I've also been quantifying commissions towards this payoff countdown as well. I'm still self-employed, so that's my primary source of income. If I'm to escape the "monthly-minimum trap", I'll have to prioritize those going forward. I've already accepted that in order to achieve that, this could mean I'll have to shelf Sampson & Jewel for the foreseeable future; maybe even indefinitely. It really hurts to have to admit that as a possibility, but 10 more years is just too long.

I want to be clear: I don't like sharing this side of my life. You guys have all done so much for me already, and given me an incredible first year on Patreon, and an amazing 6 years of being FakeryWay. It feels really ungrateful to still ask for more; I don't want to come off like I'm taking any of that for granted. But after the major hit from 2022 taxes, I've been reassessing the financial challenges ahead of me. The writing's on the wall: I will be in dire straits if I don't let go of my pride and seek out all my options, even if it just simply asking for more help.

Regardless, I appreciate everything and will continue to do my best to provide excellent work for you all. It's the least I can do.

Thanks for reading,
FakeryWay