I’m going to FinCon!

Whoa. I guess this is really happening. I am going to FinCon. It’s been a wild few weeks of ups and downs, thoughts and worries and I honestly thought I wasn’t going anywhere this year. A few weeks ago, I wrote Should debt bloggers go to FinCon?, a post in which I was debating if I should go and spend the money — and talking about my goal of going to Iceland for my 30th birthday.

Then I realized I owed some money to the IRS. Even though it’s a small amount, this prompted many discussions about my financial reality and what I could actually afford this year. And even though we aren’t technically married, and we have separate finances, I had to also consider the financial reality of my partner. He’s a musician, with a highly fluctuating schedule and income. After really looking at the numbers, I realized we couldn’t afford Iceland this year. Yes, it’s only $679 to get there, with the music pass for the festival. BUT I would still need to get to Seattle, get a hotel and have spending money. Iceland is not cheap and it would be generous to say we could spend $100 a day. Given the time frame of the music festival in Iceland, and the flights available, we’d need to stay at least a week. That would be at least another $700 to save. In addition, my partner doesn’t have vacation time, and I don’t know if I would have that much time by then also. This means we’d need to actually save for the loss of income as well.
In short, we weren’t financially prepared for this at all. It was a pipe dream I thought I could turn into reality, but the money wasn’t there. I wasn’t willing to significantly lower my debt payments to make this happen. I couldn’t justify putting my partner in that situation, nor could I afford to support him if he ran out of money.

So for a milli second, I had my own pity party because I thought I wasn’t going to Iceland and Fincon. Those were the 2 goals I was most excited about for this year. I felt deflated, and embarrassed that I was even sad about it (hello firstworldproblems).

Then a few days ago, my mom texted me:

I really think if you want to further your blog and your writing, you should go to FinCon. I can help.

I ignored the text for a little while. I couldn’t get help from her. So I called her and we chatted, and she really WANTED to do it. She was borderline pressuring me. I have to say I think my mom is my biggest fan and is always telling me how much she enjoys my writing and how proud she is of me. And to think I almost kept my blog a secret from her! So I accepted her generous offer.

My parents couldn’t afford to help me out with college, but they have been so generous and supportive in a lot of other ways. I am their only child and they put a lot of love and energy towards me. I knew if she covered the $200 ticket (before prices go up to $250!), that I could probably travel hack my way to a free flight (this will be my first venture into this!), and could use side hustle income for spending. I will also split a hotel room with someone to save on money. I am going to make this work in the most frugal way I can, while also furthering my blog, and writing dreams. I realized that the cost of FinCon and Iceland weren’t comparable. Iceland would be a crazy awesome experience, but financially it would be much more than we have available at the moment. FinCon will further my goals, and will be relatively inexpensive with this help and hopefully a free flight.

Are you going to FinCon? If so, introduce yourself. Let’s “meet” before we meet.

Lastly, I might be a little MIA this weekend on the blog front. I will be reading your blogs/comments/tweets, etc but will be hustling my booty off this weekend.

I’m working an additional 24 hours in 2.5 days. Even though I said I wasn’t going to work 7 days a week anymore after this post, this situation arose where I accepted a gig, then got offered another gig and didn’t want to turn it down. So I just need to survive this crazy weekend!

I am working tonight from 9pm – 3am at my crazy mini golf adventure, then tomorrow working as a brand ambassador from 10am – 8pm, then Sunday doing the same thing from 10am – 6pm. I am tired just thinking about it. I am really not looking forward to working a 10-hour shift on 5 hours of sleep. But I know this is temporary, and I am going back to working 6 days a week after this. The money made from this weekend will be pretty good, so I need to remember why I am doing this.

All of this work includes talking to people, while standing on my feet, so it requires a lot of energy. I will most likely come home, take a bath, go to sleep and not talk to anyone, haha. As an extrovert, this work is good for me, but even I have my limits 😉 I see myself getting more introverted as I get older which is weird. Which brings me back to wanting to pursue freelance writing and trying to stay home more!

That’s my update! What’s new with you? Any fun plans for the weekend to share? I want to live vicariously through you!

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Melanie

Melanie Lockert is the founder of the blog and author of the book, Dear Debt. Through her blog, she chronicled her journey out of $81,000 in student loan debt. She is also the co-founder of the Lola Retreat, which helps bold women face their fears, own their dreams and figure out a plan to be in control of their finances. She is passionate about empowering women, helping others get out of debt, and focuses on the intersection of debt and mental health. Every September she organizes a Suicide Prevention Awareness Blog Tour, to help share resources for those struggling with debt and suicide. In addition to her love of personal finance, art and music, she is also a karaoke master and a cat mom to Miles and Thelonious.

Latest posts by Melanie (see all)

• Talking About Money and Mental Health - September 12, 2022
• Dear Debt, We’re Better Apart - June 27, 2022
• Announcing The Mental Health and Wealth Summit - May 4, 2021