Keeping the Lights On

Some of you who know me personally know what the situation is with my family's finances. Others may have heard me briefly talking about it through my stream.



When we were kids, my family has always worked in a way where we have one bread-winner, my dad. This is due to the fact that my mother was only allowed to be schooled until the 2nd grade by her parents, because they had the idiotic idea that a woman should not be educated (old school thinking, dumb). So my mother doesn't have the type of education to pursue a legitimate career, and frankly she's not capable at this point to work a job of manual labor. My dad is the bread-winner in my family, and he made the mistake of putting his life savings into a real-estate career slightly before the market crashed in 2008.



Since around that time, my brother and I have been the main contributors to our family's income. We worked our careers, and gave big chunks of our paychecks to keep a roof over our heads, which was important, because we also have 2 younger siblings that are still in school that can't work yet. Around the fall of 2015, I had a serious talk with my parents about leaving my job in financial accounting, and going Esports full time. I hated my job, I was becoming extremely unhappy with the way I was forcing myself to live life, I wasn't able to move out because I was already paying my family's home, and I wasn't immersing myself in what I loved doing. I knew the money would no longer be there for me to support them if I left for Esports, and they told me that they would find a way to make up for the lost income. They wanted me to pursue that which made me happy, and didn't want me in a career I hated for their sake.



This weekend while at Battle of the Gods, I got word from my little brother that the internet had been shut off because we were missing payments. It was a bill I used to handle when I worked that was now being handled by my parents, and it became clear that they weren't going to be able to pay it. Obviously, this isn't an expense that can go away. I told them to reinstate the internet, and that I would find a way to cover it.



This made me realize that not only do I need to step up my sub/donation efforts, but I need to push for growth in a way where I can also help support them as well. Currently, I'm growing, but I'm still not making enough to sustain myself, let alone others, and I am cutting into my savings quickly.



I don't come to you all from a place of charity. I don't want charity.

I want to keep putting on an entertaining stream, give you guys something to laugh about, to learn from, etc. I want to keep meeting subs in person, I want to get to know a bunch of fans of the game, and I want to give you all a way to connect with me and the scene. I want this thing to stay alive. I want it to grow, and I believe the following are some goals I'm hoping to meet to keep things going.



Monthly goals:

Donations: $500

Subs: 75



It may seem like a lot but I think I can do it. I'm happy with how my stream is going, Viewership is growing, and I think a lot of people are enjoying it, I just want to be transparent about my situation, and why I'm aiming for the goals I'm speaking of here. Hell, maybe we can even exceed some of these goals.



In any case, thanks to anyone who read this, and I'll see you on my stream soon :)



Twitch.tv/hugs86



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