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A whirlwind of a year 🌪️

2022 started off with most cryptocurrencies being close to their all-time highs. HIVE was around $1.50 and my account was valued well over $100k, but now HIVE is back down to $0.28. BTC was at $50k and now it's back down to about $16k.

The year has been a downward trend almost the entire time and things just keep going lower and lower. Nobody seems to know where the actual bottom will be. We are now seeing prices that many had assumed would never be witnessed again. It's difficult to watch it all unfold and even more painful when you are somebody like me who made the decision to live off of crypto at the end of 2021.

I must admit, this has been the best year of my adult life, but things are far from perfect. There are many in the same situation as me, but I can say that I for sure have been affected tremendously by the loss in value in the crypto markets.

We can try to blame it on SBF and FTX, people in power controlling the price, or a number of other reasons. I won't try to say what has caused this to happen, but it has happened. My lifestyle has had to alter accordingly.

Where is my money❓

Even though prices are down, bills and other essentials still have to be paid. For most of the year, I've made enough off of post/curation rewards on Hive to get by. At this point, it is getting to where I will have to spend more than I am earning to keep living my life.

I had already accepted that my Hive Power wouldn't be growing as quickly as it had been in the last few years. I thought to myself that it may not grow at all, but that would be okay as long as it stayed where it was around 70-75k HP. I had already earned so much in 4 years of daily blogging that I was happy with my total.

The idea of watching that number plummet is just not something I'm okay with. I've spent way too much time and energy building up my account to just watch it all dwindle away. This means I must find a supplemental income to prevent myself from taking significant losses. I'm still so glad that I quit my old job and I will never go back, that shit was torture. However, for the time being, I don't think it is smart to rely solely on crypto to get me by.

What will I do❔

Luckily for me, there are many options here in the USA for me to make some decent cash. Many of which do not even require me to go through a rigorous interview process or have any experience in the field at all. My hope is to make enough to cover my bills and other necessities, then maybe have a bit extra to buy some HIVE at these insanely low prices.

How might I do that you say?

My first idea was to start shopping for people through Instacart. I've known a few people that have done this and made some pretty good money in the process. It seems way more enjoyable than something like DoorDash. I got signed up recently, but now have to wait on a company credit card to be delivered so I can start working.

There are several other things I could do if Instacart doesn't take off right away.

Driving with Uber or Lyft is always an option. Although I have a great car and love driving it, I don't really want to go this route. My biggest fear is that inconsiderate people will get inside my car and make a mess of it. I've had it for 10 years and it's in great condition still. The back seats look like they've never even been sat in before. Plus, putting a ton of extra mileage on the car is less than ideal.

Of course, there is driving with Instacart too, but people won't be inside of my car and I will be able to choose which orders I take. If you have any experience with Instacart, please feel free to comment below with any advice that you have.

There are many other delivery services out there worth trying, but I'm starting with Instacart and look forward to seeing how it all goes. It certainly will be far more enjoyable than working a 9-5 for an employer that hates you and wants to control your life. At least with these rideshare and delivery apps, you get to make your own schedule and work as much or as little as you'd like.

Am I worried❓

In the short term, yes of course there is some cause for concern about finances. Am I losing sleep over it? No, I am not thankfully. Things are not yet at catastrophic levels and I still have enough money to survive. The goal is to prevent worse things from happening and to act sooner rather than later. I still believe that the crypto industry will see tremendous growth over the next few years. Sure, most of our gains have since been wiped away, but we are still higher than we were when I first started all of this.

In the long term, I think we will see higher prices than our previous peak. I expect crypto to bounce back and continue to expand in big ways. There are going to be a lot of projects that fall off the map. Many didn't prepare well for this. That means that a lot of the bad actors will get squashed and vaporware projects will exist in lesser numbers. I can't promise that people will stop supporting meme coins or buying shitty NFTs.

My confidence is still high and I believe in myself to always find a way. I'm nowhere near my breaking point and I'm glad to have continued to remain consistent with Hive and crypto in general despite the many ups and downs. Remember, this isn't the first time that we've been stuck in a terrible bear market. Eventually, the bull will arrive and remind us why we are here.

I've cut back on my spending big time. I haven't been traveling much at all. I avoided falling into the trap of buying too many Christmas gifts. I only purchase the bare minimum at the store and have even started to buy cheaper meat to cut costs. Eating out on weekends is still costing me, but I think it's essential for my happiness.

At the start of this year, I envisioned myself spending most of the winter staying at some cool Airbnb by the beach instead of being stuck here at home where it's cold as fuck. That definitely isn't happening, but I have still found ways to stay satisfied with life and I know that my time of complete abundance will come one day.

Any other ideas 💡

I would also be open to joining some type of team in the crypto world. The thing is, with all prices down so badly, pretty much nobody is hiring. If they are, it is for positions that I have no expertise in.

If there is a project on Hive that is funded by the DHF and needs somebody who knows how to get shit done to work with them, hit me up. I find it unlikely right now though because I've watched so many projects absolve recently. You never know though.

If you have any other recommendations please feel free to drop a comment or message me directly on Twitter or Discord.

A lot of things I will shoot down right away. I refuse to get back into the routine of hating what I have to do daily. If there is something that I am passionate about or just happen to not mind doing, I may be interested.

Good luck everyone 🤞

I hope there aren't too many of you who are down so badly that you have lost all hope and don't know what to do next. Things are going to get better, eventually. It's going to take time and if you are willing to stay active on Hive until we see brighter days, then you will surely be rewarded for it. Please don't give up. Things may not be quite as grand as they were at the beginning of the year, but we are still alive and have a chance to thrive.