My First Post in 2024

It has been eight long months since the last time I wrote something on this platform. As some of you may know, I have been busy focusing on my career as a freelance Wikipedia Editor on Upwork. Since I have the time to write today, I have decided to visit Read, and say hi to all of you once again.

You may be wondering what's new with me and how my freelancing journey is going. So, for today's first post in 2024, allow me to share with you the good and the not-so-good stuff I have experienced over the past 17 months. Brace yourselves because it's quite a lot!

Upwork Update

Top Rated Plus Badge

The last time I was here, I mentioned that I was close to reaching the Top Rated Plus badge. At that time, I only needed less than $500 to unlock this milestone. In August 2023, I finally achieved it! Unfortunately, I recently lost it due to my longest-standing client, who also happens to be my largest contract, pausing our contract on Upwork. This decision came after she agreed to increase my rate in exchange for working outside the platform. However, after I sent them a letter, HR agreed to resume our contract last night. Hopefully, my badge will also resume soon.

Work History

From the 22 completed jobs since my last update, I have now surpassed 100. In fact, as of now, I have completed a total of 109 jobs, with 35 currently in progress. Quite a significant difference, isn't it?

Total Earnings + Total Hours

Last time, I had earned a total of $20k from freelancing. Would you like to guess how much has been added since then? It's actually $40k+ now, and I'm hoping to reach $50k in a few months. As for the total hours, it has increased from 5,203 to 6,964. Yay!

Earning 6 Digits in a Month

This one here is the most unexpected for me. I never expected I would reach this level. Imagine, I was only earning a few thousand back in 2020, and suddenly in mid-2023, I started earning more. In December, I reached my first six digits. I thought that was just due to the Christmas vibes, but it didn't stop there. See the numbers below.

• December - $2,549.25

• January - $1,870.29

• February - $4,923.85

• March - $5,083.42

• Total in 4 months - $14,426.81

Feedback from my Clients

Random Update

Settled my Debt with Mom

I'm so happy that after 13-14 months since I committed myself to freelancing, I finally settled my obligations to my mom. I managed to settle all the debts I owed her for the house and renaming the properties to my name, which amounted to around PHP 300K. Furthermore, I feel grateful that after so many years, I can now give back to my mom with a 3k allowance every week.

Saved 500k in my Accounts

As far as I can remember, I started saving up again in May 2023. My initial goal at that time was to save PHP 2,500 per week, but after earning more, I increased it to between PHP 30k and PHP 60k a week. Since I know freelancing is not stable, I opted to save more for rainy days. My goal is to reach PHP 1M this year. Of course, I may or may not be able to achieve this, but at least I have something to look forward to by the end of the year.

Got Myself a New Puppy

Oh, one more thing! I also have a new puppy I named Kai-Kai. Her name was supposed to be Kaia, but we decided to change it to Kai-Kai. Right now, I have four dogs: Kiah (the momma dog), Maki (Kiah's only surviving offspring in the pack), Kai-Kai (my Shih Tzu x Chihuahua mix), and Lyka (my brother's dog that I adopted). Sadly, I lost Taki last year. She died unexpectedly.

My BCH

Despite losing so much in 2022, from investing in Pegaxy and smartBCH to getting scammed and losing almost 6 BCH, I still have some left in my wallet, currently valued at around 100k+.

Closing thoughts

I may no longer grind on Read and other crypto platforms, but I'm still striving hard on the other side of the internet world. While I sometimes miss being on here, I have to prioritize what's more beneficial for me. I still hope that one day, I'll be able to find time to write again. I really miss writing about my everyday journey though. Anyway, that's it for today! Until then...