The State of Things #2 | House Hunting & Building Connections
The State of Things #2 - May 2023
I started writing this series after I lost my job when Silicon Valley Bank collapsed in March 2023. The crash and loss of employment was so sudden and so very out of my control that it was a real wake up call to being employed in the 21st century.
The State of Things is a monthly blog post where I talk about how my life is going partially through a business lens and partially through a whatever the hell I want lens.
The purpose of this series is to keep myself accountable on my journey toward financial independence by making a steady stream of income outside of my day job. Although these blog posts have the same goal - accountability.
What’s Been on My Mind
Concept 1: House hunting and the state of the housing market
I’m a first time homebuyer, and I’m not an economist. While working I’ve been living with my parents and that’s allowed me to save up a reasonable amount of money for a down payment.
I started the house hunt at the beginning of January. Its now mid-may. I’ve probably seen at least 20-30 properties. I could’ve seen myself living in around 5 of those.
I put in offers on 2 houses. (Well, 1 townhouse and 1 condo). And I got rejected both times. Other people put in offers above the asking price. Anywhere between $15k -$50k above asking. And they paid with cash. Where do these people get their money?
Concept 2: Friendship
I’m lonely and I don’t have many friends; its my fault. Not in like a sad emo way “its my fault :(”, but in a self-recognition way. Like, I haven’t been going out of my way to maintain any of my relationships or create new ones, and its time that I turn that around.
I want to start dating one day, but I don’t even feel comfortable with basic friendships. I want to work my way up to a point where I have a large (or small-medium, I would be cool with that too) network of people who I can really connect with before I try to find someone to settle down and spend the rest of my life with.
That being said - I’ve decided to try using Bumble BFF! I used Bumble a couple of times to date in the past, and I really enjoyed their overall user experience. I saw that Bumble has a friendship mode, and about 2 weeks ago I gave Bumble BFF a shot for the first time.
Find New Friends With Bumble For Friends App | Bumble
Here are some of my first impressions:
Everyone is really friendly! Its 95% girls (so if you’re looking to make male friends - it might not be the best platform for you).
People tend to be shy about reaching out and maintaining a conversation. You will likely need to reach out first if you’re serious about making friends.
Tbh, I recommend initiating a friendship date after chatting for a little bit; sometimes even just a few messages (like ~6) back and forth is enough to gauge that the person you’re talking to is real and that you’re OK to meet them in a public place for the first time.
My strategy has been to go online around Thursday evening, then ask the new people I meet to get together for dinner on Friday or for really anything on the weekend or in the coming week.
Since the last The State-of-Things
March 21, 2023 → May 17, 2023 (8 weeks)
💥 3 new comic chapters
🪶 8 new blog posts
📄 7 new Notion templates
✒️ 0 new illustrations
👯 1 new friend(s)
💵 $0 made
Tasks
[x] Post my Notion templates on public forums (ex. r/Notion)
[x] Make 1 more new local friend