Money / Finances

Let Me Explain About The Monetising

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Reading Time: 3 minutes

Let me explain about the monetising…

Dear Reader,

I have always used my website/blog to share my great free content and promote my brilliant paid content. My paid content consisting of: my books, articles and short stories.

But I have recently added a Support Antony page, listing all the ways you can support me and my creative works. I wanted to take a moment of your time to explain.

6 Months of Vasculitis HELL!

A couple of years ago, I was diagnosed with a progressive and life shortening disease called Vasculitis:

Vasculitis is the name of a group of conditions that cause inflammation of the blood vessels.

Inflammation is your immune system’s natural response to injury or infection. It causes swelling and can help the body deal with invading germs.

But in vasculitis, for some reason the immune system attacks healthy blood vessels, causing them to become swollen and narrow.
(Quote from: NHS, 2023)

There’s no other way for me to describe the last 6 months, than being Vasculitis Hell. I’ve had several flare ups and an 8 week nasal infection that was resistant to a number of different antibiotics.

During this time, my Vasculitis Fatigue has gotten significantly worse. I am told by the specialist team caring for me, that although the fatigue will fluctuate from day-to-day, it isn’t going to get any better. That it will be ever present, regardless of whether I am in an active flare up or in remission.

Throughout this time, I’ve worked full time (40 hours per week), plus travel time (10 hours per week). I’ve even managed to maintain some regular blog posting and promoting of my books. I’ve also just about managed to maintain the basics – eating, bathing and sleeping.

But my quality of life has been non-existent. I’ve been constantly physically, mentally and emotionally exhausted. I’ve repeatedly had to cancel social plans. I’ve ended up taking some time off work sick and had an increased number of medical appointments.

Its took me 6 months to realise: What I am doing is not sustainable. Especially since the Vasculitis fatigue has worsened. I estimate that I probably get 10-20 productive hours per week and when I’m working 40 hours, plus 10 hours travel, I just can’t do it any longer. Working at double my capacity is rapidly deteriorating my physical and mental health.

After much discussion with family and friends, I’ve made the difficult decision to stop working for a while. Being kind and fair to myself: I have probably carried on working full time for far too long. Now, my body and mind are telling me that I just can’t do it any more.

This decision is going to result in some major financial and life changes. But I no longer have the choice to carry on, I just can’t do it.

FREE and PAID Support

With all the above in mind, I need to make it easy as possible for anyone that wants to support me to do so. Which is why I’ve added the Support Antony page. The page includes a list of FREE and PAID ways to support me. Every action taken to support me is greatly appreciated.

I feel a deep sense of gratitude towards and appreciation for everyone that has supported me in the past, that supports me now, or chooses to do so in future.

My Very Best Wishes,

Antony

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Can Money Buy Happiness? – a section from my next book titled FINDING YOUR HAPPINESS

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Reading Time: 4 minutes

I am currently writing a book on the topic of happiness, titled FINDING YOUR HAPPINESS, which is due for release later this year (2026). Writing a non-fiction book requires me to do a lot of research and explore my thoughts, opinions and feelings about what the research suggests. This is something I love about writing.

A question that has caused me to do a lot of thinking and feeling recently is the question: Can money buy happiness? I didn’t know the answer to this question, so I looked into the research. In this blog post, I share with you the section I’ve written for FINDING YOUR HAPPINESS, free of charge, because I’ve found it fascinating.

Your Money

The question that I often get asked is:

Can money buy happiness?

Research suggests that having more money does increase the likelihood of a person being happier, up until a certain annual income.

Once a person reaches around £75,000 (around $100,000 USD) per year, money no longer has any impact on how happy the person is, when compared with other people that have the same income.

I would like to acknowledge here that this is a very high level of income and that most people don’t have an income this high. At this point, I am answering the question above based on available research.

This amount of money stated above is correct for the year 2026. This annual income amount is likely to increase year on year, as the cost of living is ever increasing.

According to research, the reasons why more money increases the likelihood that a person will be happier include:

  • Basic needs are met: Enough food, clean water, decent housing, appropriate clothing, access to healthcare and access to education. This significantly reduces a person’s level of stress and can provide a person with a greater sense of security.
  • Increased choice and autonomy. The person has more options and freedom of choice in their life.
  • The person has money for comfort, pleasure, leisure and fun. This includes money for travelling and new experiences.
  • The person can use money to give them more free time. For example, they could hire a cleaner, cook, pay for childcare, all freeing them up from the time they would have spent undertaking these activities.

Some people who reach this high level of income or exceed and still seek to increase their income. Why do they do this?

One reason could be that they have a strong belief that more money = more happiness. This belief likely comes from their past experiences. Earlier in their career, increases in income probably did contribute to making them feel happier.

Although the research does suggest that more money increases the likelihood of being happier, it also points out that having any amount of money doesn’t guarantee happiness.

You could earn the amount stated above (or more) and still be miserable. You could equally earn a lot less and yet be incredibly happy.

My view is that no amount of money can buy happiness. Happiness is a feeling. A feeling we get through a wide variety of experiences. Yes some of these experiences require money, but others do not.

The best way to keep informed of the release of FINDING YOUR HAPPINESS is to sign up to my newsletter here. You’ll receive just 1 email per month covering: details of my new books/articles as I release them, notification of my latest blog posts and the very occasional special offer. This is not a spammy sales newsletter, but an opportunity to stay up to date.

Write soon,

Antony

My published non-fiction books include:

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The Happiest I Have Ever Been

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Reading Time: 2 minutes

Just over a year ago, I felt numb and like I was coasting through life. I was existing, rather than living. I hadn’t been well for a while and had recently been diagnosed with vasculitis.

People with vasculitis have a significantly reduced life expectancy when compared to that of the average person. This diagnosis caused me to re-think every aspect of my life. It caused me to ask myself: Are you happy? The answer was no.

So then I started asking myself: What would make you happier? I had to look at everything: my health, my work, my relationships with others, my passions (including writing), my finances, my home life, my mental & emotional health.

It was a daunting task. Sometimes, it is easier to be stuck in an unhappy and unfulfilling rut, rather than be brave and face the truth. Especially when facing and accepting where I was in my life involved acknowledging the unhappiness and beginning to make changes.

Change is always hard. Our brains like patterns of behaviour. They are key to our survival as a species, but not key to a healthier and happier life.

So I got counselling. I explored every aspect of my life. I started making changes: prioritising my health, changing jobs, working with others to improve relationships – resetting of expectations and putting in boundaries, getting back on the dating apps, working on a more balanced approach to pursuing my passions, reducing my financial outgoings were possible and trying harder to stick to a budget, getting rid of excess clutter at home and generally taking better care of my mental and emotional health.

None of it was easy. And I’m still not where I want to be. But I’m pleased to say my health has improved in some areas such as my diabetes management & mental health. I am also happier than I can ever remember being.

Write soon,

Antony

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A New Old Car

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Reading Time: < 1 minute

Up until recently I’ve had a Ford Fiesta on PCP. I was coming to the end of my PCP deal. It was time to either buy the car or return it and get another. So I went into the car dealership to see what was available and got a shock.

Car prices, have really rocketed up. As have PCP deals. The car dealership wanted an extra £140 a month for my next car. We are already in a cost of living crisis, I simply couldn’t afford another new car, either to buy one or on PCP. So I thanked them for their time and had to rethink what I was going to do.

I decided to get a secondhand car, a cheap run around with a small loan. I searched and searched for a car in my price range. Various garages told me the same story: Lots of other people are doing the same thing. The cars in my price range were being sold the same day they arrived at the car sales garages.

Luckily, Papa had spotted this (photo left) mini at a local garage and it was in my price range. I took it for a test drive and decided to purchase it. So here we are ladies, gentlemen and others, my new old car. I’ve named him Nathan.

Blog soon,

Antony

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