Health issues - migraines

When you operate your own business, whether at home, in a brick-and-mortar store, or online, your good health is of prime importance since you are in control of everything. Staying healthy isn't always easy because of the stresses of running a business and the time commitment involved.

Something that used to be debilitating for me was migraines. As I've grown older, the frequency of migraines has diminished. However, if you suffer from them and they severely interfere with your life in general and your business, you might want to look into alternative therapies such as Botox for migraines. It's not known exactly how Botox works to relieve migraine headaches, but when you're suffering with the pain, the nausea, and the sensitivity to light from them, sometimes the "how" isn't as important as the fact that something does work.

Do you suffer from migraine headaches? How do you deal with them?

PayPal debit card happy dance

I did it. I finally got my PayPal debit card. As you know, I've wanted one and they had refused to send me one because I use a PO box for my address. However, after communicating with them and appealing it, they decided it would be ok to send me one.

I've talked about my history with PayPal on my Forward Thinking blog, so I won't rehash that here. However, I just wanted to encourage you, if you don't have this purchasing tool, to see about getting one.

Now, I'll be able to leave the bulk of my funds in PayPal and let it accrue interest from the Money Market they offer there. Yet, if I need the money, it's accessible through my debit card.

Maintaining control of your business

Sometimes, those involved in a home based business find the business controlling them, instead of them controlling the business. Their Day Planner becomes their bible and they are upset any time something pops up that wasn't in their plans for the day. Once that other thing gets in the way, it plagues them the rest of the day and they lose productivity because of it.

Stay Flexible in Your Schedule

Your Day Planner is a guide and nothing more. You rule it and you tell it what you'd like to do. You can't be so rigid with it, though, that you don't allow for some flexibility each day. Yes, some things are must-do activities. However, if you look over your personal schedule, you'll find that most things can be delayed if something more important comes up. Don't beat yourself up if your Day Planner winds up having something crossed off.

Be Prepared for Emergencies

Allow some time every day for what I call "down time". Having that included in your schedule means that if an emergency comes along, you've allowed some time for non-business activities. Don't make every task of every day so vital that missing one will damage your business.

Learn to Pace Yourself All Week

Sort needful tasks by using a prioritized list, then insert them into your weekly schedule. Address the urgent immediately, of course, then work everything else into your week long schedule. Cramming it all into one day only serves to make you a wreck at the end of the day if you haven't done it all.

Take Care of Emergencies and Surprise Events

Have you ever had your day planned out, then you get a flat tire or a child falls on something and needs stitches in his knee? What does that do to your plans? Yes, it wrecks them and sets your mood, sometimes for the rest of the day. All you can do as a human is address these emergencies when they come along, then re-sort your schedule and perhaps move some things to another day. Fretting and stressing are counterproductive. Let it go, take a breath, and see what you can do to get your schedule back on track at a later time.

John Chow

If you've been blogging for very long at all, you've undoubtedly heard of John Chow. This blog author has really made a name for himself in the field of paid blogging. How? By using solid techniques and posting interesting articles.

He's very transparent about how much he earns from his blog and gives his e-book about making money blogging freely to anyone who subscribes to his feed. I've read only part of the way through the e-book, Make Money Online With John Chow dot Com, and I've already gleaned great information that I'll be acting upon today and in the days to come.

Each tip is worthwhile. His writing manner is easy to read and comfortable, as if he's actually talking to me, personally. While what he teaches is better applied to blogs on your own domain (and I have four), many of the things can also be applied to free hosting such as here at Blogger. However, to maintain complete control of your blog, having your own domain really is the most desirable way to go.

So, why am I still on Blogger with four of my blogs? Because they're already established and you, my readers, know where I am here. I had thought to move them to their own domains, but that's like starting all over again gaining readership and page rank. I even went so far as to buy domains for them, and I may still use those domains in the near future as I wean myself away from free hosting. But for now, these blogs are comfortable to me, like old friends.

Tell me what you think of John Chow.

Beautiful gift

One of the best gifts Danny and I got was a set of wedding bands, given to us by my older daughter. I now wear them both on a gold chain around my neck. A chain Brandon got me last Christmas. These rings symbolize a lifetime of marriage, cut short. They symbolize the circle of life and love Danny and I had together. A ring - a circle without a beginning or an end - is the perfect gift to symbolize a never-ending love and commitment between husband and wife.


Someone you love may cherish a gift like this as well.

Rewarding hard work

Whether you operate a business that has employees, coach a youth ball team, or assist with a homeschool co-op, there are times when you know the people who are working hard ought to have some kind of reward. It's ok to reward them. In fact, rewards and recognition for hard work will keep people motivated to do more - even more than regular pay.

There are a number of ways you can express your appreciation. You can use gift certificates, lapel pins, certificates of recognition, or even trophies. Any of these things will let a person know that you noticed their hard work and appreciate it enough to reward them and let others know how much you appreciate them.

What are some ways you can think of to reward others for their diligent efforts?

Doing business on days off

I probably need a vacation, but to me, days off from my job mean days I can actually do business in other ways. Days I can use fully that won't be wasted or non-productive. Today is such a day. Since tomorrow is Sunday, I may still do some business, but tomorrow my focus will be on family time. My kids and I will all go out to eat together and have some relaxation that way.

See, while it's important to keep your business in sight, it's also important to maintain the family relationships. Without those, we become dull and life becomes nothing more than an exercise in money making with no thought of anything else. That's when life becomes truly sad.

Hannah Montana

If you have children and you have the Disney Channel at home, you probably already know who Hannah Montana is. Well, now she's going on tour. The Hannah Montana tour will be a big attraction for young teens, especially girls, everywhere. I found it extremely interesting that the girl in the show is the real-life daughter of Billy Ray Cyrus, who also plays her father in the show. This is an example of a family business that has gone Hollywood, but it's still all in the family.

Filing important papers

Are you a "shoe box filer"? That's a person who puts all their important receipts and papers into shoe boxes and plans to organize them someday. But someday never comes, and when it's time to file your taxes, you have this chaotic mess of papers to go through, which takes hours or even days of your valuable time. Not to mention, the stress of getting it all gathered properly and recorded.

Even if you decide to use shoe boxes for your filing system, you might want to at least organize them by month. I'd suggest no more than two shoe boxes. Why? That's as long as you should go without handling the papers properly and really filing them according to what they represent. Then, at the end of the year, you just have one final sort to do and you're ready to visit your tax preparer or file your own taxes.

For myself, I use manilla envelopes to keep control of my monthly receipts. I only keep the receipts that will have an impact on my taxes. Other receipts, such as personal purchases, regular monthly bills receipts, or household purchases receipts not related to business, are kept only for the length of time necessary to be sure I don't have to pay them again or I can take an item back if it fails to meet my expectations. After that, they are tossed.

Consult your tax preparer or the IRS to determine which receipts will benefit you in your business tax filing.

All work and no play

I'm sure you've heard that phrase before. "All work and no play makes Johnny a dull boy." Well, it makes Janie a dull girl, too. I'm as guilty as anyone of having a mindset to work. I work at my job around 40 hours a week, sometimes more. I worn online generating income. Days and days go by before I realize I need a real break.

I'm willing to bet some of you are the same way. Maybe you even feel a little guilty doing something that's just recreational, and your mind churns up all the things you could be doing to be productive instead of wasting your time having fun. Maybe it's time to get out your Callaway golf equipment and just go blow the afternoon with some friends. The truth is, you aren't really wasting your time. Your mind and your body need something fresh to keep functioning at peak levels.

Organizing your space

One of the things that can keep anyone from being productive is if their work space isn't organized very well. When you are constantly having to hunt down pens, pencils, paper clips, sticky note pads, or other small items, then you wasting time that could be spent in promoting your business or serving your customers. This applies in home businesses, too.

The newer office desks can help a great deal with the organization issues. These give you places to stow all the smaller items in a neat and orderly manner so you can find them quicker, thus increasing your productivity.

The end of a long day

Days like this are the reason why I yearn to be able to work from home full time. I've been on my feet for 10 hours. When you're my age, that's not so easy. My legs and feet feel like they've been beaten with baseball bats.

The more I present ideas and links to you, the more determined I am to get to a point where I can work from home all the time. Then, I can at least sit and rest when I need to and not have to worry about the push and stress of an outside job.

Getting your business seen

Even if you consider yourself a small business operator or a person with "only" a home business, you need to find ways to expand your customer base and get the word out about your venture. But who has the time to research your market niche and learn who the potential customers really are? This is where a company like MartinWorldwide.net comes in.

They can generate leads for you based on their extensive research in demographics. With over a decade in this field, they have already proven themselves in the mail marketing field.

Martin Worldwide possesses a database of over 290 million consumers and 14 million U.S. businesses and is one of the only major list providers to guarantee its data integrity in writing.

They have the skills necessary to provide you with the marketing materials you need and do so in a cost effective manner. To learn more, visit their site or give them a phone call at (888)- 267-3545. It's a free call so what do you have to lose?

$30 per week grocery list

When you have a little more leeway with your grocery list, you can try this $30 per week grocery list from Heart4Home.net. Included are menu plans and recipes so that you can make the best use of this low-cost grocery purchase.

Any grocery list of this nature assumes a few things.

• You have some staples such as salt, condiments, seasonings, mayonnaise, and other basics in your pantry already.
• You have time to cook from scratch.
• You have the skills to cook.
• You won't be depending on this limited diet for the long run.
• Prices in your area are comparable to those on the list. (If not, then you will need to adjust the list to stay within the budget limit.)
• You won't be using part of your grocery budget for extras such as potato chips, soda, or candy.

Once you get over the financial hump, you can begin to add back in those things that will provide your family with a well-rounded diet.

These low-budget grocery lists can be made to stretch even further if you watch very carefully for sale items and mark-downs, and if you also apply coupons to the purchases. Stick to buying at one grocery store for these items. You'll use more in gas than a few cents savings is worth by trying to make the grocery store rounds.

Around here, the dollar stores also have inexpensive grocery items. But do be careful. Not everything in the dollar store is a bargain. Be mindful of what your regular grocery store charges for the same or comparable items.

Budget101.com

For so many of us today, making ends meet is getting more and more challenging. Rising gas prices on the rise also affects the cost of consumer goods. In the economy, everything is tied to something else. Budget101.com has some great ideas for trimming your budget and making your finances more manageable. Included in their helps is a $10 Grocery List.

Is it fully nutritionally sound with every food group on your plate every meal? No. But when you are in a pinch for grocery money, this is a good way to fill the tummies of those you love without having to spend so much.

This is a list of 12 very basic items. With them, you can create a variety of meals that will keep your family fed for a week. The site also gives you a menu plan to go by, and recipes to use. I've used this very same list in the past when money was extremely scarce but my family still needed to eat. This really works!

Chris Garret New Media blog

I am subscribed to the blog written by Chris Garrett called Chris Garrett on New Media. His posts are intelligent and well written. Mostly, they just make a lot of sense. Today, I received in email his post called Where do you stand on the paid links issue? If you are placing paid links into your blog posts, this is an excellent article to read. While you're there, you can vote in his poll and further express your own opinion about this practice.

By now, you already know where I stand since I do have some posts with paid links in them. This is a way to help boost my income and make things within reach that I would otherwise have to pass over. For instance, later today, I'll be going to Office Depot to buy a new desk chair. The one I have is just worn out and I feel like I'm sitting on a board, the padding is so thin and collapsed. It hurts my back and I need a new chair to be more comfortable in while I'm on my computer.

Without paid links, I would not be able to afford one and would be relegated to buying from a second hand store or yard sale, which probably wouldn't get me the chair I need. I also wouldn't be able to afford a lot of other things, such as the doctor's visit this afternoon or my prescriptions. I've put my own health on hold in the past due to having to make a choice between paying a bill or seeing the doctor.

PayPal updates

First of all, PayPal has a new look for the website. After a few weeks in Beta, they have changed some things on the regular home page. I like the changes. It is cleaner and slicker looking than before.

They have also changed a lot of the PayPal buttons. Some will automatically change for those of you who have them on your website or blog. Some will not. You can also select new designs for the PayPal buttons yourself.

PayPal has put forth a new policy regarding eBay transactions as well. This new policy went into effect on August 23, 2007. They are no longer offering promotional financing for eBay purchases. This means that if you, as an eBay seller, have high ticket items, your buyers cannot have them financed by PayPal. It could be a good thing, but it could also cause a hardship on buyers if they had planned to purchase from you but don't have the full amount you require for your item. I wonder if this will cause a drop in sales for sellers with more expensive items? It's certainly worth watching.

There are a couple of other policy changes, so you might want to login and read them all. They could apply to you.

Millionaire Secrets - talent

I just had to share this with you. Shawn Lim at TheMillionaireSecrets.blogspot.com has been posting his 12 Keys To Success series. The one for today is so true and needs to be applied by all of us. I Am Talented gives us the encouragement to look inside ourselves and realize just how special we all really are. That we all have the potential for doing great things and being successes, if we will only use our inner resources to their fullest extent.

Read more that Shawn has written. There are great thoughts flowing there!

For the homeschoolers

While this blog has turned into one where you can begin to live your dream of returning home instead of working for someone else, I am also aware that homeschoolers are still reading here. Probably so they can find ways to generate extra income from home, and still give their children the tailored education they want to.

Those of you involved in homeschool co-ops and community arts have probably had your children in plays and skits. You might even have done these in your church. One area where the small troupes have problems is with costuming. Many times, they are dependent on donations of clothing, animal costumes, wigs, and other items so the play can look more realistic.

If you are helping with these activities, try searching the local Goodwill or Salvation Army stores for inexpensive but workable costume options. Even yard sales might hold some nice surprises for you.

PayPal Money Market

As I do several times a week, I checked my current balance at PayPal. It's been rising nicely the past few days due to being paid for posts I've written over several of my blogs, for several pay-to-blog companies. But the best thing I saw there was that the Money Market has gone from 5.04% interest to 5.23%. That's a nice jump and it really encourages me to leave a larger balance in my PayPal account than I used to.

It's nice getting a little back from a company I've done business with for nearly 10 years now. If they would send me a debit card to my Post Office box, I'd never download the money again. The PayPal debit card also earns you 1% cash back when you use it. PayPal also offers 100% protection against fraudulent use of your card.

I wonder when they'll ever change the stipulation that you must receive mail at your physical address in order to receive the debit card from them? My bank and all utility companies around here send mail to my PO box!

Dryer lint

I had read in several places that if you wash your lint filter from your clothes dryer, you can save money. How? By removing any built up fabric softeners and lint that may be trapping the hot air which should be flowing through the filter, thus causing your clothes to not dry quickly enough.

Over the past few months, I'd been finding that I was having to run my dryer twice to get our clothes dry. The dryer was tumbling just fine and plenty of hot air was going through it, but the clothes would be damp even after an hour of drying time. So, I took the filter out and washed it in the hottest water I could stand, using dish liquid and a scrub brush to remove any residue and lint. I was amazed at how much gunk came off what appeared to be a clean filter!

Now, my clothes will dry in the normal amount of time. This saves me money on my electric bill, of course, since an electric dryer is a hog when it comes to electrical power.

I'll be washing my lint filter at least once a month from now on to keep the dryer running an drying properly and more economically.

Anyone who is operating a home based business needs to consider little things like this. You have to cut costs where ever it's feasible, and this is certainly one way to do so without depriving yourself of the convenience of using the dryer.

AGLOCO banner

I've had the Agloco banner in my sidebar since about February. But for some reason, it was only today that I realized it wasn't linking to the Agloco site. I apologize for that.

Agloco is another way to generate some income simply by surfing the 'net. You simply download the viewbar they provide, then actively surf. It will log your time surfing and you can get paid for that. Check it out for yourself. I'll let you know in a later post how much I've generated, but you can start earning today!

Organizing

Every home can use some organizing to make the space more usable. If you work from home, this is especially important. Rooms need to be arranged so you get the best use of the available space. Organizing rooms may include adding shelving units or a variety of drawer units so items can be placed where they need to go without consuming valuable floor space or surface space - space you might need when working.

While you will probably want to concentrate on the areas where you actually conduct your business, this can flow over into the rest of the house as well. For instance, to allow more space for children to play, you might want to invest in bunk beds. These would free up space for larger games and toys, make room for a small table for coloring or other activities, and keep the room more tidy and organized overall.

Look around your house. Could the furniture arrangements be optimized? Are there ways you could improve the usability of each room?

Exhausted

I haven't been up for very long after working such long hours last night, but I'm already sleepy again. I've got laundry started, but I think I'm going to have to nap a little while before I can actually jump in and do any housework.

My job is wearing me out, but it's probably partly my own fault. I work harder than I should there. I'm a manager and I wind up doing crew jobs when it looks like they're not getting things done correctly or soon enough. Last night, I spent a lot of time "putting out fires" because two new cashiers repeatedly messed up orders and customers weren't happy. It was a mental strain as well as a physical one. The errors were the same ones over and over, which got to be very frustrating. How many times must one be told about an error before they do things differently?

I wound up giving away food and giving hefty refunds several times during the shift. I've got to take my vacation days soon so I can return to work refreshed instead of dreading it. In the meantime, I'll continue my efforts at home to generate income and hopefully be able to let go of my J.O.B.

Pay the bills

Keeping your credit in good standing means paying your bills in a timely manner. If you are consistently late in paying, it means not only do you have to pay late fees but it knocks points off your credit rating. Keeping your credit score high is important so that when you do decide to approach a financial lending institution for a loan, you stand a better chance of getting it.

Occasionally, due to illness or cutbacks at work, you may not be able to pay a bill as you'd want. In fact, you may even risk losing services if it's not paid soon. It's best to never get in that position, and to have a little savings so that you can pay out of that. However, if you haven't saved anything, you're probably going to be looking at getting a payday loan to pay a bill. Don't use these for frivolous reasons. Use them wisely and pay them back on time. Only get a loan for the minimum amount you need to get you over the hump.

Going fishing?

I've got worms. No, not parasites. I've got red wiggler worms and they're thriving. There was a time I'd hoped to even build a pretty nice worm farm with them and even maybe open a little bait shop. I still might, but I'm thinking I'll wait until retirement for that. However, since I enjoy fishing so much (though I rarely get a chance to go these days), the idea of selling bait, fishing tackle, and other related items is very attractive to me.

I just need a little building, some minnow tanks, and a start with a variety of fishing items - rods and reels, poles, line, sinkers, bobbers, even stink bait and attractants. I know there's more I'd need, but that might get me a little start!