Part of me loves to shop. There is nothing more satisfying than finding that perfect bargain on that perfect blouse that will go with anything. Part of me hates to shop, especially at peak times, like weekends and holidays. I have two big shopping events coming up in the next six months. Event # 1 is back to school shopping for children’s clothes (teens). The other event is Christmas shopping, which may seem like it is a long ways away, but actually isn’t all that far.... » Read more
Can you make money working online? You may be wondering if it is at all possible to make any money online. Online income can be an important revenue stream for home workers. The problem is trying to find LEGITIMATE work at home opportunities amidst the numerous scams. WEEDING OUT THE SCAMS There are a few rules of thumb to keep in mind that may help you avoid scams. Never pay money to try to get a job. This is always a scam that is meant only to take your money. Never agree to work without... » Read more
One of the ways we can save more money and work from home is if we take advantage of little things like rewards programs. You should sign up for every store card you can and programs like MyPoints and SwagBucks. I actually just joined SwagBucks because a friend of mine joined and got a new microwave within about a week by getting Amazon gift cards and using them to purchase it. She was so excited that I thought I’d give it a try. I like it so far. I just use their little search tool instead... » Read more
We have several new courses and workshops starting in May. Sign up early or you may risk the class closing due to space limitations on some classes. Escape the Rat Race and Work From Home 6 week course. Details here. Writing Romances Workshop – Don’t have a lot of extra time? This one day workshop is on a Saturday June 5th from 9 p.m. to midnight with a couple of short breaks in the middle. Saturday, June 5th. This course will cover the elements of a romance, opening hooks, conflict,... » Read more
I’ve been teaching the very first Escape the Rat Race course on Monday nights this month. The conversation has been truly engaging and I’m enjoying learning more about my fellow rats out there who want to declare mutiny on traditional jobs and work for themselves and/or from home. One topic that we discussed this week was streams of income. Any business owner alive will tell you that relying on a single client or a single source of income is not smart business. If you lose that one source,... » Read more
STARTS MAY 24th This six week course will take you through the steps you need to escape the rat race (or avoid entering) and work from home comfortably. Week 1 – How much it costs to work, how to cut living costs, four step plan to begin. This is the introduction to the course, but will offer tons of vital information to get you started. Week 2 – Creating streams of income. Information on why it is important to get your income from multiple sources when you work from home and how to accomplish... » Read more
Hi everyone! I have a new class coming up and wanted to share the details with you. Grab a cup of coffee, if you want, and I’ll share a little about the story behind this class… Last year, I had this bright idea that it would be so wonderful to have a steady paycheck every week or so. I started hunting for an outside job and wound up taking one with a company doing work as a word processor.The starting pay was okay, about $35K a year and the hours were good (8 to 4:30) and overtime if... » Read more
We’ve talked about tracking expenses and how much it costs to work. Based on a $35,000 a year salary, your take home is only $8,750 after expenses. What if you could reduce the amount you need to bring in even lower than that $8750 a year? Would that make staying at home and working even more feasible? Let’s look at some ways you can live on less. Maybe working part-time from home will bring in more than enough for you. Savings estimates will be very conservative. You can likely save... » Read more
Now that you’ve figured out your expenses, your next plan of attack in this series is to figure out how much it actually costs you to work. You’ve probably thought about this before when paying childcare or filling your car with gasoline, I’m sure, but I’m going to make a light bulb really go off for you when you see the true cost of working outside of the home. Let’s say you make $35,000.00 a year. You may make more or less, but often a job that pays more also has higher... » Read more
One of the first things you should look at when deciding whether working from home is right for you is your current expenses. There are many different budgeting programs available to help you sit down and map out your bills. Programs like Quicken offer an easy way to print out reports, or you can invest in a program like Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University and Total Money Makeover Complete 2009 Home Study Kit w/ Dvds Cds Books. The initial cost can be a little steep, but if you split the... » Read more