With the new year here, it is time to take a look at our finances and get rid of old bad habits we may have. We are off to a new and fresh start, and this year we will save money. Hoping for the best is not the way to grow your money. Instead, taking small little baby steps can free us from regret, worry, and losses.
How often do you hear yourself stating that you do not have enough money? (I do think that is a statement we all have uttered at one point or another). A way to get more money so you have enough is to adjust your approach. One way to gain more money each month is to use the 50-30-20 budget. The way this budget works is that you spend just 50% of your pay (after taxes) on essentials. These are things like your mortgage payment, utilities, food, car payments, etc. 30% of your income is your wants. This would be vacations, eating out, gifts, etc. Lastly, 20% of your income goes towards an emergency fund. (You have one of those right?) You can also use this money to pay your debt down past the minimum payments. I found a great calculator to help you figure out how much money you should allocate to each thing. [ click to continue… ]
This week is a perfect example of why my daughter and I work from home and why she homeschools. Although it might be more appropriate for Liz to write this article, I wanted to share as a Grandparent and Mom why I have always encouraged my children to make their own way in the world and make it work for them. Because my business exists online, I can work from anywhere, any time of day. Because Liz has followed in my footsteps, she also works from home mostly online, but has recently added work in physical locations, but always on her own schedule. My sons left high school at 10th grade and were tutored at home, so although I didn’t technically home school, they didn’t stay in a traditional school setting.
My philosophy about learning is that it doesn’t have to occur in a classroom. I can hear all my teacher friends gasping. Homeschooling isn’t right for everyone. Society makes it easier to work your schedule around a school schedule. I think children should be taught that every day there are learning experiences all around you. You don’t only learn from 8-3 each day for 10 months out of the year. Everything you do should be and can be a learning experience. Reading a book before going to bed. Reading to your little sister. Watching educational television. Having discussions with people of other generations and listening to their history.
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It’s already been proven that using social media can grow an audience, a following, a community and even grow sales. Pinterest is fast becoming a top location for inspiration for a variety of topics including home decor ideas, gifts, fashion, crafting, food and much more. If you can take high quality photos of interesting things about your products or services, Pinterest could help you gain an audience.
What is Pinterest?
If you haven’t heard about it yet, Pinterest is a social networking community focusing on images as the means of sharing. Users create categories in which they then share, or “pin” images of all kinds of things from food to travel and all the activities in between. Followers can then “like” images, comment, or even re-pin to their own categories. Because it’s image based, it’s very easy to see viral content as it is being re-pinned and traveling through the community. [ click to continue… ]
I know it sounds like the opposite of why we work from home, but WAHMs really need to get out of the house! We spend our days balancing between bus stops, conference calls, blogging, packing lunches, and doing laundry. But one of the best things that we can do for our WAHM business is actually to get out of the house.
I just returned home from the Affiliate Summit conference (along with many of the other ItsaWAHMThing.com writers). I have to admit that before I left, I was not very excited about going. I get into my routine at home with my work and my kids. The thought of leaving for days was daunting. Yet I knew that I needed to do it and that once I got there I would be glad that I did. It takes a lot of extra time to prepare to go on a trip when you are a WAHM. In addition to making preparations at home for how your household will run without you, you have to prepare your business with pre-written blog posts, people to watch your forum, etc. Would it really be worth all of that?
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Most of us have seen some sort of movie depicting “Mean Girls” in adolescent schools. I don’t know about you but where I came from we didn’t have mean girls, so when I see these movies I am baffled by what some people experience or by the film industries over exaggeration. Now as a mother I am terrified by the idea that my girls may be bullied at school. However, overcoming adversity is a strategic mind game in which I think everyone should learn to play. [ click to continue… ]
Rae Hoffman-Dolan, Kim Rowley and Shannon Weidemann at Affiliate Summit West 2012
The biggest joy of being able to work from home is not being able to work in my pajamas, but is being able to spend more time with my family. While I still clock in way over forty hours per week sitting in front of my computer, I enjoy the freedom to set my own hours. I am able to take breaks as needed for some quality family time to help with homework or to carpool the munchkins around.
On today’s agenda, I plan to take a nap once the kiddos are off to school. Usually “I need my beauty sleep” is my excuse for “resting my eyes” for a bit, but today I am truly jet-lagged and sleep deprived. Why? Because I just returned home from Affiliate Summit in Las Vegas where I just spent five days with my affiliate marketing family.
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I’m one of those fortunate (or some would say UNfortunate) ladies who gets to work at home with her significant other. Not only do we keep house together but we raise two kids and run two businesses from the comfort of our home. To some this may sound like a dream – not having to commute to work, being able to spend lots of time with the person you love, getting to work flexible hours and so on.
To others, it sounds downright nightmarish! When I tell people I work at home with my husband, 90% of the time they come back either sarcastically or apprehensively “Oh, how’s that going for you?”. Truthfully? I love it! We both do. But we do certain things to ensure our work / home life remain harmonious. Here are 5 tips to having a happy work / life balance with your loved one.
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This morning I had the opportunity to listen to Eric the Hip Hop Preacher give the keynote address at Affiliate Summit West. He is a motivational speaker who grew up homeless and dropped out of high school. He is now a published author and a dissertation away from his PhD.
He has a vision that everyone can be successful. Success is an individual thing and means different things to different people. He had a number of points that he wanted to make to help us become successful.
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Missy Ward Celebrates Her Birthday
Yes, that’s right. Today really is my birthday.
Telling you how old I am is irrelevant. All you need to know Ms. Marketer is that this special day comes along with certain expectations of you, as your good customer.
So bring on the fitting recognition and proper gifts. I’m ready! [ click to continue… ]
Coming to you today live and direct from the Affiliate Summit in Las Vegas (where I and many of my fellow ItsaWAHMThing.com contributors are this week) and having just counted another birthday yesterday, I’m feeling a bit nostalgic as I write today’s post. Energized, driven, success-minded and having a blast – but a bit nostalgic all the same.
Thinking back to when I first started my career in online marketing & digital media, I remember my first business conference like it was yesterday. An exciting, confusing and intimidating experience it was – I look back and think to myself just how much more I could have gotten from it, had I had someone to help guide and mentor me through that first experience while there. There is so much more to attending these things (when done right) than just showing up and going to the pre-scheduled events. It’s about who you meet, how you approach them, what you discuss, how you leave your mark, and about choosing your time wisely. And then some!
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