I loved these old commercials from Geico, with the celebrity “translations” of customer stories. One of my favorites is this one with The Pips. I hope you enjoy it, and that it starts your weekend off right.
Happy Friday!
Work from Home Idea: Online Tutoring
- Image via CrunchBase
There are a number of opportunities for the resourceful work from home professional. One of the more interesting opportunities is online tutoring. If you are knowledgeable about a certain subject, you can tutor others about. Sites like Tutor.com offer opportunities for qualified individuals to help students who need help. Of special interesting are math and science tutors.
In order to be approved for online tutoring, however, you usually have to pass a certification or prove your ability to help others. This is not for someone who has only small knowledge of a subject. You can set your own hours, and do something rewarding. You can get paid between $10 and $50 an hour, depending on your level of expertise, the subject and other factors.
Even if you decide not to do online tutoring, you can still be an independent tutor, offering your work from home services to people in your community.
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Using Home Business Income for “Extras”
- Image by cindeelean via Flickr
One of the reasons that some people start a home business is to help earn a little extra money for “extras”. I am in a position where my work from home income is our primary income, but when I first started, back when my husband and I were both working on advanced degrees, it was more about being able to afford a few “extras” — like pizza a couple of times a month.
Many people start a home business, or take small work from home jobs in order to be able to take care of extras. This is especially for those involved in multi-level marketing or affiliate programs. Several women in my neighborhood sell candles or jewelry, or have affiliate scrapbooking supply sites, so that they can finance their hobbies. It’s much easier to maintain your scrapbooking, or buy fun jewelry, if you participate in a program that helps you pay for it.
In the end, it is important to consider your goals for your home business. If all you want is to buy a few extras, then you can plan for that. However, if you want to use your work from home income as a larger income stream, you will need to make different plans. In the end, it is vital that you determine what you want to accomplish, and then make a plan to help you reach your goals.
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Foods that Provide Energy for Your Work from Home Day
- Image via Wikipedia
One of the essential keys to maintaining your motivation when you have a home business is keeping up your energy. A little snack a few times a day can really help keep your energy flowing as you work from home. Here are four foods that can help you keep your energy level up — and that are reasonably good for you:
1. Yogurt: With a number of vitamins and minerals, including calcium, yogurt can be a good way to get a little extra fuel. Just be careful: Avoid yogurt that has a really high sugar content. This can lead to a crash later.
2. Whole Grains: These more complex carbs take longer to break down, providing you with steady energy. I like to have multi-grain toast sometimes to keep me going, or find some other type of whole grain to snack on.
3. Fruits: Fruit is a great source of energy, and it is good for you. Bananas and strawberries offer a high amount of energy — and they are easy to snack on!
4. Vegetables: Vegetables provide a more steady source of energy, and can keep things moving through the day. Spinach is one of the best sources of energy, so you can include it in a salad at lunchtime. Other vegetables that make good snacks include carrots, celery and sugar snap peas.
When you plan your day so that you are taking advantage of snacks that can help you maintain your health and your energy, you are likely to find that you will be more productive as you work from home.
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Work Exercise Into Your Home Business Schedule
Recently, I signed up at the local gym in order to kick-start myself into actually exercising. With my son in first grade this year, I suddenly found that I had time to work on some things that have been bugging me. Like my health. So I joined a gym, and I go swim three times a week, working it into my home business schedule.
When I’m not at the gym, I try to work exercise into my home business schedule in other ways, since I know that it is important. When you have the sedentary lifestyle of a freelance writer, you need to do some things to try and stay healthy. If you take five to ten minutes three or four times a day, you can accomplish a lot. Plus, you should be getting up every so often anyway. So here are some fairly easy things you can do to get in a little exercise at home:
* Use the stairs
* Do some yoga (bonus: this can also help you relax)
* Get exercise DVDs that offer 10-minute workouts (save money by checking them out of the local library)
* Use handweights
* Do sit-ups
* Do lunges or squats
You can improve your health if you just get moving a little bit. And, if you have more time, you can do a sustained workout, go for a bike ride, take a walk or go to the gym.
What do you do to work exercise into your home business schedule?
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Taking Advantage of Windfall Months
- Image by thinkpanama via Flickr
When you have a home business, you have to be prepared for occasional drops in income. However, it is also important that you use a windfall, when it comes, wisely. There are some months where I am asked to complete a big project, and so get a great deal more money. Sometimes, I have two or three months in a row where I end up with more than usual. While it can be easy to get used to the higher amounts of income, it can be dangerous to come to rely on this money.
If you have a monthly average (figured out from what you made last year, divided by 12), you should consider what to do with extra money that comes your way each month. Hopefully, you already put some of your regular income aside for emergency savings, retirement and other regular expenses. So when you get extra some months, you truly can do something extra with it. Here are some ideas for what you can do in windfall months for your home business:
* Pay down debt.
* Set a large amount aside for something specific you’ve been saving up for.
* Invest it.
* Buy something fun or treat yourself.
Understanding your financial priorities can help you decide where the extra money should go.
Of course, you should also set a little aside for your taxes. If you make enough extra each month, that could change what you owe in taxes, and mean that the estimate taxes you have been paying are insufficient. Just remember that you might be charged a fee if you end up owing too great a difference in your taxes.
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Finding Relaxation in Your Work from Home Schedule
- Image by Getty Images via Daylife
Sometimes it’s easy to forget to take a deep breath and relax when you work from home. However, stress relief and relaxation are especially important with a home business, since there are some many stressors related to being your own boss. Taking time to relax a little and refresh is important. I try to make sure that I relax at the end of my work day — and make sure it is the end of my work day. I also like to do small things during the day to keep me motivated, and feeling a little relaxed and less stressed. Some of the things I do during my work from home day for relaxation include:
* Self-massage: I do my neck and shoulders, and my hands. It’s amazing how relaxing — and energizing — this is. Meditation balls help especially with the hand massage.
* Deep breathing: Sometimes I’ll take five to 10 minutes and do some deep breathing exercises that bring close to meditation. This helps refresh and relax me, relieving stress.
* Power nap: A 15 – 20 minute power nap can relax me, and help me feel less stress as I tackle my afternoon.
I also like to start my day with yoga, and I swim three times a week in the mornings. This helps me start the day with a lower stress level, and higher endorphins. I feel more relaxed on days that I exercise. I also find that having greenery in my home office helps soothe me. I have two plants where I can see them, and enjoy a bit of nature in my home office.
What do you do to help relax and relieve stress during your work from home day?
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Friday Fun Video: Stealing from the Money Jar
I love The Simpsons. But I haven’t seen a lot of the earlier episodes because I was nine when it came out, and my mom didn’t like the subversive content. So it’s been interesting to see some of the early stuff, and I came across this, about the money jar.
Happy Friday!
Work from Home Advantage: Setting My Own Schedule
One of the things that I love about freelancing as a lifestyle is that I get to set my own schedule. It is true that sometimes I have tight deadlines, and I’m not entirely who’s really the boss, but most of the time I am firmly in control of my schedule, and I have a pretty good idea of what has to be done, as well as what can wait. And that gives me a lot of advantages when it comes to scheduling. Some of the things that I get to do, since I work from home, include:
* Volunteer at my son’s school.
* Swim laps at the pool.
* Run errands at more convenient times.
* Take my son to piano lessons (and help him practice at home).
* Go out to lunch with my husband (who is a student and can set his own schedule as well).
* Be available to watch my niece in a pinch.
The ability to arrange my work from home schedule around my life helps me be more relaxed, generally less stressed and have a more fulfilling than I would otherwise have. However, it is important to keep all these other activities in check. Sometimes, I just have to strap in there and get my work done. After all, I wouldn’t be able to afford this freelance lifestyle if I never got anything done!
Are there some advantages you see in working from home?
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Home Office: Save Energy with a Laptop
- Image by _escalade328s_ via Flickr
Every year, I participate in Blog Action Day. It’s a program in which bloggers around the world unite and blog about the same cause. This year, the cause is climate change. When one talks about climate change, one also has to talk about energy consumption. One thing you can do in your home office to reduce your own energy consumption is to switch from a desktop computer to a laptop. You can still put your laptop on the desk, if you want, but having a laptop saves energy.
Most laptops are build with LCD displays that are already energy efficient. Additionally, everything about a laptop uses less energy than a desktop. So, instead of buying another desktop to replace your current machine, consider a laptop. Not only will you save energy, but you will also have a more portable home office workstation.
Other things you can do to save energy in your home office include:
* Using power strips that you can turn off at the end of the day.
* Looking for Energy Star appliances for your home office.
* Using lighting that is task-specific.
* If possible, use natural lighting instead of electrical lights.
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