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Work from Home Tip: Establish a Quitting Time

: Image by Cayusa via Flickr

One of the hardest things about a home business is that it is, in fact, at home. It’s hard to separate your work from your home life when your work is at your home. However, it is important to make that distinction. You need to establish a quitting time, even if it is something as simple as “I’ll be done in two hours.” Even if you don’t have your quitting time established early enough to get the house cleaned, you should have it established at a point in the day where you still have time to spend with your family.

Establishing a quitting time can be difficult, though. Sometimes you feel as though you just need to get something done. You can help get around this by creating a to-do list that is ordered, with the most important items first. Do the “musts” on your list first thing so that if you aren’t through the list when quitting time rolls around, you can move what’s left to another day.

Maintaining your sanity when you have a home business is very important. And one of the best ways to do that is to take a deep breath and step away from your work at the end of the day.

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Freelance Editing? You Could Be Getting Into More Than You Bargained For

by Miranda Marquit 2 Comments

I’ve done some editing in my time. I still occasionally do some freelance editing. But I’d much rather do writing. This is because editing seems like it should be easier. Just go through and correct things? Okay! But there’s more than that to editing. Before you take on editing (or any freelance job), consider that freelance editing can be time-consuming and tedious. And more difficult than writing when it comes to agreeing on a price with your client. Laura Spencer at Writing Thoughts offers these 8 reasons that editing is harder than you think it is:

1. Estimating an editing job accurately is difficult.

2. You have to read every single word.

3. There’s always something subjective when it comes to editing — no matter how objective you try to be.

4. Editing a bad piece can actually take longer than writing a new piece.

5. Some clients get upset when you change what they wrote. (Even if that’s what they asked you to do!)

6. There can be leakage from someone else’s style into your style.

7. Too much time editing can result in your seeing errors everywhere.

8. Your writing, in turn, is often held to a higher standard when you are an editor.

It’s not hard to see why the editing jobs I take on are few and far between. What about you? Do you like freelance editing?

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Friday Fun Video: Muppets do “Carol of the Bells”

by Miranda Marquit Leave a Comment

I love the song “Carol of the Bells” — preferably when it’s all instrumental. This rendition from the Muppets really tickled me. I hope you enjoy it in the spirit of the season.

Happy Friday!

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Working from Home: Internet Back-Up Plan

by Miranda Marquit Leave a Comment

: Image via Wikipedia

This morning, my Internet connection went out for about an hour and a half. Which really put a damper on my workday. I had bills to pay an errand to run, so I did those things while I waited for the outage to end, but what would I have done if I hadn’t had something else to do? What if I really needed to get something done immediately? It helps to have a back-up plan for such situations, so that you are prepared. And I do. My back-up plans include the following:

* Take the laptop to the coffee shop, where there is free wi-fi. I’d have to buy a pastry and a hot chocolate while there, to avoid feeling guilty, but it’s worth it!

* Go to the library to use those computers. Of course, there is an hour time limit, so I’d have to see what I could manage in that time and then go elsewhere.

* Go to my brother’s house. I’d probably take the laptop there, too. My brother has a different Internet provider, and isn’t usually out when mine is.

It’s a good idea to have contingencies in place for when things go wrong. I have a cell phone so that when my phone is out, I can still make phone calls as well. Of course, if something major happens and nothing works, no matter where I am, then we’re all hosed anyway, so getting my stuff done is the least of my worries.

What are your plans for when something goes awry with your Internet connection?

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Taking Your Home Business Tax Deductions

by Miranda Marquit Leave a Comment

When you have a home business (or even if you work from home as a telecommuting employee), it is possible to deduct some of the expenses associated with your home office. However, it is important that you are careful when taking advantage of these tax benefits. You have to be sure that the deductions you are taking for home business related expenses only. If your son uses your computer to do homework, it’s not really something you can deduct as a business expense. You can check with a tax professional, or the IRS to make sure you are on the right track.

Here are some of the things that you can included for a deduction when you work from home:

* Internet access

* Telephone line

* Part of your rent or mortgage

* Part of your utilities

* Home office supplies

* Computer

* Health care expenses, including health insurance premiums

* Money paid in for qualified retirement plans

* Trade publications

* Business travel expenses and mileage

* Qualified child care

So you know of other home business tax deductions?

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Google Files Suit Against Pacific WebWorks for Its Work from Home Scam

by Miranda Marquit 1 Comment

: Image via Wikipedia

You’ve probably seen those ads claiming that you can “Use Google to make 1000s of Dollars!” Those ads (which charge hefty monthly fees when you send in payment information for a “startup kit”) are the result of Pacific WebWorks, a Utah-based company that Google is taking to court. Because the company uses Google’s name and even uses the logo — or something quite similar — in some of the ads, Google feels it has a case.

Google has been the subject of a number of work from home scams, which sometimes even use Google’s own AdWords platform to get the word out. Google is trying to weed out such work from home scams (even those that don’t mention Google) from AdWords and from search engine results. Google also warned against work from home scams, and listed some companies to watch out for that use Google in their names, reports CNN Money:

Legitimate work-at-home jobs are those in which a person is paid a regular wage for services performed or hours worked, such as computer data entry, remote tech support, or transcription services. The illegitimate jobs, or “scams” as Lister refers to them, can usually be identified because they ask job seekers to put up money with the expectation of earning money back.
The Mountain View, Calif.-based Google provided other names users should be wary of: Google Adwork, Google ATM, Google Biz Kit, Google Cash, Earn Google Cash Kit, Google Fortune, Google Marketing Kit, Google Profits, The Home Business Kit for Google, Google StartUp Kit, and Google Works.

As always, it is important to remember that if it seems too good to be true, it most likely is. Be careful of the work from home opportunities that you engage in.

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Paying for Health Care When Self-Employed

by Miranda Marquit 4 Comments

When you are self-employed, it is difficult to pay for health care. And, unfortunately, things probably aren’t going to be any easier once Congress is through with health “reform.” Our health care will still be more expensive than any other developed nation’s and we’ll still only have the 37th best health care in the world. One of the main problems is that none of the people who make the rules, pay the money to have the rules made as they like, or make money off of whipping up furor over an “evil socialist” public health care system, have no interest in having affordable health care for We the People.

As a result, you are pretty much stuck on your own. I know. I’ve been paying for group individual health care for years now as someone who is self-employed. And even though I get a tax break, it is still a hit to the wallet. Especially now that my premium is going up by $80 a month because my husband and I turned 30 in the last couple of months. It’s ridiculous that we don’t get any sort of credit or rate reduction due to our healthy habits and preventative care, but that’s life.

So, since my fantasy of having affordable universal health care will probably never come true (either through a Massachusetts-style system or through a single payer system), I am now considering the Health Savings Account. This can be a good move for many self-employed folks, since it allows them to pay lower premiums by getting a high deductible plan. Then you put money in the Health Savings Account, which has tax advantages and grows for your use. You can get the money out anytime you want, and it rolls over year to year — and it grows because it’s an investment.

So, this is a viable option for many who are looking for a way to pay for health care when self-employed. Because things are getting ridiculous.

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Friday Fun Video: Are You a Better Gift-Giver Than Peyton Manning?

by Miranda Marquit Leave a Comment

This commercial had me in stitches. I’m not the best gift-giver in the world, so I can relate to this. Of course, I bet Peyton Manning is a much better gift-giver in real life…

Happy Friday!

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Sometimes the House Doesn’t Get Cleaned

by Miranda Marquit 2 Comments

: Image via Wikipedia

There is a lot written about how women who work outside the home have a lot of pressure to be “super woman” — keeping house, helping to take care of the kids, and bringing home the bacon. However, not much is said about the plight of the work from home mom. As a WAHM myself, I know it can be a real pain to get everything done. And there’s the added onus from the fact that I am home all day. I’m working for a decent percentage of it, but I’m still here, and many assume that it means I have plenty of time to be the perfect homemaker (if such a person exists).

But the truth is that sometimes the house doesn’t get cleaned. While my son is at school priority #1 is getting work done (well, after I’ve done my morning swim). When my son gets home, my priority is getting him started on homework and piano practice and spending a little quality time with him. When my husband gets home from school, my priority is hanging out with him. And in between I try to start dinner.

This means that sometimes the house doesn’t get cleaned. I try to break it up into days, so I’m not trying to clean everything at once, but sometimes there’s toothpaste in the bathroom sinks, sticky spots on the kitchen floor and dust on the bookshelves. (My husband does the laundry, is in charge of the master bathroom, cooks regularly and occasionally does some vacuuming.) But I generally feel good because I’ve brought in the paycheck, taken care of my boys and done a little something for me. So if the house doesn’t get cleaned, so be it.

It took me some time to get to this point, but the fact of the matter is this: If you try to do everything, all the time, you will be stressed, unhappy, and not very fun to be around for your family. So figure out your priorities and let the less important things slide.

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Should You Refuse That Freelance Project?

by Miranda Marquit 2 Comments

: Image by Getty Images via Daylife

As a freelancer, you know that it can be difficult to find work. Even looking online for freelancing jobs, the competition can be tough. As a result, it can be tempting to take whatever project you are offered. Unfortunately, this may not be the best path. There are times that maybe you should refuse that freelance project. The Freelance Folder offers these 10 signs that you should refuse a freelance project:

1. You don’t know what the client wants.

2. You may have to do something unethical or illegal.

3. The client has a reputation as a scammer.

4. You don’t have time for another project.

5. The client asks you to work for free. (Watch out for projects “on spec”.)

6. Client wants too much for too little money.

7. You can’t agree on the project terms.

8. Work beyond your expertise.

9. You know that the client’s request won’t work.

10. The client is hostile or rude.

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