No Limits Ladies.com

About a decade ago, the hubby and I looked at our expenses and then looked at what we actually used. One thing stuck out.

The cable bill.

No, not cable for internet access. That we use almost every minute we’re home (except for the few hours we sleep). We watch movies on it. We do searches. We check out tv shows.

In other words, we use it instead of cable tv. Tv, we use to check the weather quickly, maybe channel surf, but nothing that we need cable for. The 12 channels that we get with antenna are good enough (and many of the channels are in HD).

So we cancelled cable tv and haven’t missed it since.

A friend of ours found his technology overlap within his phone bills. He had his residential landline and his cell phone. No one ever called his landline (except for telemarketers). He never used it. He’d often even forget to check the voicemail there (missing messages). The separate bills were a pain, an extra expense and an extra worry.

So he cancelled his landline.

There are other areas for money and time and hassle savings. Do you really need an iPhone and a Blackberry and an iPod? Do you need a website AND a blog (can you put a sticky post on top of the blog and add pages)? Do you need a separate scanner, printer and copier when an all-in-one machine would do everything for less? Try to simplify.

Credit and debit is usually the payment of choice for most customers so it is key to have controls in place to deal with them.

Here are some common controls that retailers and restaurants have in place to limit fraud, theft and heck, plain ol' errors.

- Confirm that the name on the card is the same as that of the individual presenting the card for payment. Use drivers’ licenses or other acceptable forms of identification.
- Examine the card for obvious signs of alteration.
- Confirm that the card is valid (not expired or not yet in effect).
- Compare the signature on the back of the card with the one used by the guest paying with the card.
- The employee processing the charge should initial the credit card receipt.
- Do not issue cash back.
- Do not write in tip amounts for the guest unless the tip is a mandatory service charge (and that fact is communicated to the guest).
- Tally credit card charges on a daily basis.

Every entrepreneur knows that cash flow is king. Cash is the lifeblood of any young company. Run out of that and your dream is dead.

What many don’t know is that cash controls are a MUST for keeping the cash flow circulating. Entrepreneurs leave this part until later, until the company is making “big bucks”, until the operations piece has settled down. Unfortunately, at that point, it may be too late. The leak may be so big that it’s sunk the ship. Or worse, the company may have attracted baddies that can do physical harm to owners.

What are cash controls? Is it the personnel heavy and time consuming Sarbanes-Oxley? Does it require a cracker jack financial person (such as myself)? Is it going to cost dollars you don’t have?

Not at first (only when you get big enough to warrant it, then well, you’ll have the cash and won’t get much sympathy from me).

In the case of a one person operation, cash controls can be as simple as ensuring that you have a secure mailbox, safely store financial information (including cancelled checks), reconcile your bank account at least monthly, deposit checks immediately… those sort of small controls that can make a big difference.

On Saturdays, I’ll be talking more about cash controls and other concepts for business owners. Some of the information may be outdated (‘cause I’ve been doing this for years and haven’t kept current with all Point-of-sales systems, etc), some may not be relevant for your business. Take what you need and discard the rest.

Because I work on contract gigs mostly for the experience and for the love of it, I’m very easy going when it comes to billing. I don’t bill for every minute. I throw in some freebies. I keep my bills fairly constant.

Unless management keeps me waiting.

Then I charge for every second I’m cooling my heels, wasting my time. I think it’s rude and rudeness should come with a price.

The management team on my current contract gig at a start up has kept me waiting several times. I’m billing everything. No freebies. The only reason I’m still there is because I agreed to do the job and darn it, I will do it.

A few days ago, because there were no other seats, I was working at the receptionist’s desk. Recently some key investors pulled out of this business-to-be. The principal investor and company president is nervous about getting a replacement investor. The bankers are breathing down his neck.

A guy walks in. He’s dressed nicely, not over the top. He’s got confidence to spare. Thinks I’m the receptionist. Asks for the president by his first name. I ask if I can get his name and recognize it immediately.

I go into the president’s office and let him know that so and so is waiting for him. The president is not a local, doesn’t recognize the last name. Tells me that he’ll be with him in a few minutes.

More than a few minutes pass. The guest is getting peeved. He’s watching the chaos that is going on around him (launches are always crazy but this is the worst I’ve ever seen). Shrewd look on his face. I catch his eye, nod, and smile. He realizes by now that I’m not the receptionist.

I go in to talk to the president again. The president tells me… well, in some colorful language, that he’ll meet with the guest when he feels like it. When I return to the desk, I tell the guest that he’ll be a few more minutes.

The guest stands up and says that he can’t wait. I tell him that I understand… completely. That gives him a laugh.

Why? Because I understood that he was there to inquire about investing. And the president let him walk out the door.

So don’t mess with anyone’s time, including your own. It’s not nice and could cost you money.

I was reading Brian Tracy’s The Psychology Of Selling (yeah on a bit of a Brian Tracy binge) and loved his bit on earning thresholds.

“Psychologists have found that you can never earn 10 percent more or less than your self-concept level of income. If you earn 10 percent more than you think you are entitled to, you will immediately engage in compensating behaviors to get rid of the money… If you earn 10 percent or more below your self-concept level of income, you will engage in scrambling behaviors.”

I wish I could say that this does not apply to me. Unfortunately, that would be lying.

When the hubby and I got married, we had a discussion on what would be our goal for earnings (excluding investment income). I figured out a number and wrote it down.

We hustled to get our earnings (back then mostly salaries) up to that level. We job jumped, we asked for raises, we invested in our knowledge, we took some career risks.

Once we hit that salary level, we coasted.

Then I decided to semi-retire (take summers off to write and start new ventures). We didn’t want to touch our investment income (hey, you never know when we might need it more…) but with me off for 4 months out of a year, we would fall below our earnings target.

So what did we do? We hustled. The hubby got a professional designation that bumped him into a new salary bracket. He also moved more into the ever lucrative pure sales. Within a few months, we were back at our salary goal.

I know, I know, dumbness. Why didn’t we do this before and invest the difference?

So look at your self-concept level of income. What figure do you have in your mind? Try raising that figure by 10 to 20%.

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays. Of course, there’s the candy (I might dip into the offerings one or two times) but that’s available year round (though it is the only time of year, I eat caramel apples). There’s pumpkin carving and the roasted pumpkin seeds that come with it but then, I tend to be lazy and often skip the carving (lately I’ve been putting out the stuffed cloth jack o’ lantern).

No, what makes Halloween truly special to me are the costumes, especially those soft, cloth costumes the ankle biters wear.

There are the Anne Geddes like babies, clad in modified sleepers with tiger ears and whiskers, shown off by proud Moms and Dads. Oh, and the cutie toddlers dressed up like ponies (one little cutie almost tripped over the curb last year).

So what does this have to do with More Money Mondays? Well, in order to show off the troopers to their full cuteness, they need costumes and the more unique, the more creative, the better. Unique means dollars. Creativity means dollars.

And while you’re making money, you will also be making memories for some lucky family.

The hubby and I went shopping on the weekend at an outlet mall (picking up the clearance summer goods, especially work out shorts and sports equipment). Everywhere we shopped, the hubby asked if the store gave an additional discount for AAA members. Most didn’t but some did, cumulating savings on top of the already discounted prices.

Over the time span of a year, our discounts using the AAA membership actually pay for the card and that is not including any auto benefits.

My youngest sister traveled all around Europe on student discount rates (including stays at hostels). She enjoyed discounted plane fares, discounted meal specials and discounted accommodations. There were even special student events that only people with international student cards were invited to. Not only did it save her money but it increased her fun.

My father in law is in his 70’s. Whereever he goes, he asks if there is a seniors discount. Most places (travel agencies, restaurants, even car rentals) have them. He says it takes some of the sting out of being older (note that different places have different definitions of what a senior is… I’ve seen pharmacies with discounted seniors rates for those 50 years and older).

So take a second before you pay and ask if there’s a relevant (to you) discount. That second could save you money.

Okay, I’ll admit to it. Thanks to the hubby (he loves it), I’m a big, big fan of The Hills, that MTV heavily scripted “reality” show.

This week’s episode was all about Heidi and the stunts she pulled at work. You see, Elodie had her eye on a position opening up. She gushed about it to her "friend" Heidi. Heidi, without saying a word, applied and got the job. She seemed to think that stepping on people was the way to get ahead.

Yeah, I know. I’m tempted to run a contest about how many bad decisions were in that one paragraph but we’re all busy people so lets simply discuss them.

First, if you hear about an opening and you want it, don’t talk it up to anyone and everyone you meet. Keep it on the down low. Then if your “buddy” also applies and gets it, you can at least tell yourself she didn’t know any better.

Second, if you’re working in a small office and you know you’re competing for a position with your “buddy”, be open about it. She is going to hear about it anyway. Give her the courtesy of hearing about it from you.

Maybe use the classic “We’re both such different people. We’re not really competing. Because if you get it and I don’t, I probably wouldn’t have been considered for it anyway.” Odds are, that’s true.

However, my third and biggest issue with Monday’s show is the assumption that you have to squash people to get ahead. Yes, somewhere along the line, you’re going to hurt someone’s feelings. That comes with making decisions.

But what you need in a company are allies, not enemies. Allies will watch your back. Allies will promote for you (so you don’t look shameless). Allies will pitch in to help when you screw up (and you will screw up). Allies, of course, expect you to do the same for them.

So play nice.

In the August edition of Reader’s Digest, there was an interview with the first American Idol Kelly Clarkson. I enjoyed reading her thoughts on money.

Reader’s Digest: Your family also had a hard time financially and argued about money.
Clarkson: That was always a huge issue. I know money doesn’t solve everything, but it solves a whole lot.

Reader’s Digest: How are you with your own money?
Clarkson: I have saved and saved, and I don’t have to work another day. When I won Idol and started working with a business manager, she asked “What do you want?” I was like, I don’t ever want to have to make a decision because I need money. So we accomplished that two years ago, and I’m set.

Coming from a poor background myself, I saw the same thing happen at my Mom’s house. Decisions being made because of a short term lack of money, not because that was the right thing to do long term. A loved one is currently risking his health because of a money crunch (can’t afford the medical bills or even the time off work).

Sometimes more money is less about the toys and more about the freedom to do what is right.

May’s Men’s Health (raiding the hubby’s magazine stash again) featured 5 guys exemplifying the 5 pillars of success (ambition, intuition, focus, courage and leadership). Within it, they interviewed mega successful L.A. Real Estate Broker Jonah Wilson (yeah, son of Beach Boy Carl Wilson). One of his laws was to never fear the flush.

“It’s not that hard to make a hundred grand in real estate if you know a few people who want to buy or sell a house,” Wilson says. “But you can only go so far on connections, or you’ll be flushed out when the market takes a downturn.” The simplest remedy: tenacity. The best raise their game because they want to stay.

You see this in every area. A market (real estate, energy stocks, blogging, etc) gets hot. What I call “tourists” jump in, trying to make a quick buck. The market tanks. The tourists leave and only a few with guts and persistence are left (look at Margaret Moore with her medieval romances, one of the few authors in that once hot sub-genre remaining).

Are you a tourist or a professional? It depends on whether you anticipate the flush or not. It will come. It always does (eventually and not usually when you think it will). Have you planned for it? Can you ride it out?

My next door neighbor (a very tolerant lady who doesn’t even notice it anymore when I put out the garbage in my jammies… not to mention going across the road to the grocery store) has a little trouble with walking now. She always uses one cane but sometimes she uses two.

Going on the bus recently, I counted 5 people with canes seated near the front. Some were the regular hospital type ones (made of metal, very sturdy) but a few were fancy, carved wooden ones. What my Granddad used to call his walking stick ‘cause, as he’d say, canes are for old people.

Often when the hubby and I are hiking around… Hawaii or some other tropical paradise, we’ll see plenty of these walking sticks being used.

A beautifully carved walking stick is a piece of art and many of them, despite the low material costs, are priced that way. Someone handy at wood carving (or whittling) could in his or her spare time make some extra cash. With the population getting older and affluent, the demand is growing.

Going back to a contract gig and I was fretting about meals. During the summer, I had a very disorganized meal routine. I’d wander over to the grocery store across the road (in my jimmies and flip flops) and look at the last day of sale veggie selection. Pending on what were on those racks, I’d throw together a meal (usually stirfries).

Yeah, not very efficient but I had the extra time and I used the daily grocery store jaunt as break from all that writing.

Now, I don’t have that luxury. I’ll be working my usual killer hours (‘cause I bill by hour so I cram 12 months of billings into 8 months) with all my extra duties (writing, blogging, stock picking).

So I was asking around for ideas, inspiration.

One of my girlfriends talked about her weekend routine. On Sunday (a lazier day), she’d prepare the meals for the week. She’d shop, and chop, and cook. Then she’d either refrigerate these meals (for the first few days) or freeze them in handy dandy freezer bags (since its only for a few days, 5 days max, no fear of freezer burn).

Throughout the week, whoever got home first would do the reheating. Sometimes it was her hubby. Sometimes it was her.

Saves time. Saves money.

If I’m going to work, my policy is to work for the most money. To do that, I look at all areas of compensation.

One area in a job is the bonus program.

In many companies, employees (including managers, and especially executives) get rewarded when the company does well with some sort of bonus. The bonus can range from 0 to well, well over 100%. Read about big executive paydays? That’s usually the bonus structure at work.

So if I’m going to be with a company for a while, I always sneak in, with my request for a salary increase and other perks, a request for an increase in that percentage. Most managers are free and easy with a bonus increase. Its not money they have to pay here and now. It is not always paid out.

When are the best years to ask for a bonus increase? In a year where no one believes they’re going to get a bonus. In those years, I make my request for increase a bit higher than usual.

In the past, when I heard about teachers and them getting summers off (I know, I know, they use the time to catch up on their training, etc), I would get extremely jealous. It didn’t matter that I made substantially more dollars than they ever dreamed of making. I was as green as the Incredible Hulk.

And it was then that I realized… I wanted summers off for myself. I wanted the freedom to write and to build businesses (and basically work 20 hours a day like I did this summer but on my own projects).

So I figured out a way to accomplish that.

You see, my Mom (a very wise woman) used to tell me that jealousy isn’t about the other person. Jealousy is about you. It is you telling yourself what you want and what you lack.

I’m not jealous of other people’s fame because I certainly do not want fame for myself (thank you, no). I’m not jealous of people’s clothes because if I had my way, I’d live jammies.

But I was jealous of the teachers and their “summers off.” I’m currently jealous of established authors with their already built (but constantly maintained) readership. Those are things I want and those are things I’m working towards.

What makes you jealous? And how are you working towards “getting some” of that for yourself?

Recently I received an email from Julian at www.Shoeboxed.com about their brand new site. No Limits Ladies happily gets a lot of emails (we love them!). Many of those (as with Julian’s request)are check out our new site requests. Unfortunately, as we’re a community of doers, we often aren’t able to respond quickly to all of them. Honestly, sometimes I don’t allocate time to check out our own site (bad, bad, blogger).

However, we did check out Shoeboxed.

Why?

Because the timing was perfect.

You see Shoeboxed is a receipt saving service and last week Apple offered a $100 credit to peeved off iPhone buyers… but only with the receipt. No receipt. No refund.

Immediate tie-in. No, the folks at www.Shoeboxed.com didn’t build their service to deal with the Apple iPhone mess but when presented with this perfect opportunity to promote their site, they didn’t hesitate. That’s the benefit of the small business (it would have taken a big business a month simply to get the approvals for the promotion).

Oh, and Julian also brilliantly sold it by referencing my post on Creating Our Own Luck. Here’s your post and here is a real life example. How could I not comment on it?

So when opportunities come, especially delicious promotional opportunities like this, take them.

And save your receipts…

I’ve been on both sides of this equation. I’ve lost things in parking lots (very often bags of stuff that I placed on top of the car while unlocking the doors – though once we left a set of valuable jewelry that we received as a wedding gift on top of the car, drove off and when we returned only the empty case was there) and I’ve found things in parking lots. Actually it is very seldom that I don’t pick up at least a lucky penny in a parking lot.

But I haven’t yet found a diamond. Course I’ve never really been looking for them in parking lots… until now.

Steve Gillman says “Parking lots are where most diamonds pop out of there settings, due to the temperature changes when people get out of their cars.” Yikes. Did not know that (I now get my diamonds and their settings checked once a year, after having lost one… turns out maybe in the parking lot).

One couple does know that. Looking for diamonds in parking lots is how they supplement their retirement income.

So keep your eyes open. You never know…

I attended a sneak peek of an upcoming movie a few weeks ago. Tickets to this event were free. One of the organizers said they gave out over double the amount of tickets needed to fill every seat.

The theater was not even half full.

I’ve seen this happen again and again. Why? I believe its because the tickets are free and so people receiving them view them as “worthless.”

That’s why I consciously put a dollar value on any freebies. This includes contest winnings, favors done by friends, leftovers from mom-in-law’s house. I may not say it out loud but I’ll think to myself, “that leftover chow mein, good enough for a meal, is worth $10” or “that set of sneak peek movie tix is worth $22.”

So if I “waste” that freebie, it’s like I’m wasting money. I wouldn’t throw away $10, would I? Then why would I not eat the chow mein for dinner the next night? I’m not that much of a diva. Why would I prefer to waste $22 rather than see the movie or give the tix to someone who would?

It also helps with the gratitude problem. Have you ever helped someone out and thought she didn’t appreciate the time you spent? You won’t have that with me. I’ll have put a dollar figure to that time and you can bet that I’ll be grateful (well, mostly, sometimes I’m not as grateful as I should be when I come home from vacation and the M-I-L has moved my furniture).

A buddy of mine emailed me, joking about my connections (the internet world is very small, odds are you know someone who knows someone), saying that if she could only get so-and-so screenwriter to convert her book, she’d be all set.

I spent a few minutes on the internet, found the screenwriter’s business address and sent it to her, suggesting she send him a query.

She pushed back, making an excuse that he likely doesn’t want to be bothered.

Honey, I told her, if he doesn’t want to be bothered, he wouldn’t list his address on his website. Send the darn query.

I don’t know the results of the query (too soon). I don’t even know whether my friend sent it. But I do know that she has better luck hammering out a deal with him if she does.

There’s a story floating around about Anderson Cooper. About how after graduating, even with his connections (his Mom is Gloria Vanderbilt), he couldn’t get a reporting job, so he made his own press badge and went off to cover wars.

I’m told I was lucky, as an accountant, to get exposure (along with top notch mentoring) to product development at a major beverage company. What folks forget is that I was basically working 2 jobs (about 70 hours a week), one getting my accounting work done, the other “volunteering” in new product development. Yep, I was working for free.

I guess what I’m saying is that luck often doesn’t “happen”, it is created. You create enough opportunities, you WILL get lucky (that's a mathematical certainty). This works in business, investing, and even romance.

Just finished Patricia Wood’s entertaining novel Lottery about a man with an IQ of 76 who wins the lottery. Wowsers, was this book crammed full of financial truisms.

Like this section where the lottery winner Perry goes to see his bank Mr. Jordan.

Deposit half of my money into my checking account and the other half into my savings account. That is what I do. Half in checking, half in savings. Gram told me always to use half and save half. Mr. Jordan does not quite look as happy when I leave as when I came. That is okay. I get one hundred dollars cash in ones, fives, and tens from the teller. This makes me feel rich. I have never had that much money at once. Mr. Jordan looks disappointed. He wanted me to buy CDs and T-bills, but I do not know what those are.

Gram said “If you don’t know what something is, don’t buy it. Look at this, Perry! All these fools losing their money!” She would laugh and point at the newspaper. “They deserve what they get buying what they don’t understand!”

If you don’t know what something is, don’t buy it. That’s the basis of smart investing. If you don’t understand what the company does or how the investment works or certainly how you get your money back out, don’t buy it (at least not until you do more research).

The entire book is filled with wise snippets like this about handing money, money and friends, and dealing with sudden wealth. All while entertaining.

This is the final part of the interview with Kathie M. Thomas, Founder of A Clayton’s Secretary, Author of “How To Become A Virtual Assistant”, and a leader in the industry.

What range of tasks does a virtual assistant perform?

“Lots of things. It took me about 3 years to work out what I really
enjoy and then I had to pass on the clients whose work I didn't enjoy. A bit hard as they had confidence in me and didn't want to get used to someone else! Not really had any strange requests, at least anything 'different' or 'new' just provided a new opportunity to develop new services. For example a client asked me to explore how blogs work over 2 years ago and so I set one up for her and one for myself to test how it worked. I'm an avid blogger now - in the Top 100 list in Australia but my client STILL does not understand what it's about and gets me to handle her blog for her – using articles she's pre-written. I really enjoy web-based stuff these days, i.e. web design (and I do hosting too and domain registrations), blogging – with a passion! Database management, ezines and newsletters, and stuff like that. I used to do bookkeeping, transcriptions, training on use of computer but eventually passed that work on. I do loooooove mentoring and coaching new VAs and helping them get established - I have much to share and teach others.”

For more information check out Kathie’s blog http://www.vadirectory.net/blog/ for more information about Kathie M. Thomas and the virtual assistant industry.

Lindsay Lohan has one. Kiera Knightley has one. Heck, even the kids in High School Musical 2 have them. Stylists. Someone to advise the stars what to wear where and how.

Stands to reason that the average teenager would want one also. Not only is it a status symbol but a stylist is someone to blame for those less popular choices (like my purple big bow butt prom dress fiasco that I’m still trying to purge from my memory).

And Moms, I know most would happily send their preteens to the mall with money, a list of clothing rules (like no micro minis), and someone to ensure they were enforced. No fights, no arguments, 100% compliance.

‘Course the ideal stylist is hip, happening and up to date with current trends. They read the teenage mags and know where in town to snag pieces to copy the looks. They look the part, someone the teenager won’t be embarrassed to be seen with (this is a perfect job for the party gal in her 20’s).

And they can say no to see through t-shirts without causing World War III. Definitely someone with a knack for handling people (once the stylist is established – i.e. older, she can hire trendy staff).