No Limits Ladies.com

My husband, Matthew Anderson of Wholesale Works and I are both entrepreneurs and we have learned a lot from our ups and downs over the past 10 years. We had a period of about 3 years where we were really just living day-to-day...hardly any money to buy gas or pay our bills. It was very stressful times, I remember having a tantrum because I didn’t have $8 for diapers and had to borrow from friends and asking them to lend us clothes for my kids. Right now things are going great, but you never know...you always have to be prepared. This is how we keep our sanity during the stormy times:

* Food Storage is a MUST! We have a well-stocked pantry and freezer at all times. We regularly rotate through our pantry and have up to 1 year supply of food we can rely on and replace as we eat it up. We also keep extra supplies we use regularly like personal hygiene items, trash bags, cleaning products, ziplock bags, etc.
* Pay Bills Ahead! When we have extra cash, we pay our mortgage ahead, phone bills, utility, etc. we do better to pay ahead than to stick it into our savings and it gives us peace of mind for rainy days
* Find a Great Consignment Shop! We have saved thousands of dollars by shopping consignment over the years for our clothing...I can find great stylish clothes for our whole family and then I don’t get so upset when my kids ruin them!
* Eat Simply: Go out to dinner for birthdays and anniversaries, but other than that...brown bag it and stay home as much as you can for meals, you’ll save a lot that way. Learn to cook “with what you have on hand” in the fridge and freezer, get creative, google the ingredients you have and see what innovative recipes you find
* Trade/Barter: This has also been a big life saver for our family!! We are currently trading a home theatre for landscaping; the possibilities are endless!
* Priceline for Travel: we use http://www.biddingfortravel.com forum to help us get great deals; we stayed at Disneyland Hyatt for $23 a night! ;)
* Ask for Help from Relatives: Most of them time they won’t charge you for babysitting, help with projects, etc.! And it’s important to serve them back in return too!
* Get Connected! We get free concert tickets from our friend at a radio station, free samples from companies, offer to review products, books, etc. and publish on your website
* Co-Market with other companies to save on expenses, a booth at a tradeshow
* Learn Basic Natural Healthcare principles/tips to cure yourself and your family with herbs and remedies when possible; keep supplies on hand at all times
* Go to the Library/requests books to be purchased at your local library!
* Pawn Shops!! This sounds really ghetto but we buy a lot of our DVDs and CDs there!
* & When you’re really broke...sell stuff on eBay or have a garage sale! One summer I had 4 garage sales at different friends houses around the city and it helped us to pay our gas/basic expenses
* Stash Cash in a secret place (like your sock drawer)!! Use it only for mad money like to get something you desperately want, like Ben & Jerry’s! :)
* Suggest that you hang out with friends at home, play games, make cookies, have a BBQ.
* Get creative with gift-giving, make a music compilation and burn to CDs, write a family history, create a piece of art...
* Write 5 things you’re grateful for EVERY single day, because no matter how hard it is, there is always something great to be happy about...even if its your child’s smile or a pretty flower in your yard.
* Give of your time and resources to others in need when you are financially strapped because as you do, you will feel that you are indeed contributing and you’ll feel great! It will take the focus off your problems.

Make a Wish, Make it Happen,
Kelly King Anderson
Start Up Princess

As part of Being Broke Ain't Cute week, I'm reading the The Budget Fashionista (book) by Kathryn Finney.

My favorite part so far is in the beginning where Kathryn describes Stylish Spendthrifts vs. Fabulously Frugal: the difference between a Fashionista and a Budget Fashionista.

Fashionista vs. Budget Fashionista
Fashion Determines Personal Style vs. Personal Style Determines Fashion
Paid subscription to Vogue vs. Reads Style.com (Vogue's site) free
Closet full of pointy shoes, massive podiatrist bills vs. Stock in Dr. Scholl's
Can refer you to her accountant vs. Can tell you amount of last purchase
Shops at Neiman Marcus vs. Shops Last Call Neiman Marcus outlet store
Uses her kids as an accessory vs. Accessorizes her kids
Has massive credit card debt vs. Knows her FICO score and the FICO score of her five closest friends

As promised, more of Fast Track Girl's story:

Black Friday

The day after Thanksgiving we were to be on TV again. In July, the same week we signed our lease, the mall was to submit a list of 12 merchants to a local TV station, who would then select about half of them to be featured during their Live Broadcast from the mall on Black Friday (Good Morning Arizona Ch.3). The mall marketing manager put us on the list, the producers interviewed and selected us. This time we had to bring product down to where Santa was to arrive and set up....at 6am. The store was open at 5:30am and we packed up our stuff to haul down to the opposite end of the mall...and it was already packed with shoppers! That was not fun.

We couldn't leave our stuff unattended and had no idea when they were going to call to us to set up. We waited forever, it was organized chaos. We had our Visual Merchandiser there to help, and thank goodness because it turned out we had one commercial break to set up. It was crazy! Poor Laurin rolled out of bed at 4am, threw on sweats and a tank top with a baring midriff and that's what she had to wear on the air. She had no time to change into more appropriate clothes but she did manage to get her hair and make up done. At least her tank top had the store name on it! This time she was much more natural and relaxed on camera. She had fun with it.

Overall, the holiday season went very well. Now, it's not appropriate to talk numbers but I want you to understand what's possible. Our biggest day was just under $8000. That's not a typical day though and, as RK says, what's more important is how much of that did we keep. You see, if you are not responsible with your paycheck, you will not be responsible with more money. You just have BIGGER money problems. You have bigger bills, bigger responsibilies, and bigger consequences if you don't manage it well.

BUT....do you see the possibilities here and how EMPOWERING it can be?! Next posts I'll bring you up to today and share some of our mistakes. As Kim said a few days ago on RW Home page, you WILL make mistakes. It's part of the learning process. I'm learning ALL of this as I go and I haven't had any mentoring. Just networking with other cart owners and now store owners. It was my mall "neighbors" who told us where to go for payroll, store suppliers, found the bag guys in the Yellow Pages. I learned it all by just doing it. I WISH I had a mentor, I could use the help. But if I sat around waiting for someone to tell me exactly what to do and how to do it, I wouldn't have this story to tell. If I fail, I'll just start over again with more experience.

For all of Track Girl's Posts Click Here

Our beloved Fast Track Girl returns with more tales from her business...

Holiday Season

We began to prepare for the holiday season. Prior to opening we found a specialty bag business who helped us create custom bags with our store name on them and matching tissue paper. We needed to place a re-order for the busy season. Normally we need to allow 5 weeks for delivery but for the holidays they needed up to 2 months and they wanted half down up front. We were still "chasing our tail" and this was a huge expense for something we wouldn't have for another 2 months, nor was it product we could sell. But it was good marketing (we thought anyway) because customers love our name and save our bags, so it gets our name out there. We placed the order.

Our two main vendors informed us that we would need to place a manufacturing order for all product that we might want for the entire holiday season....immediately. It takes two months to get orders back from overseas manufactures and they close for the holidays. AND we had to pay for it all up front! If we didn't, they couldn't guarantee that they could keep up with our orders. Usually we order weekly or every other week and it arrives within a few days. I expected UPS delays but not product shortage! We negotiated a compromise of half down and borrowed money from a friend...at the buzzer....and agreed to pay him back, with interest at the end of Dec.

We weren't sure how much product to order because we've never done this concept before, nor have we had a store. Cart/kiosk concepts are more specialized and your vendor's stock up their own warehouses to accomodate you, it's a more seasonal type of business. But there's a formula for figuring out what you'll need based on your normal sales and we winged it from there. In the end it turned out we estimated it very well. I remember reading an article once that said never depend on one vendor for your entire product line because if they can't supply you you're in big trouble. I now have MANY vendors but that makes ordering lots of fun...NOT...being a store "buyer" is a lot of work. Laurin does it, she loves it.

Then we had to figure out how many employees we would need and start working on holiday schedules. The malls have extended hours during the holidays and we needed to to consider shift changes and breaks. We hired our crew and they turned out to be pretty great. We had a few bad ones but we got them out and replaced them quickly. We got the staff all trained and comfortable before it became busy. Also, had to write a few policies and procedures (rules) as problems would arise. It's pretty easy to get applicants in a mall at this time of year, so we had quite a few to choose from. We try to stay away from those under 18 though, the young ones never worked out too well for us overall.

As for payroll, we didn't want to do EVERYTHING ourselves, I was feeling pretty overwhelmed as it was, so we contracted out to ADP. I process payroll every 2 weeks for about $40-50 a payroll. They take care of all employee tax filings and take the money each payroll, so I never have it to use when things are tight and then end up in BIG trouble with the IRS. Also, ADP handled my worker's comp. insurance for just a few dollars a payroll depending on the amount of that payroll. Then they do W2's at end of year and make sure I'm compliant with relevant laws. When I had a cart someone referred me to a smaller payroll company who didn't pay my taxes for a quarter, they did eventually but I didn't want to risk it again. ADP and Paychecks (sp) are the two biggies and they didn't cost me anymore than the smaller guys.

We don't have a back room in the store, so we rented a small storage room in the mall and set up a workspace for receiving new inventory and storage of back stock. This way we were able to get price tags on items and inventory them in without customers trying to buy it before you even have it opened! It can be a real frenzy! I definitely didn't want to be hauling stuff back and forth from my home. That doesn't work too well during the holidays.

We worked out a lot of problems we had with our POS cash register system and with the way we had our understock organized. With some team brainstorming we came up with a way to re-organize understock that involved buying ring trays from a local jeweler's supply house and our employees did all the work for us. They did an awesome job and it's still organized the same way today.

More from Fast Track Girl tomorrow...
Fast Track Girl Part 1
Fast Track Girl Part 2
Fast Track Girl Part 3
Fast Track Girl Part 4

Fast Track Girl continues...

Opening Day

We didn't go to bed the night before the store opened, there was still too much to do. But we sent Laurin home early, so she could sleep and open the store the next morning at 10am. After the sun came up and the mall turned on the music, Debbi and I pulled down the black drape that covered the glass store front and it was going to have to be good enough. It was a very cool moment but now when I look back on it, the store was pretty bare compared to now! It was something that had to evolve though, on our small budget.

BTW...not all of that $80k went into the store, I paid down some urgent debt and we used some of it to support ourselves until the store opened and we could start paying ourselves.

I went home to sleep and stay with Laurin's daughter, Sakora, while Laurin went to open the store. Sakora's never had to be with a babysitter, except for with family, so one of us had to stay home with her.

Laurin was there alone and got SLAMMED! We didn't have locks on the display cases yet, people went behind the cases to help themselves, it was insane! The ladies from mall management hung out to act as security, while we got a locksmith up there to start working on installing locks. LESSON LEARNED!
Also, hired some employees right away too!

We opened on Friday, Sept.2, 2005, shortly after the Katrina crisis. That Saturday the media was in the mall broadcasting live to appeal to the public for donations for Katrina victims, many of which were brought to our area for housing. Some of the other merchants in the mall were donating a portion of their sales, we were new but felt we wanted to do something as well. The mall marketing manager, who LOVES our store, made sure we got a mention on the news for our pledge.

Well....we were a tad busy that day! We got SLAMMED again with people coming in saying that they heard about us on the radio! We have no idea how or why THAT happened but it was very cool!

On the following Tueday, the first Tuesday we were open, a journalist called and said she loved our store and wanted to write a piece on us for YES.

YES is a local fashion / shopping magazine (actually more like a newspaper though) that is circulated with the Friday local newspaper and it's also distributed independly through out our city, such as at colleges and coffee shops. We were readers of the magazine and were ecstatic when we got the call! They came in that Friday to do the interview and took product to photograph in their studio.

We later found out that the editor and journalist of that magazine live in the area of our store and saw that "teaser window"my designer created. I should let you know that a store designer actually has another name for those of you who may use one in the future, it's Visual Merchandiser.

Now, we knew we wanted to send out promo materials to the press, that was part of our initial plan, but we intended to wait until we had our decor finished, more product in the store, a few employees and at least a feel for our system and to work some of the bugs out before we got super busy. But they found us first!

The article came out three weeks later and was also posted on our local newspaper's website, which we were unaware of until a local TV program saw it and called us that morning! They wanted us to do a spot on their program the following Tuesday! Does this just keep getting cooler!!! Of course, we said YES! For those of you in the area, that show was Sonoran Living. For those who don't know, it's a very popular show with a huge audience of those who would want our products.

Sonoran Living was to do our interview live in their studio, so we had to bring product to set up on a table which they would then turn the cameras on when our spot came up. We had to arrive early in the morning to set up before the show started. We hired our visual merchandiser to help us, so we made a plan in advance of how we were going to set it up. We wanted the table to represent the store, so we brought fabric that was in the store to cover the table, etc. We
brought risers for various heights, a variety of our merchandise (as much as we could cram on!), lamps, pictures and other items that would give the audience a feel of what the store was like. Then we hung out in the Green Room (I know, we got to be in a green room, so cool) until they were ready for us.

Only one of us could go on and, since Laurin had more hands on with our product line and knew it better than I, she was the one who went on the air. She was so nervous, poor thing, she had just turned 23 yrs. old and success was coming at her so fast and all at once. But she did an AWESOME job, we have it on tape.

It's been a year since that taping and we STILL get new customers from it frequently, plus they do re-runs of it all the time! There's more media stories to come but this is long, it's late and I'm playing Cashflow tonight with Erin and a group of other's from this forum that I haven't yet met....that's pretty cool for us too!!!

Ladies, I hope you see how I was just like many of you...broke, lurking, and sitting on the fence full of fear for several years until I took the initiative to just take one simple little step, which led to another little step, then another....and now I have this story to tell. It's really that simple. The hard part is being committed, focused, determined, having perserverance, etc. Without all of that, I could give you my store and it would likely fail. But we'll get into all of that later and you'll understand what I mean. So far it looks like fun, and it is. But there have been, and still are, tough times and I'll share that with you too.

Fast Track Girl Part 1
Fast Track Girl Part 2
Fast Track Girl Part 3
Fast Track Girl Part 5

Fast Track Girl's Story Continued:

I now had money to secure and start building build out the store. I didn't know
how far the $80k would go but based on the estimates my designer gave me I
figured we could make it. That's all I could get and it was going to have to be
enough. We had to purchase inventory with that as well.

A few things went wrong and there were extra expenses we didn't anticipate. Like the mall accidentally taking down the backdrop from the last tenant's sign that we were going to paint and reuse. They broke it and we had to start with a new one...cost $1000. But overall it turned out okay. My designer refused to spend money on new store furnishings; she said it's a waste to spend too much money on things "staying IN the store, rather than things going OUT of the store (product)."She gave me a TON of free stuff she had in storage, items that weren't wanted or were left over from other stores she had done. For example, she gave us display items from Macy's. It was all nice stuff. Anything that wasn't nice we painted or covered with fabric.

For nearly two months we worked day and night in the store doing much of the labor ourselves. We got very little sleep, bought a small refrigerator for food and pretty much lived there. We set up a play area, including a TV and DVD player, and a sleeping area for Laurin's 4 yr. old who was there with us most of the time.

Laurin, the designer Debbi, and I did all of the work ourselves. We painted, sewed, cleaned, organized, re-organized, argued, apologized and created the store together. Debbi hired her carpet contractor and high voltage power electrician to lay carpet and do electrical work, like hanging chandeliers and re-doing the existing track lighting.

The store is a boutique and the design is VERY girlie. Debbi did all of the shopping for lamps, carpet, fabric, picture frames, and other decorating items. She brought us fabric, carpet, and paint samples to include us in the final decisions on colors and textures. This in itself was well worth what we paid her! It was pretty much like hiring a designer for your home but she specializes in how to control traffic through your store, etc.

Laurin focused on setting up the computer POS (cash register) system, which took over a week for her to enter in inventory, vendors, barcodes, prices, she had to create prices, etc. At the last minute we figured out we had outgrown our old cash register and quickly decided to buy Quick Books POS, which involved having to buy a new computer too. Extra expense $2500 but worth it!!! (Today I think I would us Microsoft POS though, I'm still researching it.)

Laurin and I did product ordering (our territory license gave us a few vendors to buy from) and decided how the product would be organized in the store and the designer later put it all together so it was visually appealing. For us...she was an industry "coach."We learned a LOT from her! Many people advised me to do it myself and save the money we spent on her. This would've been a VERY STUPID MISTAKE!

I worked with an attorney to form an LLC, got licensing, set up file cabinets, purchased office supplies, and other office / management tasks.

Debbi worked on decorating, painting, sewing and arranging furnishings. She first created a "Coming Soon"teaser in the store window for all mall traffic to see, the rest of the windows were blacked out so nobody could see what was going on inside.

The mall hired a contractor to spray paint the ceiling, they messed it up and we got the job for free. It wasn't what we wanted but it couldn't be fixed and it's not that bad. Saved $1200. But I learned VERY important lessons about paint contractors and what to watch out for next time!

During the build out Laurin and I went out of town twice to attend tradeshows to find more vendors for product. Our one product line is an exclusive and is the main concept of the store but we wanted to sell other items too, so we went shopping! Debbi took care of the store build out, while we were gone.

Our projected opening date had arrived, which we knew would be too soon, but the mall had pushed us for an earlier opening date than we could deliver. If we didn't agree we might've lost the deal, so we agreed. Now rent had started and we were two weeks late to open. Customers were getting edgy putting pressure on the mall and the mall came down on us. People were literally trying to push through the doors past us when we were coming and going! I was paying rent and was running out of money. My bills were getting behind and we needed to open ready or not. It was time to open.

I hope this is helping someone because it's a long story to be boring you all
with!

Fast Track Girl Part 1
Fast Track Girl Part 2
Fast Track Girl Part 3
Fast Track Girl Part 4
Fast Track Girl Part 5

Fast Track Girl's Story Continued:
Where I am now:

Just before closing the last cart in the Spring of 2005, I aggressively searched for a hot new concept for the 2005 holiday season. Still working 80 hours a week but I was able to find time to do internet searches. And then I found it. This concept required that I purchase the entire territory that I wanted to sell in but then that metro area would be mine exclusively and the vendor would not sell that main product line to anyone else in that area. The licensing fee was $6995.00. I didn't have it and there was another party interested in my area if I didn't buy it.

My daughter's friend, Megan, stopped by the existing cart, while shoping with her mother who was visiting from out of state. She introduced her mother to my daughter and Laurin proceeded to tell Megan about our misfortune. Well, Megan had a cart next to us during the 2003 holiday season and boy was she a mess, she was making so many mistakes and we helped her, A LOT. Her mother remembered Megan telling her about that and wanted to help us. She disclosed, much to Megan's surprise, that she had recieved an inheritance from a relative who had passed away and she wanted to loan us the $6995. OMG....I didn't even know this woman but she was grateful that we helped her daughter from getting into legal trouble by informing her about sales tax laws and returns, along with some other basic bookkeeping.

We bought the license and began working on a presentation for the mall. I stomped my foot and said I don't want another cart / kiosk, I want to do a store this time. So, we built the idea of both options into our presentation. When we presented to the mall they were ecstatic about our concept and they strongly encouraged us to do a store. Okay, how much will all this cost because I still don't have much money.

All I needed was a small deposit, I think it was $2500 up front (same manager who let us pay as we went on our first cart), and then rent didn't start until we opened our doors. They would give us two months to do a build out....free of rent. But it took them a few more weeks to get contracts ready, so I had some time to get the $2500 together. Now I needed to find out how much a store designer would cost, I wasn't doing this by myself!

There was only ONE free lance designer in my entire area who was worth hiring and she was booked solid but she agreed to meet with us to just do a consult. She met us in this empty 802 sq. foot store with ugly ripped up carpet, grey paint and after seeing our concept she had a vision and got excited. She saw the finished store in her head and said she wanted to do us and would bump some other clients to free up her time. Her fee was $3500 up front and $3500 when she finished the job. We could give her $2000 for shopping (lighting, fabrics, carpet, etc) and replenish it as we went when needed. The mall manager was shocked that we were able to get her!

I committed to the designer and the mall but had no money but I had a house with a crap load of equity! The first lendor who could refinace me at the lowest interest rate and get me funded in two weeks or less had my business! I got $80K and left $70K still in my equity. The mall, nor the designer ever knew that I didn't have the money. In the meantime I bought more licenses, on a payment plan of course, for three more major cities, including Las Vegas. There's another story there I'll tell you about later...

Fast Track Girl Part 1
Fast Track Girl Part 2
Fast Track Girl Part 3
Fast Track Girl Part 4
Fast Track Girl Part 5

Fast Track Girl is a friend of mine from a business, real estate and investing forum I have been at for years. Although she doesn't have a blog (working on that for her!), she has a very inspirational story. With thoughts about scarcity and abundance this week, I thought it was time to share! It might be long, but it's good!

Fast Track Girl: I read everything in RD series. If I didn't have the money (RK says don't say "I can't afford it", it didn't cost any money to change that habit so I did) to buy the latest RK book I just sat in a book store and read it. I wanted to play Cashflow, didn't have money to buy it, so I found a public game event and played the game, learned a lot and all it cost me was gas. In one of the books RK says "read the business section of the newspaper", so I did. The Wed. issue cost .35 and Sunday $2.50, I could do that. I read the articles and looked at deals in the businesses for sale section.

One day there was an article on retail mall carts. It got my attention, so I looked up a trade publication on the internet that the article quoted from. That trade website had a sample article from their publication that listed numerous mall cart concepts. I looked up each concept and chose 3 or 4 that I got excited about and sent links to friends and family for their feedback. They all agreed that they liked 2 of them, in fact some we're owners/users of one of the products. I contacted that company and requested more information and they sent a promo package. I was still too broke to do it and put it aside. This was in July 2002.

In November 2002, I got an email from that company wanting to know how they could help me get going for the holiday retail season. I emailed back that I was willing but broke and thanked them for their time. They called me immediately and offered to "front" me $7500 worth of opening inventory until the end of the season. Huh?!!! But, they said, you'll have to contact the malls and see if anyone still has a space open. Okay...phone calls are free, so I started calling malls. No spaces available...oh well.

Until one mall calls back saying they loved that concept and wanted to make room for us (my daughter, LilFastTrackGirl, was doing this with me). However, rent was $14,000 for the Nov./Dec. term and they don't prorate (it was already into Nov.)...Gulp! I apologized to the mall manager for wasting her time. She then asked if I could come up with $2000 and they would work with me on paying the rest a little each week. HUH?!!!!! I called my husband and told him not to mail the bills I had just paid! Okay..this probably isn't wise advice, I'm just telling you how it happened.

Then another mall called and made me a similar deal. There was so much to do and I didn't know what any of it was! The mall managers and those who fronted me the inventory were all very helpful and got me started. I had to get licenses, insurance, sign contracts, get a merchant account, phone service...and everyday I wasn't open I was losing money. So...1 1/2 weeks later, I had quit my job, had two carts open with 12 employees.

Now, this wasn't an ideal way to go into business. We were inexperienced, made a lot of mistakes, chased our tail a lot juggling rent, inventory, wages. We pretty much borrowed from Peter to pay Paul but we definately got our feet wet and learned a lot.

One cart performed horribly, the other suffered because it had to support the poor one. But in the end we made money and were able to pay our bills and prevent our house from going into foreclosure, which was about to happen prior to all of this. We closed the bad cart at the end of the holidays. The other we tried to keep going afterwards but it's a tough business during the off season and we closed it in the late Spring 2003. Afterwards, I sold products at an open aire market place on weekends and on ebay. Actually, I became an ebay powerseller during that time. Also, I spent time on the internet learning more about the retail industry...for free. Waste not money or time (can't remember who said that)...I gave up T.V.

In Nov. 2003 we opened another cart, this time with more money in the bank (I saved up for it by not buying DooDads), and in a higher end mall. That cart performed very well but our temporay lease wasn't renewed in late Spring of 2003. Mall managers can be pretty "catty." It's a long story.

In the meantime, we had been to Las Vegas for a trade show and visited some cart owners who had a cart next to us in our last mall. They also had carts in Vegas malls. They convinced us to open a cart up there. Not so easy to do because spaces don't come up often but it didn't hurt to ask and get on a wait list. Lots of naysayers said it couldn't be done...thank you for caring enough to share, I promise to weigh it heavily ; ) Two months later we get a call from a hot mall, the one our friends were in, inviting us to be a tenant.

This was a hot casino mall but, unbeknownst to us, that location busy as it was, it was much slower than the rest of the mall. We did extremely well some days but very poor others and the hours there are long. In the end it wasn't worth supporting the additional household, so we closed up after a short time and went home. We lost our butts on that one and had to go back to a job to catch up. Did another cart at home, lost our butts real bad this time and worked 80 - 100 hours a week at my job for 7 months to recover from those last two deals.

I'll tell you in another post where I am now, it's pretty exciting!

The bottom line is that it doesn't take much to simply take action. One action leads to another and doors open up. I'm not rich "yet" but you'll see in my next post that I've come a long way and the above actions are the reason I am where I am. It was a learning curve that I had to learn "in the field" and that it was the lessons I've learned from the mistakes and failures that have taught me how to be where I am now.

Fast Track Girl Part 1
Fast Track Girl Part 2
Fast Track Girl Part 3
Fast Track Girl Part 4
Fast Track Girl Part 5

Here's a woman who is kicking a$$ and taking names! This is actually the first blog I read of hers, but it will give you great insight into another NLL 'Sista' who is taking charge of her (fabulous) financial future!

Single Ma's Fabulous Financials!!
I just realized I've been blogging for over 7 months and have never written a "Welcome" or "About Me" post. Single Ma loves her readers so I put together a little something something. Wanna hear it? Here it goes...

The Blog Name: The name of my blog was coined by the one and only, oh so fabulous Supa Sister, as a result of a comment she left in this post. I liked the flow and it kinda stuck. It's so fabulous!

About Me: I'm a 30-something single mom with a lil diva in training (also known as BabyGirl). We have the typical parent/child conflicts, but she also makes me very proud. Sometimes I think I have the best child in the world! I love her to death and she's my reason for living.

Financially, our long term goal is to become debt free (car and student loans) and establish a six figure net worth. I jump started this plan with a complete financial overhaul and we're off to a good start. We own our home, have a comfy emergency fund, 401k, Roth IRA, 529 account, and no credit card debt.

Throughout my blog, you'll find what inspires me (my BabyGirl), what strengthens me (my God), and what keeps me on the move (my Money). I enjoy researching the market, reading finance related books and articles, saving, investing, managing my credit, and planning for our future. My friends would rather watch paint dry than listen to my latest money rendevous, thus a blog was born.

My Financial Background: I have an undergraduate degree (B.S.) in Finance and a graduate degree (M.B.A.) in Business Administration with a concentration in Finance. My gig on the corporate slave ship requires that I crunch numbers all day, handle other people's money and make time sensitive decisions. However, I am NOT a financial advisor. In fact, I don't even work in the financial industry. Don't hurt yourself thinking about that too long (lol). My point is, I am not licensed or qualified to give financial advice. Even if I were, do you think I'd give it away for free? *wink*

This blog is for entertainment purposes only. It's a reflection of my personal experiences and my financial choices, so take what I say with a grain of salt. And please, please, please consult with a licensed financial professional before trying anything you read on the internet that you don't fully understand.

My Interests: I like men, music, and money. Mmm, Mmm, Mmm...what a fabulous combination! Given my current status, I'd have to say 2 out of 3 aint bad. Ha! I'll let you decide which one I'm missing (lol). I'm also an avid reader who loves to shop, dine out, travel and spend quality time with my family and friends.

My Quirks: I'm a natural introvert with a few extroverted characteristics. I also have ADD tendencies, a hot temper and a potty mouth. In other words, don't bother me unless I initiate the conversation. If you enter my space without permission, don't expect my undivided attention. If I decide to be nice and listen to your babble, don't say stupid shyt to piss me off. And don't be surprised when I say the word shyt or even fvck. I try to use them as often as possible. It's MY blog dammit!! LOL

We'd love to introduce you to Frugal Duchess, part of the NLL Sisterhood!


Hi I'm the Frugal Duchess. I've been a financial journalist (in Pittsburgh,
Washington, Manhattan and Miami) for over two decades, a mom for 14 years
and a big spender for about three decades. I'm 48 years old now and it's
taken me a long time to figure out my balance sheet, the world of investment
and frugality. I'm still grappling with my financial demons.

I'm not naturally frugal. On my worst shopping trip, I went to every Ann
Taylor in Manhattan in a strange hunt for a bargain shirt. It was such a
good deal that I purchased a shirt in every color. It was a very expensive
bargain-hunting expedition.

I've grown up. Motherhood and marriage forced me give up my Spending Diva
attitude. I have traded in my steady diet of gourmet coffee for my own bean
crusher and a French press coffee maker. I spend pennies for great
home-brewed coffee instead of $4 a shot for cafe shoppe coffee. I shop sales
and use coupons. I wear second-hand designer clothes and recycle. (I try to
live as green as possible and give back to others.)

But I still believe in living well. I enjoy semi-private yoga classes and
off-season vacations at luxury resorts at steep discounts. But saving
(money, time and the environment) has become my mission.

Sharon Harvey Rosenberg
www.Sharonhr.blogspot.com

Seeking Contentment: What gets me moving in the morning
Not too many years ago, I felt like a slave to money. I couldn't stop obsessing about how much I made, how I was going to pay for college for a child that not only wasn't even conceived but wasn't even thought of, and how I was going to buy a house; I needed more money because more would allow me to live my lifestyle, save for the future and buy a nice home. It's taken me a few years, many journals, and the birth of my daughter to realize that what I need can't be bought with money. I "need" the love, support, and respect of my husband. (I say need but really I mean want. I need oxygen, food. I want a healthy relationship with my spouse. There is a difference.) I need some of the same from my child. I'm blessed beyond belief and that really has nothing to do with money.

Don't get me wrong, money is important to me, very, very important to me. However, it doesn't have a binding effect like it used to. It's a work in progress and a constant struggle to balance out my life, but I've identified my goals, both financial and non-financial, and my values. I try to live my life in alignment with these values and goals: every decision I make takes me back to these two areas.

How did I get here? Well, the long drawn out story will be posted somewhere else. The short story is that I started by journaling a lot about my feelings, I wrote about why I felt the way I did about money, and then I read a lot. I've read many self-help money tomes on how to get my financial life in order. Once you read a few, you get the gist of everyone's message which is to spend less than you make and save a chunk for living your life now and in the future. Sounds simple, but it's oh so hard! The first simple step (besides educating myself) was to track exactly where my money went. How much did I actually make? How much exactly did I spend on health care, groceries, concerts, insurance? I made my husband track just how much he put in parking meters:) (We have a line in our expense chart for parking meters...I know it's crazy, but I really, really needed to know where we were spending our money!) I learned from this monthly snapshot what was important to us and where we were frivolously spending money. Nothing surprised me except that we pay about $700-800 a year for a Harley motorcycle that sits in our garage for a huge chunk of time. (I've since made peace with the fact that this expense exists, but will certainly be one of the first to go if we are ever in a bind.)

Finding out where our money went helped to move me to the next step which is to evaluate our expense reports and make sure what we were spending money on was in alignment with our financial goals and values. Then, I made saving a priority (which I've always done, but I kicked it up a notch.) We've always saved to my 401(k), a traditional IRA, and a Roth IRA, but we didn't have an E-fund set up. So, in addition to those savings vehicles, I established an E-fund with HSBC. Within a few months I've already built it to $4700. It is a rush to see my savings grow, to check how much money 5% interest really brings in. That rush used to be full-filled with shopping, but not anymore.

I'm in a much, much better place in my emotional-financial house since I created a game-plan. I can only make so much money, I can only save so much money, I can only do a finite thing with money. If I lost every penny today, I would still be ok. If my marriage were to dissolve, I'd be ok (albeit, very, very sad, but ok.) I have a wonderfully supportive husband, a gorgeously smart child, and we all have good health and love for one another. Sure, I'd stress out and find a way to rebuild our savings, but I would be ok. What gets me out of bed in the morning is knowing that I make a difference to someone in the world, right now, I make a difference to my family and friends.

I'm going to close with a quote from Liz Perle's book, "Money, a memoir". "As long as I had believed that financial security purchased emotional security, I'd lived a dependent, conditional life. Conditional on the individuals, families, institutions--even fantasises--that I'd invested with the power to take care of me. When I made that quiet contract with cash so long ago, I'd trusted that money would compensate for my emotional needs. As a result, each time one of those sources of security disappointed me or disappeared, I was left in a state of fear." I used to feel this way about money and relationships too. I feel blessed that at the young age of 31 that I know that I don't "need" anything or anyone to be ok. Money doesn't define me or my values or character.

Since I spent last week setting goals for myself, I wanted to have some of our finance blogging sisters share what their goals are, how they got started, a little more about themselves with us all. Women learn well from other women. We have different issues, different limiting thoughts, different motivations for the things we want in our lives.

So this week I would love to introduce you to the ladies taking control of their finances, and I am going to go through the book Rich Woman, because girls don't just want to have fun...we want it all!