RAWlicious!

OMG, I went to a raw restaurant last night and I'm going again tonight, not even 24 hours later. The food was face rocking and that's putting it lightly. Seriously I want to try everything on the menu, and I mean everything. Last night I feasted on a sage burger and a slice of pizza. Hey, I know it's a weird meal combination but I was hankering for something savory and exciting and I'd already had a hugh jass salad earlier that day. Oh yeah, I also had a strawberry mango pie for dessert. Yummo. At the request of a friend I took some pictures but I forgot to get a picture of the dessert, oops. In my opinion the pics do very little to illustrate the awesome flavors of the dishes, maybe its the photographer, but hopefully you get the idea. Without further adieu ....

This scrumptious pizza is made with flax seed bread, topped with spinach, tomato sauce, pine nut cheese, chopped tomatoes, black olives red bell pepper, and some kind of crumbles - the name escapes me at the moment. This baby was bursting with flavor!

This foodgasmic burger was served with organic greens, pine nut cheese (I think) and tomatoes between two slices of kamut grain bread. Oh wait, there was also some sort of house sauce on that baby as well. Heavenly!

Moral of the story, if you have never given raw cuisine a try don't be afraid to brave it because you just may enjoy it. Even when I'm no longer on the raw detox, I'll still visit that restaurant because the food was absolutely wonderful. In fact, I'm even more inspired to learn how to prepare more raw dishes.

As for the financial impact, uh yeah, raw eating is definitely not cheap eating. I think I've spent more thus far than I normally would on my regular diet. To be fair, raw eating requires a lot more preparation and if you don't prepare properly then you can and will spend more money than you should. It's the equivalent of going to the grocery store without a list.

Summer Tune-up

Since things have been quite hectic around these parts it's high time for a summer tune-up. Today marks the beginning of my attempt to do a raw cleanse, diet that is. I'm super excited and super nervous at the same time. Thanks to the wonderful blogsophere, there are tons of resources to help me through the next 21 or 30 days. In my last post I promised changes to the blog, changes that would not only incorporate personal finances, but to include other things that I enjoy, such as eating.

Why cleanse?

I usually do a detox/cleanse at least 2x a year. There are certain busy times of the year when I don't have time to focus on my diet the way that I should. Luckily or unluckily, my body responds noticeably to what I put in it. If I load up on processed and junk foods, then I feel sluggish, heavy and just down right not at my best. When I load up on healthy foods, then quite the opposite happens. I'm more vibrant, energetic and alert.

Why raw?

Oh boy. In the past I would do a somewhat vegan cleanse ... except for a minimal amount of cheese. This time I wanted to up the ante and go gusto. Now, if I begin hankering uncontrollably for hot food, I may allow myself some steamed veggies and/or wild rice ... ONLY. Beyond that, no cooked foods ... that's the goal. There may be something that I choose to eat that's not completely raw, like a salad dressing for example, but at this point I will not panic over those types of intentional or unintentional slip-ups.

Since I do love to cook, I'm looking forward to making and possibly creating some new raw recipes. This is a new world to me so hopefully I won't get bored. I think I will have more success doing a raw food detox in the summer months (especially living in the south) versus trying this for the first time in the winter. Hopefully I'll have an arsenal of new recipes to add to my collection. With that, here is a picture of my very first raw recipe ... Raw Almond Macaroons:






The key ingredient in macaroons is coconut, of which I am NOT a big fan. But hey, part of this raw experience is trying new things right? Instead of putting the amount of shredded coconut that the recipe suggested, I used 1/2 the amount and substituted the remaining amount with oats. Bingo!

Here's my recipe in case your interested:

• 1.5 C of dried coconut
• 1.5 C of oats
• 1.5 C of almonds
• 1/2 C of maple syrup or agave (I used an organic maple syrup/agave blend from Trader Joes)
• 1/4 C of coconut oil (again I'm not a big fan of coconut so I substituted earth balance ... feel free to use your oil, butter of choice)
• 1/2 TBS of vanilla
• 1/4 TBS of almond extract
• 1/4 TSP of sea salt

Ground almonds in food processor. Mix all ingredients together in a bowl. Using an ice cream scooper or TBS measuring spoon, spoon onto dehydrator tray if you have one. I don't have one so I used parchment paper & a cookie sheet. I put the macaroons on the lowest setting of my oven and left the door slightly ajar. "Dehydrate" approximately 7 hours or so. Of course, if raw is not your goal, feel free to crank that sucker up and bake away. ;-)!

This is going to be a very interesting month! Wish me well ...

I'm Back ... Updates ... and Shout Outs

I'm Back
.... from vacation that is! I had a glorious 7 days in St. Lucia. Although the first part of this year has blown by, I have felt every single nanosecond of each day. The first four months of this year were incredibly busy and a week in the Caribbean was just what the doctor ordered.

Updates
I'm currently working on some changes to this blog. Back in January I confessed my boredom with blogging and several of you gave me some great suggestions. I plan to update the blog and expand the content. Personal finance is a very fun topic for me but I don't want to talk about it all the time. My finances are on autopilot as I maneuver my way through growing a profitable small business. The last thing I want is to have a "preachy" blog about the do's and don'ts of personal finance, but that will be all too inevitable since I don't have much content that is or will be derived from my personal experiences and situation - at least for now. Without those personal stories, I'm just another blogger saying do this, don't do that, why did you do that, did you think about this. So with that being said, I'm not leaving personal finance as a topic, but I'll be adding a few more topics that are near and dear to my heart ... more to come.

Oh, and I did end up fixing the car. Crud. This is the last time I'll be able to do any major work on her ... the next episode will result in the purchase of another car. I was just too daggum busy to make the necessary time to research and purchase a car that suddenly.

Shout Outs
Thanks to all of my readers, I truly appreciate you. Special shout out to some of my favorite blogpals, Christine, Stinky, 444, Josie and Matt, please know that I'm reading your blogs, even when I don't have time to comment.

Until next time,

Refueling

***Before I begin this post, I want you to know that there is no update on the car situation. Basically I'm in between bumming rides and renting cars. Obviously I have to do something soon, I just need a few more minutes to think about what I want and can do.

Back to the regularly scheduled program ...

Things have been incredibly busy with the business and I'm definitely grateful. Things are going so well that I'm beginning to feel overwhelmed and stressed. The pace that I'm going at now is unsustainable and I won't last long if something doesn't change. Thankfully someone is coming along to help me two days a week, and I have a really good friend who has offered her assistance as well. While this is going to be a great help for the work load, there's another part that's suffering too - me!

I have one of those bodies that responds well to proper eating. Food really is a fuel for me. When I load up on processed and manufactured "food," I can feel it and my body literally locks up. ***TMI ALERT - Feel free to stop here or skip to the next paragraph. Most nutritionist would tell you that you're supposed to eliminate after every meal, or at a minimum, once a day. Because I've been eating crap like ice cream for dinner, my elimination has been almost nonexistence. We're talking days, if not a full week. As if the lack of elimination wasn't concern enough, my energy level was at subzero. When I wasn't working, I was in the bed. I was beginning to feel like a zombie, moving in slow motion. So now I'm not eliminating and I'm extremely tired, but still not encouraged to evaluate the situation and make changes. It wasn't until I realized that my ability to think clearly and cognitively was severely compromised. It would take me 30 minutes to do something that should have taken 5 minutes. Forgetting basic, simple things was becoming the norm. I'd pick up the phone and completely forget who I intended to call. I'd hit "compose" on the e-mail and forget who I was about to email and for what reason. In the business that I'm in, those actions are UNacceptable! My mind is how I earn a living. It needs to function optimally at all times. So on yesterday, I had an intervention with me, myself and I and we unanimously decided that I needed to do something quick. Seriously, functioning at this level can be catastrophic to my business and if I'm going to fail, it's not going to be because I'm not eating properly and getting enough rest. How crazy is that?!

After the intervention I left work, came home, took a nap for several hours (I'm soo not a napper ... guess I needed it), and then headed to the farmer's market. I spent over $90 on fruits and veggies because I need to reintroduce myself to them. My intention is to significantly increase my intake of living foods and juice daily, like I used to. This morning's breakfast was an egg puff doused with a little kosher salt and hot sauce (two eggs cooked in the microwave for about 1.5 minutes... and btw, I looove hot sauce) along with the infamous apple/carrot/ginger juice:



Instead of grabbing an energy drink for an afternoon pick me up, I juiced one of the many almighty green juice elixirs. This baby had spinach, parsley, apples, ginger & lemon ... delish, you'd love it! Ginger and lemons are a staple in nearly all of the juices I make. I just love those added flavors, especially the ginger.


Results after day 1, significant. I feel better than I have in quite some time and my body is very thankful for nutrients it can actually use and process.

Not At All What I Wanted To Hear!

It looks like the time has come for me to retire my beloved 12 year old Honda Accord! Timing is awful but there's not many choices left. My car started sputtering a few days ago so I took in for a diagnostic test. ****sighing deeply**** It's the daggum transmission - $3,292, catalytic converter - $900ish and something else that I can't recall - $200ish. When you add it all up, we're talking darn near $5,500. Oh my goodness, I have no idea what I'm going to do. This was sooo not in the plans for 2010. Okay, gotta regroup and figure this situation out because I DO NOT, and I repeat DO NOT want a car note EVER AGAIN IN LIFE!

Mind Your Business

Since I became credit card debt free I only kept one card, which I pay off each month. I haven't carried a balance nor paid interest on this card in several years. There are stories all over the blogosphere and financial pundit sites that warn against the subliminal trickery of the banks to (1) circumvent the recently enacted credit card rules, (2) increase their revenue to offset the colossal amount of bad debt write-offs and other losses and/or (3) find innovative ways to increase their fee revenue ... which has become a major source of income for the banks during the heyday of credit abuse. Well, let this be a warning to you citibank, I shall not be a victim, scapegoat or random target for any foolishness.

It was my idea that I'd keep one credit card for travel and online purchases. Plans changed and I actually use the card for everyday purchases such as gas and eating out. Although my monthly bill is NOT very high, I often have MANY transactions ... many. Such was the case for last month's bill, which included the usual suspects as well as Christmas and holiday what-nots. Much to my surprise when I looked at all of the transactions prior to paying the bill, I noticed a $37.01 charge. Hmm? I looked closer and realized that it was a finance charge. What? So I looked over prior month's bill to see if I paid it after the due date, and therefore incurred a finance charge. Nope. The bill was paid 1 week prior to the due date. Next step ... call Citi immediately! I called, the rep agreed that the finance charge was an error and immediately corrected the account.

Thanks Citi, you get an A for customer service, but an F for effort. I'm sorry. Maybe I've bought into the financial conspiracy theory, the one that suggests big mega monster banks are sneaky, evil and prey on the unsuspected. Perhaps it was an honest mistake because after all, mistakes do happen. Mistake or not, I wonder how many of these "mistakes" go unnoticed by the customers. Hmm, yes, we all should exercise personal responsibility so I dare not lay all of the blame at the feet of the banks. This is just another example about why we must be vigilant about our personal financial affairs. As the saying goes, pun intended, mind your business!

***ps, thanks for all of the comments on my "bored" post. I'll stick around for now. I'm finding more inspiration now that I'm no longer forcing myself to always talk about finances. Oh, and my very first troll ... ha, thanks! I appreciate you too;-).

Bored!

Ladies and gents, I'm suffering from a case of blog boredom. My life has changed quite a bit from when I started this blog and now I'm not sure which direction I should proceed. I don't have debt to payoff, my mortgage acceleration goal is on hold and there is no additional money going towards investments or other long term savings. Since branching out into entrepreneurship full time everything financial is on hold. I'm in maintenance mode right now.

So here's the scoop - I'll either take a break or blog about other random things that may or may not have much to do with finances. If any of you have questions that you'd like me to answer via the blog or topics you'd like me to discuss definitely let me know, I could use the inspiration.

Matching Careers With Personalities ... Or Not

Why is it that I'm always an easy target for the countless career and personality tests floating around the universe? Truthfully I'm not convinced that they are reliable, but they always seem to be more accurate than not with my results. Case in point, MY RESULTS ...

Personality type: "Determined Realist"
Practical, traditional and organized. Likely to be athletic. Not interested in theory or abstraction unless they see the practical application. Have clear visions of the way things should be. Loyal and hard-working. Like to be in charge. Exceptionally capable in organizing and running activities. 'Good citizens' who value security and peaceful living.

Careers that could fit you include:
Military, business administrators, managers, police/detective work, judges, financial officers, teachers, sales representatives, government workers, insurance agents, underwriters, nursing administrators, trade and technical teachers.

If you are interested in taking a career/personality test, click here; it's quick and easy. Don't forget to let us know how accurate - or not - the test results are for you.

BTW .... Merry Christmas and Happy early New Year;-).

My Dear Romeo

Romeo,

I miss you already buddy. You were the sweetest, smartest dog ever. Although I only knew you for a short time, you carved out an eternal impression in my heart. It's so amazing how you managed to steal my affection and cause some folks to refer to me as "delusional" because I'd go around calling you "my dog." (inside joke, i needed that laugh). You were my dog. You were everything I ever wanted in a dog. Your communication skills were grade A, your friendship was unconditional and your personality was almost human-like. I'm gonna miss sending you care packages filled with your favorite treats, peanut butter snacks, doggie biscuits, and of course, all things chicken. I really wished you would have hung on a few more days so that I could see you once more. Well, maybe it was best that I wasn't there when you decided to go to doggie heaven. Unashamedly I gotta tell you, I have a lump in throat that won't clear, and yes, I've shed a few tears too.

Bye bye my doggie brother. There's not another jack russell terrier, or any other dog that can replace you.

Small Business Pitfalls

We've all heard the scary statistics about how many small businesses fail in their infancy. Part of what I do is provide consulting work for small businesses so I see first hand what some of the biggest culprits are.

1. Too Much Borrowed Money
I'm not sure if this will continue to be as big of an issue because the banks have all but put a freeze on small business lending. If you're one of those unlucky/lucky ones who can get a lot of leveraged funding, borrower beware! I highly suggest starting a business with your own money or with investors. If you do have to borrow money, try not to be more than 50% leveraged. You may not have an employer but if you are borrowed up to your hairline, you are working for the banks, and that's not what you got into business to do. Here's a statistic for you ... 100% of the businesses that filed for bankruptcy were over leveraged. I don't need a source for that one, it's pretty self explanatory.

2. Wrong Motives
If your primary motive for starting your own business is based one of these statements, "I want to be my own boss," or "I don't want to work for anyone else," then you may be one of those small business casualties. Owning your own business is as glamours as it is messy. If you lack passion and discipline you won't have the necessary ingredients to push past the pain and pursue the full potential of the business. You need something more than a disdain for working for someone else.

3. Lack of Planning
Planning is very important and covers everything from finances to marketing. For brevity, let's stick to the financial part of planning. Remember that employer who kindly withheld all of your taxes, and paid them on time to the federal and state governments? Well you kicked them to the curb so it's all on you. You can't just collect the income and forget to pay your real employer (i.e., the gov't) their cut. I've seen several small businesses get into this rut and for those who survived, they came out with very little skin left in tact. You do not, and I repeat, do not, want to get into a situation where you're behind on self-employment and employer taxes. You'd be left wondering if you owe the gov't or a loan shark. Can you say compounded interest DAILY!

4. No Marketing
So what if you have the best product or offer the most fabulous service, if no one knows you exist what good is that doing you? Marketing doesn't have to be very expensive. At a minimum you should have a website and some business cards. Depending on where you shop around, this could be a $200 or less initial investment. Perhaps I'm a website snob, but you'd be hard pressed to get me to do business with an establishment that does not have a website. That's the first thing I ask for when I call or if I'm speaking to someone about their business.

Overcoming Challenges

A few weeks ago I shared 5 challenges with being a new entrepreneur (or solopreneur as it's sometimes called). Learning to overcome challenges head on is a skill set that I'm guessing most successful business owners possess. Here are some things that I've done, currently doing, or in the process of doing, to overcome the challenges I've identified thus far:

Challenge #1 - It's all you boo!

Yes, it's still all me but hopefully that will end soon. To help reduce costs, I share an office space with another business - that just so happens to offer a service that marries well with what I'm doing. The owner and I have discussed bringing in an administrative person to help both of us, which would be a great cost savings. Another option is to bring on independent contractors as the need arises. By using contractors, my expenses will be more directly aligned with revenues. Eventually it is my goal to have full time employees; I look forward to the day when I can help nurture other people's careers and goals.

Challenge #2 - Social Isolation!

This is probably the easiest challenge to overcome. For starters, don't isolate yourself from your friends (duh, right). I hung out with one of my buds last night and we had a blast. Yes I miss seeing her everyday, but not seeing her everyday made yesterday even more special and fun. Secondly, there is the local chamber of commerce, which I plan to join soon and hopefully build new relationships with other small business owners. Lastly, I get to play on facebook more now that I'm not behind the corporate firewalls. It's amazing how much social media helps us to stay connected with people.

Challenge #3 - Income!

We all know that word of mouth is often the best form of marketing. Super serving my clients is my #1 goal. The majority of my projects have come through referrals so I haven't had to market much. It is my plan to do more marketing in the very near future. Another aspect to protecting and managing my income is to invoice timely and appropriately. Depending on the scope of the project, I may request a retainer or progress billing if it's expected to go beyond 30 days.

Challenge #4 - Stagnation!

Again, this one is easy. I continue to subscribe to newsletters and other periodicals that keep me updated. I also attend conferences and business/professional development seminars. Lastly, I have joined 2 organizations specifically geared toward my service and business.

Challenge #5 - No PTO!

Who cares?! If I overcome challenges 1, 3 & 4, I can have as much or as little PTO as I like. I'm taking off 2 weeks for Christmas, and in case you haven't heard, I'm headed to St. Lucia in a few months;-).

To conclude, I think the benefits far outweigh the costs. I'm doing something that I love to do, I'm helping and serving everyday folks (not just corporate shareholders) and I'm learning so much on a daily basis. Entrepreneurship isn't for everyone, but it's definitely not as scary as some of us have convinced ourselves to believe. In my experience, the hardest part so far was making the decision.

Whoo Hoo!

Whoo hoo, listen carefully ... can you hear that? It's the sound of waves crashing. Stand still ... do you feel that? It's the coolness of the tropical breeze. Mmm, mm ... can you taste that? It's the sweet taste of mimosas every morning. Oooh, look over there ... do you see that? It's the breathtaking view of pristine beaches and tropical rainforests. Where are you? You're on the beautiful island of St. Lucia. Uhm hmm, yeah baby (in my austin powers voice), someone is going on a vacation in less than 6 months!

Let's take a stroll down memory lane to January when I solicited vacation suggestions here. Finally, I am going to take an adult vacation. No 2 and 3 night quickies, a full 7 night stay in a villa on the beautiful island of St. Lucia! Yippee!!!

Wanna go? You're more than welcome. Hey, the more the merrier;-).

Retirement Planning

Blogpal 444express had a few interesting posts on her personal stock transactions that got me to thinking. Personally I don't invest in individual stocks for several reasons, but the main reason is because I'm just too lazy to do so. Unlike 444express, I am not a very diligent person when it comes to watching and studying stocks and their movements daily, weekly, or heck, even annually. I'm a mutual fund kind of girl ... give me a little of everything in one swoop.

My laziness doesn't just stop with individual stocks, I don't even watch my mutual funds ... at all, if ever, well maybe annually when I'm calculating my net worth for the year. The only retirement account that I review quarterly is my ROTH, and that's because the contributions are mine at any time, without any penalty or taxes - so in essence, I kind of see my ROTH as a glorified savings account, that I can't touch unless the world has turned upside down. As for the 401K accounts that were rolled over into a traditional IRA, I don't take one measly look at them. Hmm, that doesn't sound too responsible, huh?

Quite frankly I'm not too concerned about how they perform. I have yet to get it into my head that my "retirement" should be based on the amount of money I saved through retirement vehicles invested in paper assets. I'm more concerned with paying off my mortgage and being completely debt free. I know medical costs can be a beast on one's retirement savings so that's one reason why I was making maximum contributions to my HSA account every year. With socialized medicine on the horizon, who knows what we will need to do to address medical care in those golden years. I'll continue to maximize my HSA and adjust as necessary.

As for retirement planning, here are my initiatives (in order of priority):

• Continue building and growing current business
• Continue to build HSA account (as long as it makes sense to do so)
• Continue investing in ROTH IRA
• Payoff mortgage (never have another one again)
• Invest in other businesses (currently developing the framework)
• Invest in real estate
• Invest in paper assets (i.e., stocks and bonds)

Now that's diversification;-). How are you planning for "retirement?"

Product Review - OMG Goodness!!!

My beloved Trader Joes has done it again. I splurged on a box of organic Chai Tea ($3.29 for 20 bags) and let me tell you - I'll do it again and again and again. The "recipe" suggested that you bring 8 ounces of water to a boil, steep the tea bag for 4 - 5 minutes and if you desire, add a splash of milk for richness. I chose to boil some almond milk instead of water and then steeped the tea bag for several minutes. OMG!!! It was so delicious. I added absolutely no sweetener at all (one could argue that this is not a true statement since I used the vanilla flavored almond milk:-).




If you like chai tea, I highly recommend giving this product a try. Although I kept it basic, there are many options to jazz up your cup of goodness. A friend has decided to add some Bailey's Irish Cream to their cup ... hmm ... I'll pass, it's wonderful as is to me. Simple and plain, that's how I'll drink this beauty. Now that I think about it this wasn't a splurge because I can enjoy a cup of chai tea for about 17 cents. That's much cheaper than the occasional Caribou Coffee or Starbucks splurge. SCORE!

If ... Then

Today has been one of those days where I find myself having random thoughts, about nothing in particular. Here's a sneak peak of my randomness:

IF soap is supposed to be a cleaning agent, THEN why is the residue (i.e., soap scum) hard to clean?

IF the "red" onion is really purple, THEN why is it called a red onion?

IF Washington is so great at fiscal policy, THEN why can't they balance their books?

IF Christmas is December 25 every year, THEN why the mad rush in December as if it's a surprise ... and why the crazy charging as if it's an emergency?

IF I can get shrimp & fish from the coast of Savannah and the Gulf Coast, THEN why is it cheaper to purchase shrimp & fish that are shipped over from China, Thailand and Vietnam.

See random. Do you have any IF ... Then's that you'd like to share?

How Ridiculous

I stopped eating beef over 10 years ago and never looked back. Every few months there's another food recall related to E. coli, salmonella, botulism, and whatever other food borne illness that's out there. Beef is not the only culprit, we've seen veggies such as spinach and other staples, such as peanut butter, take a hit as well. Perhaps it's just me, but I'm a tad bit concerned with the blatant lack of responsibility being displayed in the food industry and co-signed by the gov't. Okay, I may have stretched it with the botulism, but you get the point;-).

For example, here's an excerpt from consumer advocate Clark Howard's syndicated radio show related to a recent beef recall:

Nov 17, 2009 -- Ground beef recall results after plant stopped E. coli testing
More than 500,000 pounds of ground beef was recalled late last month after two people died and estimated 500 were sickened by an E. coli outbreak, according to The New York Times.

The tainted beef came from a meat-packer in Ashville, N.Y. that reportedly stopped testing for E. coli two years ago at the request of beef suppliers (are you kidding me?!). Surprisingly, E. coli testing is not required by the Department of Agriculture. It's only recommended sans any legal enforcements for not doing it (okay, so we're just relying on self policing in an industry that can give a rats boom boom about anything other than profit?! Yeah, that's great and comforting to know. ***side note, this is just one example why relying on Gov't to "take care" of you is such an awful idea!)

The recall has prompted Trader Joe's to stop sourcing its meat from the affected plant (aah, my beloved Trader Joes. Way to go, take action!). The grocer also now wants its other suppliers to test all ground beef for the deadly bacteria.

Costco Wholesale is the only large national retailer that mandates E. Coli testing. Perhaps Costco can do so because it uses its own grinding facilities. (How sad. Great for Costco, sad that no one else gives a hoot.)

Too often it seems like the Department of Agriculture feels its responsibility is to protect processing plants and beef suppliers, not the American consumer. (yep, and amen.)

Clark is an unabashed free-marketer, but he knows that there needs to be some referees in place for capitalism to work optimally. The marketplace suffers when there's no cop on the beat. Consumers need to feel confident that the feds are on the case to make sure their food is safe.

***It's my plan to venture into a little square foot gardening this spring. We'll see if my plans come to fruition. Oh, and one last thing, if you haven't done so, you should check out the movie Food, Inc. I thought it was pretty well done.

5 Challenges of the Great Exodus

This is a follow-up to my previous post where I discussed 5 benefits to the great exodus. As I mentioned before, I'm sure that I'll continue to discover more benefits as time goes on, but those were just a few that I immediately identified. On the other hand, I have also identified 5 "challenges" to the great exodus. I put "challenges" in quotes because I've already begun to put things in place to overcome them. Yay me! So here goes:

1. It's all you boo! Yep, you're everything. You're the service provider, the marketing exec, the bookkeeper, the administrative assistant, the janitor, the mail clerk, the billing department ... and in the event a customer's check doesn't clear ... the collection agency. Until you're able to outsource some of those functions, running your own business is NOT just about doing that one thing you want to do - you actually have to run the operations of the business as well.
2. Social Isolation! Remember that cubicle environment I mentioned in the previous post? It has come to my attention that even with all of the ickiness that comes along with cubicle land, there is one major benefit - camaraderie amongst like-minded folks. I was always fortunate to have wonderful co-workers whom I enjoyed greatly. Now it's just me and my PC and sporadic e-mails to former co-workers saying things like "I miss y'all." LOL. If you don't care much for the folks you work with, this wouldn't be on your list of challenges to overcome.
3. Income! As my blog pal Christine mentioned in the comments section of the 5 benefits, income is a double edge sword. Yes the salary limitations are lifted but, so are the "guaranteed" paychecks. Being an entrepreneur definitely demands you to dig into your inner Type A personality and pull out that tenacity and fortitude required to go out, kill something and bring home the bacon - and maintain your integrity and character.
4. Stagnation! If you're in a field that continues to evolve and requires you to stay on top of new rules, regs, technology, etc, you can possibly become stagnant in your technical knowledge. Why? Well because this type of education is generally acquired through on the job training or outside courses - yeah the ones your employer used to pay for. Keeping abreast on the developments of your field is another overhead cost that you have to carry. Many people skimp on this part but I don't think that's a very good idea.
5. No PTO! Remember that pitiful 2 weeks of vacation that you often complain about? Heck, who am I kidding, my last gig gave me 4 weeks of vacation so yeah 2 weeks would be pitiful to me too;-). As an entrepreneur there is no PTO (paid time off). In my case specifically, my income is earned by services that I provide. Basically I barter my time and knowledge in exchange for dollars and cents. No work, no pay ... little work, little pay, you get the picture.

Will more challenges introduce themselves? I'm sure of it. These are just the ones I've identified as a one month old entrepreneur;-).

Soon to come ... how I overcome or plan to overcome these current challenges.

Most Dangerous Cake Recipe in the World!

This recipe was sent to me via e-mail. I haven't tried it yet but if anyone has or does before I do, please let me know;-).

5 MINUTE CHOCOLATE MUG CAKE

4 TBS flour

4 TBS sugar

2 TBS cocoa

1 egg

3 TBS milk

3 TBS oil

3 TBS chocolate chips (optional)

A small splash of vanilla extract

1 large coffee mug (microwave safe)

Add dry ingredients to mug, and mix well. Add the egg and mix thoroughly.

Pour in the milk and oil and mix well.

Add the chocolate chips (if using) and vanilla extract, and mix again.
Put your mug in the microwave and cook for 3 minutes at 1000 watts. The cake will rise over the top of the mug, but don't be alarmed!Allow to cool a little, and tip out onto a plate if desired. Eat!

And why is this the most dangerous cake recipe in the world? Because now you are only 5 minutes away from chocolate cake at any time of the day or night;-).

5 Benefits of the Great Exodus

It's been almost a month since the great exodus and I've already discovered 5 great benefits. I'm sure I'll discover more in due time.

1. No more open cubicle environment - in this day of swine flu and other highly contagious illnesses, I'm so happy that I no longer sit in a cubicle environment where germs lurk ever so freely, looking for some innocent person to pounce on. Actually the germs in and of themselves are not to blame, it's those unsavory co-workers who refuse to cover their mouths when they cough, who lick their finger to separate papers and hand one off to you (oh gosh, I HATE that) or use the same piece of tissue to wipe/blow their nose all throughout the day.
2. No more potlucks - unfortunately I'm not one who enjoys potlucks in a large group setting. I apologize if I offend anyone, but holiday potlucks are not my cup of tea. Usually I'm the one at the potluck looking for the items that were purchased and not made. I became potluck shy when I first observed ADULTS who would use the restroom and not wash their hands afterwards. Question, if you don't wash your hands after you use the restroom, just when do you wash them? At first I thought it was just an isolated incident, but no, it happens far too frequently for my taste - no pun intended.
3. No more salary limitations - my income is completely up to me. I will now see a direct relationship between what I put in and what I get out. No more corporate limitations. No more forced "bell curve" for evaluations and raises, which brings me to the next benefit.
4. No more obscure evaluations - oh my goodness this must have been my Achilles heel at the end of my corporate career. My employer's annual evaluation process was just HR formality, no real career planning, no real comments that encouraged growth, just blah. In addition, there was a forced bell curve to ensure that the majority of the employees were scored a 3, or average --- so you could bust your butt but that didn't matter because excelling had become the new average. So much for the motivation factor.
5. No more unnecessary meetings - we would have so many meetings on a daily basis that I often wondered when I would get any work done. We'd have a meeting to discuss the need for an agenda for an upcoming meeting, then we'd meet to go over the agenda and see if there were any changes needed; if there changes then we'd have to meet again to make sure everyone was okay with the changes, then we'd have said meeting, and of course we would have to meet afterwards to go over what we discussed in the meeting. After all of that, we'd have another meeting to get the next manager up the chain caught up, and then if he/she had any additional questions, we're back to meeting number 1 and going through the process all over again! I'm not kidding. I have some readers who are still in that environment and they can attest that I'm telling the truth. In fact, I might have left out a few meetings in the process.

So, is everything rosy on this side of the fence? Of course not. There are thorns in every rose bush. I'll write another post listing the "cons" of the great exodus in the near future.

798 ... So What

Earlier this week I went to the credit union to transfer my Health Savings Account from the soon to be fee based account at a big brick and mortar bank - remember, my previous employer covered the fees as an employee benefit, but now that I'm no longer an employee, the benefit goes away.

Side note: can I tell you how beautiful the credit union was on the inside? Wow, either this one is special or I've just been missing out since I never seemed to qualify for any memberships. There were specialty coffees, bottled water, baked goods, friendly employees, comfortable seating, gorgeous decor, you name it ... just completely different than what I'm used to. What does any of this have to do with 798? Glad you asked.

As I was sitting with the rep waiting on her to process my paperwork, she said "wow, you have a credit score of 798." Perhaps I was supposed to be happy or proud of myself, but I was actually pretty stoic. I wasn't sure what kind of response she expected, if any at all. I've vented before about my frustration with our obsession over the fico score. It's my goal to never borrow money again, so if I'm not going to borrow money, mister fico becomes less of a factor in my life. To some I might trend on a little financial irresponsibility because I don't check the score. Well, to that I say this, I pay all of my bills on time and I check my credit report at least once a year (primarily to watch out for identity theft). My home purchase in 2003 was the last time I borrowed money. Prior to the rep telling me what my score was, I had no idea. And now that I know it, so what;-).

You know what's crazy? There was a time in the very recent past that my 798 score would have given me access to all kinds of debt, even though my income right now is zero! How does that happen ... easy, the fico score only measures how you handle debt, it's not an indication that you can really afford what you're trying to buy. I could have gotten a mortgage easily, with zero income. Why? Because my fico score would've had lenders and underwriters drooling over me, anxious to throw money at me. Oh, and don't let me get started on the pre-approved credit card offers. I accumulated a month's worth of pre-approved credit offers once and they grossly totalled a quarter of a million dollars worth of credit opportunities.

Not to worry, I won't always have this problem because one day I won't have any debt, including my mortgage, and then mister fico will turn on me and my score will begin to drop? You see, if I don't have any debt to service, mister fico doesn't have anything to measure ... and well, if mister fico doesn't have anything to measure, nothing divided by nothing is zero.

In my opinion, credit scoring has its place, but it shouldn't be the end all, be all. Any system that penalizes me for not borrowing money is a system that I bow out of graciously and happily.