You Could Win a Hamilton Beach Stand Mixer

A Cowboy’s Wife is having a contest on her food blog! You can win a Hamilton Beach® Stand Mixer and she’ll ship anywhere so everyone is eligible!

It is so easy to enter the contest at My Wooden Spoon, so make sure you go check it out. Working at home is hard enough, it would be nice to not have to work so hard in the kitchen. I know I have taken over most of the baking and stuff because my mom's mixer is ready to give up. She bought it almost 9 years ago as an emergency replacement for the one I burned up making her and dad's 50th wedding anniversary cake.

I was halfway through the cake sized for 30+ family, plus friends, and just starting the frosting when the mixer we had burned out. She ran and bought the one we have now for about $12 so I could finish the cake. That nearly finished that poor little mixer right there, but it's held on for the most part since then.

Still, would be nice to not have to have that happen on their 60th anniversary as well. :-) So I'm hoping to get her a nice new stand mixer. ;-)

I need a tax center

My office is a total mess, so I don't even want to think about taxes right now, but I guess I need to get something done toward getting ready to work on them, huh? Later tonight I'll move things around, get my antique secretarial desk set in the corner where it goes and dedicate it to taxes until after April 15th. Then it can just be the general place to catch things for next tax season so I don't have this problem then too.

Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day is not very far away, the stores already have aisles filled with heart shaped boxes of candy everywhere. I'm not really into the whole giant box of candy thing, though, since my mom has diabetes and I have been trying to diet. Don't get me wrong, I would love to get a nice big box of chocolates, but I am lacking the key element to getting one: a boyfriend. So instead this Valentine's Day I'll just be getting my parents a little something and letting the day pass by.

I don't know, maybe I should get me something. Would a Weight Watchers coupon be appropriate for Valentine's day? LOL

I have been thinking that I might get something different than candy or flowers, maybe see what I can find in Wal-Mart coupons for something that might be nice? I dunno. I'll go browsing through all of the coupons they have at Coupon Chief and see what looks good.

I guess I'm just not much for the flash and fanfare of Valentine's Day, it's a time for couples. Still, I'll be getting stuff for my parents, maybe even get a dozen roses for my dad to give to my mom since he can't get out and shop for them himself. Wonder what coupon deals I can find on roses...

Spring cleaning office early

After a week of having my left shoulder hurting like ... well, I won't cuss, but it hurt really really bad. But, it's feeling a little better now so I have been trying to get back into my work with writing. I've also been working on getting the office cleaned up today, got a lot done on it and if I can get the same amount of work done tomorrow I'll be better than halfway to finishing getting the office reorganized for spring. Its nice to have a head jump-start on spring cleaning.

Finding the Right Credit Card Reward Program

Working at home often means running up credit card bills. Wouldn't it be nice if you could sort through all those offers for credit cards quickly and easily and find the ones that really do offer the things you need for your small business - rather that is airline miles, gas rewards or even cash back?

The Credit Card Search Engine can help you sort through Credit Card Reward Program offers and find the ones that match up to what you need for your small home based business. Stop wasting time sorting through junk mail looking for a good reward and instead look at what leading U.S Credit Card issuers such as J.P. Morgan Chase, Bank of America, Citibank have to offer you.

Online or offline?

Should your business have a blog? What about a website? There are a lot of things to consider in today's work world, and one of them is that no matter if your business is global or local your likely to have a need for a website.

Now, here is the stickler. Not everyone uses computers. It's true, I know a few people that don't use them. Make sure you don't get into the nasty habit of telling people "Visit my website!" You need off-line sources of information and advertising as well for those that do not use computers.

Contest?

I have been pondering maybe having a contest for one of my sites and that invariably leads me to wonder what kind of work at home contest might anyone be interested in? I'm not talking about something with grandiose prizes, just something simple and fun. What would anyone think would be a good home office contest? Maybe designing a perfect home office plan that fits in a small space? Creating free to use icons for people that have home offices and want to spruce up their website? A random drawing rather than a judged contest? And what would be a good prize? Please keep it affordable, remember, I am a full-time family caregiver and have no real income to be spending on things.

Home medical supplies

Working at home is no guarantee that there will not be work related injuries. There are things such as carpel tunnel and stress and migraine headaches and back problems to consider, and then there are general family issues that might require having home medical supplies at the ready when they are needed.

That is why Allegro Medical would like to invite you to visit their site and browse through the home medical supplies that they have. It is easy to find what you are looking for, because you can search their site based on condition or by brands.

Items that I have seen that I found of interest as a work at home writer and family caregiver include Color Coded Therapy Putty for finger, hand and wrist resistance exercises and smart gloves to help with avoiding further damage to already strained muscles and wrists.

Small business and taxes

Now sure where to begin with your home based business and taxes? Visit the IRS small business pages to learn all about how business taxes apply to small businesses.

Also find out information such as how to tell if you are considered self employed or not. What to take into consideration and how to know what forms you will need to fill out when doing your taxes this year.

IRS Forms and Publications

Looking for IRS tax forms? Don't be afraid to visit the IRS website to find them, I've been there multiple times and have not yet been the subject of an audit ;-)

On a serious level, though, you can find all of the forms and publications you need at the IRS website by visiting www.irs.gov/formspubs and searching the links for the information that you need. You can even order needed forms such as Information Returns and Employer Returns, although there might be a small fee for having these publications mailed to you.

Buy Gold

What is the sense in working so hard at your work at home job if you do not have anything to show for the future? Investing is one of the best ways to save for the future and for over 30 years the Monex Deposit Company has been America's trusted leader in precious metals investments. Their staff of hard asset professionals can assist you in making investments and arranging for personal delivery or safe storage at an independent bank or depository.

If you have been thinking about investing in gold you can buy gold and other precious metals through the Monex Deposit Company. Right now they have American eagle gold coins available in units of 10 one-ounce coins for personal delivery only. These are .9167 fine gold and are a legal tender coin in the USA with a $50 face value.

Office pets

If you have a home office, and you have pets, then you have office pets. Unless your better than I am at convincing the cat to stay off your shoulder while you type and can actually convince the dog it won't kill them to be on the other side of a kiddie gate rather than curled up at your feet or in your lap.

So, the question is raised - what can be done to keep them out of your way?

One option is to schedule things such as phone calls to when you feed the animals so they are happy outside of the office for a little while. Coaxing the cat to enjoy a nice bed in a window and getting the dog a warm bed that is slid onto the lowest shelves of the book case beside you can help as well.

Have any tips? I would love to hear them.

A gate on the office

Working at home is hard enough, but if you have children in the home it can be an exercise in juggling as well as a difficult job. Options for how to deal with keeping children out of the home office, that don't entail closing the door, start with a child gate such as those used to keep toddlers safe from stairs. There are a lot of options, but my favorite is the kind that you can set in the door with a quick release pressure bar to allow you to place them firmly in the doorway, but get them out of your way in a hurry if you need to get out of the room for something. They have the added bonus of not causing damage to door frames with screw holes like some gate types can.

Beauty Jobs

Would you like to find work in the beauty industry but have no idea where to start looking for the work you want? BeautyJobs has announced that they have launched a new online job search engine that was created exclusively for the beauty industry. Designed to connect job seekers with salon and spa owners, as well as others in the beauty industry, the site is free of charge.

Searching for beauty jobs is easy, you just enter your zip code in the search engine and you get a list that shows the position, what company the job is with, experience that is required, even how far from your location the job is.

Looking to learn still? There is a directory on site with an alphabetical search for schools.

Scheduling in sleep

I'm trying to get the time to get out to the IRS website and get some work done in researching the new tax regulations on small businesses, but it seems like every time I am a few minutes ahead in getting everything done I fall asleep. I think the next time I catch up on work I am just going to go to sleep for a full day and let my body recharge and recuperate from lack of sleep the past week. It seems that resolving to get more sleep is not the same as actually finding the time to sleep. I've been spending more time passing out between work bouts than actually sleeping, which is not good for the job in the least.

Did I break my resolution?

Have you ever been faced by a deadline and not sure what to do about it? I hit that wall this week with my resolutions on getting more writing work done. Here it is the end of the first week of 2007 and I had not yet met my resolution to work on my novels. It's frustrating, to be able to do writing work, but not have the time to work on the writing that I want to be working on. I have decided that it's all right though, the resolution was to get it done in 2008, not the first week of 2008. I guess that sometimes sticking to a resolution is knowing when the resolution applies.

Kava Kava

Working hard means that it is often tempting to turn to herbal supplements as a way to keep balanced. Either to stimulate the body to keep working or to soothe the mind and combat insomnia. One such supplement that has found popularity with its ability to help with insomnia and feelings of anxiety is kava kava.

Used for centuries as a ceremonial drink by the people of the South Pacific, kava kava has in recent years been sought after to the point that before 2002 there were substantial amounts of the aerial parts of the kava plant being exported to North America and Europe for commercial production. The aerial portions of the plant have been identified as having liver damaging properties and are suspected to be the source of suspicion of the herb's link to liver damage.

Growers, such as Kona Kava Farm in Hawaii, konakavafarm.com, have stood by the value of kava kava and still produce traditionally prepared kava kava for use in reducing stress and increasing an overall sense of well-being.

While using care to buy only from trusted sources can reduce the risks associated with with kava, there are still some risks that demand consulting your doctor before you use kava. Known risks include an increase in "off" periods for those with Parkinson's Disease. Talk to your doctor about risks for liver damage and any other conditions before using kava, and do not buy from a source that might use aerial parts of the kava plant in production.

Can't wait to finish office in time for tax season

Looking around my mom's room, which I have been painting and redecorating for her, I am made eager to get back to repainting and decorating my office. There are still shelves to be put up in there and some things that need to be shifted around to clear up the walk flow of the room. Hopefully that can all be finished by the end of March at the latest so that I am going into April with a finished office ready to dive into working on my taxes.

Tax time cometh

It is hard to believe we are already closing in on a full week into 2008. W2s have begun to arrive in the mail already, meaning that tax time is upon us. ::wince:: I know I am not alone when I say that I hate taxes. They give me a nasty headache to try and figure out what I am supposed to be doing. Which papers do I need to fill out and file, what deductions are available, and so on and so forth.

Nasty evil taxes are already conspiring to give me a headache that will last until mid April. I'll be doing some research on things and posting notes about what I find out here, so keep tuned if you are looking at sorting out small business taxes this year.

Telnet and SSH for businesses

Being able to be in control of the network and computing infrastructure for your business is an important part of being in a growing business. As your home based business moves from a small one person operation into a more diverse and multi-employee corporation you need to be able to provide secure and reliable access, control, and management capabilities within that infrastructure.

Pragma Systems is a telnet and ssh connectivity provider that focuses on providing the most secure, scalable, and reliable telnet and ssh connectivity possible for corporations. If your business relies on the use of SFTP to transfer and maintain files within the network, then you should see what kind of difference Pragma Systems can offer over the 'one stop shopping' that other networking, infrastructure, and security solutions companies attempt to offer.

Pragma Systems is a privately held corporation headquartered in Austin, Texas. For more information visit their website at www.pragmasys.com

Getting ready for taxes - boxes of paper everywhere

Going through getting my mom's office area ready for tax season I have determined that the only sane way to sort out the boxes of paperwork is to start with a pile of boxes on the bed marked for the different categories, and go through the boxes to be sorted dropping things in each of the boxes. When finished start with one of the now sorted boxes and resort it into being organized. Put that one away and start on the next box. It seems to be working so far.