Organizing

I am pretty darn pleased with myself right now. A few of the things that I really wanted to get done, are done. Now, all I have to do is follow through with my plan and all will be well in my world!

Here is my little work out calendar. Notice how I only wrote down one week worth of exercise? That is just in case I am being a bit over-zealous and my plan needs tweaking after week one. I am really worried about finding this much time for working out and walking, but we shall see.

Next, I took a planner that we got in the mail with something and I turned it into my meal planner. I recorded what I plan to have for dinner next week. It's all written in pencil because I know that one of those nights Irv will make a yummy frozen pizza and then I will have to move things around. The neat thing with this is that I can write things in ahead of time if I think of something I want to make for the following week and then I can use that to help me make my shopping list for that week. I can also jot other things we need in the little note section.

Last is the shoe box with my envelopes for our new budget....they are just waiting for payday on Friday and then we will get started. We get paid every other week, so I have envelopes for week one and for week two....for things like food, gas, dog food and spending...the things that we normally use a debit card for, but won't be anymore, therefore keeping us from overspending. At least that is the plan!

It feels good to have some plans in place. I am anxious to get started. The first test will be when we go grocery shopping this morning. This will be our dress rehearsal. I am anxious to see how we do. My goal is to only spend about $120 today, so we have money left for carry out on the weekend. :)

Subject change....I listed my cute new little Sun, Moon and Stars tote bag yesterday and popped it on Facebook. My sister in SC saw it and immediately bought it! I finished this one yesterday and I will get it listed some time today. I hope it sells as fast! I love the little plastic "buckle" thingy. I thought it was such a fun thing to use to keep the top of the tote closed.

Well, we are off to the store. I'll let you know how we do. Make it an awesome day for yourself!

Pondering and Planning

I sat in bed last night, clipboard in hand pondering and planning my business strategy for 2010. I am so excited right now. My sales have increased this holiday season, and after 18 months in business....I think I am finally starting to understand what I need to do and NOT do to make my business the success I want it to be. Okay....so I'm a little slow...what can I say?

I have some things I am going to do immediately...like opening a separate checking account with a debit card and a savings account for the business. It's so awful at the end of the year trying to separate personal and business expenses. I also think I spend money for the business when I shouldn't be, because there is money in our checking, and I also leave money I make in our personal account where it quickly gets spent.

Besides the fact that I love creating things, and FourDogDay has filled a tremendous creative void for me...there was another reason I started my business. Irv and I don't have a nice pension sitting there waiting for us when we retire...in fact, at times we wonder if we will ever be able to retire.

My thought was that if between now and retirement, I could build a successful craft business that would eventually bring in a nice little profit....that we could one day use that profit to supplement our social security. I now see that as a very real possibility.

In order to do that though, we need to know where our money is coming from and where it is going. We need to know what works and what doesn't work when creating and marketing my products. So, like I said....I sat with the clipboard in hand and started to map out my strategy...and let me tell you...I am excited!

We will start at the bank this weekend by opening those accounts. I will close up MyOtherShop as soon as I can, so that all of my attention and energy can be devoted to FourDogDay. I will clear out things I don't plan to make anymore to make room for the new things that I can't wait to start on....and we will carefully select some craft shows for spring and fall.

We are taking control of our business rather than allowing our business to take control of us!

How about you? Do you have business or personal plan in place for 2010? Have you ever done a personal or business financial makeover? If you own your own business, did it take you a while to really figure things out? Please share.....