This was written the first month I moved to Hawaii. It's actually decent advice, but it turned out I rarely get two hours alone, not all my kids are in school any longer, and I'm constantly following everyone else's schedule. If there's a way, I urge you to put yourself and your writing first. For me, it's just not going to happen.

At last I may actually get my writing taken seriously, not because my family
gets it after years and years, but because they are all adults or close to it,
they all go to school in some form or another, and my husband only comes home for lunch. Yes, I may get two hours to work each day uninterrupted.

Had to get that out. It's sarcastic, to be sure. I've only been talking about
this since the day I started taking my writing seriously in January of 1997.

We had a pretty spot picked out and organized for an office when I realized our
room is a great size, no one will walk through it, I can close the door AND lock
it, and I can easily not notice it at bedtime. And for those of you who believe
you shouldn't work where you sleep, fret not, I haven't slept well in years,
after taking everything out for years. It's time to work my heart out.

I have learned to make things easy on myself a bit. I didn't cut down, cut out, or throw things away, I simply simplified. 24 folders - 2 for each month, one is
immediate action because it's due that particular month, and the other is
anything received, like rejection slips, bills, and yes, check stubs! That's it.
Why make it harder? When I'm rich and famous, I still won't change it because
that doesn't happen often for writers, but if it did, I'd HIRE OUT!

Lastly, I ditched the desk and got a big round table. All my work and my laptop
can be there when I'm working and can slide into a small clear plastic tub when
I'm not working. Nothing complicated. I still use the desktop, but that's
downstairs in the office that will never work as an office because it's too
convenient. For. Everyone. To. Stop. Me. From. Writing.

And thanks for sharing my slice of Heaven.

Goodnight!

Organization: Simple Receipt Management for your Home Business

It's nearly tax time.  We've talked about organizing and managing your business, regardless of your space, time, and income; let's talk about receipts.

Receipts: can live without them, but for tax purposes (and refunds, returns, and exchanges), we will not.

For the sake of simplifying and working in a small space, let's try the easiest and smallest method available (aside of the computer program).  If your home business has become  so big you need a complete and elaborate method, not counting a computerized program, you may need to move your business to a separate location. While this receipt system can pretty much work for most businesses, it's not the best solution for a multi-million dollar business.

Using an inexpensive accordion file wallet with at least twelve tabs (each accordion wallet file shown here is under $4 and has 12 tabs), label one tab for each month (if you use a fiscal period, start with the first fiscal month).  Mark the front of the wallet with the year (when using fiscal years, use the actual year your twelve month file ends).

File each receipt into the corresponding tab, always filing each receipt behind the one that came before (this is an easy habit to get into and is more likely to find your receipts in dated order).

Make notes on the back of receipts and circle business items and amounts on the front. My businesses are small enough that I actually file ALL receipts in the wallet, even copies of the receipts I give away, and copies of items shipped to me.  Do what works for you.

Keep your wallet in the same place throughout the year; consistency makes for good habits.

At the end of the year, secure with elastic band or ribbon, tuck into your tax box or set aside until you're ready to file.  

Once taxes are filed, store your receipts, wallet and all, in a safe place for however long is necessary in your line of work.  

Many business owners scan and electronically file their receipts, throwing out the hard copy, however, the wallet is affordable enough to use a new one each year, keeping the old one for storage (this method also saves you time - no scanning and labeling).

Okay, do you understand the system?  Get a receipt; file a receipt.