Business Update

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It’s been an interesting few months business wise.  I realised during October that there was no way I could continue working two markets in coaching, complete with two websites, two newsletters and two very different audiences!  At the same time I was coming up to exams at school, working four days a week on a contract position within Defence and looking at being a single mother when Eddie deployed!  Can you say “Overwhelm”???  LOL!

Anyway, I ended up emailing both my ezine mailing lists to say I was taking a sabbatical until January.  It was one of the best things I’ve done business wise!  Taking a sabbatical gave me enough mental and emotional space to sit back and really look at what I was doing.  I had pushed so hard all year to keep everything going that I was working crazy hours just to do the bare minimum, and that not very well.

In December I made the decision to close down one of my websites and coaching markets.  I’ve been finding it difficult to work with this side for quite a while, my focus has been on coaching Work at Home Moms, yet I didn’t want to end it as that site/business had been my ‘baby’ since I started coaching.

Well, it’s done.  I sent the email out yesterday to announce the closure, I’ve altered the website so it is notifying anyone who goes there and as of 10 January I’ll have the site diverted to my other website.

Which brings me to the really cool news!  I’ve got a new business website!  It’s for Work at Home Moms/Mums/Mothers who are beginning to build their online (and offline) business.  I’ve called it WAHM Biz Builder and it will be based around helping work at home moms whose businesses aren’t bringing in huge amounts to build their business.  I’ve seen a lot of coaching businesses who have high priced tools, however very few focus on helping the new WAHMs build their businesses.

There’s not much on the site at the moment, I expect to have it finished by mid january.

We’re staying here!

Yay!!  We have finally heard that Eddie is being reposted within Canberra, so we will be staying here next year!  Hooray! I’m so relieved that we won’t have to pack up and move again next january.

Now I can go and plant the trees out into the half wine barrels instead of leaving them in pots in case we had to move them!

Update on the last week

The boy who bullied Dian on the bus has been suspended from school. I found out that he is severely autistic, and he has no understanding or comprehension that he hurt Dian. The school has been having other problems with him for awhile now, and this incident was the final straw. He has been suspended indefinately. I really feel for his parents, having to deal with this.

I have work until Christmas! The area that I’m working with in Defence, who have been saying for four months that there is no way they can extend my contract, turned around yesterday and asked if I would like to stay until Christmas. Yes please! I’ll still be working 22.5 hours a week, but spread over four days. So I should be home by about 3.00pm each afternoon to get some time in to work on my coaching business! We’re all really happy about it.

Kids and bullying again

Where do I start? These last two weeks are kind of a blur! We’ve all had the flu, Eddie was first, then Dian, in fact she didn’t go to school at all last week, then I had/have it. Thankfully we’re all on the mend.

Dian’s been getting bullied at school, we think that is under control at the moment and things are looking up, and then she came home yesterday with this story. She goes to school on the bus, and recently has been sitting next to a 15yo (possibly mentally disabled or autistic) boy, J. I’m not sure how severe his impairment is. Anyway, she’s been telling us that he likes her, and he used to like another girl in her class. That’s bad enough, so I’ve been telling her to sit somewhere else. Yesterday, the only seat available on the bus home was next to Jack.

He told her that tomorrow he was going to bring a knife with him, told her she had to come to his party so he could flog her, and then proceeded to push her head down to her knees and sit on her five or six times! Apparently the kids sitting near told him to stop but he wouldn’t, and the bus driver didn’t notice.

I’ve reported it to Dian’s school, and the deputy principal rang J’s school. They are all horrified, as they should be, and we’ve been told that we can report it to the police if we choose to, as an assault. I’ve chosen not to at this point, but if he ever touches Dian again then it will definately be reported!

Busy, busy, busy!!!

I can’t believe I haven’t posted in over a month! Me bad… I just haven’t had time! So in the last month, I’ve been working three days a week for Defence, on a temporary contract that runs until the end of june. I’m looking for more permanent work in the meantime. Yesterday I had an interview and have been called back for another interview on friday. Yay!

We went to Victoria a few weeks ago for a nieces 21st birthday party. It’s such a long drive! Nine hours each way! It’s a good thing the in-laws are all nice people and worht it!

One of the deaf guys that I interpret for a church on sundays was diagnosed two weeks ago with lung cancer and given 6-12 months to live. He had a biopsy done on monday, so hopefully he’ll have a better idea of actually how bad it is from that. We’re all praying for him and his sister and brother-in-law whom he lives with.

During may, instead of going to CIT only two nights a week (mon/wed, 5.30-8.30pm) for Auslan, every second week we are having an extra module on “Dealing With Conflict”. I think more conflict was created by having us do it on an extra evening than anything else! The teacher came in on the first night and actually made a comment about facing a hostile class! I think we were just all exausted, and peeved at having to come to a third class that week, rather than hostile. It’s a rather strong word.

Money Makeover Update

So we’re two months down the track with this. So far we have paid out two credit cards and a business debt, about $13,000 worth of debt! Wow!!! Now that wasn’t a financially normal two months, we both received fairly hefty tax returns, and Eddie cashed out an insurance policy that wasn’t worth paying into. And what a difference it’s made!

I did our budget on Excel last night, and as long as we are very very careful with our money we can survive on Eddie’s wage. We won’t be putting away money for Christmas or clothes, but we will be able to pay bills. I am obviously planning on working, but it may take a month or so for me to find employment. I’m still coaching, however we really need a larger income to get rid of all this debt. We’re both so sick of paying $1000’s of dollars each year in interest!

We haven’t done so well following the budget up to now. In fact we didn’t have one at all for November! Then I was sick and we ate take-away a lot, we’ve both been really busy with working, school, Christmas coming, preparing to move etc. January is going to be a crazy month, so we’re using a fairly flexible budget there…. February we’ll need to get a lot more serious about following it.

I still need to draw up some charts that show our debt reduction visually. I don’t think it’s ‘real’ to Eddie or Dian what we’ve achieved so far. This is really me pushing the debt reduction and budgets so far, and trying to sell the idea to them. If I want them to buy into this and not blow the budget and to make it a truly teamwork effort then they need to be able to clearly see the benefits and the progress we’re making. Unfortunately I’ve misplaced my papers that have our net worth and balances on them, I’m assuming that they’ll turn up sometime after we move! I’ve probably filed them, if I have then it’s no wonder I can’t find them! LOL!

We’ve spent the money, now we’re paying the bills. A comment that I read today was really interesting. It was in one of Dave Ramsay’s books and said that if you invested $1850 per month in a good mutual fund, in 15 years you’ll be a cash millionaire. Another five years to make the second million and then three years to the third. Five million in 28 years. Most people spend thirty years paying off a mortgage at about the same monthly rate. There’s a big difference between $5,000,000 and a $300,000 house!

No job and no house…

Sigh…. we had to release the house we had reserved for next year as there was nowhere to park our trailer. What looked like a gate into the backyard was just a fence, and the extra carport that was supposed to be there didn’t exist. So it’s back to the drawing board and keep looking…

I also found out today that a job I applied for recently, I didn’t even get short-listed for an interview. I’m a bit sad about that, I really thought I had a good chance of getting it! I guess God has something better in mind, but I’m still a bit blah about not even making it to the interview!!!

New job…

I started a part time job on thursday. Two days a week in the office at Dian’s school. I’m just filling in until the end of the year. It was great to be back in an office, the kids are great and Dian LOVES having me at school. Although she didn’t think it was too great when she had to come and give me her second detention slip in a week…

I was absolutely exhausted by the time I was finished, it’s been about two years since I’ve worked away from home! It’s a good introduction though, as I’m looking for full time work next year when we’re back in Canberra.