March Earnings Breakdown

I didn't put in a lot of work last month because of my headaches and migraines, so I didn't make my goal, but I did decently overall.  I also dropped one client who required a lot of reminders to send me my weekly assignments, and constantly changed what they needed done... The money was good (usually around $100 a week), but the stress wasn't.

I also massively slacked off on another project throughout March because it's so tedious.  I'm trying to motivate myself to get to work on it right now, but it's obviously not going well hehe.

April 5th Already?

Where did the last week go?  Oh yes, into Easter preparation and celebrations... So much candy and family!  We had a good 3 days of various celebrations to attend, and still have to do something with another chunk of family this week. 

While I might have lost a week of productivity in the chaos, I am now pretty much 99.9% sure that my glasses are the issue with my headaches since family get togethers and outdoor excursions mean that I opt for contacts and shades for over my normal glasses - and sure enough my head has been fine lately.  Unfortunately, that means I need new glasses because I only have one pair of contacts and the prescription for them is expired.

I'll be updating on March's numbers and April's goals this week - the latter will be a bit different from normal.

March Goals

All right, I'm keeping it short and simple once again, just in case the chaos of February isn't done with me yet.  The biggest catch is that my birthday is this month which most likely means that I'll have at least 2 to 3 different birthday related dinners with different people.

1. Make $1000 of spendable cash after fees.  I was tempted to raise this to make up for February, but I think that would probably just put a lot of unnecessary pressure on me.
   

February Goal Check

So last month I had two goals, and as we all know, I didn't achieve both of them.  I'm still happy with how things turned out overall though, and March is off to a great start.  The client who had two outstanding invoices paid them on Monday, the Canadian currency issue was resolved today and I have a new invoice out for another $50.  When that one get's paid I'll be roughly 25% of the way to my goal for March, which is pretty excellent considering it's only the the second day of the month.

Here's my pass or fail recap on February's goals.

February Earnings Breakdown

The final total is in!  I finished up with $617.40 in spendable earnings for February, with about $200 in invoices out for the month still.  After adding it all up, taking everything that happened into consideration and making note of the fact that those unpaid invoices would put me over $800 - I'm pretty happy overall.  Hopefully, March will go smoother though and I'll be able to reach my goals without any complications.

Why My February Gets Two Thumbs Down

So many things went poorly in February, that I don't even know where to start... I hate making excuses, but I feel like I should explain why I didn't meet my monetary goals (for the first time since I started this blog) to all of you.

There are, quite honestly, a laundry list of reasons - some that are my fault and others that are not... Here it goes:

1. Bad weather (4+ feet of snow) and that meant four snow days with the man of the house home.  In other words there was too much noise, chaos and requests for attention to work effectively.
2. I had my second death in the family this year, both of which were unexpected and it threw me for an emotional loop.
   

February Goals

I'm going to keep my goals for the month short and simple because I feel like I really need to focus on one thing at a time until I can get back into a heavily motivated and productive state of mind.  So without further ado, here are my goals for February!

1. Earn $1000 in spendable cash, after fees.
2. Launch my business site.  I already have the domain, all I need to do is figure out what sort of graphics I want and how I want to design it.  I'm a little jaded at the moment and can't figure out what sort of images (if any) would be best...

Hopefully by narrowing down my goals to two I will be able to put some serious time in on my business site and get it fully operational this month.

January Goal Check

It's time to take a look at January and see how I did... We already know that I met my monetary legitimate work from home goals, but how did I do with everything else?  Honestly, not so hot, but I'm determined to make sure that February is better!

1. Earn at least $1000.  Check!  Earning $1043.78 definitely means that I met this goal.
2. Keep working on organization and time management.  Yes and No - This is still a work in progress... I'm improving, but I still have a long way to go.
3. Get in gear on my residual income goals since I haven't yet started and hopefully get the blog up and running for it as well.  Not even a little - This one got pushed completely onto the back burner.  I haven't put any work into residuals, or the blog... Although I'm avoiding creating the blog until I have a name for it.

Clearly I still have a lot of work to do before I can say that I'm clearing all my goals, but at least I'm willing to admit my failures.   I'm happy that I met my income goal since that is the one with the most immediate importance, but I still need to put some significant work into the others as well.

January Woes

I have to admit that January has been really hard for me so far.  Between happy and sad life events that have occurred this month I am really having trouble keeping motivated and on track.  Balancing life and my legitimate work from home jobs as well as the rest of the goals I've set for myself is starting to wear me down.

I honestly think that this happens to all of us at one point or another, and we all think that we're the only one who has ever gone through it... Almost as if we're failing by being the only person ever to burn out while working at home.  The truth though, is that it happens to everyone, even those who absolutely love their work or those who make incredible amounts of money.

Everyone has problems getting going at one point or another.

Where did January go?

We're already two weeks into the month and I'm trudging around like a zombie.  2010 is throwing jab after jab into my gut - but I'm hanging tight!

I've made just under $400 so far this month which is disheartening since I'm under par for my goal so far, but I think I can still pull it off.

I do have a few special things I'd like to mention though:

1. Guest Bloggers:  I'm still looking for people who want to share their success with everyone here.  Motivational Monday looks like it will be a monthly thing for the time being until more people perk up and show interest.  If you want to be a guest blogger and share some encouraging words about the success you've enjoyed - drop me a message!  (All guest blogs will include a link to your blog, website or profile page on one of the sites you write for.)
2. Crafty Ladies:  If you have an Etsy shop or a website featuring things you've made, I'd love to chat!  I'm looking to start doing regular give aways here at Earning At Home and would love to give you some publicity in the process.  If you're interested, let me know!
3. New Domain:  I should have my blog up on it's own domain in the near future.  I'm still a little nervous about buying a domain but I know that it's worth it.

If you want to be a guest blogger or want to donate to a giveaway for some free publicity message me here or leave a comment.

January Goals

After last month's experiences with legitimate work at home freelance work and other eggs, I'm a little worried that I won't be able to repeat those same results of earning $1200 and I don't want to lose the motivation so I'm setting my goals up around that area. 

Since I've been working on a new blog and a new layout I'm already a bit behind for the month but I've decided that my goals should still be high so here they are!

January 2010 Goals:

1. Earn at least $1000 so that I won't lose my motivation after the immense success that December blessed me with.
2. Keep working on organization and time management.
3. Get in gear on my residual income goals since I haven't yet started and hopefully get the blog up and running for it as well.
   

Motivational Monday

Motivation is something that everyone needs on a regular basis to stay encouraged, but for those of us in situations where we work from, finding motivation can be harder. Those who are self employed or turn to freelancing and legitimate work at home jobs as their source of income rarely get the same kind of encouragement that occurs in a brick and mortar environment.

The solution? Motivational Monday!

Stop by on Mondays to check for encouraging words from a variety of people. This week you'll have to listen to me ramble, but hopefully next time you'll hear from a special guest.

If you're interested in being a Guest Blogger, contact me to let me know. Don't be shy, you can share your success story and help others stay motivated!

A New Year Means New Goals

I haven't completely pinpointed my goals for the new year, but I do have a brief outline of the things I hope to accomplish in 2010.  Here's a rough draft, just so you guys know what to expect out of me as the new year progresses.

1.  Start working on "Residual Income" writing.  There will be a new blog to track the details, but I'll also have basic updates here.

Get Featured!

Starting (hopefully) this coming Monday, I would like to start running a weekly "Motivational Monday" column.  I know it's a bit short notice, so I will most likely write the first one on January 4th, but after that I would like to feature a different reader every week.

You don't have to blog, you don't have to have made thousands of dollars, you just have to have made some sort of progress towards reaching your goals or achieving your dreams.

If you are interested in being featured please use this form to contact me.

A few details for Motivational Monday:

• If you have a blog or website, I will include a link to your page with your article.  (If you have a button I am willing to use that.)
• I will generally require a link back from your blog/site to my blog.  
  
• There are no heavy set link requirements, but the posts should be at least 250 words long, if not longer.

Goodbye 2009, Hello 2010

I can't believe it's new year's eve already... I have no idea where 2009 went it feels like it was so incredibly short.  I don't even know how to say goodbye to it, because I don't feel like I ever said hello.

This year was my first full year living where I am now, and I have to say that while I still hate my environment, I do love my family - so I guess 2009 passed by so quickly because I was happy.  This last few months went especially quickly with the creation of this blog, meeting all of you and the fact that we're all achieving what most of us previously thought was impossible.

We're legitimately earning money from home.  No scams, no investments, no crazy marketing schemes.  It feels genuinely great to be able to do this, and to be able to help each other as we do.

Thank you all for your encouragement and your inspiring stories.

Happy New Year everyone!