Caz counts it down

gallygirl

cazmanian_minx wrote: »

I have to say, it may be a mid-life crisis, but I'm getting bored of throwing beads into jiffy bags every day for very little money. I think it may be time to start formulating my exit plan.

Goodness, must be the sap rising Caz, loads of people planning big changes. Good luck :T.

mfmaybe

Goldfinches are beautiful, I must get our niger feeder repaired (the lid broke).

I like the sound of Big Plans. Any gut reactions to what this might be?

cazmanian_minx

Urrrrrgggggghhhhhh, I'm ill I am going to hunt down and kill whoever gave Mr Minx this bug. Once my head stops aching, my glands go down, the ache leaves my bones, I stop shivering and I can walk without feeling dizzy, that is...

Fortunately I got the orders out before it really hit and also managed a 35 minute transcription file plus some copy typing. Doing the horses was distinctly wobbly though. I've had a hot shower and am curled up on the sofa feeling sorry for myself

mfmaybe wrote: »

Goldfinches are beautiful, I must get our niger feeder repaired (the lid broke).

I like the sound of Big Plans. Any gut reactions to what this might be?

Ours are eating peanuts!

As for plans, it'll be a bit of this and a bit of that, but the main criteria is that I don't need to be tied to a desk or at home all the time for every scrap of my income. Will explain more when my head is less woolly

cazmanian_minx

Have some goldfinches


20140310-IMG_8383 by Caro Jones, on Flickr

I'm feeling better today, but not quite up to going and photographing the lambs yet, so I'm afraid you'll have to wait for another day or so.

Sales for this week are still absolutely dire for some reason and I have no idea why. It's not half term or anything is it? Weird. At least I've had transcription work for every shift I've booked onto so far. I'm five and a half minutes off transcribing away 1% of my credit cards and I've already been assigned 45 minutes of tape for tomorrow, so that will take me over it. Technically I'm already over it, because I paid £105 off the Egg/Barclaycard at the weekend, but I'm not going to recalculate the minutes total until the end of the month.

Right, I was going to explain what I hoped might one day replace the beads, wasn't I? The short answer is transcription, writing eBooks and selling photographs I'm going to have to keep doing the beads until a) the cards are paid off and b) the eBooks and photography start to make a tiny bit of money, but I think it should be do-able. Watch this space...

gallygirl

cazmanian_minx wrote: »

Sales for this week are still absolutely dire for some reason and I have no idea why.

Well, most of the country had a lovely weekend and went out and did the garden, visited DIY centres, so maybe too busy then? And since then they've been catching up on the housework :rotfl:.

cazmanian_minx

Well, it had better rain soon then, that's all I can say, because at the moment all the supplier payments are going to have to go on credit cards, I'm not getting paid and I'm probably still going to have to borrow some money from Mr Minx to tide me over until the VAT refund comes through I currently have 2 orders to go on eBay for a grand total of £3.50.

Anyway, in happier news, I'm over the 1% mark for transcription minutes and have already been assigned a file for tomorrow. If the orders don't flood in overnight and I can knock it out fairly fast (I've already done the first few minutes and it's good, clear audio, which always helps), then I might be able to pick up some extra work tomorrow afternoon.

Here's the lamb with the cute knees I was telling you about

20140313-IMG_8456 by Caro Jones, on Flickr

She and her twin sister are impossibly cute:

20140313-IMG_8450 by Caro Jones, on Flickr

More lamb piccies on my Flickr account if you click through I think I was out with the camera for a bit too long though, I was feeling better earlier but now I've almost lost my voice and I'm trying to cough up a lung again.

brizzledfw

Wonderful pictures Caz and good to see Spring is here

I like your plans..I like a plan and a portfolio of ventures seems like an excellent idea given your location....good to hear you positive despite feeling ill

cazmanian_minx

Oh how much do I not want to post my scores on the doors today? It's been a pretty disastrous week. Total bankings for bead sales were a paltry £669.09, compared to £2205.95 a fortnight ago. Other than the good weather, there doesn't seem to be a reason why - I'm not out of stock of any of my normal best sellers. So, here's the horrible truth:

Business
Overdraft: -£-8821.84 / -£9424.97 -£603.13

Business total: -£8821.84 / -£9424.97 -£603.13

Personal
Egg card: -£5035.00 / -£4930.00 +£105.00
Barclaycard: -£2260.00 / -£2260.00 no change
Nationwide card: -£2430.00 / -£2430.00 no change

Personal total: -£9725.00 / -£9620.00 +£105.00

Grand total: -£18,546.84 / -£19,044.97 -£498.13

That's £1300 to the bad in a fortnight HMRC are pretty good about transferring money they owe me quickly, once I've put the VAT return in, but I have to wait for all the March invoices to come in first, so I'm not likely to get the refund until about the 10th of April.

According to the weather forecast, the very top of the Highlands is the only place in the country where it's raining today. Pathetic fallacy, I think it's called, in English Literature terms - I'm turning into a character out of a Thomas Hardy novel

Right, stop feeling sorry for yourself, woman, and make a plan. Assuming the worst, i.e. sales stay at the same level and I only bank £1500 between now and the end of the month, how do I cope? The £546.88 due to a supplier on the 21st can go on a card, which adds another £510 to available funds (at the moment I have that much allocated against that bill in YNAB) for a theoretical total of £2010. The VAT man will take £810, leaving £1200. Royal Mail wants £1053.74 on the 2nd April, leaving £146.26. Then there's £672.64 due to the supplier on the 2nd as well, but that, again, can go on a card if needs be.

So I don't get paid and I rack up some interest charges, but at least I don't bounce any direct debits off anyone. With Mr Minx's £650 coming in on the 1st plus being very, very careful about what I spend for the next couple of weeks, I should be able to cover all the bills due on the fifth as well. Then the week after that I should get paid for this month's transcription work and the VAT refund should come through and all will be well again.

Of course, what I'm really hoping is that this weather spreads south and everyone starts shopping again, but at least it doesn't quite go totally pear-shaped if that doesn't happen.

cazmanian_minx

Another 48 minutes of credit card taken care of

I'm now going to say stuff it and go and recline on the sofa in a Victorian manner for the rest of the day. Well, apart from when the windows person comes round - Mr Minx has finally had enough of the drafts and is going to have them all replaced. To give you an example of how bad the current double glazing is, our telephone is quiet enough that we often don't hear it ringing in the hall when we're watching a film in the living room next door. The other day we were coming back in from shopping and heard it ringing from the garden :eek::eek::eek:

cazmanian_minx

Oh, and since I'm being paid 45p a minute, not 43p as I originally thought, I can calculate things at 31.5p per minute net - so I've recalculated my minutes total and taken over 1,300 off it, nearly a whole day!