Category Archives: Plan
Why Use a Freelance Bookkeeper???
Here in our community, there are many small business owners like you and me. All of us are searching for ways to reduce costs and increase profits to make our business a success.
One of the most common mistakes made by companies that can really eat at their profit is how they determine to handle the bookkeeping aspect of their business. Some try to cut cost by doing their own bookkeeping. This can actually decrease the company’s earnings because a lot of the time it is done incorrectly and without a knowledgeable eye watching over the numbers. Or sometimes companies will use their untrained employees to cut cost, which often leads to expensive mistakes. Other times, companies will turn to a CPA to handle their books, paying up to $400 an hour. This can really add up!!
Freelance bookkeepers are here to offer you a better and more affordable solution.
They work with a wide variety of businesses and have experience with accounting in a variety of industries including: property management, construction, professional corporations, sales, restaurants, financial companies and the non-profit sector. Some even manage personal accounts and much more.
There is no better time to evaluate how the accounting portion of your business is running than now.
Benefits of hiring a Freelance Bookkeeper:
• Reduce Tax Liability
• Manage Cash Flow
• Improve Profits
• Lower Expenses
Other services available:
• Full-Service Payroll
• Tax Preparation
• Monthly and Quarterly Reporting, including Sales Tax & Financial Reports
• Word Processing / Excel Spreadsheets
• Business Organizational Services
• Accounts Payable/Receivable
If you are ready to find a better solution to your accounting problem, please consider Mayhem Managed for your small business. Accounting that is tailored to your business needs, from our office or yours.
Manner’s Party
Here is another post for a Girls Scouts Activity, but could be used anyone. We had a Manner’s Dinner Party and taught the girls how to set the table, proper etiquette and other good manners. It was really fun to see the girls trying their hardest to be polite, and I have seen a big difference in my own daughter’s manners since the Manner’s Party.
Part of the activity included a quiz that we gave to the girls. I thought I would share the quiz, since I put a lot of time gathering the information from different websites. I hope someone else can benefit from my time and effort.
https://mayhemmanaged.files.wordpress.com/2011/12/manner-quiz2.pdf
Target Madness Scavenger Hunt
As a Girl Scouts leader, I am always looking for new and clever ideas for fun meetings. My girls are now Cadettes and every year for Christmas we have gone to Denny’s (or something similar) and bought them hot chocolate and french fries and done a gift exchange. This year we decided to try something new.
I know that I always appreciate finding ideas on the web and thought I’d share. I have compiled a few different hunts that I have found to fit my girls and the area we are located. Hope someone else can benefit from my work:)
https://mayhemmanaged.files.wordpress.com/2011/12/target-madness-scavenger-hunt.pdf
Target Madness Scavenger Hunt
RULES:
1. Each team will need to complete as many items on the list in the allotted time. You will start at 4:00 PM and you must meet us back at 4:20 PM at the Starbucks in the front of the store.
2. The teams that are late will receive a time penalty.
3. All team members need to stay with their team at all times. You may not divide the hunt tasks.
4. Some of the tasks deal with strangers, it’s very important to be kind and respectful. Also always be on guard and stay safe, use your healthy judgment when it comes to people you don’t know.
5. You must take a photo of each item on the list where specified. Take turns with your partners being in the photos.
6. Hang items up or place them back where they were before you leave the store.
7. The team that found the most items and the shortest time wins, must be verified
with a digital photo.
8. Please don’t try to take all of your photos in one section of the store, go to a variety of departments.
9. Do not run in the store. You can walk briskly.
10. You cannot leave the store. Check the items off as you find them.
After the hunt you will get time to go spend your Target gift card.
The Hunt Begins
Search & Find
Find the following items and photograph a team member with each item. 2 points each
- A price tag whose digits add up to 25
- A print out from a wedding registry
- A stranger’s autograph along with words of advice
- A “Happy 100th birthday” card
- A salesperson wearing red shoes
- An animal wearing animal print
- A coupon (bonus, 2 points for the team with the highest valued coupon)
- An old sales receipt
Trivia Questions
Find the answer to each of the following trivia questions based on information and items available at this Target location. 3 points each
- How many stalls are in the ladies restroom?
- How much does it cost to buy a pizza combo meal?
- Who is on the cover to this week’s People magazine?
- How many dressing room stalls are there?
- What are the store hours on Saturdays?
- How many checkout stands are there?
- What year was this Target location built?
Glamor Shots
Photograph the following scenarios. Photographer does NOT have to be in the photos requiring the whole team. 4 points each
- A team member shaking hands with a bearded man
- A team member posing with mannequin or store display modeling clothing, both dressed the same
- Your team wearing something patriotic
- Your team wearing UGSESASLNS (unscramble the word)
- A team member that looks ready for bed
- A team member wearing a t-shirt with a funny message
- A team member and 3 strangers spelling out “YMCA” with their bodies.
- Your team posing GYINLAP DIOVE MEAGS (unscramble the words)
Quick Tip: Making Better Decisions
Hindsight is 20/20. –Unknown
Looking back on things, you can almost always see perfectly where you went wrong and how you should have approached the situation. Wouldn’t it be great if we could see things more clearly before hand? That we could get the knowledge we gain from the experience prior to finalizing our decisions?
There are a few ways we can have better foresight and make better decisions.
- Think First, Act Later: This is advice my daughter gets every week at her violin lesson. So simple, yet it yields great results, and can be used in all aspects of our lives. From thinking before you speak, thinking before you commit to taking on something new, thinking before you walk out the door, and so on. If we take the time to think before we do, our lives will run so much smoother. Sometimes we have so much on our minds and our lives are carrying us in a million different directions that we think that we just don’t have time to think. But consider this; how much time is wasted due to your lack of thinking before you act? This can be done as just taking a brief moment to think things over, or it can be done through meditation and prayer. I know that when we take a moment to think before we act, it will benefit us in countless ways.
- Trust Your Intuition: How many times have you kicked yourself for not listening to your inner self? Once we start to take the time to think, you can better connect with you intuition. We have been given this great gift as a tool to use in our decision-making process. Take advantage of it, I’m sure you won’t regret it!
- Ask for Advice: We are not in this alone. There are so many that surround us that have the answers we are looking for. Learn lessons from those who have already been where you are. You can ask people you know and trust, or even search for advice in books, magazines and on the internet. Just don’t forgot that every situation is a little different and so you need to be sure to use the prior two points as well. Don’t totally depend on others advice unless you know it is right for you.
These devices are best used in our decision-making process, but don’t be afraid to use them even when you have already made decisions that don’t seem to be working to your favor. All of our decisions are investments into our lives. You wouldn’t keep throwing money at something that was obviously failing, right? Likewise we shouldn’t waste time on something that isn’t benefiting you and your family.
When we use these three tools, this mayhem that we call life will be easier to manage and result in happier people.
Here’s to Achieving Our Goals
“A project is complete when it starts working for you, rather than you working for it.” — Scott Allen
After starting several posts this month and not finalizing one, I thought perhaps I should focus on completing projects. I like to start each of my post with a quote and while I was on the search for the perfect quote, I found this article and thought that it summed everything up so nicely.
http://www.pickthebrain.com/blog/why-youre-not-reaching-your-goals-and-what-to-do-about-it/
An idea is nothing if you do nothing with it. So hears to achieving all our great ideas. Good luck!
Back to School Craziness
If there were no schools to take the children away from home part of the time, the insane asylums would be filled with mothers. ~Edgar W. Howe
Now that my oldest is in 6th grade, I feel very comfortable with our school routine. Looking at my calendar for the next few months might be overwhelming to some, but to me, it just feels right. I love my colorful calendar, even if there is little time to add any new events! Maybe it makes me feel important, or perhaps makes me feel like I’m actually being productive, whatever it is, it just feels right.
My key to success is keeping my calendar up to date so I don’t over-schedule myself. With smart phones, it is very easy. I love that it reminds me and can even sync with my husband’s phone to remind him where I’m at when I’m unavailable. The one thing I haven’t quite figured out yet, is how to fit my blogging in, hence the huge gap in posts. Perhaps I should add it to my calendar. No need to worry, I got plenty of Mayhem Management ideas in the works. Now if I could only find some extra time in my mayhemic life to implement those ideas into reality:) Maybe it’s time for me to do some weeding.
Have you been able to get back in the swing of your school craziness? What works for you? Carpooling? Limiting your children’s activities? Please share, I’m sure others would greatly appreciate your input!
Quick Tip: Meal Planning
It pays to plan ahead, it wasn’t raining when Noah built the ark. — Unknown
This is my absolute favorite organization tip!!! It is super easy, only takes about 10 minutes tops and saves money, time and headaches. What’s not to like about that?
Once a week or every other week, take a minute and plan a dinner menu (and if you want breakfast and lunch). I prefer doing two weeks at a time, and have even done a full month. I just find that I stick to the plan better when I do it every other week. I print my google calendar for the month, then I can see what activities I have going, this helps me plan which days to eat out. Then I just write on that calendar what’s for dinner, but even just throwing it down on a scrap paper works.
The perks of meal planning . . .
- I better use my produce because I have a plan, saving us lots of money!
- It is a great way to push yourself to try new recipes!
- You’re not constantly eating the same thing, this makes my hubby very happy:)
- My kids complain less, because they have plenty of forewarning of what is coming:)
- It makes it super easy to check if I have the needed ingredients for the recipes I’m using, so I also do my grocery list at the same times, which also saves us money, not buying un-needed items!
- I can easily pull any frozen meat out the night before to defrost. I usually pull it out after we finish doing dishes the night before.
- It saves me from the daunting question of “What’s for dinner?”
Believe me, once you try it, you’re going to love it!
Weeding Time
Don’t water your weeds. –Proverbs
As I was weeding this past week, it got me thinking about what things in my life need to be weeded out. These weeds can be a little more difficult to recognize and can vary from clutter to obligations to bad habits. But once we spot them and remove them from our garden, it really can help our lives flourish.
Too many of us have burdened ourselves down with over-excessive dreams and wants. We can gain much by letting go. It is time for some simplification and new-found FREEDOM!
Evaluate your life over the next few days. Where do you spend your time, and is your time spent where you really want it? What items around your house haven’t been touched or used for years, and do your really plan to utilize them in the future? Do you feel that your life is benefitting from holding onto to these things?
Find at least two things that you really think are holding you back from where you want to go in life. Maybe it’s the back room of your house that you have been avoiding to clean and have been feeling guilty about all the while, or perhaps an obligation that you used to profit from, that now is a liability.
Once you find two things that you are ready to rid yourself from, make a plan and liberate yourself (and perhaps your family too)! Give yourself adequate time to conquer these weeds. Once you have your simple plan, put some safety nets into place to ensure you follow through. I always like to make myself accountable for my goal, either by putting it on my calendar or asking a friend to check up on my progress. Once these weeds have been removed, enjoy the freedom you have gained!
In simplicity there is freedom, freedom to do less and enjoy more. –Katrina Kenison
Following the Laws of Inertia
An object will stay at rest or stay in motion unless acted on by a net external force –Sir Isaac Newton
I clearly remember learning about the laws of motion in middle school, doing some experiments to see exactly what it was all about. At that point, I thought it only pertained to balls, but I have now found it can go way beyond that.
Have you ever noticed yourself following the laws of inertia? You get going, and ain’t nothing going to stop you! Then just a few days later you find yourself having a hard time pulling your butt out of bed. Why is this?
MY HYPOTHESIS:
When we have places to go and things to do, we go into SUPER PRODUCTIVE MODE and follow the objects in motion portion of the law. We might not do everything that comes to mind, but the results are pretty impressive. On the other hand, when we don’t have much to look forward to or work towards, we find ourselves dragging ourselves out of bed late in the day and almost accomplishing nothing.
This all goes back to the idea, if you want something done, ask a busy person to do it. If you find that you follow this pattern in your life, use it to your advantage. Pick a “day of rest” and enjoy a good book, spend time cuddling with your loved ones, or spend time meditating. Then makes some goals to work towards on the other days of the week and get going!
And don’t forget if someone asks why you did nothing but read a book one day, you can always use the excuse, “I’m just following the laws of inertia.” It’s one of my favorites!
Work Hard, Play Hard
All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy –James Howell
With all these posts about planning and getting the most out of your day, let’s not forgot the importance of devoting some free time to ourselves and family. It is important for our health and longevity to make sure we give ourselves some time to relax and have a good time.
If you keep a calendar, remember to block out time for yourself and/or family and don’t feel guilty doing it. These moments are what make for good memories and happy people.
As a self-employed working mother, I know it can be extremely difficult trying to find a good balance between work time and free time, but both are important parts of our lives. When I first started working from home, I felt guilty no matter what I was doing; working, cleaning the house, spending time with family or trying to make time for myself. We have to remind ourselves that each is important and that when we give that aspect of our life attention, it is because it is important. Finding the right balance is difficult but very important so that each is getting the time that is needed, and that all depends on each individual and their priorities.
Life is meant to be enjoyed, and it is possible even if you have a heavy work load.
Mayhem Managed 