6 Ways for the Work at Home Mom to Juggle Finances and Family Life

Telecommuting and the number of home businesses are rising all the time. Working out of the home is a great opportunity for moms but how do you manage both the finances and your family? Here are six ways to stay on track.

Set Regular Work Times

Image via Flickr by cogdogblog

Just because you work from home doesn’t mean you can leave you home office constantly for household chores or family duties. You will get a lot more work done if you set home office hours and stick to them.

Let your family, babysitters or nanny know what your work hours are. If they are during the evening hours, ask your spouse to keep the kids at bay.

Have a Financial Discussion with Your Family

Although younger children may not understand the value of a dollar, tweens and teens are able to grasp and understand the importance of saving and spending.

Determine a household budget that includes all income and expenses and review the budget with your family. Initially, your budget should include actual expenses to see if your finances are in the red. Ask each family member to help you decide how to save more each month. Make sure everyone sticks to their fiscal responsibilities. Start a nest egg account, open a money market account or invest in mutual funds with your extra disposable income.

Keep Business and Personal Bank Accounts Separate

It’s important to ensure your business expenses are paid from a home business bank account. Any income you receive from working at home should also be deposited into a dedicated account. Open separate banking accounts for this purpose and don’t comingle funds—even in an emergency.

Make sure you set aside enough money to pay self-employment taxes quarterly when due.

Learn Top Tips from the Experts

There are a plethora of magazines dedicated to working moms that offer tons of tips for managing family and finances—many are available in electronic form. You should also browse the Internet for websites that offer useful ways to help you manage your household.

Get tips from Amerisave’s Blog where you’ll learn all about refinancing your home, how to finance a new home and the various types of mortgage products on the market today along with other money-saving tips.

The more you learn and read, the better prepared you’ll be to handle any financial situation that may arise.

Treat Yourself!

Everyone needs some special time dedicated to something they love. Each month, make sure you choose a day and get a massage, go window shopping, have lunch with friends or form a club of moms to discuss challenges and exchange ideas.

Paying attention to you not only offers relief, it also helps to keep a peaceful mindset.

Spend Time with the Family

Try not to be the work at home mom who throws up her hands and claims work and household chores don’t allow for spending quality time with the family.

Do rely on older children for help with the chores and your spouse for errands and household cleaning or laundry duties. If you try to be Wonder Woman you won’t have time for family events. Enlist the help of your family and explain why you need it.

The secret to being a successful work at home mom that can also manage the finances is employing these six tactics and sticking to the new plan.

Resources:
http://www.sheknows.com/living/articles/1478/juggling-work-and-family
http://www.today.com/id/21213762/ns/today-today_101/t/money-tips-stay-at-home-moms/#.Ubeqhfm1GvM

About the Author
Shaun Chatman is a well published author on many authority sites. He lives in Dunedin, FL, and spends his free time playing with his kids or advising friends on tech, gadgets, finance and travel.

NYC Designer Carly Cushnie and Michelle Ochs are Blazing the Fashion World

Designer Carly Cushnie, co-founder of NYC designer label Cushnie et Ochs with Michelle Ochs that was launched in 2008 was originally from London and earned a degree of BA in Fashion Design at Parsons School of Design in both Paris and New York. One of the tops honors in her class and she even had her internships at interns American design houses, like Donna Karan, Marc Jacobs, and Isaac Mizrahi. She has this rocker chic style and loves black leather pants and predominantly loves color black.

Just some of the big celebrities that already have worn their classic form fitting dresses are Salma Hayek, Reese Witherspoon, Alica Keys and even Michelle Obama. Their collections can be seen and purchase at various stores like Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman.

Keep Calm Shirts

I have been seeing a lot of KEEP CALM quotes and all online and I find it cute to see merchandise stating Keep Calm on them.

If you are thinking of another great gift ideas for your friends then these shirts are perfect especially for your friends who love music. Just in case you don;t have a budget to buy them Sabian products as gifts, these shirts will definitely will not break your bank.

Found these shirts online.

Music Inspired Dress/Gown

I have never imagined myself wearing a dress with notes, lyric sheets or anything music inspired but when I saw this woman wearing one like that, it made me think twice. Lovely!

Image source: refinery29.com

I am also in awe with the beautiful music inspired gown by La fée corsetée, backless and draping with a big black bow at the back added as an accent. I will not wonder if musically inclined individuals would buy musical instruments andgood studiologic at guitar center and even wear these beautiful dress on their musical show.

Source: Uploaded by user

Skater Dress Fashion

Up and till now skater dress is still in fashion for it has that classic and vintage look that you can still wear till today. It's inspiration are the skater's dress they wore during their practice or competition. The flowing skirt makes it more romantic and can actually fit any woman's sizes.

Skater dress has a well fit waist then pleated skirt.

Skater Dresss by jenski67

Prettify your Workspace

These days, a lot of people are working at home and they have converted a small space in their house to be their workspace. There are various ways on how you can prettify your workspace just by adding some new furniture, personalized mats that you can purchase at http://www.madmatterinc.com, small frames, comfy chair, and whole lot more.

Our workspace can also show our personality and character so it's up to you to decorate at your desire. If you're a minimalist then it will show on your desire to unclutter your space but if you're a person that loves color and designs then you can go overboard.

These are some workspace areas that I love!

Source: matome.naver.jp

Source: ranroom.com

DIY: Tie Dye T-Shirts Tutorial

I remember when I was still in highschool, we used to make tie-dyed shirts as part of our project in home economics. It's actually pretty easy to make and it's fun as long as you have all the materials that you need, which is actually just simple and can easily be purchased at local stores.

Your creativity and color combination skills will be put into use in this DIY project. There are actually a lot of different patterns that you can make depending on the way that you tied your shirts.

Materials needed:
1. White shirt
2. Dyes of various colors
3. Rubber Bands
4. gloves
5. plastic bottles

Tie dyed shirts are still in the fashion these days. Not only you can tie dye your shirts but also your shorts and even shoes. This is one fun activity just in case you have not experience it.

Here's a simple Tie Dye Fashion tutorial that you can make with your friends.

Top 4 Home Design Trends of 2013

Your home is your palace and where you should feel absolutely comfortable. At the same time, it's always a good idea to use certain trends to feel like you're keeping up with the times. Every so often it's nice to update a little, and the following are some great ways you can use today's trends to make your home that much better.

4. Brass Fixtures

Image via Flickr by ramasamy

There was a time when many considered brass either gaudy or old-fashioned, but those times have changed. With the timeless golden look of brass, a space gets just enough or an orange addition to have more energy than it did before.

At the same time, brass doesn't dominate the space the way silvery metals sometimes do. Brass can fade back and become one with wood, which makes brass doorknobs and drawer pulls great to tie in with brass lamps and other center pieces.

3. Cozy Kitchen Spaces

Image via Flickr by Susan Serra, CKD

For a long time, a slick and ultramodern kitchen was the way to go. But now more designers are opening up to the idea of something a bit more classical. For example, tiles that have a crackled and handmade quality are gaining in popularity. Irregular floors, weathered concrete and slate are also becoming more fashionable.

Perfect slickness is no longer a requirement in the kitchen or in most rooms, in general. The homey quality of a more relaxed type of design, which started with the shabby chic movement, has gained prominence for years and has finally overtaken the slick looks that were common for a long time.

2. Lighter Wood Flooring

Image via Flickr by Deiby

There is definitely something to be said for woods that are dark, mysterious and powerful. They have a slightly masculine vibe without being a 1950s stereotype, but at the same time they can come across as foreboding and close in on the space. Bleached floors and lighter woods overall are becoming a powerful statement about the openness of the space and its occupants.

Even woods that are painted in lighter colors are coming back into prominence, as decorators look to lighter stains and paints to updated existing finishes instead of replacing older wood. The best flooring companies in Denver know all about how to make your floors look amazing. Make sure to check with Denver flooring professionals before making any decisions.

1. Punchy Colors

A few colors are really coming on strong on the design scene nowadays, and the most powerful are cool colors. While there is definitely a lot to say about salmon pink and Dior gray, the most popular colors for making a strong statement are blue and green.

Specifically, emerald green and a blue that rests between navy and royal blue make powerful statements. They bring a high energy to the area, and at the same time they're warm enough to be approachable. They bring the sturdy qualities of neons without seeming too out there, almost to the approachability level of pastels but with a younger tone about them.

There are a lot of great things coming down the pike in 2013, and you would do well to keep them in mind if you've been thinking about redoing a room or two.

Sources:
http://www.housebeautiful.com/shopping/decorating-trends/2013-interior-design-trends-1212#slide-1
http://www.houzz.com/ideabooks/5787296/list/13-Home-Design-and-Decor-Trends-to-Watch-for-in-2013

Author Bio:
Shaun Chatman is a well published author on many authority sites. He lives in Dunedin, FL, and spends his free time playing with his kids or advising friends on tech, gadgets, finance and travel.

The Ultimate Bag Fashion Vocabulary

Hey bag ladies, I know you also wanted to know what type of bag you have bought or have been using for a while. Here's a great The Ultimate Bag Fashion Vocabulary guide to help us know different types of bags.

Personally, I love hobo and tote bags for I am the type of person that brings a lot of stuff inside my bag so I need a big and spacious bags. From time to time , I also use messenger bags especially when I want " important things" to be as close to my body. I also have wristlet that I use when I go to the grocery and baguette bag to carry when I need only few stuff.

Closet Ideas: Exposed Closet

I was bothered with the flour moths that are creeping in our pantry while I was trying to organize it last weekend. Thankfully, I found the solution for it. Right now, my problem is about my closet that is continuously been overflowing with my clothes and I need to find a remedy for this.

Just this morning, I was able to organize it a bit but I still need more time and definitely need more space for all my stuff.  I guess I need to have some closet organizers and extra closet that I really need.

Really don't want to mess my room but when I learned that an exposed closet can give me extra space, I think I have to go for this. I have a clothes hanger with wheels so I can move it easily if I want. All my frequently used shirts, pants and even dress can go into this rack so I can easily use them when needed.

Great idea but I'm just worried if I can maintain the look.


Image: via www.obaz.com

Fashionable High-Low Dresses

Recently, I've rekindled my love for dresses that I bought some casual dresses this summer. Loving how comfy it feels on my body and I guess I am resigned wearing my too tight skinny jeans for a while so I can let out my feminine side once again.

I've been wanting to buy high-low dresses but when I was at the mall the other weekend and tried a few but  it seems it doesn't suit me. I guess I have picked the wrong style for my body and my age. Will try to find something else next time.

Here are my faves.

Hi Low Dresses by jenski67

Reward Yourself with a Pierre Hardy for NARS Blush Palette

Women have a great talent on multi-tasking and I know it so well. Women can talk to the phone while browsing the net for possible shopping, browse her social networking accounts and do other things at the same time. Working at the office while  doing research on Avira Business Security Suite for her business is just a piece of cake. Women can do them all and can even finish all of them very well.

After a hard days work and multi-tasking, which I can say can be tiring and exhausting as well, I see no reason why you can't reward or pamper yourself with a piece of lipstick or something that you like.

I will be happy if I can get a Pierre Hardy for NARS Blush Palette, which is a limited edition release for $41.

image: narscosmetics.com

Summer Ready Celebrity Looks

Summer means hiding all your bulky winter jackets, boots, thick shirts and bringing light and bright clothes in your closet. Summer also means showing off some or for others a lot of skin when they are at the beach or poolside.

It's the season for tank tops, bathing suits, shorts,  flip-flops, max flowy dresses, huts, shades, sunblock, pina colada and all. So are you ready for summer?

Check these celebrity inspired looks and outfit that you can totally pull off using your own clothes in your closet. Remember, you need not buy new clothes for you can make some twist on your old shirts or shorts by putting some bling, cutting them off or painting something on them to look new and unique.