Yesterday our tax refund check arrived (our taxes were particularly complicated this year so we elected to skip e-filing, at our accountant’s suggestion), and lo there was much rejoicing. A quick check of the IRS’ payout schedule for the upcoming stimulus incentive checks tells me that we can expect another chunk of money in about a month.

It’s a lovely thing, to have “free” money coming in, except (of course) that it’s not free and I am not the sort of person to grab it up and go wild. Sometimes I wish I was, but I’m not. Alas. I’m sensible to a fault, probably much to my husband’s dismay. My idea of a splurge is buying new flooring—new flooring which we planned to buy a year ago and have just now gotten around to actually purchasing. Woo! Read the rest of this entry »

I resisted signing up for Twitter for a long time. Really. “What do I need Twitter for?” I would scoff. (And so great was my disbelief, it caused me to end a sentence with a preposition. Horrors!) After all, I’m blogging all the time, plus I’m trying to keep up with the blogs I read, and email, and online news, and really, why in the world would I want a place to periodically report on my current status in 140 characters or less?

But I signed up and started following some of my favorite bloggers, and people would often tweet (look at me using the lingo! That’s what you do on Twitter, you tweet) amusing little things, and so I found myself tweeting now and then, and then I got my iPhone and discovered that being stuck in a meeting was a lot more entertaining if I could surreptitiously tweet “This is the meeting that never ends, never ends, never ends…” while I was fighting to stay awake. Read the rest of this entry »

There’s probably not a way to say this without sounding like I have a great big swelled head, but it’s relevant to a point I want to make so I’m just going to say it: My freelancing career (thus far) is a quintessential success story. I mean, in the grand scheme of what can happen when one decides to go into business for oneself, I somehow did it right and am reaping the rewards. I’m not rich—and probably never will be—but I earn a very respectable income. I have regular work and plenty of business contacts. My schedule is flexible and I set my own hours, yet I have more than enough work to make this a sustainable career choice.

Furthermore, my work and income levels have been… if not completely steady, at least predictable for over a year, at this point. Barring any major catastrophe (excuse me while I go knock on some wood), there’s no reason I shouldn’t believe that this is what my career will look like for years to come. Read the rest of this entry »

I tackled my taxes early this year, on account of I knew I was in something of a mess and was enlisting professional help. So Tuesday was just another day, for me, but I know that for many it was a Day Of Reckoning.

If you’re new to freelancing or if you had the good fortune to make a lot more money last year than you did the year before, it’s possible that completing your taxes this year was a good deal more painful than it’s been in the past. This is the part of the program where we hold hands and talk about what we’ve learned, kids! Read the rest of this entry »

Well, I’ve been home for over a week and everything is back to normal.

Haaaaaaaaaahahahahahahaaaa! I crack myself up.

Here’s the thing: No matter how much I prepare for a trip, no matter how much work I do when I’m away, no matter how diligently I work to catch up once I’m home again, no matter what I do to try to make re-entry as painless as possible, I am a creature of routine. Having that routine disrupted can take me a while to recover. And I know it’s stupid, and I know I should be more flexible or organized or something, but at one week back I still feel like I’ve barely returned. Read the rest of this entry »

You know that whole thing where the only way to get work is to have already worked, sometimes, and you start feeling very chicken-and-egg-ish about reaching your goals? I remember when I started out that I spent a lot of time being annoyed that I couldn’t get the experience everyone wanted without them, you know, giving me a chance to get the experience.

I also know that a similar conundrum can apply to setting up your home office, because until you’re making regular money, it can feel ridiculous and/or decadent to spend money on your workspace. But you really can’t work to your full potential without the right tools, so then you need to figure out the balance between what you need and what you just want. Read the rest of this entry »

I feel like I’m having the same conversation over and over again, lately. Everywhere I go, I’m being asked the same question.

During the Today Show interview, Janet asked if “anybody could do this.” During BlogHer Business, several people asked bout what happens when bloggers are in competition with each other. And in a conversation with someone yesterday—wherein I was giving my standard explanation of how I came to be a freelancer and how I write on this very topic—I was asked, “Oh, but don’t you want to keep your methods a secret, so that other people can’t take your clients?”

Maybe I’m naive, but I don’t understand this attitude that everyone else who does what I do is somehow standing between me and success. Read the rest of this entry »

Yesterday I went on an adventure! I got up in the wee hours and flew to New York City so that I could have my 15 seconds of fame, and also because I have always wanted to see if I could apply eyeliner in a cab without puncturing my eyeball.

Do you know what I did? Here’s a hint:

Read the rest of this entry »

So I’ve mentioned before that I’m headed to BlogHer Business this week, right? I’ve already talked about all of the great reasons to go—it’s a great networking opportunity, conferences in your field should be considered necessary business development opportunities, etc.

What I didn’t talk about was the fact that this whole flexible-career, be-available-to-the-kids thing has spoiled my children beyond reason. As in, they think I should be around all the time. As in, they don’t want me to go.

(How do I know this? Oh, I may have started getting the idea last night at bedtime as my daughter hung on my arm and cried, “Don’t go, Mama! Stay here with us!”) Read the rest of this entry »