I'm raising my fees

I lowered them drastically, but it's made no difference, so I thought I would take a new approach... and raise them. If I don't value my expertise, experience, and wisdom, who will? So these are what will come into play within the next few weeks.

Gift certificates are now $50 each (were $25).

I'll be raising the discounted fees on my books to the original prices as of Dec. 31.

I'll be raising the membership fees on my speaker directory to $995 per year (from $99) as of Dec. 31. But free to graduates of my programs for consultants, at any level.

My 3 programs for consultants will be $5,000, $10,000 and $20,000 per year, payable in monthly installments.

My phone consulting rate for non-clients will increase from $3 per minute to $8 per minute as of Dec. 31.

My speaking fees will start at $2500 for local, one hour programs.

You might want to stock up now before my prices escalate.

Andrea

My furry money pit

This is my cat Casper who likes to sit on my mouse hand at the computer and his face is in the way as I type with my right hand. This is me trying to move his lovely face.

If you read palms you'll have to tell me what my lines say.

I love him, but he needs so much attention, he deprives me of sleep, and he requires very expensive food. When I don't get out of bed - after only 5 hours of sleep he will puke all over the carpets which I then step in and have to clean up in my groggy state. I will keep him until he closes his eyes for the last time, but I'm also keeping him healthy and happy until then. He's probably a lot like some husbands - except for the puking part - and I never have to worry about his tie clashing with his shirt.

Andrea

Finding and collecting my money

It occurred to me that I may be entitled to a refund of the excise tax and Goods and Services Tax that I paid in 2005 on the van I imported into Canada from the US. I brought the van back with me when I re-entered the US. I just have to find out what documents will be required to accompany the proper form.

I also discovered that I'm entitled to, but didn't claim, the quarterly GST tax credit for the 3 years I lived in Ontario. That could be another substantial refund. I didn't file taxes because I was forced to stop earning money, and had expenses but no income to deduct them from. I probably cheated myself out of credits and refunds I deserve to receive. There also may be US tax credits I am entitled to. I will have to check.

And there are 6 more smaller refunds from Canada I can follow through on. Some will be easier than others.

This activity looks like it may pay better than a part-time job!

I read a book

Books inspire me to action. I love to read how-to books, but haven't been for months. I read only one book this summer which was a gift from my friend Ed Helvey. He sent me David Dean's book, Now is Your Time to Win, which he autographed and which was published by Charlie "Tremendous" Jones who passed away just a short time ago. The stress I was experiencing at the time made reading difficult. Then, I could read only a page at a sitting. I'd like to read it again this week.


I'm going to start reading business books again. I'd love to read a book a day on entrepreneurship and consulting, but it will likely be only one or two books a week.

I borrowed a book from the lending library in the Country Inns and Suites in Sept. Late last night I started reading, How We Lead Matters, by Marilyn Carlson Nelson, the CEO of Carlson international hotels, restaurants, travel companies. What I liked about the vignettes in her book is that she offers readers slices of her personal life, both pleasant and awful, to illustrate her points.... a little like I do in this blog. I finished when I got up this morning at 7.

No more red hair

Over the past two years I have stopped coloring the grey in my hair. You can see my original color in the photo in the sidebar. Since I was a small child strangers have stopped me on the street to ask if I colored my hair red. I got so frustrated by these brazen women that I wasn't very respectful of my elders... "Lady, I'm nine. What do you think?" I didn't start coloring until 10 years ago.

So two years ago I gave up the battle to let the grey win. The funny thing is, it's not grey, but blonde! The grey with the remaining auburn strands mix together to look blonde. So now people ask me if I dye my hair blonde. ;-) I guess I should be happy that God continues to give me hair color that others have to pay for.

I'm happy not to have to buy coloring, spend time to cover it all when I can't see the back of my head, and start seeing the grey creep back at the roots and temples after a month. And the grey hair is thicker, if that's possible for someone who had coarse hair (Asian) in the first place, which means I have a fuller head of hair as I age.

I'm letting it grow - no more hair cuts every 6 weeks - so I can wear it pinned up off my face, which looks better. So, what I have requires less effort and less expense. And if gentlemen really do prefer blondes, I'll be expecting a better social life. ;-)

Andrea

Thanksgiving 2008

I'm happy.

MACHINES
I have a TO DO list of things for today, and I have already accomplished one: I partially tested a convection oven I received through Freecycle back in the spring to see if it actually works.It does. It didn't come with instructions and because of previous stress, I'm still easily overwhelmed by new gadgets. But I was able to figure out the clock, timer and bake mode. My next project will be to bake chocolate chip cookies with the convection part. This may not seem like much but even the small accomplishments feel like victories to me.

Postscript: I made a half batch of choc. chip cookies and tried a baking tin of 5 cookies in the convection oven. They baked beautifully in 5 minutes as opposed to 8 to 10 minutes in a conventional oven. Yay me, I've conquered convection. This way I won't stuff myself with cookies, baking only a few at a time.

SAVINGS
I like having/using this machine because the regular oven provided in my rented apartment doesn't have an oven light, door window or clock-timer, and this one does and will also use less electricity, keeping my electric bill lower.

I'll be running out to get today's newspaper. I don't usually buy newspapers but this issue is filled with coupons and I intend to learn to be a couponer and save money on groceries and household supplies to stretch my income further.

OFFICE
My next project is to unpack and organize my office (my second bedroom). I moved into my apartment October 1st and all the other rooms are reasonably settled now so that when visitors come it will look comfortable. I left my office until last because it's the room few people, but me, will see. As I unpack I'll be looking for brochures, articles, and news releases I wrote when I was doing well as a consultant. I can use them again with a few changes.