February is almost here and we’re well into the new year – maybe I won’t get any more Happy New Years. ;-)
This week I have saving money, an awesome cake, a doorbell that I need, freelancing and more.
Enjoy
- 6 Ways to Avoid the Temptation to Eat Out – I want to pick something up when I’m tired but if I plan ahead, I can usually avoid the problem. Frequently, food is better at home. Well, except for the awesome Vietnamese restaurant down the street.
- 3 free WordPress themes I’ve created for you – 3 Free WordPress Themes from Cats Who Code.
- Spectacular Battlestar Galactica Cake – I always wonder about people who bake cakes like this – I can barely frost a cupcake.
- Baby Who – A cool homemade Tardis for a baby.
- Anti-pest device charges unwelcome visitors a dime to ring doorbell – I totally need one of these as my neighbor’s “friends” think it’s perfectly alright to ring the wrong doorbell, have me go down three flights of stairs, and then not even apologize to me for the inconvenience. I’ve reached the point where if I’m not expecting someone or a package I don’t bother going down to see who it is.
- Why People Want to Pay You More: 7 Reasons Doubling Your Rates Doubles Success – Good reasons to increase your rates. I agree with a number of them and it is something to consider. I’ve found that frequently the quick / small jobs end up being the biggest headache and the most work.
- Your Facebook Activity is Now an Ad – You can’t opt out either. Our online lives have become a virtual infomercial.
- Baby & Hood: Studies suggest urban areas are less risky for children – Car accidents are the biggest killer of young children so if they are in the cars less, then they should be safer. You are more likely to die in a car accident commuting from the suburbs than being a victim of a violent crime.
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Born in tree. Lives in tree. Won’t come out of tree.
Hi Kim! Thank you so much for including the article I wrote on not eating out. I’m almost always disappointed by the food at restaurants, too. On the other hand, sometimes you just feel like it would be so nice to sit back and let somebody else cook, serve and clean up dinner.
That cake is amazing, I’m a big glopper of icing.
Why people want to pay you more reminded me of a client we had once. First he wanted us to write a couple of pages content for his site. I send the first draft, and it’s not perfect, but I never expect it to be, it’s just the framework for them to tell me more of this, less of that.
Okay, so dude is like, no no no, this is wrong, how about this, how about we write it ourselves and you just polish it? Well, okay, I guess so and quote him the rate.
So he sends over literally like one paragraph and I polish it for him and it becomes very apparent that he’s wanting us to do one or two paragraphs every week or so and not bill him until we’ve polished 1,000 words (as the price I quoted was per 1,000 words). He got client fired, we didn’t even bother to bill him the $11 or whatever.
Lesson: Clarify the scope of the job before you give a quote! My price for one page is a lot higher than for doing a 20 page website and for very good reason – it seems like both require the same amount of back and forth and admin stuff on our side.
Re: Baby & Hood: Studies suggest urban areas are less risky for children
We live in a densely packed urban neighborhood. I know a lot of people don’t want to live here because of the smaller yards and proximity to neighbors, but we love it.
I prefer my children playing at the playground where they get to meet lots of new kids and it’s great to walk down the street and meet new people. I think having that sort of community experience is wonderful for children.
Hi Tracy – You’re welcome :-)
I’m so glad you liked all of the links.
If we didn’t live around a lot of people, I think I would feel really isolated since I’m at home so much.
I too could sure use one of them anti devices. lol
LOL :-)
Hi Kim,
I’m back after 3 weeks in bed with pneumonia, so much to read and take again. I laugh at 6 ways to avoid the temptation to eat out. My number 7 is the best for me; I have own a restaurant for the last 12 years and I don’t put my foot on my own or any other restaurants if I really must. (My son takes care of the restaurant).
Hi Marbella – Oh my! 3 weeks! I’m so glad you are feeling better :-)