WAHM's - Need Advice Please

don_tspamme 	  Jun 10, 5:10 pm
Newsgroups: misc.kids
From: "don_tspamme" <don_tspa...@yahoo.com>
Date: 10 Jun 2005 16:10:25 -0700
Local: Fri, Jun 10 2005 5:10 pm
Subject: WAHMs - need advice please

Hi,

I went back to work full-time out of the home when DS was 4 1/2 months
old. In my line of work, I could work from home because its mostly
faxing and emailing but I'd have to start my own business as the
company I work for wouldn't let me telecommute. I went back to work
because I needed the paycheck, but now I'm saving a nest egg so when Im
ready to start my business I have a financial cushion while I'm getting
it off the ground.

I think that since my hours are fairly long, and in my line of work
they won't let me work part-time either,  I would like to work from
home so I could spend more time with DS, but I do not have a guest
house to work from, I'd have to work from one of the bedrooms, and come
out to use the restroom, get a snack etc. What worries me is that from
what I've read, if your child knows you are in the house they come find
you etc.  I think it would be really hard for me to leave through the
front door and come in through the back door everyday... :( and I do
need to have some uninterrupted time each day to get things done.

I have decided that if I work from home I would have in home help (I'd
keep the nanny that is currently taking care of him during the day) but
will this work? Or is it impossible to work at home with a toddler? If
you are or have been a work at home mom, what has been your experience?
How does it work out? Any tips?

Donna 	  Jun 10, 6:24 pm     
Newsgroups: misc.kids
From: "Donna" <youdontknowmeno...@spamproof.com>
Date: Sat, 11 Jun 2005 00:24:15 GMT
Local: Fri, Jun 10 2005 6:24 pm
Subject: Re: WAHMs - need advice please

"don_tspamme" <don_tspa...@yahoo.com> wrote in message

news:1118445025.230756.207340@g47g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...

>  I would like to work from
> home so I could spend more time with DS, but I do not have a guest
> house to work from, I'd have to work from one of the bedrooms, and come
> out to use the restroom, get a snack etc. What worries me is that from
> what I've read, if your child knows you are in the house they come find
> you etc.  I think it would be really hard for me to leave through the
> front door and come in through the back door everyday... :( and I do
> need to have some uninterrupted time each day to get things done.

> I have decided that if I work from home I would have in home help (I'd
> keep the nanny that is currently taking care of him during the day) but
> will this work? Or is it impossible to work at home with a toddler? If
> you are or have been a work at home mom, what has been your experience?
> How does it work out? Any tips?

Hi there!

I work from home, and I have two kids - 2.5 and 10 mos.   It is very doable,
if you have already dealt with the hard stuff - establishing yourself and
finding a few steady clients.

Tips from me, in no particular order of importance:

Keep the nanny.  I have a nanny come in four days a week, at 8am, leaving at
4pm.   When she arrives, I kiss the kids, tell them that I'm going to work
now, and go up to my office (which is a spare bedroom).  There really isn't
any need to make up a story or anything.   I come down for lunch in the
early afternoon, and eat with the kids and Miss K-, before returning to
work.   The kids actually do understand that I'm working, and them agitating
to visit hasn't been a problem.   One thing that really has helped this is
that our nanny is fabulous, and we keep to a schedule.   8am:  I go to work,
and the kids go out to jump on the trampoline (random aside:  if you find a
trampoline in one of those huge box discount stores, grab it.  This is the
Best.  Toy.  Ever.   The kids like it too.  <grin>).  By the time they've
had their boucing/playing/sandbox time, they come in for a snack and have
pretty much forgotten that I'm at home.  Sad but true.  :)  So in short,
make sure that there is always a really fun thing planned for the time
period right when you go to work/return to work after lunch.

Measure your office space and convert it into a percentage of your home
space.  That is the amount you can deduct off your taxes as business
expenses.   My office is 18% of our home, and that means that 18% of cable,
heat, water, electricity, firewood, coffee, mortgage, etc, etc, etc is a tax
deduction.   This is actually an enormous benefit that you don't want to
miss.  :)    Also, get a great accountant.  If you're in the US, I can
recommend a fabulous one that I use, but definitely get a good one, and meet
with him/her asap to figure out how best to handle your reporting.   BTW:
deposit 40% of each check into a savings account the first year.   30% for
the feds, quarterly, 10% for your SEP.   Make certain that you have enough
for your quarterly payments, because otherwise you're screwed.   (Ask me how
I know that.  No, no, don't bother.  <grin>).

Consider a separate phone line for your business.   It's expensive, sure,
but a) it's fully deductable and b) you can let the machine pick up when the
nanny inevitably calls in sick one day, and you have 800 people suddenly
returning the calls you left for them at 4:59 last night.   You can share
your family phone line, but then you leave a less professional impression.

Don't try to multitask.   This is not something that can be done, happily
and successfully, when you work at home.   The only thing you'll get when
you try to be Mom and Employee at the same time is a sense that work never
ends.   So rigidly enforce your boundries - work is what happens in your
office, and if you are not in your office, you're mom.  (another reason to
have the phone/fax line separate.

Oh, as for a fax line - save yourself the hassle and get an online fax
company.  They'll receive your faxes for you, convert them to email and send
them, for less annually than the price of a single box of fax toner.   Don't
bother with the separate fax line.  I like pfax, but use whatever one you
like.  They're insanely cheap.

That's all I can think of right now. If you have questions, please don't
hesitate to ask.  I've been independant for over a decade now, and I've
managed to stumble into most of the pitfalls already.  I'm happy to serve as
your bad example.  :)

Donna

	
don_tspamme 	  Jun 13, 12:03 pm     
Newsgroups: misc.kids
From: "don_tspamme" <don_tspa...@yahoo.com>
Date: 13 Jun 2005 11:03:38 -0700
Local: Mon, Jun 13 2005 12:03 pm
Subject: Re: WAHMs - need advice please

Thanks Donna - this is great advice, and I will definitely take it~ I
already have efax, so I know what you mean, its fantastic.

I will talk to a CPA regarding quarterly tax etc. nothing worse than
having trouble with the government.

I'm not completely established, but that's why I'm saving the nest egg,
and I'm also putting out feelers for more clients now, so that by the
time I make a break I have a few things to help me stay home *and* be
able to still afford the nanny. Schedule - I am learning that kids and
scheduling is really important, so this is good advice too.

Trampoline - great tip! I'll look out for one - I think the DS would
love it - :)

Thank you, and if you think of anything else let me know -

And I will definitely ask you if I think of anything - can I email you
at the spamproof address?

	
Donna 	  Jun 13, 12:20 pm     
Newsgroups: misc.kids
From: "Donna" <youdontknowmeno...@spamproof.com>
Date: Mon, 13 Jun 2005 18:20:00 GMT
Subject: Re: WAHMs - need advice please

"don_tspamme" <don_tspa...@yahoo.com> wrote in message

news:1118685818.423970.97920@g43g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...

> Thanks Donna - this is great advice, and I will definitely take it~ I
> already have efax, so I know what you mean, its fantastic.

I just discovered it about six months ago.   I'm such a fan, now.

> I will talk to a CPA regarding quarterly tax etc. nothing worse than
> having trouble with the government.

For me, it's really one of my worst nightmares.   I am so scarily obsessed
with keeping my taxes scrupulously accurate and making my quarterly payments
on time, because operating a home-based business is an invitation for an
audit.  It hasn't happened yet, but I'm always prepared for it, because I
know it will happen one day.

Oh, another tip about finances - this works for me, but (like with
everything) feel free to ignore it if it wouldn't work for you:   computer
financial programs are great.  I met with my accountant when I first started
my business and she helped me make a list of expenses that should be coded
for tax deductions in Quicken.   Now each quarter I print out my quarterly
expenses, and income and send her a spreadsheet, so that she can figure if
my next quarter's estimated tax payment should be increased or decreased.
I live in fear of being hit with that massive bill on April 15.  Oh, and
more about my audit obsession:  I file all my receipts, paid bills and
banking statements in one annual accordion file, by the month.  At the end
of the year I sit down and make sure that everything is filed in the
appropriate month's pocket, then put the file in storage in case I ever have
to produce evidence of my deductions.  So that's one more suggestion.

> Trampoline - great tip! I'll look out for one - I think the DS would
> love it - :)

You will too.  I LOVE our trampoline.   Its' an instant passport to being 6
again.  :)

> And I will definitely ask you if I think of anything - can I email you
> at the spamproof address?

No, that's a completely munged address.   Lets see, your address is munged
too, so...   you can reverse the following and email me at moc.erips@scs
(that's my email address backwards, to (hopefully) fool the spambots).  :)

Donna

	
Jonathan Levy 	  Jun 13, 1:11 pm     
Newsgroups: misc.kids
From: "Jonathan Levy" <jlevy.acorns17...@zoemail.net>
Date: 13 Jun 2005 12:11:43 -0700
Local: Mon, Jun 13 2005 1:11 pm
Subject: Re: WAHMs - need advice please

> Measure your office space and convert it into a percentage of your home
> space.  That is the amount you can deduct off your taxes as business
> expenses.   My office is 18% of our home, and that means that 18% of cable,
> heat, water, electricity, firewood, coffee, mortgage, etc, etc, etc is a tax
> deduction.   This is actually an enormous benefit that you don't want to
> miss.

Have you actually been able to deduct the mortgage?  The reason I ask
is that we looked into this when we bought our house because my wife
works from home (employee, not independent).  The problem (if one can
even call it that) is that mortgage interest is already deductible and
the principal is not an expense so we could not get any business
deduction out of the mortgage. With it knocked out of the calculation
and there being a threshold you have to cross (two percent of Adjusted
Gross Income -- and for both spouses if you file jointly), there was
not enough left to make it worthwhile, especially since it also would
have meant the office would have had to be completely dedicated to
business.

	
Donna 	  Jun 13, 3:04 pm     
Newsgroups: misc.kids
From: "Donna" <youdontknowmeno...@spamproof.com>
Date: Mon, 13 Jun 2005 21:04:14 GMT
Local: Mon, Jun 13 2005 3:04 pm
Subject: Re: WAHMs - need advice please

"Jonathan Levy" <jlevy.acorns17...@zoemail.net> wrote in message

news:1118689903.711866.88240@g14g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...

>> Measure your office space and convert it into a percentage of your home
>> space.  That is the amount you can deduct off your taxes as business
>> expenses.   My office is 18% of our home, and that means that 18% of
>> cable,
>> heat, water, electricity, firewood, coffee, mortgage, etc, etc, etc is a
>> tax
>> deduction.   This is actually an enormous benefit that you don't want to
>> miss.

> Have you actually been able to deduct the mortgage?  The reason I ask
> is that we looked into this when we bought our house because my wife
> works from home (employee, not independent).  The problem (if one can
> even call it that) is that mortgage interest is already deductible and
> the principal is not an expense so we could not get any business
> deduction out of the mortgage. With it knocked out of the calculation
> and there being a threshold you have to cross (two percent of Adjusted
> Gross Income -- and for both spouses if you file jointly), there was
> not enough left to make it worthwhile, especially since it also would
> have meant the office would have had to be completely dedicated to
> business.

I *think*  (but I'd have to check with my accountant to be sure) that yes,
we are able to deduct part of the mortgage.   The thing that makes it an
either/or kind of thing as far as taking that deduction is that when a house
is sold, the part that was deducted for the business, I believe, has to be
accounted for in some way.   This is where I start to get a little hazy on
the details....  DH and I discussed it with my accountant at one point years
ago, and made our plans based on that discussion, but I wouldn't swear to my
accurate memory of exactly what the details are.  It might be a good jumping
off place for a discussion about this with your accountant, however.

(I wonder if the difference is that I am self-employed, with the space
dedicated as office space being just that - office and nothing else?   I do
remember it being impressed upon me that there can be no dual use space if I
was going to take the home office deductions, legally.)

Definitely ask your accountant.   I'm lousy at remembering tax accounting
regulations.   :)

Donna