Being your own Boss is TOUGH!

Working at "Elastic" has a lot of perks.  For one, I have a steady paycheck, and for that I am always thankful.  Secondly, even though I am still a temp, they try their best to treat me like an employee of company, and that the most I can ask for.  And it is a really nice company with a great mission, and that makes me feel good.

But at the end of the day, I am my own boss and I have a business to run. By that I mean I have to pay my own taxes, get my own insurance, stay on top of keeping records and receipts. I know for a fact, I'm not good at this.




My strong suit is marketing, coming up with great ideas and helping businesses make money, not administrative tasks.   Prior to being being my own boss, the only bill I was worried about staying on top of was my mortgage.


Last week, I almost lost my medical insurance, due to the fact that I didn't pay my bill.  Its not that I didn't have the money. It was that I MISSED the bill. 

Last year, I actually lost my Cobra benefits for a similar reason.  Due to the lapse of insurance (which I was unaware of), I had to do a lot of legwork to prove that I had no pre-exisiting conditions. And then, I had to wait another 30 days for the new insurance to kick in.

Had I lost medical insurance this time, it would have been 9 months before I could apply with them again.  So not only would I be without insurance, I would have to research another carrier.  I seriously don't have time for this.   Who does?

But as my own boss, I have to keep my "business" running.   I have to come up with a plan to stay organized.   I MUST make myself better at administrative duties.  I cannot afford to make a mistake.

Here are some of the things I put in place to help the process:
1) Taxes - My accountant made me a nice schedule of paying quarterly taxes.  I have updated my calendar with these dates and have a folder on my desk, which I check on a regular basis.

2) Medical Insurance - I now have this bill set as as an automatic withdrawal from my account.  I don't like to do this with my bills, I like to control the payments, but I already messed up 2x with insurance. I don't want it to happen again.

3)  Invoices and Receipts - Most of my expenses are recorded on my Credit Card bill.  I only have one credit card, to keep things simple.  I have a  box that I store all my receipts, and when it comes to taxes at the end of the year, I use that box to inform my accountant of my deductions.  My invoices are stored on my computer and sent via email, and I also record them in a spreadsheet.

 Barb's Top 5 Quotes about Getting Organized:

• "Don't find fault, find a remedy." - Henry Ford
• "Organization is not an option, it is a fundamental survival skill and distinct competitive advantage" - Pam Woods
• "Organizing is what you do before you do something, so that when you do it, it is not all mixed up. " -A. A. Milne
• “Start by doing what's necessary; then do what's possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible.” - Roman Catholic Saint Francis of Assisi
• “Life is too complicated not to be orderly.”- Martha Stewart