by The Happy WAHM
Back in 2011, I wrote about my home office set up. It wasn’t much, just a table in the corner of our tiny living room.
If you are a WAHM like me, having a home office is almost as important as having clients.
Maybe I’m exaggerating there, but that’s how I felt when I was starting. Even when I only had a computer table in the first three years, I made sure that “that” table was treated like a real office.
No talking to Mommy when she’s in the office.
Stay really quiet when Mommy has her headphone on.
Yeah, took me three years to save up for a custom-made desk. Remember, we were paying off huge hospital debt when I braved it out to become a WAHM. And the desk doesn’t look much, really. But what makes it special is that I have all the drawers I need for all my office stuff.
This WAHMing thing? It’s a lifestyle. Bed to office in under a minute. No need to spend on wardrobe and your hours are up to you. But a critical part of making it work is discipline. You need to keep a schedule. You can’t afford to feel lazy. And having a well-organized home office will certainly put you in the mood to work. Having that sense of being in a real office space makes work more enjoyable and more efficient.
Here are some tips to get you started.
Organizing Your Desktop or Laptop
Back up all your files frequently and store important items on a cloud-based service. I personally use an external drive which I sync with my desktop computer at least once a month. Saved me a lot of heartache in the past years, most recent was only last December when my 7-year desktop conked out on me. Only had a half day of downtime, which we used to shop for a new desktop and install applications and security.
Create folders and subfolders for your files. I partitioned my PC in a way that all program files are in C, and data files are in D. The data files have three main folders: Home Office, Homeschool, and Personal. Inside each main folder are subfolders, like inside Homeschool, there are two subfolders, Bea and Jude. And more subfolders for subjects, teacher guides, curriculum, projects, etc.
If you are like me, who works on a laptop away from home, you would want to have your oft-accessed files in a cloud. You can use either Google Drive or Dropbox.
Organize Your Desk
Though some folks can organize their desktop according to their own system, others wouldn’t know what to do without their desktop organizer. Some are a simple arrangement of slots made of wire mesh, while others are elaborate. They have room for pens, pencils, staplers, scissors, sticky notes, push pins, stationery, Scotch tape, etc.
Yet, even a desktop organizer needs to be organized. Make sure the papers in the slots are neat, pencils have been sharpened, pens are capped and no stray rubber bands overhang the rubber band container.
For my slightly OC self, I had a desk custom-built back in 2010. I wanted to have drawers that will have all my home office and homeschool supplies in one place. The only organizer on top of my desk now is a tub of pens. All the rest are in my drawers. Although I wish I have one of these desk organizers.
This one, particularly. 🙂
Organizing Drawers
Just because drawers are closed most of the time doesn’t mean they don’t need to be organized. Opening a drawer and seeing a jumble of stuff when you’re looking for something is as dispiriting as a chaotic desktop.
The drawer is where you keep stuff that doesn’t go into the organizer just yet. To avoid a mess, keep everything in its own little box or container. Little metal spice containers are perfect for things like push pins, tacks, erasers, and paper clips because they have glass tops.
My top most drawer holds more pens, craft scissors, craft punches, glue gun, glue sticks, washi tapes, highlighters, staple wires, fasteners, colorful clips and my external drives.
Other drawers hold stationery, notebooks, my official receipts, craft papers, index cards, folders, Manila paper and board papers.
I remember one time when our eldest was in high school and her group met at our house to make their project, one of her classmates commented, “We’re like at National Bookstore!”
Organizing Shelves
Invest in magazine holders for your magazines. Place photos in albums and other important items in boxes. None of these storage items need to be drab. You can now buy them in different colors that match the overall color scheme of your room.
Though boxes can be different colors, it’s best if they’re the same size so they can stack on your shelves. Label containers using a label maker. Or washi tapes. 🙂
Speaking of label makers, they are one of many items that should fit in your office desk drawer. And yes, I do have one. National Bookstore, remember? 🙂
Organizing your home office is not difficult and can be fun. You might even want to get the whole family involved. It will definitely be a pleasure to see a clean and tidy workspace waiting for you at the beginning of your workday.
Disclaimer: My home office, specifically my desk, may not stay as organized as I presented in this post, but I’m still proud to say that there is always one day in a month that IT IS this organized, and then it goes downhill from there until it’s time to clean up, and the cycle continues. One thing is constant though. I LOVE my home office!
Do you have questions, comments or feedback about this post?
Please leave a comment below, or post them on my Facebook Page.
by The Happy WAHM
Better late than later! Finally, my much-delayed post about my BMBE certification.
I received my BMBE Certificate of Authority for my two registered small businesses back in October. But due to my full schedule, I didn’t get to have my BIR (Bureau of Internal Revenue) status updated until December. That, and because I’m really not fond of going to government offices.
So what is BMBE?
It stands for Barangay Micro Business Enterprise. According to Section 3(b) of RA No. 9178, otherwise known as the Barangay Micro Business Enterprise Act of 2002, a BMBE is “Any business entity or enterprise engaged in the production, processing or manufacturing of products or commodities, including agro-processing, trading and services, whose total assets including those arising from loans but exclusive of the land on which the particular business entity’s office, plant and equipment are situated, shall be not more than three million pesos.”
This Act aims to encourage formalization of informal or underground businesses by giving incentives and benefits to certified BMBEs.
Based on a 2014 data from Philippine Statistics Authority, 99.5% of all businesses in the Philippines are MSMEs or Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises. And from that 99.5%, 89.4% are Micro.
The same data shows that MSMEs provide employment to 65% of the labor force. They are clearly the primary source of livelihood and jobs in the country. Hence, the government’s drive to encourage micro businesses to register and become legal tax paying entities.
Back when I first heard of BMBE, the registration was under the local government units, and businesses were required to pay registration fee. While the amount was minimal (I believe it was set to not exceed Php 1,000.00), it was enough to make really small businesses less enthusiastic about registering. Including myself.
In recent years, the responsibility to issue Certificate of Authority was transferred from the Municipal Treasurer to the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) through its Negosyo Center. They removed the required registration fee, and the process can be completed in three (3) easy steps:
- Step 1 : Accomplish BMBE Form and submit to the Negosyo Center / DTI Office where business is located with any of the following:
- Certificate of Business Name Registration from the DTI (for sole proprietors)
- Certificate of Registration from the SEC (for corporations)
- Certificate of Registration from the CDA (for cooperative)
- Step 2 : DTI will evaluate the eligibility of the application
- Step 3 : If qualified, within 15 working days, DTI issues Certificate of Authority valid for 2 years
I was fortunate enough to be among those invited by our local Negosyo Center to attend a BMBE orientation.
Who are qualified to register?
- Single Proprietorship, Partnership, Corporation, Cooperative or Association
- Total assets not more than P 3,000,000.00
- Enterprise engaged in:
- Production / Processing / Manufacturing
- Trading
- Services – except government licensed services
Who are not qualified?
- Medical/Dental/Veterinary Clinic
- Notary Public/Law Firm
- Real Estate
- Construction Firm
- Accounting Firm
In short, if you are small business practicing a profession, then you cannot register as BMBE.
Since my services as a virtual assistant are not government-licensed services, I qualified. And my small craft business is engaged in manufacture and retail.
What are the benefits of becoming BMBE-certified?
Tax Exemption
Accredited businesses are exempted from paying income taxes arising from their operating expenses. This, however, does not include the exemption in transaction taxes such as value-added tax (VAT) and other percentage taxes, among others. Furthermore, BMBE-accredited enterprises are still required to regularly file their regular income tax returns.
Minimum Wage Exemption
BMBE-registered enterprises are also allowed to pay below the statutory minimum wage which is otherwise not permitted by law. However, they are still required to pay for their employees’ benefits such as PhilHeath, SSS, and HMDF.
Credit Priority
Financial institutions are given incentives in providing loans to BMBE-registered business enterprises. They are also required to provide a special credit window for BMBEs.
Growth assistance
To provide technical support, the government has allotted funds to agencies supporting BMBEs such as DTI Negosyo Centers, UP Institute for Small Scale Industries (UP-ISSI), and the Department of Science and Technology (DOST).
So for the next two years, I will be exempted from paying the quarterly and annual tax. I will only have to pay the monthly percentage tax, which is 3% of gross income. After two years, I will need to renew my certification, and if I’m still qualified, like if I don’t build a warehouse and acquire equipment worth 3.5 million pesos in the next two years, I will have to get my COR with BIR updated again.
For WAHMs, freelancers, independent contractors, or crafters who are on a fence whether to register their small businesses or not, please read my post on Paying Taxes. Once you are registered, go ahead and visit your local Negosyo Center. It’s so easy to get certified now.
Here’s what a Certificate of Authority looks like.
Do you have questions, comments or feedback about this post?
Please leave a comment below, or post them at my Facebook Page.
by The Happy WAHM
For 2018, I’m going to get my Excel mojo back.
My first project?
A printable meal planner!
This planner will help Moms like me who are barely surviving in the kitchen. It has always been a struggle for me to come up with a decision on what meal to prepare, every single day. I thought that if there is already a list of meals that I can just refer to, it would be easier to make a decision on what to prepare for the day.
Add to that the fact that I’m not a cook.
Oh, I can cook adobo, sinigang, tinola, spaghetti, and other similar stuff, but I’m not really that great. And I don’t have that many recipes in my arsenal, so I rely on just the usual stuff. And the occasional pa-chambs. 🙂
Here’s a clue… I don’t eat, much less cook, food I can’t pronounce.
And can I just mention that my kids LOVE my spaghetti?
But having so short a list of recipes makes it really hard to plan for a week. And that affects the grocery shopping, which we do once a week, sometimes even every other week.
For moms/homemakers like me, coming up with a decision on what’s for lunch or what’s for dinner sucks up a lot of time already. And add to that, the heartache when you finally decide on a meal and find out that you don’t have the necessary ingredients in your pantry.
This meal planner will save me the time and the heartache.
The first thing I did was make a list of all the meals I know how to prepare. Then I asked members of my WAHM community to contribute their own. I created four worksheets to represent breakfast, lunch and dinner, snacks, and desserts. And once I had a decent number of meals to cover a week without a repeat, I went ahead and used the wonderful functions of Excel to create my printable meal plan.
So here’s how to use this…
Those highlighted cells are clickable. When you click on the cell, a dropdown arrow will appear. When you click on the dropdown arrow, a list of meals will appear, and you just need to click on what suits your fancy for the time of day.
Look…
And I’m all for keeping it real. Please take note that there’s a No Cooking option. So there will days that we’ll just call for home delivery, or feast on leftovers, or eat out.
Once I have completed our meals for the week, I can print the file, and create the grocery list.
Once Week 1 has been printed, I can simply clear the cells and start all over for the next week.
I’m actually just channeling Mark Zuckerberg here. I’m thinking about how much time he saves just by NOT having to decide what to wear every single day. This printable meal planner? I betcha it will save me at the very least an hour per week. An hour that I can utilize to do something else. Like crochet.
So yeah, I was truly inspired.
But if you’re a busy VA like me, and say your rate is $25 per hour, this planner has a $100 value to you, per month.
Me, I’m just happy to have that one hour of crochet time. Or paper quilling time.
Want me to create something like this for you? You know how to reach me!
Do you, have questions, comments or feedback about this post?
Please leave a reply below, or post them on my Facebook Page.
by The Happy WAHM
The content of this post was originally published as a Note on Facebook and has been updated to reflect present time.
Ever wonder why we have creative children?
They have at least one creative parent, that’s why!
And that one parent is me! Like mother, like daughters.
Yup! I’m claiming it! Right here, right now. Before I end my day.
But you need proof, right?
Let’s start with my younger daughter.
She draws really well. Just like I do.
This is an apple. I drew this using watercolor.
And this is Bea’s drawing of an apple, in oil pastel. (I put a watermark on it when I shared on Facebook to protect the work of my child.)
You see the resemblance?
You do, right?
Here’s another one. My drawing of a banana. Still using watercolor.
And here is Bea’s banana in oil pastel.
See? We really are very creative!
Here’s another. My drawing of a carrot.
Bea does not have a drawing of a carrot, but she has an orange. And they’re the same color, so we can still compare, okay?
So you agree that she takes after me, yes?
Okay. Now that we have settled that, let’s get on how my eldest daughter takes after me.
I came across an album of photos posted by my daughter’s friend on Facebook.
She doesn’t mind posing in front of the camera.
And she’s really pretty, if I may say so myself.
She’s a natural. And she registers well on camera.
Just like her mom.
Yup!
She takes after me. I used to model, you know.
And I do register well on camera, too. Like when I modeled for Caronia. Or was it Bobbie?
Okay. So I do my own mani and pedi. And my nails are far from spectacular. But I have saved lots of money over the years. 🙂
Or when I modeled my crocheted slippers.
I also posed for Bend Accessories.
So I’m thinking, maybe Isabel can model for a clothing line.
Oh, wait! She has modeled for Crafted Crafts!
Hardly a clothing line, but baby steps, okay? She’s wearing a crocheted poncho in the photo, and the yarn is her own mix. Yeah, our girls help me come up with color combinations for our yarn shop. 🙂
So now you know why we have pretty, creative daughters.
Like mother, like daughters.
Do you, have questions, comments or feedback about this post?
Please leave a reply below, or post them on my Facebook Page.
by The Happy WAHM
For the first time since I became a WAHM, I had a day off!
I mean, an official one. An I-don’t-have-to-bring-a-laptop-with-me kind of day. An it’s-okay-to-not-have-internet-connection-where-I’m-going kind of day. An I-don’t-have-to-check-my-email kind of day.
It was awesome!
So I went to the city to meet up with my friend, Celia, who’s the creative head and the powerhouse behind Brownroots Creatives and is now busy managing her co-working space, Brownroots Coworking.
Uhmmm… I actually checked my work email before leaving the house. Responded to some messages both from my email and Slack, and had my mobile data and powerbank with me just in case I need to respond to some urgent messages. How awesome is it that I can actually work using my phone, right?
But I’m digressing.
I’m supposed to be talking about Brownroots and why I had to see Celia.
Who is Celia and what is Brownroots?
I met Celia at one of my workshops. It was the second and final run of my VA Success Blueprint workshop.
What? Two runs only? But why?
I’ve turned the workshop module to a one-on-one coaching module, that’s why. I get to see results better on one-on-one coaching than in classroom workshops, and I really have this need to see my coachees succeed in transitioning from corporate to WAHMing.
Digressing again, sorry.
So my event coordinator got Brownroots Creatives to sponsor the bags that we gave away to the participants. On top of the bags, she also raffled off some really cool t-shirts. I loved the bags! They were of canvas material and had my logo printed on them. And the shirts were actually their flagship product for Brownroots Creatives’ business-in-a-box. Their tagline? “Let your shirt do the talking.”
I had a couple shirt made for me and my husband.
Mine says: My husband has an awesome wife.
His says: My wife has an awesome husband.
I wear mine when I go out.
Husband wears his to sleep.
So much for having a couple shirt!
Digressing… again!
As a major sponsor, we gave her two free seats to the workshop. She brought her son who does graphic design, plays the guitar, sings and sounds awesome, and writes his own songs when he’s not doing covers.
And so we met. And we hit it off, right from the get-go.
Celia is a former OFW (Overseas Filipino Worker). She had a really bad experience abroad. Like going to prison kind of bad. She was innocent, of course. And when finally her case was resolved, she came back home to the Philippines and vowed to start another chapter in her life, stronger and better. I met her at the time that she was just starting out with the business. Her work abroad was in advertising, and she’s a graphic designer. It made sense for her to start a business in the creative niche.
Why Brownroots?
She says it’s her statement of being Pinoy. She’s proud of her brown-skinned race. As we should all be.
I like her branding. It delivers a message. It’s easy to recall. It draws empathy.
She learned of my story through this blog, before we personally met. How I succeeded in starting a career from home. My story resonated with her, and we both have this strong desire to build a community of empowered women. And while I focus on inspiring women to go after their dreams and be financially independent through this blog and social media, Celia untiringly goes to events and connects with people in person. And when I say connect, I mean she really connects. The we-can-be-friends-forever kind of connect.
After taking a break from doing classroom workshops on virtual assistance, I created a new module called Hobbies to Business, teaching people how to earn from doing something that they love. I did two classroom workshops for this module and then turned it into an online course, as well. Celia stuck with me, supporting me all the way. I super love this woman! And from what I gather, the feeling is definitely mutual.
Sometime last year, we talked about having my girls’ artworks printed on t-shirts and mugs and selling them. I’m teaching my kids entrepreneurship, which is also what Celia is doing with hers. The plan was that I would send her the graphics and Brownroots Creatives would print them and ship them.
But my husband and I have also been looking for an income stream that will not be dependent on both our skills as virtual assistants. What if he or I get sick? What happens if I can no longer be a VA, or he no longer loves what he’s doing?
We need a fallback, and we need to establish something while there is no need for it yet. We need something that we can hire other people to do when we can no longer do it personally. And we need something that our children will also enjoy doing.
So we agreed on making a go for the printing business. Our daughters will be our in-house designers, and our son will operate the press.
Celia was very supportive when I told her about it. Aside from her printing business, she also provides starter packages to those who want to get into the printing business. So she sent me the list of her packages and left me to think about how I want to get started. But my VA work did not give me much time to pursue getting the business off the ground.
So on my first official day off, I went to meet with Celia as my first step in making our plan become a reality. We’re ready to invest in the complete package, the whole nine yards, and Brownroots Creatives is my supplier of choice. I spent the afternoon with her teaching me how to navigate the design software and how to operate the press. It was fun! I can imagine the kids having a blast with that weeding thing on the vinyl.
And to top it off, Celia also had two of her friends at the coworking space while I was there, and they are very interested in learning how to become VAs, so we ended up planning a small, intimate workshop for a group of no more than ten people, soon.
I also love her coworking space, by the way.
Here’s a couple of my takeaways…
I am so looking forward to adding this new piece in my WAHMing life, and I’m hoping that I’ll have your support, too!
Oh, and by the way, today is my second day off. So I found time to write this post. Yesterday was supposed to be the day that we’re going to put up our Christmas tree. But I had to prioritize seeing Celia.
I had an early start this morning. While the kids were preparing to leave for taekwondo training, I changed the curtains. Ironed them, too! Like I don’t really mind the fold creases on curtains, but I was feeling pretty domestic so I went ahead and ironed out the fold creases before putting them up. Then I took down our 16-year old tree from storage and set it up. It’s still bare at this time. I left the decorating to the kids.
Okay, my time’s up! Come and visit again!
Do you, have questions, comments or feedback about this post?
Please leave a reply below, or post them on my Facebook Page.
