Nadolig Llawen

Merry Christmas - work has finished for a week or so, and I am going to publish my December earnings even though December is not yet over. I don't expect any earnings over the next week or so, so I have effectively finished working in my 9-5 as well as my online 'work' for the festivities.
I managed to get a couple of extra tape to CD conversions out to clients this week and have received some paid blogging income for work over the last few weeks. I bought more CD's and cases for my tape conversion business otherwise, profits would have been a bit higher. Not a bad showing for the last month of 2011 though:
Turnover was about £185, but the additions to stock cost me £23, and postage costs were £13. The profit for the month was £149 which is another healthy profit, stock purchases also mean that I am in a good position to do more tape conversions without having to buy stock for a while. Total profit for the tax year is close to £1100, from a turnover of just under £1300, more than half of which came from cassette to CD conversions. I have made about £500 so far since the beginning of April from blog posts and passive (affiliate and adverts) income. I have three months to go before the end of the current tax year, hopefully I can get some decent chunks of income in before then... In the language of my birth, I wish you all a Merry Christmas, in the language of my adopted home I wish you all Nadolig Llawen!

Arm Update

I have had my new shorter cast for a week now, and everything is almost back to normal. The medical team were kind enough to cut an 'S' shape in the new lighter cast so that I could remove it if I wanted to take a bath etc.. and for the last few nights I have tried sleeping with the cast removed. I had this new cast fitted last week, and my immediate problem of not being able to drive was instantly fixed.. Having elbow movement back again was great - I even had a half-decent game of football on Saturday...
Two more weeks of this and I think I should be able to remove the cast altogether (next appointment is on 28th December..). I had a weeks 'vacation' off work last week, and am happy to report that I think I have all my Christmas presents purchased, and cards sent...

Should be a few more cassette to CD jobs to come in before Christmas, but I have already done quite a big order this month and have had a few more paid blog payouts. Financially things are looking pretty strong (ironic considering the European Economy seems to be crashing around our ears at the moment..). We are still enjoying ridiculously low mortgage interest payments, and I am still managing to overpay my mortgage which means that some of the principle should be eroded before the (likely to be inadequate) endowment comes up in ten years time...

Update

I am counting down the days 'til my next appointment - should be Wednesday and hopefully, a cast that will allow me to drive again.. I have another batch of tapes to complete - only about 9 or 10 this time, but should be a nice bonus before Christmas...

I have booked some time off at the end of this week and the beginning of next for Christmas committments and a bit of Christmas shopping - this could all go pear-shaped if I don't have this cast taken off though...!

I am about half-way through Christmas shopping - all the easy ones are done, a couple of slightly tricky ones to get out of the way, then need to parcel everything up to go to my parents for distribution around the family. I hope to get all my Christmas cards done soon too. I have another laptop on eBay for a 7 day auction at the moment - this should help me draw even on the purchases I made, then it will be a case of getting a few repairs done and any sales I can make from the vast piles of spare parts I have left will be the profit. As I have said before, I have enjoyed the experience of laptop refurbishment, but would not recommend it as a business plan unless it could be done on a larger scale with a lot more time...maybe another idea for if I find myself out of work at any point in the future...

Next update on Wednesday!!

Dead sea salts

Christmas Ideas #8
Apparently dead sea salts have a number of beneficial properties for your skin, and are used in a variety of skin care and bathing products.
The Dead Sea is known for it's high salt content which means even the least buoyant of us will float in it. So I guess there must be plenty of Dead Sea salt to go around. I have seen this salt used in products to aid muscle aches, help skin conditions and have even seen it used in shampoo. If you're struggling to think of a unique gift for someone - this is a good choice, probably for a more mature adult with aching limbs - like me..

Triple bowl undermount sinks

I am in no state to do any DIY at the moment even though there are a list of jobs to be done. I need to prep my freshly plastered hall and landing for painting. there is a lot of work to be done in the bathroom, and I am supposed to be fitting a triple undermount sink in the kitchen.
I may have to address some of these issues if my plaster cast comes off this week, otherwise my better half is threatening to 'get someone in' - a luxury I don't think we can afford...
My online earnings pay for a few little treats here and there, but would soon be soaked up by a tradesman in a few hours.
To be fair, once I start on these jobs, I get a lot of satisfaction from them, I am just struggling to get started.

Garter belt

Christmas Ideas #7
The 'traditional' gift from a man to his special lady might well include a garter belt or something equally alluring. There's nothing quite so warming for the long winter nights as something to make you hot under the collar.
Moderately priced and fun for both the giver and the recipient... bedroom wear could be the perfect gift for your lady, and a chance to treat yourself at the same time!

November 2011

I can hardly believe that it is December already... but it has been a bumper month for cassettes to CD's this month, largely due to one significant order. There has been a few paid posts to crack on with too, some of which will pay out in a week or two.
I have added in some postage costs to the spreadsheet that I managed to miss off last months report... All in all, I have to be very pleased with this month although I am mindful that earnings have come mainly from one job - I must look at how I can boost earnings across all the different revenue streams. Checking against last years earnings in November, I am ahead by about £200 using the same months, but earnings are so haphazard, there is no guarantee that by the end of March, I will be anywhere near £200 ahead - I am chasing an annual profit of £1375, so still have some way to go..
I got a small payout from eBay partnership which boosted passive earnings a little, but I would prefer to see larger totals in this column!