Free Resources for WAHMs: Invoicing Software
Many things are given away for free on the internet these days. A great deal of these things that are given away for free, are useful. A great deal more of them, are of no use at all.
Therefore it is really great when you find something that makes your life infinitely easier!
As WAHMs we need every last spare second that we can squeeze out of the day, so when I found Paymo’s free Invoicing and Time-Tracking Software, it proved to be an absolute gem!
Image courtesy of www.paymo.bizSo Why Is It Free?
Paymo, state on their website that they want to support freelancers and small businesses, so the use of their service is free for companies with 3 employees/users or less. Once you need to add a fourth user, they begin charging for the use of their service at USD $ 3.99 (approx ZAR 24.00) a month per user. Please note if you have the need to produce more than three invoices per month (for those freelancers dealing with multiple clients), they have a very affordable $9.99 per month unlimited invoicing option, which is totally worth it!
That is still a bargain, given the scope and functionality of their product!
Image Courtesy of www.paymo.bizSo How Does it Work?
In a nutshell, the strength of Paymo, for myself in particular (as a freelancer) lies in their time tracking feature of their software.
Once you’ve signed up for an account and set up your details, you simply click on the tab (on their website that says) Time-Tracker. This opens up a handy little widget in a new browser window (Windows users) or in the Dashboard (Mac Users) that you can click to say ‘start’ or ‘stop’ as you are working on your clients project.
Each client/project/task can have it’s own per hour billing rate. So for example, you could charge more or less depending on the who the client is, how difficult the work is etc. It is all completely customizeable.
Image courtesy of www.paymo.biz
Why Do You need it?
While Paymo, is designed with freelancers and small businesses in mind, the time tracking feature is just one of several that would come in really useful to any small business.
- It’s internet based, so you can log in to your Paymo dashboard from anywhere, and produce an invoice (snaps fingers) just like that!
- Clients can view their invoices online, eliminating the need for printing out invoices and mailing them (save the trees!) or alternatively they can be downloaded and emailed as a .pdf file.
- It will produce reports for you showing you how much time you work, and how much you ‘slack off’ if you enable the time tracking feature. (This feature is nothing short of beautiful, since it colour codes each client/project differently too, showing you how much time you are spending on each one.
- It will show you which invoices are paid and which are not, because they’ve included a handy feature which allows you to enter payments from your clients etc. So while it is not accounting software per se, it’s certainly extremely useful when it comes time to show your accountant what you’ve earned, and for seeing which of your clients still owe you money and what for.
- The invoicing feature can either drop in information from the time-sheet, or if you’re are running a product/service based business on a by sale basis, you can simply type in the description, quantity and amount and voila! Impressive and professional looking invoice is ready for dispatch.
- It has multi-currency support, and I was pleased to see that it offered the ZAR as an option!
- Simply upload your logo, and away you go!
- It works on Windows, Mac AND Linux!
Do not underestimate the kind of time that this wonderful service can save you. If you are able to bill your clients in a snap, it makes getting the money in that much quicker and easier. It’s been tried and tested by me based on photographic and graphic design clients to great success.
Have you heard enough? Want to know more? We’ve linked you up below so you can click through to sign up.
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WAHM: Work At Home Moms
If you are a mom who works from home, then we want to hear from you.
We want to hear your stories, chronicle your endeavours and help you with networking, marketing and advice. If like-minded women can come together and share information then everyone stands to benefit.
Please contact us via email, so that we can arrange to promote you through this website. Alternatively use the contact form on the Editorial Page.
Please provide us with the following information:
- Your name, and business name (if you have one)
- A description of your business i.e. Photography/Catering/HR Consulting/Avon/Tupperware etc etc
- What you love about being a WAHM and what you find challenging.
- Contact Details – i.e. email address/website/geographic location (it doesn’t matter where in the world you are!)
- Anything else that you’d like to add (a photo of your product or of you would be great!)
From this information we can put together a profile post on you and your business which we will then email you to proof read, before publishing it.
This is so that we can build a community of like minded individuals, who support their fellow WAHMs either through directly doing business with one another, or promoting on another through marketing etc.
One of the longterm goals of this website is to produce a physical directory of products and services offered by WAHMs and distributed globally in the form of a magazine.
To have your profile done, on NessWorld, please email us now, and remember it’s free.
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Add yourself to our Facebook Fan Page
Please leave us a comment below!
read moreMovie Review: Angels and Demons, Starring Tom Hanks
Summary: Wow! Some of the best special effects that I’ve ever seen in a movie… and the most recent movie during which neither the husband nor I could bring ourselves to pause in order to make tea.
Yes, Angels and Demons
The Da Vinci Code 
It also features Tom Hanks, reprising his role as Professor Robert Langdon, the eminent symbologist.
Now while it once again, features the Christian church as pivotal to the plot, it does not come as close as The Da Vinci Code
What it does do, is make us hurtle headlong right alongside the main characters in a race against time to find an explosive device hidden somewhere in Vatican City.
The pressure is added by the fact that the entire catholic world, is in suspense, waiting to hear (see) the announcement of the new pope, and crowds have gathered in St Peters Square. All the cardinals are cloistered away in ‘conclave’ to select the new pope, and with all this added drama it makes for a heady, suspenseful movie, during which you are absolutely unable to move from your seat.
Once again, Professor Langdons seemingly encyclopedic knowledge of history, symbols and religious iconography is called into play to solve the clues left by the mysterious Illuminati, who have claimed to be behind it all.
Some interesting points:
- Tom Hanks hairstyle is much better than in The Da Vinci Code
- Ewan McGregor, is still hot, even as a priest. Sorry, but it must be said. One thinks that one would have a hard time seeing him as anything other than Obi Wan Kenobe, but thankfully his acting is so polished and he establishes his character so well, that you aren’t even slightly reminded of roles that he has played in the past.
- Stellan Skarsgard (can’t do that funky Swedish thing on his name with my keyboard) is brilliant in his role as head of Vatican Security, and the character we all love to hate. It doesn’t help that he too, is brilliantly good looking as well.
- For the guys, they’ll be pleased to know that the one and only female featuring in this movie, Ayelet Zurer, is your typical gorgeous Italian babe, so they need not feel left out in the eye-candy stakes. Although, the story really doesn’t leave any time for ogling.
Angels and Demons
So, would I recommend getting this for movie night? Yes, but with the following provisos:
- Please do not let your kids watch Angels and Demons
- Do not make popcorn for this movie, any sound whatsoever will distract you from the incredible pace of the story. Best not to shift around on your leather sofa too much either while watching unless you can do it silently.
- Visit the loo before pressing ‘play’ on the remote. There are no slow bits, so you’ll either have to keep it in, or rupture your bladder. Up to you. Pressing pause, is an option that you will NOT consider.
- You can order your copy of Angels and Demons
Amazon Kindle Now Available Internationally!
This may well finally be the best thing since sliced bread.
I kiddest thou not.
Amazon Kindle
For once, YES, South Africa, this means you!
Want to know what’s even better?
You can order them right here
So for those of you who have not yet joined us in the 21st Century, here is a little run down on what this little beauty of a gadget actually does…
It’s a small electronic device that allows you to download (wirelessly) any number of books, magazines etc, IN SECONDS, for you to read. Anywhere. The device on it’s own can store up to 1500 books (how many do you have in your house?), and with an added memory card, it can store up to 4000.
The thing that I really like about it, is that it is *not* like looking at a computer screen. The reading area is specifically designed to simulate the feeling of reading from a real book. There is none of that eye-strain business that we all get from gazing at our computer screens for too long.
Imagine taking a whole bunch of best sellers with you on holiday! In your handbag!!
Yes, even in conditions like the glare and bright reflections from being at the beach – you can still read your Kindle
Before you all go on at me, about how this will never be like holding a real book in your hands, let me tell you that these days, holding a real book in your hands is almost irresponsible. Think of the number of trees that will be saved by people switching to electronic books.
Imagine being able to download all of your university textbooks onto this lightweight device, instead of lugging them around in that very un-elegant, un-sexy backpack.
The Amazon Kindle
A new bestseller will set you back just $9.99! (that’s roughly ZAR 76.30!!) When last did you pay UNDER R80 for a new best seller?
A feature that may be of interest to South Africans in particular, is that Amazon, will retain proof of all your purchases. That means that if your Kindle gets lost or stolen, you don’t lose all the books you downloaded, so when you get a new one, you can get all your books back for free. (Everybody say hey-yo!!)
This is a device that 1) is helping to get people reading again 2) is saving a potentially incomprehensible number of trees and 3) is really good value for money… is there anything left to think about? Not in my mind.
I watched an Oprah show, a little while ago, where she talked about how this gadget had made her life so much easier, and in deed better. She told a story how her and Stedman were sitting on plane taxi-ing to their take off point, when she suddently decided she wanted the Washington Post (I can’t remember the exact title, but it was a newspaper), she simply went click, and had the entire latest edition in seconds.
I remember wondering when, if ever, we in South Africa would get access to that kind of convenient technology.
This little geeks wishes have been answered that’s for sure, and I know what I’m going to ask for in my Christmas stocking this year!
Amazon describes the ins and outs of the Kindle
Slim: Just over 1/3 of an inch, as thin as most magazines
Lightweight: At 10.2 ounces, lighter than a typical paperback
Books in Under 60 Seconds: Get books delivered wirelessly in less than 60 seconds; no PC required
3G Wireless: 3G wireless lets you download books right from your Kindle; no annual contracts, no monthly fees, and no hunting for Wi-Fi hotspots
International Coverage: Enjoy 3G wireless coverage at home or abroad in over 100 countries
Paper-Like Display: Reads like real paper without glare, even in bright sunlight
Carry Your Library: Holds up to 1,500 books
Long Battery Life: Read for days without recharging
Read-to-Me: With the experimental Text-to-Speech feature, Kindle can read newspapers, magazines, blogs, and books out loud to you, unless the book’s rights holder made the feature unavailable
Free Book Samples: Download and read first chapters for free before you decide to buy
Large Selection: Over 350,000 books, including 104 of 112 New York Times® Best Sellers, plus U.S. and international newspapers, magazines, and blogs
Low Book Prices: New York Times Best Sellers and New Releases are $9.99, unless marked otherwise. When traveling abroad, you can download books wirelessly from the Kindle Store or your Archived Items. U.S. customers will be charged a fee of $1.99 for international downloads.
You can order your Amazon Kindle
GO! Click! Be at one with the Kindle
read more
Movie Review: Defiance, Starring Daniel Craig
Summary: Not your average World War 2 flick!
Yes, this movie starts Daniel Craig. No we do not get to see him in various states of undress.
Quite the contrary actually, since most of the movie is spent in snowy forests of Western Belarus/Eastern Poland during World War II.
But we do get to hear him speak Russian. With a pretty good accent actually.
Of course, I’m totally qualified to judge his accent, given that the extent of my Russian is ‘Da’ and ‘Nyet’.
Actually come to think of it, they could have been speaking Polish, or an Eastern Polish/Western Belorussian/Russian derivative, and honestly, I wouldn’t have a clue, but hey, it sounded pretty convincing to me.
So, the movie is called Defiance
However, this story chooses to focus on a more positive aspect, if you will, of the same story. It tells the story of the three Bielski brothers who initially start by hiding out in the forest, after their family are killed by Nazi collaborators.
The three brothers played by Daniel Craig, Liev Schreiber and Jamie Bell (Billy Elliot all grown up, awww), inadvertantly start to harbour other fugitives and eventually they number over a thousand refugees.
The brothers differ in their approach to leading this group, Daniel Craigs character wanting to do what is necessary in order to survive, and Liev Schreibers character wanting to go all out for armed revenge on the Nazi collaborators. The story then splits into their differing perspectives, following Liev Schreibers character joining up with the Russian Partisans (fighting the Nazi’s) and with Daniel Craigs job as leading the group of refugees.
Without spoiling the plot or the story as a whole, it is the most riveting WWII flick I have seen in a long time. I generally try to avoid war movies, having grown up in a household where one parent lived through Nazi occupied Holland with many stories as to their extent of their evil, and frankly, when I want to be entertained I generally try to find something a bit more lighthearted.
What I can say for this movie, is that I was pleased that while there were a few very violent scenes, there were no scenes involving gas chambers or concentration camps, and in fact I believe that this was pivotal to the story, as the story was one of Defiance, of not going quietly into the night, of survival at all costs.
So, in closing, take this one out from your local video shop, put the kids to bed, and prepare to be on the edge of your seat.
Watching this movie will also make you crave Vodka.
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