A BRACES ON FACES UPDATE

As you know, I started my Pampered Chef business in September to pay for the multiple sets of braces our family needs. I've given some #BracesOnFaces updates on Facebook, including a live video this morning, but realized today that I haven't done any here. Oops.

So, let's start off with how and when I'm getting paid.  All consultants get paid on the 7th of the month, but those who earn a certain amount of money before the 15th get that money on the 21st. So far I've been paid twice a month from Pampered Chef, but I'll always be paid at least once.

Pampered Chef is where the vast majority of our braces fund comes from, but today's update also includes two other sources. First, a check I received from Amazon with money earned from affiliate links here and on For The Love of Grub. Second, the profits from a book I launched last week called Random Conversation Starters, Volume 1. 

Now that you know where the money is coming from, I want to explain what I'm doing with it. The first thing I always do with new income is tithe. For those unfamiliar with that word, it's a biblical principle of giving a tenth of your money back to God through your church. It's something I'm not required to do, but choose to because I believe it's a way of acknowledging that all I have comes from him in the first place. It's a gesture of gratitude for what I already have and trust in his provision for whatever I'll need later. 

After that's done, I set some aside for giving. This is not money for birthday presents or Christmas stockings, but for helping those in need. That's something we already do with our regular income, but I'm continuing the practice with this money. Even though this income is for a very specific purpose and not a dime of it is being spent on any regular bills or what I call the fluff of life (eating out, vacations, etc.), it's still important for me to give some away. I figure if I have enough money that I can save for braces, then I have enough to share with those who are doing everything they can to put food on their table and coming up short.

So those are the only non-braces things that any of this money goes to. They're both important to me and non-negotiable. 

However, there is one more category I put money in before I the remainder goes in the braces fund. Business expenses. I actually have very few of them, but here's how it's looked so far. 

I borrowed money from our savings account to buy my Pampered Chef kit. They have three different kits available, so I bought the one I felt was best for me, then every cent of my profit went back to our savings account until it had been fully reimbursed. That happened to be taken care of with my first paycheck, but I'd have dragged the process out as long as necessary. No money was going toward braces until the debt to our savings account was taken care of.

The next business expense was a service that takes care of all my Facebook party posts for me while I go about my day. It's priceless!! It's awesome to have a party run while I'm parenting, doing school, and taking care of our home, then be able to get online and interact with guests during times of the day that are convenient for me. I'm currently in a three month free trial, but I'll eventually have to pay for the service. They offer six month and one year subscriptions. Since the one year option is slightly less expensive per month, that's what I chose. After my kit was paid off, I set aside money for a one year subscription so that I can pay it in full when the bill comes, then started setting 1/12 of that amount aside each month so that I'll be ready for the next bill when it comes a year from now.

Once the kit reimbursement and one year subscription were out of the way, the only monthly business expenses I have are about $20 a month total for 1/12 of my posting subscription and a fee for a service that allows me to have a Pampered Chef site people can order from 24/7. I also set aside a little bit for postage if I need to mail catalogs and paid for labels to use for putting my contact information on catalogs when I first started. At this point, most of each Pampered Chef check is going straight to braces. So exciting!! 

I also tithe and give off the top of my Amazon checks that come from my affiliate links, then the rest goes toward braces. As for the book income, I'm only a week into it and already making changes. I've been in a free one week trial with a service that gathers payments and sends a link for customers to download a pdf version of the book. I initially set aside enough to pay the very nominal fee for a full six months once the trial period was done. However, a couple people had problems getting their books and I've decided to remove the middle man. I'll be collecting money and e-mailing the pdf books myself. That change hasn't happened yet, but will be taken care of in the next day or two. 

In related news, and slightly off-topic, we have plans for a Kindle version of the book that may be available on Amazon in time for Cyber Monday. How cool is that?! I don't even like books on screens myself, but I know many of you do and I think this particular type of book would be super handy to have on a mobile device. Even if it's not ready by Monday, it will be ready soon! We also have plans for two more book adaptations, but I'm not saying anything about them until they're closer to becoming a reality. Just one little update at a time!  UPDATE: The Kindle version has launched!

Ok, so back to #BracesOnFaces. About a month ago I asked Devon to make a pie chart for me to keep track of the progress I'm making toward paying for the first set of braces. The chart is broken into 5% slices and today we hit 30%!!!  Folks, I am so excited and phenomenally grateful!!

I've started referring to payday as "coloring day" because I get to fill in more of the pie chart. Here's how I do it. I don't fill in any of the chart until the money is actually in the bank. So, for example, the money I earned from a party that closed last night is not factored into the percentages shown in today's update. If it's not in the bank, it doesn't count. Additionally, I don't count all the money that gets deposited in the bank. This chart only represents the portion of my income that is going toward braces after I've set aside some for tithing, giving, and business expenses, not my total income. Finally, I only fill in another slice when there's a full 5% more to add. The braces fund is currently at 32%, but I won't color again until there's 35% in the bank.

I know this was a long and wordy update, but it's important to me to share it with all of you. If I was saving for a vacation or kitchen remodel, I wouldn't tell you anything about it. Nor would I give you updates if we were saving for braces out of our regular income, no matter how excited I was or close to the goal we were getting. The reason I want to tell all of you about how I'm managing the money I'm earning and how many slices of that pie chart have been colored in is because you are the reason it's happening!

The support I've received with my Pampered Chef business, and then with the book launch, has been simply astounding. Long before I became a consultant I'd taken the cost of one set of braces and figured out how much I'd need to earn each week at any job in order to pay for one set each year. I have no idea how this will all play out over time, but right now I'm at 139% of what my goal was for this point in the process, eleven weeks into it.

I'm so very thankful for every person who has purchased a book or Pampered Chef products, given me useful feedback or practical help with either of those things, or simply shared in my excitement. Thank you so much!!