1. coffee at home - DH set it up last night
2. arranged carpooling for every day this week
3. ate leftovers for lunch
4. mailed some cards before the postage rates go up

Ballet starts back up today, and I owe tuition (half the usual amount, as there was a two-week break). I may go over to Kinkos while DD is dancing. I learned how to make little notepads from a friend and need to do some photocopying and trimming. I could also do it on my printer at home, and use my paper cutter, flimsy as it is. Hmmm...maybe I won't go to Kinkos after all. The compound that holds the paper together won't be here for at least a day or two - had to order it - so I have some time. I'll use the notepads as promotional items for DivaTribe. Since they aren't specifically for the boutique, I'm not counting that money spent in my challenge, though if they turn out well I'll certainly send them out with orders.

edited to add three more:
5. ate dinner at home
6. sat and crocheted during ballet - didn't go out to Kinkos or Starbucks
7. set up coffee tonight for tomorrow morning

I'm tentatively in - whether I aim big or small, I honestly haven't decided yet. I won't carry over my 2005 challenge earnings, but I will continue some of the thigns from that challenge. I will count AdSense earnings from my tutoring and homeschooling web sites, and I will count sales from half.com.

I'm starting a new business this winter/spring, selling my own handmade items and possibly buying a few things wholesale to resell as well. The DivaTribe boutique is currently closed, and when it reopens it will feature these things. Jeffrey suggested that I track my progress here so that others can see what I'm doing, offer advice and constructive criticism and learn from my experience.

I have certain advantages. I already have my web sites, so I don't need to pay for domain names or hosting. For what I'm making, I already have some in stock and have yarn purchased that needs to be used. I also have money in DivaTribe's coffers to spend on advertising and purchasing wholesale.

So my dilemma here is two-fold: what to do specifically (if anything, right now) with the $20, and how transparent am I comfortable being with putting my business' income and expenses out there for all to see.

I won't be counting other sources of DivaTribe income (AdSense, advertising, affiliates, etc.). For this challenge, I'll focus specifically on the boutique as best I can.

On a separate note, I think I'll count money I save on dining out and groceries. I have amounts budgeted for each of those categories; any money I save will go to my challenge total. Likely won't be much, if any, but I'll count it nonetheless. I'll also count interest earned and have started an ING account with $20, especially for this challenge.

So there you go. Starting off with $20.

I was just looking at the spreadsheet I keep to track our savings balances on the first of each month (after interest has been posted). In looking at our balances on 1/1/05 vs. 1/1/06, we are up about $8000! This doesn't include retirement accounts - this is strictly savings and CDs. It's good to see it in black and white, as it means that all the hard work over the year was worth it. And we managed to pay for a year of private school and redo our kitchen and one bathroom (ourselves) last year. I'm happy with how the year turned out and am looking forward to trying to do well again in 2006.