Part of making the move to work at home is to cut back on excess expenses so you can focus on starting up your business without having to worry about what you´ll be feeding the kids in a few days time. Often, the budget cuts aren´t all in one area, you need to make a lot of small adjusments to get the budget to fit. One good way to do so is to reevaluate your cell phone bill.

Did you know the average American talks about 477 minutes on the phone per month and spends and average of $49.91 per month on their cell phone bill? That seems a bit excessive to me, though we use pre-paid cards, if I were to use a plan . . . I would be very careful about selecting the right one! It is important to know what you are getting into and even though it can be a pain in the butt, you need to compare cell phone planss if you want to get the most bang for your buck.

The best way to get all the information you need, short of sitting down with a stack of contracts and a calculator, is to use a website like Wirefly, which allows you to plug your information (minutes used per month, price paid, etc.) into an easy to use form which will then do the math for you and give you the best plan available. For example, if you are an average American, you are probably spending at least $10-20 too much on your monthly plan. Imagine what you could do with an extra $20 a month? That´s a whole $240 a year . . . enough to buy a new piece of office equipment or a few toys to keep your little ones occupied while you work. Or, it might just make a big enough dent in your budget to allow you to start working from home.

What do you use your garage for? Many garages end up just being turned into random storage areas, which is really a waste, especially if you have a home-based business. Even if you are currently using a spare room or a corner of your bedroom . . . wouldn´t your garage offer you more space to work in?

If you´re thinking that your garage is just too drafty and ugly to spend much time in, why not change it? My father turned our garage into a recording studio when I was younger and it didn´t take much to make the new room pretty comfortable and professional. Some carpet or even concrete paint can do wonders to soften a space that most of us consider cold and unfriendly. Leave the roll-up door there, or build a wall and block off spaces with curtains hung from the ceiling or even simple wall dividers.

The main things to consider when setting up a garage office space are lighting and workspace. Stay away from cold flourescents, go with a warmer light that you´ll feel comfortable working under and make sure you have a lamp or two for closeup work and reading.

Having lots of drawers to store your craft supplies or paperwork is a big help and the added bonus of having this stuff in the garage instead of inside the house is that the kids won´t be in it all the time! For some really nice work space options, check out CarGuyGarage.com. They have some great alternatives to the typical guy toolbox sets that would work well for keeping your candlemaking or soap supplies organized.

Holidays can be a very stressful time, especially if you have a home business that peaks during the gift-buying season. One of the best ways to avoid problems yourself is to buy your gifts ahead of time and that just became easier with Coupon Chief´s promo codes
which allow you to get great discounts on a wide variety of items.

The savings are pretty good, and you should be able to afford something for everyone. For example, Coupon Chief gives you a 10% discount at Kohls, and there are literally hundreds of shops to choose from, both brand name and online.  You might want to pick up something for yourself, too. Do you need a new printer or to upgrade your desktop computer? Try the HP Store for discounts on the latest goodies for your home office.

Masterseek is a business search engine. You can search through over 45 million (yes, MILLION) business and company profiles to find the one you want. Or, if you are running your own business as many of my readers are, you can list your company on Masterseek yourself.

Search fields allow you to search by country or world wide. It could be a very useful way to get some publicity, in my opinion. Although this is a sponsored post, I chose to blog about this particular company because of its great potential for work at home moms who would like to promote their businesses online.

When you sign up for Masterseek, you enter a description of your products (or services if that´s what your business is about), along with contact information and a brief profile of your business. I personally am signing up to help promote my website, PLR Article Packs, so if I find that this site is very useful, I will certainly be blogging more about it in the near future (unsponsored!).

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When you are starting up a business, there are a lot of options available. Which business entity do you want? You can choose from LLC, S-Corp, or Corporation, just to name a few! It all gets quite confusing, which is why it´s nice to be able to find this sort of information online. Florida Inc. offers all the information you need on how to incorporate or set up an LLC company.
They offer information on business entities, as well as taking care of filing for you. If you are starting a business within the United States, this website offers you low prices to incorporate your business. The website is easy to use, just select your state from the drop down list and you will get all the information you need to file business paperwork. They even tell you how long it usually takes for everything to go through in your state of choice.

It also has a blog for small businesses, offering even more valuable information. The site isn´t just a sales page, there is quite a bit of useful info included. You can do a business name search right there on the site, as well, to make sure your preferred name isn´t taken yet.

So, if you are considering incorporation, why not take a look at Florida Inc.?