Need a Free Way to Track your Billable Hours?

One of the challenges for independant contractors, esp. those just starting out, is tracking billable hours and sending out invoices. Hey, you’ve got to get paid. I’ve been doing some work for an out-of-town friend, managing her rental house here. Then one day she was like, “I need to pay you, please send me an invoice with your hours, mileage, etc.” Now she is a good friend, and I’d have helped her anyway. Not turning down money either. I could have used this website, SideJobTrack.

Straight from their website:

“Web-based job tracking, invoicing, reporting & project management software for the part-time independent contractor. ” (It’s Free)

What about you? What interesting, helpful websites have you bumped into lately?

Heidi

Unexpected Cards

Life never gets boring at my home. Unpredictable. Last 3 months we’ve gone through the loss of a parent (my father-in-law), wedding of one son, sold the home of another son, appendicitis of new daughter-in-law 2 days before their honeymoon, Christmas, New Years, several birthdays, husband’s back injury (may need operation), high school swim team won second in state, lots of company in and out, endless school projects and reports, kids coming and going, (from daily athletic practice to week long out of town seminars to Jamaican honeymoon) . Yep you guessed it, utter chaos! Happy chaos for the most part.
I gave up getting organized a long time ago. I’ve learned to do the little important things right when I think of it. If I don’t do it then, rest assured it never gets done. Like my sister had breast cancer and went in for treatment. I want to talk to her by phone, support her in the healing process, yet our hours rarely match up. One day goes by and then another, eventually we’ll catch up with each other. But I want to do something now. She rarely checks her email, but enjoys cards.
That is one thing I love about SendOutCards, the ability to just log in, choose from thousands of greeting cards or just create my own. In this case I sent one of my creations:

Picture Plus Card

With my chaotic lifestyle, I’d have never made it to the store, found a card, back home, write, address, stamp, mail. The card would never be sent. I know one lady who is very organized, never misses a birthday or anniversay. She drives to her local card shop and buys what she needs for the month. But the unexpected happens, after buying sympathy cards 3 days in a row; she tried out SendOutCards. Now instead of burning gas, and buying extra stuff while at the store, she just logs in and sends out cards. In fact she is finding it great fun just to surprise a friend with a special card.

What is even more fun is just to send a card to someone, for no specific reason, just to let them know you appreciate them. Imagine the smile on their face when they get their card.