Money

What’s for Dinner? Get a Meal Plan!
By Darcy Ratner and Julie Arnheim
It’s 6:00 P.M. You’ve been going full-steam since 6 A.M. Your spouse and kids are circling the kitchen like jackals around a road-kill. What’s for dinner, they ask? You don’t have a clue but your choices seem to be boiled down to Mac and Cheese or Take-out Burritos. Don’t worry, we can help. Read More

Cash Budgets: The Gateway to Frugal Living
By Darcy Ratner and Julie Arnheim
One of the best ways to save money that we know of at Rubbingnickels.com is to put yourself on a cash budget. On January 1st, I put myself on a cash budget to try to get control of the amount that I was spending on discretionary items (i.e. makeup, clothes, shoes, lunches with the ladies, etc.). Read More

KNOW YOUR BUSINESS TO GROW YOUR BUSINESS
By Lori Kudish, President of LTL Financial Consultants
Some of my previous posts have dealt with explaining the accounts receivable collection cycle and managing your expenses. This time I want to tie the two concepts together and talk about the connection between how you handle your receivables and payables. It may not seem on the surface that these two concepts are really related as they sit on complete opposite ends of your business. In fact the link is very strong between how you manage both of these areas and the overall financial health of your company. Read More

Know Your Business to Grow Your Business: Business Expenses
By Lori Kudish, President of LTL Financial Consultants
I want to talk this month about planning for and monitoring your business expenses. It is very important to sit down when you are getting ready to start your business and think about where you will be spending your money. Whether you are spending your start up funds or your first income, it will help you to start out with a basic blueprint of where your money will go. Understanding that you will need to make adjustments as you go along, you still need to go through the process of forming your plan. This will keep you focused, and allow you to see where you are varying from the budget. Read more from working mom and money expert Lori Kudish>>>

Economists See Recovery on Horizon
NEW YORK (April 6) -- Unemployment at a 25-year high. Housing prices continuing to fall. Corporate titans such as General Motors on the brink of bankruptcy. There's no lack of bad economic news. Read More>>>

Hard Times Send 'Economoms' Back to the Job Market
By Bonnie Rochman
When you're eight months pregnant, it's hard to find a good interview suit. But a burgeoning belly didn't stop Nicole Young, 33, from hitting the job circuit this fall. Her husband, who works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, has seen his income shrink along with the Dow. And the consulting projects she has been doing from their home on Long Island in New York are not bringing in enough money to make up the difference. Read more about return to work mom and other Economoms>>>

Know Your Business to Grow Your Business
By Lori Kudish, President of LTL Financial Consultants
Profitability is the goal of every small business owner and yet it is often ignored in the everyday drive to increase sales. Often, the problem is that you are only taking into account the actual product costs in developing pricing. There is no account given to the operating expenses that keep the business going. Learn more from working mother and Butterfly's Money expert, Lori Kudish >>>

Lori Kudish, President of LTL Financial Consultants, reports:
Cash flow, cash flow, cash flow: this is the mantra you should be repeating to yourself as a business owner. Never take your eye off the ball when it comes to your cash position. Yes, profitability is very important and we will discuss that more in March, but understanding and predicting your cash flow is critical to the survival of your business. Read more from working mother and cash flow from Lori Kudish>>>

Lori Kudish, President of LTL Financial Consultants, reports:
Whether you are starting or growing your own business, one of the most important things you can do is to gain control of your finances right from the beginning. With the current economic environment and news of businesses failing every day, business owners need to be armed with... Read more from working mom on how to be armed in starting a biz >>>

Diane Goldman is a business leader with a CPA background and has extensive experience in operations, financial management, business profitability analysis and improvement, MIS, team building, sales development and customer relations. Diane shares her expertise with Butterfly. Read More >>>

Link to Articles by Savvy Ladies. Learn more from working mother Diane Goldman, CPA >>>

Pamela Lipkin, Director of Accounting at Clarins USA offers her suggestions to help simplify the task of “paying the bills.”

Are there any suggestions you have for women overwhelmed with numbers (paying bills, managing family budget)?
I keep track of all of my check payments on an excel spreadsheet. No math to worry about! I also only pay bills two times per month. When the mail comes daily, I open it, look at it and then toss in the bill paying pile. This way I don't feel like I am always doing it.