My Journey Towards Financial Peace Begins http://ping.fm/xzGXa

My Journey Towards Financial Peace Begins http://ping.fm/U4hOw

I hate Math ever since I was a kid. I always have a hard time solving Math problems. Back in school, I always dread attending my  Math classes and found myself with a Math tutor after class.

Now that school’s a finished chapter in my life, I still find myself struggling with numbers, Money to be exact. I know nothing about handling finances or budgeting therefore, I find myself in a very common situation: “being broke”. I am a typical one-day millionaire kind of gal. If I have money, I find creative ways to spend ALL of it. And now that I am already married, 28 and an entrepreneur, I struggle with handling all of our finances. Yes, I am not scared to admit it.  Almost 6 years after our wedding, hubby and I found ourselves financially drowned and incapable of handling our own finances and at the same time no emergency funds… no savings.

The stress caused by being financially insecure has taken control of my emotions and health recently. Sleepless nights, no appetite and anxiety attacks. Just the thought of not having enough money to provide for my family scares me a lot. Most of the time, I found myself crying in a midst of a prayer and holding on to faith that God will continue to provide. But sometimes, prayer isn’t enough. I know that I should be doing something about my money problems other than praying for it.

I was only on my third week with Liquid church when I saw their message about Financial Peace. And it hit me. I am not alone with this battle. Only then did I realize that there are others as well whose going through rough times because of their wrong decisions and financial immaturity.  That message gave me hope and faith more than ever and I instantly became a huge fan of Dave Ramsey. I said to myself I will sign up for the next Financial Peace University class… and I did…

God truly answers prayer. Cause just last month, liquid church announces enrollment for Financial Peace University. And I didn’t let the opportunity go. And guess what? God gave me more than an answered prayer… He gave me overflowing blessings. Because Liquid church is sponsoring my enrollment for Financial Peace University. (WooHoo!) I can even picture God saying “Yes Ella, its about time you learn how to control money and not let it control you”

Just this Wednesday, I received my FPU Member Kit. Now, I know, this is the start of my journey towards Financial Peace… Thank you Liquid Church for sponsoring my scholarship and most of all for giving me hope and strengthening my faith towards God and a brighter future for my family.

Working from home has kept me pre-occupied for almost 4 years now. In fact, I found myself working 10-16 hours a day in front of my computer. It is in fact more than work, but its a business.

If you are planning to start working from home and putting up your very own virtual assistant business, there are some key tools that will help you establish your business. Here are some of the most important tool that I currently use which I find very effective.

1. A separate workspace. Yes you really need one. Whether it is a closet turned home office or a small corner in your room, you need to establish a separate work area for your business. Working from home means a lot of distraction from the people around you – husband, kids, and even family and friends. Most of the time they wont actually feel that you are working because they will take it that you are only playing or sitting for hours in front of your computer.  It is important that you set your working schedule. Let them know that at this time schedule you will be working and should NOT be disturbed unless it is an emergency. It may not be as easy to start this with, but as soon as they see that you are serious about this and you follow your schedule yourself, then they will start respecting your schedule.

2.  Phone System – as an offshore virtual assistant, most of your clients will contact you through email or skype. However, it is important that you connect with your clients over the phone even once a week or once a month to discuss work and project status. Overseas calls are very very expensive. Thanks to technology cause you now have other options other than IDD calling. What I use is a cool tool called Magic Jack. It is very handy, comes with USB plug in and all you need to do is to connect an actual phone in it. It will come with your very own US Phone number so your clients can contact you, and a voicemail service. You can do unlimited calls to the US for free for the first year. I bought mine from a friend in high school and ordered through ebay, and got it the following day.

3. Back Up and File Sharing tool – sending files and storing them can be very confusing especially if you are not organized with your files. When I first started as a virtual assistant almost 4 years ago, I didn’t have any system in place. I have lost countless files, missed deadlines all because I lost the file somewhere in my documents or lost it because of a hardware problem. This can cause a lot of negative feedback for your business. Now, I use Dropbox. It was first introduced to be even before they were officially launched online by a client. Since then me and my team have been using it ever since. The coolest thing about dropbox is that it is quick to install and quick to access! It works just like your “My Documents” in your computer. You can easily drag and drop files into folders and share folders with anyone or everyone

4.  Online Fax – Similar to IDD Calling, sending fax to clients as well as signed documents can be very expensive. I use j2Connect for receiving fax messages from my clients. You will be provided with a US Fax number that your clients can use for sending fax messages. All messages received will be forwarded to your email address in just minutes. Documents will be sent in PDF format. J2connect has free and paid services. Free accounts allows you to receive unlimited fax messages while the paid account allows you to send messages to your clients.

5. Echosign –  As an online business entrepreneur, one of the most common thing we do for clients are sending agreements or contracts. When I first started out, I used to do it the “old school way” > Print the contract >> sign >> scan the signed document >> then send it to the client. Echosign has made it a whole lot easier for me, saves me time and money! It allows you to upload the contract, sign it electronically and send it to your client for signature. No need to scan documents or print duplicate copies of your contract!

Working with clients who are thousand miles away from us may be very challenging. However, knowing the right tools to use will help you and your virtual assistant business be more efficient and successful.

What about you, What’s your favorite virtual assistant tools? (leave a comment!)

Recently, our small town of New Washington mourned with the loss of our kababayan, Mrs. Josie Esto. A Filipina UN Volunteer who was killed in a recent Taliban attack in Kabul, Afghanistan. According to a news post, Esto was killed when Taliban gunmen stormed the Bekhtar Guest House in Kabul’s Shar-e-Now District being used by UN and other international workers.Esto was killed when Taliban gunmen stormed the Bekhtar Guest House in Kabul’s Shar-e-Now District being used by UN and other international workers.The dawn attack, which left four other UN staff members dead, was later claimed by the Taliban.

Josie Esto was from our small home town of New Washington Aklan. She was a former school teacher before she left to work for the United Nations over a year ago. She’s married and with 2 kids. She served as a UN volunteer in Liberia, Timor-Leste and Nepal. It is sad to note that Josie is the 4th Filipino UN staff member to die in terrorist attacks.

I personally didn’t know her nor her family. But despite that, I have come to pay my last visits. I had to pay respect to a woman who risked her own life and spent her last hours serving and helping our world be a better place. During her last night, her remains was brought to New Washington Sports Complex for public viewing. Hundreds of people from all walks of life paid their last respects.

People from her past, and even those who barely knew her, just like me went to honor her. What struck me the most is that, amidst all this, it is her young children who is greatly affected by what happened. 2 young kids will now face their journey towards life without a mom. I wonder, how many other children around the world has to mourn and cry over a loss of a dear loved one because of war or terrorist attacks. Innocent children, moms, dads or even grandparents who are probably peacefully living their own lives that are now gone because of relentless attacks. How many more lives do we have to spare for terrorism?

I wonder is there a way to stop terrorism? What does it take for us, humans to realize that nothing on earth is ever more valuable that life itself.

I bowed down my head and prayed, not only for Josie’s soul but more importantly to us who remain here on earth. That may we continue to help make the world a better and safer place for us and the future generation.

Goodnight Mrs. Josie Esto…

Church Online vision – 2010 from The Adamsons on Vimeo.

I am a virtual assistant and I do almost everything online. I work, socialize, and connect with friends who were thousand miles away from me. When I started working as a virtual assistant, I didn’t know this will also bring me back to a new journey. A road I once ran away from… I didn’t know I can find God… virtually.

It has been more than a year since Typhoon Frank hit the Western Visayas region. It has left a devastating mark in the province of Aklan. Not only that, Frank scared the hell out of fellow Aklanons. It was more of like a nightmare that we are all trying to forget and escape.

But just 3 weeks ago, the country has suffered under the hands of another strong Typhoon Ondoy. Leaving a wreck out of Manila and nearby cities. Both poor and rich alike, all seek shelter and help to help save their lives from the raging flood. Hundreds of people lost their loved ones and thousands has lost their properties and decades of savings in just less than 24 hours. Not even a week after Ondoy, another Typhoon has hit the country and left hundreds of people homeless is the upper part of Luzon.

I am scared. In fact, I have stopped watching the television since. I have stopped monitoring my Facebook and twitter account for updates. My heart can no longer bear the pain, guilt and hurt seeing my fellow kababayans cry over their lost loved ones. Seeing the fear in their eyes of what the future might bring. Knowing that they dont have enough to hang on to till tomorrow.

These past event has awakened the trauma brought by Typhoon Frank last year. A fear that Ive been trying to conceal. I fear that each passing day, Earth is slowly deteriorating. I fear that my daughter and grand daughters wouldn’t have the same liberty that we once had to play and experience the beauty of mother nature. A fear that there will come a time that there’s isn’t any place left where my kids and whole family will be safe.

As fear slowly takes control of all my thoughts, I prayed. That I and all the Filipinos alike will have more strength to face the future. That may each of these typhoons serve as a lesson for everyone to ponder. That we should all set aside ourselves and our own personal gains and remember to take more care of what we currently have. Not for us… but for the next generations to come…

Yesterday was an extremely sad day for everyone even here in New Washington.

I woke up early to do my routinary work as a Virtual Assistant but I also tuned in to a live stream of the requiem mass for our Presdient Cory. I asked all of my team to wear yellow shirts and pin yellow ribbons too. Pres. Arroyo declared it as a non-working holiday here in the Philippines so my team is only working for 4 hours today. I had to work double during these days.

The streets of New Washington seemed to be doing okay, no yellow ribbons, no banners, nothing. I thought everybody would just carry on with their daily routine.

Because of my work, I have become an introvert. Working almost 16 hours in front of a computer every single day. I barely had the time to go out anymore. As my day starts to unravel, and as the mass started I noticed something very unfamiliar… The streets are extremely quiet. Our house is right beside a national road so normally the sounds of vehicles, tricycles or even multi-cabs is already a part of our daily music.

Strange it is… The only instance I remember having this feeling is during a fight of Manny Pacquiao, but the feeling is more festive as you would hear rages, hurrays and cheers for Manny. This is replaced with an extreme silence. I guess every single house here in New Wash in tuned in to the requiem mass for our dear President Cory. I realized that even without the yellow ribbons, or without the banners. New Washington joing the whole country in grief.

I decided not to watch all of the mass. I have been crying since day one everytime I watch her tributes. I just listened to it from my office. But I cried still, so painfully.

I have never lost a mom. (and I dread that day to come and wish it will never happen) but the loss and pain is so strong. I regret not being able to appreciate Madam Cory while she was still alive. I wish I was older then but I was only a child during her term… Aside from the pain, I was indeed proud. Proud to be a true blooded Filipino, and proud to be a woman.

I kept asking myself, at the age of 28, what have I done so far? Did i give it my best for my community or for the country? I know that for the past 28 years, my accomplishments will never be at par with Pres Cory… good thing is.. I still probably have 20-30 years ahead of me… so much time to do better, for my family, for my community and for the country.

The Philippines has been blessed that we got you Pres. Cory… Farewell

It’s Ella’s birthday this coming August 18. To celebrate her birthday, epVirtual Assistants is offering free 10 hours trial to our new clients starting August 1, 2009.

Each client that signs up from August 1 – 18 will receive a complimentary gift of additional 10 hours worth of services free of charge. Choose from a wide range of services from administrative tasks, social networking, and internet marketing. epVirtual Assistants team is composed of professional and skilled Virtual Assistants from the Philippines. 10 Virtual Assistants who work in our humble home-office situated in Aklan, Philippines.

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