Am I brave? Why I've become my own boss

Why become  your own boss? Or even why would you become your own boss? If you're employed by someone  you turn up, do your work, go home, all without worrying about orders, taxes, VAT, health and safety legislation and so on and so on, and just take the paycheck at the end of the month. Despite that more and more people are going self employed - or in my case becoming a Microentrepeneur because we're in France. I think there are probably as many reasons for going self employed as there are people who so it, but there are some basic reasons...

1.  to be your own boss 
2. to make your own decisions
3. to get all the income yourself
4. to develop a new business idea 
5. because you think you'd be better at it than your boss
6. to make your own fortune

I guess all of them are true to a degree for every one who gives self employment a go, successful or not, and equally everyone in that position would probably say that their reasons are theirs alone. Both true I'm sure.

For me all the above reasons are true, but none of them, if I'm brutally honest, are the main reason that I set out on this road originally. The initial reason was purely and simply so that I could say I was working in France and thus am entitled to healthcare here. It's actually nowhere near as simple as that as there are still lots of hoops to jump through, but as time goes on I have also realised that being my own boss, making my own decisions and being creative in my own right is actually well worth the hoop jumping and I would say, in all honesty, that the healthcare thing, although still very important, is on longer the main reason I'm self employed. I'm doing it for me! 

Time for a change

When I started writing this blog it was mostly as a kind of diary, but times change, and so has my life, rather drastically it has to be said! The last post was a sad one, and things at work became increasingly difficult from about that time onwards. In the end I took early retirement from the NHS, after an episode of stress related illness, and we did a major review of where we were in life and what we saw for the future. It wasn't a quick process, but eventually we decided on some changes and that's why I now find myself sitting in an old French farmhouse, writing this post. We sold up and bought this house. It's amazing and we love it here, and there is a blog for anyone who wants to read it. It's called Our French Life and you can find it here...
Our French Life

So this blog is going to change focus as since we moved I have opened my own business and it's called KatieJane's Curiosities so it made sense to link this blog to the business. I'm not going to delete the previous posts, but from here on in it's going to be about setting up the business, the ups and the downs, and the joy of French bureaucracy! There might even be information about how Brexit will affect the business and us too I guess.

So here's to the future, and being at least a little bit successful!!
KJ

Today we lost a colleague despite everyone's best efforts to save him. Sometimes life doesn't seem fair or right. My heart is with his family at this time. He was one of the worlds good people. 

And tomorrow life goes on for the rest of us, and in his memory, I'm going to do what the last picture on my last post says..... He'd have appreciated it...

KJ x

And onwards into 2014... Or as my son says "Onwards to victory"....

Well Christmas and New Year came and went. All over blogland there are reviews of 2013 and aims for 2014, things to look forward to, things to aim for, frugal thoughts and lots and lots of great support, ideas and other stuff! So I thought about doing a review of 2013, but wasn't really sure what to talk about. So I just decided to try and sum it up with one or two pictures instead. So not in any particular order....

Creativity and dreams...

 

Tea/coffee with friends...

So that's the joy of friends then...

 

 

Dog walking whatever the weather...

 

                

My gorgeous godson and my equally gorgeous son and daughter in law, so that covers family too.... Although there are lots more of them, family that is...

 And finally travel... New York City...

And for my next post more on what I'm looking forward to in 2014....

So until then....

 

 

 

 

 

Says it all.....

The weather outside is frightful....

I've been laying in bed listening to the howling wind and the rain lashing against the window and decided that I wasn't going to sleep so got up for a cup of tea, and very nice it is too. Anyway I've been sitting here drinking my tea, letting my mind drift a bit, trying to let it solve a couple of conundrums that are going round in my head. That doesn't seem to be working, so I'll let my subconscious mind continue that process but in the meantime I started to think about how I wanted things to be so I have come up with a kind of draft framework to work to so I thought I'd share this with you..

Things to think about every day (or as often as I can manage!) to try to fit in to every day, week or month

1.  Love is..... for us and our relationship

2.  Make sure there's time ...... for friends and family

3.  To make a house a home .... the stuff that keeps the home running

4.  To nourish the soul .... creativity, freedom, fun, music and laughter

5.  Fit, healthy and happy .... look after our fitness, wellbeing and health

6.  Save the planet.... reduce, reuse, recycle and grow our own

7.  Pay it forward .... help others whenever we can

8.  Manage the money .... pay off debts, save, afford to do, be frugal(ish), earn differently

9.  Stretch the boundaries .... learn new stuff, extend our comfort zone, travel


I've just read these again and right now it feels like a big ask to manage all of this, but I haven't put any timescales on this, such as expecting to do all of these every day. I just wanted to put down in writing the general direction of travel, as they say in all good management speak presentations!! I keep thinking I've missed one as the logical half of my brain says there should be 10 things in a list, but the maverick side of my brain says 9's a good number, so 9 it is!

So here's to a 2014 where all 9 things on the list get equal importance....

 

Do I or don't I?

This week I've been trying to make a decision about something. Maybe you can help me?

The question I'm trying to solve is related to my hopes and desires, my fabric addiction, my Mum, my future and my present!

To me it feels complicated, but maybe someone out there can give me some suggestions or ideas or some perceptions that will help me cut through the stuff that makes it feel complicated.

Ok, here goes. I have an addiction to fabric and I have bought so much over the last 3-4 years that it is taking over my house. If I saw a bargain, either in a shop or on line, particularly on a particular on line auction site, I had to have it - for a rainy day, for when I retire or just for no reason. I used my credit card ( now paid off) and bought bulk lots as well as single pieces, everything from upholstery fabric to vintage fabric to bridal fabric, and some haberdashery lots too. Now it has got to the stage where I can no longer sew in my sewing room because it's too full of "stuff". The stuff is in lots of other places in the house too! Hubby is beginning to get cross about the amount of the "stuff" and I'm getting frustrated because I can't sew easily.

Why did I buy it you ask? Well it was for my future plans primarily. In that I'm in a position to be able to retire from the NHS in 21 months time, and although the pension won't be sufficient to live on it will go a long way towards it. I currently am beginning to struggle with my job and the stress involved in it so my dream is to take my pension at 55, and then top up my pension with some sort of textile business. So I thought that while I could afford it I should buy the fabric ready for later, but now I have so much fabric it's affecting my life now!

Anyway I've decided I need to make some decisions about what to do with it all. My husband just wants me to throw most of it away, and believe me that is not going to happen! It's not good for the environment, not frugal and not what I want to do! But I have to get the house in to a more usable and tidy state! Lol

So, what to do with the fabric? In the last week I've seen a couple of options and need some advice so help me out here...

Do I.....

Put it in storage at a cost of £12-15 a week in a wooden storage crate inside a large barn type building......

Rent a small office/workshop about 5-6 miles away from home, knowing that working full time means I will be limited with the amount of time I can spend there but at the same time giving myself the space to start building a business. The office is in a small complex with a number of other small businesses and appears to be a real community type space....

Do what hubby wants and just get rid of it all....

Suggestions on a postcard.... Or alternatively just on a comment below...

And to help here's a picture of one of the vintage dresses I have in construction. It's made using a real vintage 40's pattern made in modern material, not quite finished...

 

I've got to the stage where I've gone around this in my head time and time and time again and don't seem to be getting anywhere...

Thanks in advance for your help and suggestions
KJ xx