I don't need to be at the $500 mark in three years! I just have to be heading that way; as I said, supposedly I have enough to retire on. My first table is scheduled for the end of March, and my wife and I are working on it already. If I need to, I can work until I'm 67 easily (my work doesn't want me to retire; I'm just getting weary of it), and I make a lot more than $500 a month doing that; every year I delay retirement makes it easier afford to retire. My stress around this is very low, and my accountant agrees with me (talking with him was very reassuring).
Do what you love while you can. My uncle retired at 55 and said he massively regretted it because he was incredibly bored. I think he's gotten used to it now.
$500 a month is actually pretty easy as long as you're going to markets. I usually make between $150 and $200 per market. Last year I was making closer to $300 a market. Though this year has been really tough and I'm not sure what happened. Because of it, we have had extra money when something has happened. Most of my money goes back into the business but it has paid for my cats cremation, new tires, a broken ac, that sort of thing.
If you get Soap Maker 3, it will allow you to track purchases, and will even give up a cost if you set it up correctly. There are some issues with SM3 though. For example, it doesn't have the ability to properly record reselling an item. Lets say you have something like Sodium Cocoyl Isethionate that's been sitting there a couple years. It's still good because it's powdered and it isn't currently in SM3 and you have no idea how much you originally paid for it, or how much you've exactly used. Adding it now will throw off the totals. You'll see what I mean. I asked if there's a way to do this from the creators and was told "This isn't an accounting program so there are things it can't do. You can add it but the totals will be wrong and you will need to adjust it when it comes tax time". Hence why I'm looking at alternatives. It doesn't track the method you paid with either.
SM3 is great for tracking inventory, material costs, etc. But not for everything.
To use hotels as a reference again because it's what I know... there are some programs that hotels use that are also complete accounting programs and can do everything you could possibly need. These programs are expensive, difficult to use, and deeply involved but they are a beauty once you know the program properly. One of the most expensive is called Opera (no not the surf engine). If you get the full suite, it could cost you thousands a month but it could do anything you can imagine and probably things you haven't even thought of.
Most hotels can't afford that and it's much cheaper to use other programs to achieve the same thing even if it takes more time. One company I worked with had 4 hotels and the owner kept changing the program we all used for them at least once a year (it was maddening). It threw everything into chaos every time he did it. But the program they used for accounting has always been the same... Quickbooks. Quickbooks is capable of tracking money in ways that all the programs he ever signed us up for could never do.
Hence why I'm looking at alternatives. I can't afford the expensive way. I can't afford an accountant to help me track things. So I have to figure out how to do it myself. I don't like admitting this and try to keep it light but I was in a severe car accident in 2004. It caused bleeding in my brain in the front and back of my head and a skull fracture, among other very serious damage to my left leg (I had to relearn how to walk). I couldn't remember most of my childhood for about 5 years. For almost a year, I couldn't smell anything and I cried the first time I actually smelled a cheeseburger.
Now... to the others who have seen fit to talk down to me when I have never done the same to you on this forum.
There are other effects it's had. My patience is much lower than it ever was. I used to be good at math, but now even basic addition can frustrate me almost to tears. My husband has seen me rage about math problems, and accounting is like another language to me. I can't keep it in my head. I used to be able to do complicated chemistry, algebra, etc in my head without needing anything to write it down. I can't do that anymore. I forget things easier and sometimes I forget to record things. I can't keep the rules straight on how to do any of it. I worked hard on my recipes and they are all recorded in writing so I can follow them. I can remember what oils and things do because I've been working with it so long. But accounting is too complicated for me now.
You have NO IDEA how hard this is to deal with. I was a genius level IQ and I lost it all when my skull hit the pavement when I was struck crossing the street.
So you insult me about how I am a frustrating person to deal with because I just don't want to learn it. I took accounting in college, do you understand? I lost it all. I can't handle it now. But I don't have the money to afford to hire people to do it for me, so I'm trying to figure out a better way of doing it that -I- can handle. A way I can learn it slowly, from start to finish. Repeating the same thing over and over and over again is the only way I can learn even if it takes a thousand times before I get it.
I'm sorry I'm frustrating you. You are welcome to scroll on by whatever I say.
Gecko, I could tell you've gotten frustrated with me. Hence why I stopped asking you anything and posted it on the wide forum. You don't HAVE to help me. You can scroll on by if you see something I've said that you didn't like.
I've been here for years. I've never felt so unwelcome. I've tried so hard to be nice and helpful here because I don't want to lose access. Anywhere else, I have a big mouth and can say mean things without thinking about it. But I read and reread everything I write here so I'm sure it isn't going to come across badly.
Yet I get this.
Thanks for making me feel so warm and fuzzy inside for frustrating you.
