How to recognize when you need homecare.

Below is a partial list of indicators that may suggest the need for a caregiver.

-Things around the home are being left undone-dishes, vacuuming, and laundry.
-The senior is losing weight because they are not willing/able to cook for themselves.
-The senior has balance impairment and is at risk of falling.
-The person has Alzheimer’s or Dementia and cannot be left alone.
-The senior has had a stroke and needs assistance with ADL’s.
-The senior has Parkinson’s disease and is unable to care for himself/herself.
-Any number of medical conditions can render a person immobile for long periods.
-Frailty due to advanced age.

If you recognize a need for a caregiver for yourself or a loved one, there are many options when it comes to homecare. (more can be found on this topic by reading “Homecare 101- A Tutorial”.

If you have decided to hire a home care provider privately, here are some tips to help in your search.

Do your research.

Do some research and find out prevailing rates for private hire caregivers where you live. This is a simple step but requires many phone calls. A good place to start your search for caregivers is via the internet at craigslist.org. Other sources would include the local church bulletin or neighborhood newspaper’s classifieds section. You can also ask people that you know for a referral to a caregiver. Create a list and call them to inquire about their availability, rates, and services. After inquiring about rates from 5-7 different caregivers you will have a good idea what the average is for your region.

Once you have a good idea of your regional caregiver rates, you can start your interview process. By this time you will have spoken to several caregivers during the pricing research. Now you can set in-person interviews for the top 2-3 caregivers that you’ve had a good rapport with over the phone. It is important to have backup caregivers just in case the caregiver that you feel is the most qualified, ends up not being available for the position you are offering. Those who work in the homecare agency industry know that caregivers do not always show up for interviews when they are scheduled. Always confirm that the caregiver you are inviting for an interview is willing and able to work during the hours and days that you need them.

Interview

During an interview of a caregiver, it is important to ask open ended questions such as “Tell me about your caregiving experience.” or ” Tell me about the last three clients you have cared for in their home.” You may ask them if they have worked for any homecare agencies in the past.

-It is usually a good sign when the caregiver can reference two or three well known and respected agencies that they have worked for, as good agencies will generally have a detailed screening process which includes criminal background checks, social security verifications, and proficiency assessments.

-You may want to ask if they have had training as a Certified Nurse Assistant or Home
Health Aide. Although it is not a necessity to be a good caregiver, it shows a general career interest in caring for people.

-Ask for a sample of how they would do record keeping while on the job.
Experienced caregivers will generally maintain a journal to keep track of things such as: schedule, meal plans, house cleaning, outings, shopping and supplies, medications, changes in the condition of the client, visitors, phone calls, etc.

-Ask for references of former clients and client’s family members. Be wary of caregivers who claim to have experience yet cannot offer any professional references with contact information.

-Ask for 2 or 3 ways of getting into contact with the caregiver i.e. home phone, cell phone, closest family contact phone. Ask about their home/family life to get an idea of the person’s stability. When you are inviting someone into your home to care for yourself or a parent, you should not be bashful about finding out as much as you can about that person.

-Prepare some scenarios of things that you think might occur with your particular situation and ask how they would deal with it. An example would be “If you get to the home and find my mother confused and upset, how would you deal with that situation?” or “If my father falls down while in the bathroom, how would you handle that situation?”
These questions are designed to gauge a person’s decision-making ability and appropriateness of action under the circumstance.

-Ask the caregiver to provide you with 2 forms of picture identification, a social security card, and proof of residency to verify that they do live at the address they claim. Proof of residency can be in the form of a bank statement with their address, or utility bill with their name and address. These steps are necessary to document that you have done your due diligence in verifying the caregiver’s identification.

-According to the state that you live in, you will need to have the caregiver fill out certain employee tax documents for payroll tax withholdings and/or social security taxes. You will need to check with your local government agency to find out your specific requirements. This is an area that many people neglect, which can put them in serious liability with the IRS, EDD, and a number of other agencies. Tax reporting is one of the biggest hurdles for the average person when hiring caregivers privately.

-Make sure that you have some form of written agreement between you and the caregiver that details the work to be done and the compensation for that work. (This article is written as a general guideline and not intended to be legal advice.) If you are the type of person who does business on a handshake, you are potentially putting yourself at enormous risk. There are many sample agreements that can be found through the internet or even your local library.

Post-interview homework

After a few interviews, you have decided on your first choice for a caregiver. Congratulations!

-Now you will need to follow up on the references provided by the caregiver. This is a critical step in evaluating the caregiver. Keep asking questions to the references until you are completely satisfied. This step can take a few days as the references you are trying to reach may not be immediately available to talk to you. Be patient, you’re almost there. Once you have positive responses from the references, you are ready to start.

-It would be a good idea to contact your homeowner’s insurance carrier at this point to find out whether your policy would cover accidents for employees working in the home. Most homeowner’s insurance policies will have coverage for such events. If you don’t have it, it should not take much to call your agent and have it added to your policy for a fee. Insurance is not an area to be neglected in this situation.

-Now it is up to you to create a “care plan” for the Caregiver to follow. This care plan can be a simple one page document that outlines how the senior should be cared for and any special instructions associated with care. Some care plans created by Care Managers are very comprehensive, including detailed cooking instructions, physical exercises, memory exercises, etc. Do your best to be as detailed as possible when creating the care plan, the less room for interpretation the better.

Initiating care and quality assurance.

Everything is in place and the caregiver is ready to start. On the first day, it is a good practice to be present with the caregiver to walk them through the responsibilities of the job. By being there, you can ensure that the things that are most important to you get done first and the caregiver will have a better sense of your priorities when faced with multiple things to do.

After you are confident that the caregiver is capable of handling the situation, you can leave them to their work. It is a good practice to notice the condition of the home prior to the hiring of a caregiver. You would generally expect to see an improvement in the tidiness of the home as the caregiver settles in to the housekeeping responsibilities. Being the supervisor of the caregiver, you must inspect the quality of their work on a regular basis. If things are not up to your standards, you must communicate this as early as possible to the caregiver. Do not wait until you have a laundry list of things that you are not happy with before approaching the caregiver with your concerns. An avalanche of criticism, all at once, can jeopardize the relationship with the caregiver. Be sure to tell them what they are doing properly in addition to what needs to be improved. Positive feed back is much more effective than negative.

Providing a good work environment.

It is important to remember that caregivers have certain criteria to judge whether they would like to continue to work for you in the future. Providing a safe and pleasant work environment is your responsibility as the employer. If you want to save yourself time and effort from having to find a new caregiver every few weeks/months, you would be wise to see the job from the caregiver’s perspective.

One thing that causes caregiver turnover is inconsistency of schedule and/or duties. Caregivers rely on their hours of work for their income. If you have a tendency to cancel scheduled shifts, you are creating stress and bad will in the caregiver relationship. You will not always know when a caregiver is unhappy with changes in their schedule until it is too late. Another factor in high turnover is expecting the caregiver to complete multiple tasks in an unreasonable time frame. People who push their caregivers too hard, end up pushing them away from the job.

Avoid adding things to the scope of service that is unrelated to caring for a senior or general “light” housekeeping. For example, you should not ask the caregiver to work in the garden, or paint a wall, etc. As a general rule, the caregiver is there to support activities of daily living for the senior, with 20% of time devoted to housekeeping.

Paying caregivers on time, on a weekly basis, is a good practice. Inconsistency or late payment for services is a big challenge to caregiver morale. Poor tracking of work hours is also a big no-no. If you ask the caregiver to stay beyond the initial agreed upon schedule, you need to make sure any additional time is compensated for. A bit of a bonus with a note for a job well done, goes a long way.

In the end, you need to ask yourself “Why would a caregiver choose to work for you instead of someone else at the same pay rate?” If you can’t come up with a few really good reasons, you need to create some. For many caregivers, pay alone is not the deciding factor in whether they will be under your employ for the long term.

I hope this helps with your search for a private hire caregiver.

One of the primary decisions in buying incontinence pants and products is whether to select disposable or reusable styles. Many people find that the answer is to use both, choosing either disposable or reusable according to situation and circumstances.

There are significant advantages to both reusable and disposable incontinence products. A comparison of the two types based on comfort, convenience, effectiveness, and price shows that while both are strong on some points, neither comes out ahead on all counts.

Comfort is a highly individual concept, and whether you consider cloth or disposable products more comfortable will depend to a large extent on what comfort factors you consider most important.

Reusable products are generally made from cotton, flannel, gauze, terrycloth, or similar fabrics and are definitely soft, which can be very important to someone with sensitive skin. Disposable products are rarely as soft as fabric, but because most are made using several absorbent layers designed to wick moisture, they can actually keep skin dryer.

However, unlike reusables that remain intact even when saturated, disposables may break down and clump when wet. Reusable fabrics are cool and breathable, while some find that the nonwoven material used is disposables tends to lead to uncomfortable heat buildup.

Reusable products are made in a wide variety of styles, many of which are virtually indistinguishable from “ordinary” underwear, while disposable undergarments are typically somewhat more bulky. But while reusables may require the use of waterproof pants to guard against leaking, most disposables are made with a waterproof outer layer that makes additional protective garments optional or unnecessary.

Like comfort, convenience is a highly subjective concept. Reusable products are highly absorbent and worn under waterproof pants or other special garments, they can provide an outstanding level of leak protection. However, they offer a lot less flexibility when it comes to changing.

Disposables that can simply be discarded and replaced when wet or soiled can give the wearer a lot of personal freedom to work, travel, or participate in activities. Reusables that require laundering are less practical for those who are away from home or who don’t have easy access to a “soaking pail” or other laundry facilities throughout the day.

Cost is a major factor for anyone purchasing incontinence supplies, and both reusable and disposable have cost advantages. Reusable adult incontinence products can be difficult to find in retail stores are generally more expensive to buy initially, but because they can be used over and over they are very economical in the long run. Disposable products are generally readily available in just about any grocery, drug, or discount store at an affordable price, but because they’re used only once they must be constantly replenished.

Retailers offer big Christmas sales on many of their items right after Thanksgiving. Retailers are trying to encourage shoppers to get out and make some big purchases. Many shoppers wait until the last day to do their Christmas shopping because they know many items will go on sale at this time. The only problem in waiting so late is the selection of gifts are smaller, less to choose from.

While last minute sales can be an excellent way to save money, many shoppers know that doing some of their Christmas shopping at other sales throughout the year can help to spread out the financial burdens and stress that is associated with last minute Christmas shopping.

A big pitfall associated with doing your shopping during big sales events is to get carried away and end up purchasing many items you would not have purchased if they were not on sale. This can be a problem especially if it causes you to exceed the budget you have set for your holiday shopping.

This happens often when shoppers encounter a sale they think is simply too good to pass up. Many shoppers find a discount of more than 50% very appealing. They can be tempted to buy these items when the price has been reduced even though they really have no need for the item.

If you buy something you don’t need you are essentially wasting or losing money. It is very wise to make a list of each person and what you intend to purchase for each and not be tempted by big bargains that you don’t need.

A problem associated with Christmas shopping during big sales is that being hesitant often causes the you to miss out on an item. If you are shopping a big Christmas sale it can be important to be slightly impulsive. You may see an item you think you would like to purchase for someone on your Christmas list and if you don’t buy it right away you can run the risk that it will be gone when you come back later.

When retailers only have a limited quantity of an item they may put the item on sale to make room for other items that sell faster. It is important to remember, when you are Christmas shopping at a big sale, decisions have to be made quickly. You need to decide fast on the purchase of an item as it will likely be sold soon after you leave the store.

Do you enjoy helping people and are looking for some great home health franchise opportunities? Home health care is a growing industry as many people cannot afford extended hospital stays and the costs of medical care is rising. This is a great industry to be involved with and offers some fantastic opportunities for you. Here are 5 of the best home health franchise opportunities to choose from.

Senior Helpers

If you enjoy helping people then Senior Helpers wants to talk to you. The number of seniors needing home health care is growing every day and as medical costs continues to rise; your services will be in higher demand. Senior Helpers has a great marketing program that helps you to take advantage of referrals from social workers and state agencies. They definitely need your help. Check out this very rewarding opportunity.

Always Best Care Senior Services

Projections are that demand for senior home health care is going to rise dramatically as more baby-boomers begin to retire. Always Best Care has dedicated itself to making sure seniors get the very best care possible. If you have a heart for helping seniors, then this is the business for you. You will receive intensive training and support, not only on home health care but also on running an efficient and productive business. Give them a call, you will be glad you did!

Home Health Mates

Here is your chance to be a part of an industry that is exploding and desperately needs your help. Home health franchise opportunities are growing faster every day and Home Health Mates is one of the best opportunities around. With franchises available throughout the United States, they can help you get involved in this very rewarding business and give you everything you need to operate and insure your success.

Interim Healthcare

Interim Healthcare gives you the opportunity to be involved in home health on one of three different levels. If you would like to be involved on a non-medical level, then check out the program for their personal care franchises. For a more involved program, they offer franchises in programs for licensed or Medicare certified agencies as well as physical therapists and nurses. You are sure to find the opportunity you are looking for here.

Right at Home Health Care

At Right at Home Health Care, you don’t need to have health care experience, but you do need a caring and compassionate heart. They can teach you what you need to know to run a business. If you truly have the desire to succeed at the same time you have the willingness and concern to care for those who can’t care for themselves, then Right at Home would like to talk to you.

When you make the decision to give free work at home assembly jobs a try, it is important that you choose the right products for you. This is because you don’t want to have to put together products that you’re going to hate working with. You have many options and it is great to be aware of those options.

You have a choice of many different products. Those products include:

-Electronics
-Wood working
-Jewelry
-Toys
-And much more

It depends on what your skill level is. If you’re a person who is electronic savvy, then you may want to choose to put products together for an electronics company. If you’re good with wood, you may choose wood products. Perhaps you may be interested in toys and jewelry. There is so much to choose from.

So when you choose the right product, you will notice that it will come to you easily.

Home assembly is a great opportunity because it allows you to do it in the comfort of your home. It is in the comfort of your home that you will be able to keep an eye on your children, that you will be able to take care of your errands they way they need to be taken care of, and you’ll be able to relax. You can eliminate so much stress by embarking upon a home assembly job.

Just make sure that you do your research. It is through your research that you’re going to find the legitimate opportunity that will make a big difference in your life.

To market their services and create brand awareness, home care agencies deliver numerous giveaways to referral sources. Giveaways create awareness of the home care agency, and especially when giveaways offer health information of use to referral sources and their patients, help to brand that agency as a health care community resource and viable partner in the care of the patient.

Home care agencies have a tremendous array of products at their fingertips from which to choose. Giveaways may range from disease-specific brochures, care plan oversight literature, and posters to health logs, tablet mousepads, and newsletters. However, one of the most popular giveaways for agencies is the calendar.

There are forces at play that make calendars the most timeless and functional giveaway: a holiday to celebrate, an observance to remember, an appointment to schedule…in essence, a life to move forward.

When calendars contain useful information for the referral source, they become an even hotter marketing commodity. Calendars may be personalized with the agency’s logo and contact information to encourage positive awareness of the agency. Its yearlong use within the office adds to the calendar’s reputation as a low-cost giveaway with a high return on investment. What other giveaway commands center stage of a referral source’s attention all year long, branding the home care agency as a health care partner with every flip of the page.

“We are always looking for new and innovative ways to stay ahead of our competition and market to our existing and prospective referral sources, says Judy Bishop, chairman of Guardian Home Care Holdings, Inc., which oversees nearly 70 home health, private duty and hospice offices throughout Texas, Tennessee and Georgia. “As far as return on investment, the calendar has been the best promotional giveaway we’ve done yet.”

Calendars allow for flexibility as they come in a variety of shapes and sizes to suit each agency’s budget and tastes. One agency may want to deliver wall calendars with themed imagery and customization on every page; another may opt for a monthly planner or a notebook- or pocket-sized planner. Another bonus to the calendar giveaway is the ease in putting it all together. Agencies have at their disposal marketing companies that do the work for them. In essence, the agency chooses a theme from an array of themes provided (e.g., flowers, national monuments, exotic destinations, butterflies, nostalgia, etc.), sends in their logo and contact information, and voila! Ready-made calendars are ready to go to the referral source.

Just like we take special care of ourselves, or skin and hair during winter, our canine friends need appropriate care too. Have a look at the 7 dog care tips for winter. Show him his comfort and safety are important to you.



1. Groom with care – Keep the insulating coat. Do not shave your dog down to skin in winter. His hairy coat acts like an insulation to cold and keeps him warm. Protect his skin from becoming too dry and being flea free.

2. Beware of Ice and snow – Ice and snow can make him lose his scent. So never let your dog wander into the snow lest he loose his way back.

3. Paw care – After you come back from a walking with your pet, clean its paws. They stand the chance of getting infected due to chemicals like antifreeze. Rock salt used to melt ice can scratch their paws.

4. Anti freeze is dangerous – Anti freeze can cause poisoning and irreparable kidney damage. It is sometimes fatal. Keep an eye on spills or better yet use animal friendly brands.

5. Check dog house – Keep your pet indoors if temperature drops very low else make sure your dog house is safe and warm for the night. Make it wind draft proof and water proof too. Provide blankets and bed especially with tile floors which can get really cold.

6. Water is a must – Keep giving your pets water during winter months to keep them from dehydration. Snow does not mean water is not need. They are just like us this way! They need water to burn calories.

7. Games at home – Device small games to keep him occupied indoors when weather do not permit you long walks. It is safe and will keep him from escaping outdoors to a cold world with lot of infections to catch.

Have a lovely holiday and a safe winter. To look for vet advice ebooks on dog care, dog skin solutions and dog food secrets,visit

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Giving yourself a home facial treatment is not difficult and can do wonders for your complexion. If you can follow a few simple directions and facial tips, there is no need to spend your hard earned money on expensive facial treatment procedures and products at your local salon.

A daily home facial procedure to clean, tone and preserve moisture level is crucial to prolonging healthy facial skin. Clean your skin soundly at least twice a day and exchange your pillow slip frequently. Especially important is the nightly washing, which gets rid of collected skin oils, makeup, and grime.

Washing Tips

If you have oily skin, apply a liquid or bar soap developed for your skin type; rinse off thoroughly. Dry skins flourish on superfatted soap, creamy washes, or purifying creams; normal skins can call for a mild soap or cleansing agent. Thorough washing is vital.

Most skins, except extra sensitive or very dry types, call for occasional exfoliation (removal of the top level of nonliving skin cells). Conduct this with a scrub cleanser or by working across your face very lightly with a rough face cloth or an scratchy puff dampened with soap.

Toning Tips

Freshen up the skin following cleansing and get rid of any left over impurities by passing over your face with a cotton ball drenched in skin freshener; avoid the sensitive eye area. If your skin is greasy, use an alcohol-base astringent. Dry skin profits from a mild, herbal toner, which frequently is all the cleansing required in the morning. A freshener ought to make your skin tingle and feel tight. If it stings, it’s too potent.

Moisturizer Tips



Normal and dry-skinned faces, also dry regions on an oily face, benefit from a thin layer of moisturizer put on after toning and prior to makeup. If your skin is very dry, or if you reside in a frigid or dry climate, apply an emollient ointment to your skin right after the nighttime wash.

Do It Yourself Home Facial Treatment

To get rid of deep-seated impurities and perk up circulation, you can give yourself a facial treatment.

1. Boil some water, adding 2 chamomile tea bags for an herb fragrance.

2. Remove all makeup and cover up your hair with a shower cap.

3. Pour out the water into a washbasin, drape a towel over your head to entrap the steam, and hold your face roughly 1 foot above the water for about 10 minutes.

4. Daub your face dry, than put on a mask (a clay recipe for oily skin, a creamy hydrating mask for dry skin). Don’t apply the mask too near to your eyes, mouth or hairline. Leave on as instructed; remove it, and then rinse off with cool water and put on moisturizer.

Presto! In just four easy steps you have given yourself a relatively inexpensive home facial treatment. Facial care should be an important part of any woman’s natural face skincare program. Take good care of your body and your body will take good care of you!

It’s tax time – are you ready? Chances are, if you started a home based child care business in 2007 you are feeling very overwhelmed about your taxes. I know that feeling! I ran a home daycare for nine years and tax season can be intimidating! Whether you are having a professional complete your taxes or you are doing them yourself, there are several things you need to know to help the process go more smoothly.

First let’s talk about the issue of professional tax preparers versus doing it yourself. Which method is better? I personally have used both methods. The first year I needed to file taxes for my home child care business, I attended a workshop put on by a local community college that dealt specifically with taxes for child care businesses. It was extremely helpful. I would suggest asking around to find out if there is something like that available in your area. You can check with other daycare providers, local community colleges, or child care organizations to see if someone can point you in the right direction. After attending the seminar, I decided to do the taxes myself that first year. I felt like I had a pretty good handle on the situation and professional tax preparers can be costly. I was able to get help from the IRS through their website http://www.irs.gov, and over the phone (see website for phone numbers). It takes some patience to get through to them because sometimes the hold time is lengthy, but when you do get through the help is outstanding! That first year I did my taxes the old fashioned way…on paper! I completed them on paper for a couple of years actually.

A few years into my daycare business I chose to have a professional complete my taxes, mostly because of some items to be addressed in our personal taxes that we weren’t sure how to handle. I was relieved to find out that I had been doing a pretty good job with my business taxes! The accountant was able to find a few more deductions that I hadn’t been claiming that proved to be very helpful. After that year, I chose to go back to doing my own taxes, but I decided to use one of the tax software programs. They turned out to be easier than I thought they would be and the online question center was very helpful. I loved that I was able to file my taxes electronically, which significantly reduced my wait time to receive my refund. I continued to complete my taxes using computer software for the duration of my child care business years. Personally, I think that you can successfully complete your business taxes yourself, especially using tax software, and save yourself significant money. It might be beneficial to have a professional do it the first year so you are certain that you are taking all of the deductions you should take. After that, you can look back on the first year taxes as you complete them yourself to ensure that you are completing them correctly.

What sort of deductions should you be claiming? One of the biggest deductions you should be logging is your mileage. This is actually one of the deductions that I wasn’t claiming until I had a professional complete my taxes. I found out that I had been missing out on a huge tax savings by not keeping track of my mileage. I didn’t fully understand what mileage I could claim for my child care business. I thought I could only claim mileage for field trips or training classes. How very wrong I was! A home daycare provider can claim mileage for ANY trip in which child care business is conducted. This means that every trip to the grocery store to buy food for daycare, every trip to buy art supplies or toys, every trip to the bank to deposit child care income, is a business trip and you should be keeping track of your mileage!

Mileage is deductible from your home to the location and back again. That being said, you need to be honest with your mileage calculations. If in one day you first travel to the bank to deposit checks and then you head to the grocery store to buy food before heading home, you can’t count mileage from home to the bank and from home to the grocery store. You need to calculate mileage from home to the bank, from the bank to the grocery store, and from the grocery store to your home to be fair. Just to give you an example of how large a deduction mileage can be…I live in a rural area, so a trip to the grocery store and back for me is about 30 miles. The bank is even further. In an average year, I was able to claim approximately 10,000 miles for a deduction for my child care business! This comes out to be a $3000-$4000 deduction! I know you are wondering what to do if you make a trip to the grocery store to buy both food for your business and food for your family.

Can you claim that mileage? Absolutely! You are still there conducting daycare business, so that mileage is deductible! I know your next question is, “I didn’t keep track of my mileage for 2007, so do I lose out on that deduction?” Not necessarily. One method I use to calculate mileage is the receipt method. I am sure that you have been saving your receipts from trips to the store. You need them for tax purposes anyway (see next paragraph). You need to go back through your receipts and create a mileage log based on them. Count up how many times you went to each store and write it up, including the name, address, and reason for going to each store. Then you will need to logon to a website such as http://www.mapquest.com and choose the option for finding directions. Put in your starting address (usually your home) and the address of the store you went to. Then click on find directions. When the program lists the driving directions, it will also list the mileage. You will need to double the mileage, since the program only gives you mileage for the trip to the location, not for the return trip.

Once you have the roundtrip mileage for a certain store, multiply the mileage by the number of times you went to that store for daycare business in 2007. Voila…you have a mileage log! You will need to calculate the number of times you went to the bank for childcare also, and use the same method as above for calculating the mileage. If you don’t save all of your deposit receipts, go back through your checkbook registers to find all of your deposits. Remember to include things like field trip mileage, or trips back and forth from the school if you pick up child care children from preschool or kindergarten. Using this method will give you a fairly accurate calculation of your mileage and can provide you with a huge tax deduction!

Another deduction that you should be claiming is the cost of food and supplies for child care. This is another huge tax deduction! There are two ways to handle food for child care. You can either shop separately for your daycare food than for food for your family, or you can shop for both at the same time and separate items for daycare later on your receipt. Personally, I didn’t shop separately for two reasons. First, if you shop for food that is to be used for your home daycare business, then that food can ONLY be used for your home child care business! That means that if your son or daughter wants to take a granola bar to school for snack and you purchased those for daycare, you are going to have to say no. I know that sounds extreme, but if you are claiming those items as strictly child care items, you need to keep them separated from food for your family. Secondly, it is really a pain in the neck to do separate shopping for your family and your business! It means either separate trips to the store, or at least separate shopping carts in the store! The advantage to shopping separately is that you can claim every penny spent on food for child care on your taxes.

I chose to shop for my family and my business together and not to keep the food separated. It made things a lot easier in my house. However, it did make my record keeping for my business a little trickier. Once a month I had to go through my grocery receipts and mark off items that I knew were not used for child care, such as coffee or soda pop. Once I had eliminated those items from my receipt total, I then had to calculate which items on the receipt were food items, which were consumable items (like toilet paper) and which were non-consumable (like toys). I then calculated a total amount for that receipt of each of these categories and wrote it at the top of the receipt. Come tax time, I calculated a total amount spent for the year for each of these categories. Then, in order to fairly calculate a deduction for each of these categories based on how much was used for child care and how much was used for my family, I had to apply the time-space formula to each category.

The time-space formula is an invaluable equation that allows you to fairly claim child care expenses based on how many hours out of the year you spend being a daycare provider. The equation is fairly simple. First, you need to calculate the approximate amount of space in your home that you use for your child care business. You need to include every space that is ever used for daycare. You need to include your primary child care room of course and your kitchen. But you also need to include the bathrooms that the kids use, the dining area if they eat or do crafts there, the laundry room since you will invariably be washing blankets, sheets, towels, etc. that were used for daycare, any rooms in which children nap, your home office if you use it to create forms and file business paperwork, and any other place the kids use. You need to exclude any rooms that the children in your care never use. Be fair in calculating the approximate percentage of your home that is used in your business.

Once you have this percentage, you need to figure out the approximate number of hours you spent in 2007 performing duties related to your business. You, of course, need to figure out the number of hours per day that you actually care for children. You also need to take into consideration the approximate amount of time per day that you spend cleaning up from child care or getting ready for child care. Then you need to figure out exactly how many days you provided these services in 2007. You then multiply the number of hours per day by the number of days you provided care. That gives you the number of hours you spent in your business in 2007. Now you need to figure out the percentage of hours you spent in your business compared to the number of hours in a year. There are 8760 hours in a year. So, take the number of hours you spent doing daycare and divide it by 8760 and this will give you the percentage of time you spent doing child care in 2007. Finally, you need to multiply the percentage of time you spent doing daycare by the percentage of your home used for business to find a final percentage that you can claim for costs shared by your business and your family.

This gives you your time-space percentage. Here is an example: Let’s say you decide that you use 80% of your home for your business. Now, you spend on average 10 hours per day on your business and you calculate that you spent 200 days being a child care provider in 2007. Multiply the 10 hours per day by the 200 days (10 X 200), to find that you spent 2000 hours providing child care services in 2007. Since there were a total of 8760 hours available in 2007, you will now divide your 2000 hours by 8760 hours (2000 divided by 8760) to find that you spent about 22.8% of your time being a daycare provider in 2007. You can round that up to 23%. For your final calculation, you need to multiply the amount of space used in your home by the amount of time spent doing daycare to find a final percentage that you can claim. In this case, you would multiply the percent usage of your home (80%) by the percent of time spent (23%) (80% X 23%) to get a final percentage of 18.4% or 18% since we would round down. This is the percentage of food, consumable items, utilities, and mortgage interest you will be able to claim for your child care business. The calculation takes a few minutes, but it saves a lot of headache in the end. Non-consumable items like toys or cookware are 100% deductible for your business.

If you have a professional complete your taxes, you will want to make sure to have all of your information with you at the initial meeting. This will save you from having to get information to him/her later and can actually save you money in tax preparation fees. My accountant charged me less because she had less work to do since I had done most of the information preparation done before I met with her. You will want to bring a sheet that shows the total amount of income for your business for 2007, a calculation of your time-space formula, a list of expenses (include a note about which ones should be multiplied by the time-space formula), a mileage log, and any other information relevant to the business (such as a tax id if you have one). Be prepared to back up all of this information with receipts if your accountant wants to see them. Don’t stress if you don’t have everything the accountant wants. You can get it to them later if necessary. If you don’t have everything in order the accountant will let you know, but it will cost you more since the accountant will have to spend more time in preparing your taxes. Be as prepared as you can and you will have much better, and cheaper, results!

This is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to tax preparation for home child care businesses. This seems like an overwhelming amount of information, but there is actually a lot more. Don’t give up yet. There are a lot of resources for you to get more information, such as the IRS, an accountant, or a local organization. The best advice I can give a home daycare provider is to be incredibly organized. Keep all of your receipts, keep an accurate mileage log, keep an accurate receipt book recording income, and keep all of it readily available. If you follow this advice filing your taxes will be much easier!

Is there an effective home remedy for age spots? For many people who have brown spots on their skin they have tried numerous different creams and lotions, only to be disappointed at the results. Some people have tried some crazy home solutions, however with mixed or no results at all.

Chances are that you are not going to find a home remedy for age spots either. There is probably someone in your family that has some home concoction that supposedly removes these spots from your skin.

The bottom line is, the best method for removing age spots is with a natural skin care product that contains specific natural ingredients.

The reason people would use a home remedy for age spots are that natural ingredients are good for your skin. However, not all natural ingredients can help reduce the brown spots on your skin.

The best course of action is to use a natural product that has been tested on human volunteers and is safe and effective.

The most effective ingredients are just not found in your home. In fact, these specific natural ingredients must be used in exact proportions in order to get the benefits of them. It is just not possible to do this at home. There is a delicate balance required in order to combine these ingredients into a good effective age spot remover.

It is a great idea to try a home remedy for age spots but why not try a proven product instead; one that contains natural ingredients and not synthetic ones.

One of the most effective natural ingredients used in an effective age spot remover is Extrapone Nutgrass Root. This substance helps to inhibit the production of melanin. Over production of Melanin is what gives us the brown spots on our skin.

If you would like more information on the specific natural substances used in the most effective skin creams then please visit my website today. Try one of these natural creams before trying a home remedy for age spots.