A start-up company won the Facebook contract to produce and distribute business cards to look like the social networking site’s new timeline.  Moo.com is offering to print and ship free business cards to the first 200,000 users – or approximately 10 million cards.

The cards can feature a different photo image on the front of the cards together with a favourite quote or saying on the reverse. This will doubly act as a promo for Facebook’s Timelime as people will be able to take snapshots of their lives from their Timelines and put them onto the cards.

Facebook spokesperson Jillian Stefanki says “The MOO.COM integration makes it possible for people to take [the Timeline] experience with them offline.”

Always suspicious, I went in and looked.  I was one of 200,000 so am getting 50 business cards for free! I didn’t like the profile picture it’s using, but for free cards I will live with it!

All I want in an office is a window.  I’ve ha plenty of offices without them. And plenty with them.  If I didn’t have a window, though, having a cardboard office might be kind of high on the awesome scale. From Inhabitat,

… we bring you the Rabobank Headquarters in the Netherlands, a 25 storey office building decked out in immaculately-crafted Washi paper and paperboard that delights the senses. Skylights give the building’s partitioning a pleasant visual sheen, and the design enhances the positive emotional environment as well.

From our friends at Brip Blap is a link to 12 money saving cell phone apps that it pays to have.  Frugal Dad focuses big time on recipes, coupons, and places to find gas on the cheap,

Mint – No money-saving app list would be complete without Mint.com. Mint is an on-the-go personal finance app that gives users a detailed financial picture across multiple accounts. Categorized budgeting info gives you an up-to-the minute spending picture for the month, so it’s easier to keep your finances on track. Available on Android and iPhone. Price: Free.

A friend of mine introduced a couple more that I don’t use enough:

Shopkick began because we believe shopping could be much more rewarding, simple, and full of great offers. So shopkick is the first app that lets you collect rewards imply for walking into stores and shows you great offers. You can also collect kickbucks by scanning products in grocery stores and pharmacies and even for check-ins at thousands of places!

My friend has earned over $100 so far using Shopkick.  She also suggests snappr, code reader, and coupons.  All are free because I’m too cheap to buy!

Okay, I have to come clean.  I’m partial to the laptop. 

Two years ago, we purchased the laptop for my husband to use while he’s mobile.  That never really happened, so we’ve had two home computers, the desktop and the laptop.  I’ve remained fairly partial to my trusty desktop until it’s recent virus. 

I’ve used the laptop for a few weeks now.  Saturday, my two-year-old decided to see what would happen when his fruit drink was poured into the expensive “toy”.  The hard drive is fried.  So, until we locate the system setup disc, we’re back to the desktop.  And I am realizing how much I took advantage of the convenience of my laptop friend!  Here I sit, facing the wall, working…while my husband is watching television, and talking on the phone.  I feel like I’m in time out!  At one point during our solitary laptop use, I was working in the passenger seat of the car while my husband was driving! 

So, while my desktop remains my friend (my only one right now), I do see myself converting sometime in the near future.  It’s all about the convenience.  And I miss it!

Photo by Arbron via Flickr Creative Commons.

Perhaps the reason I still have my very UNcomplicated cheapo flip phone!!!

Many people who make money from home are looking toward 2010 and working out how they feel about their prospects. This makes for an interesting look forward. The COUNTRY Financial Security Index measures how people feel about the economy and tracks trends about financial security. It’s pretty evenly split in terms of what people feel about financial prospects for 2010, reports COUNTRY:

As 2009 draws to a close, Americans are almost evenly divided on their future financial predictions for 2010, according to a survey conducted in connection with this month’s COUNTRY Financial Security Index^®. Twenty-nine percent say things will be better, 28 percent say things will be worse and 32 percent think the status quo will prevail.

It’s an interesting look at the general attitudes in the country. I, personally, think that mine will stay pretty close to the same. The recession didn’t have much of an effect on my freelance home business, and I doubt things will change much for me.

Where do you fit in? Are you hopeful for a better year in your personal economy?

I read about an interesting study today on LimeLife. Apparently, female breadwinners feel guilt about being away from home:

The interviews showed that most successful working women, with men at home taking care of the family, enjoyed the sense of independence and control they have over their own lives, but they often found themselves up against cultural expectations that they should be at home with the kids.

This is different from many work at home moms, I would think. After all, it is possible to earn money from home, while still fulfilling the expectations of child-rearing. I’m not sure how many work from home moms are the primary breadwinners, however. I am, and sometimes I feel a little guilty because I know that my husband feels bad that I am the primary caregiver for our son and earn the money while he finishes graduate school. (He helps out around the house a lot.) My feelings of guilt come from his feelings of guilt.

It’s an interesting interplay, since we are doing what works for us. But sometimes we get caught up in traditional expectations of how things should be, rather than just being grateful that we are in a position to take care of our family in a way that works for us.

This is a great time of year, with a chance to reflect on what you are grateful for. I hope you are having a good holiday.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Many small businesses and home business ventures are looking for ways to cut costs. And that is understandable. We are in a recession. Happily, there are a few things that you can do to save money for your home business. You may even be able to save enough that you won’t have to fire anyone. Here are 4 things, from TheStreet.com, that you can do in your home business to cut costs:

1. Reduce your meetings. Whether it is meeting a potential client in the coffee shop or traveling to a conference, you can reduce your meetings. Technology has provided a number of tools, from video conferencing from your computer to arranging cheap phone calls using Skype.

2. Renegotiate. You can renegotiate your contracts with suppliers and service providers. Look at the last time you negotiated your deals, and see if you can do better.

3. Give up some luxuries. Even the home business has some perks. I used to buy lunch a couple times a week, just to “get out” of the home office. Now, I brown bag it and take my lunch to a local park and just sit and eat. For larger businesses, there are bound to be other luxuries that you can give up.

4. Go paperless. You can reduce your costs by going paperless. While a paperless home office isn’t for everyone, you might be surprised at what happens when you start emailing or faxing invoices, rather than printing them out and mailing. (Saves on postage as well.)

Many home business owners are being affected by the economy right now. However, even though leaders keep trying to talk about “economic green shoots”, it is far from certain that they will remain in place. Indeed, some of the optimism about the economy seems to be waning. Today, two important indicators put a damper on the economic party:

1. U.S. GDP has contracted.

2. Unemployment claims jump.

The U.S. has seen continued contraction in GDP, and unemployment claims, after slowing a bit, are now jumping again to higher levels. The GDP news has a silver lining, though; it contracted by less than expected. The jobless claims continue to be a problem. As long as unemployment continues to rise, it will be difficult to make inroads in other aspects of the economy.