I am currently typing on a Portuguese keyboard and let me tell you.. it is not as easy as it may seem. All the symbols are all over the place and if you see any errors, sorry!

Am doing my best to answer questions and keep up with the blog, but internet is spotty at best..

Virginia Girl says she just pays off her credit card statement right on the day she gets it.

Yep, I used to do that too.

But one month, I pulled out the statement and it was $850 and I thought I had it paid in full with all the payments I sent in!!!

(Ginger from Ginger Won´t Snap had the same issue)

I scanned the statement and saw payment after payment with purchases in between using obscure merchant store names and got a huge headache trying to reconcile everything to figure out how in the hell I could have misjudged the final amount by so much.

I realized the following:

1. Had no idea where my money was going

2. Did not know if I paid it properly in full or if there were still pending transactions

3. I was paying, but in round amounts like $100, when the transactions are $103.25 for example. Every little bit added up.

So I came up with my current system of paying each bill on my credit card, like using a debit card, on the day that I use the card or right after.

Now, if I am even a penny off, or I think a merchant mischarged something, I know immediately.

(The only reason why I keep a credit card is for the points. I had $900 in free groceries in the past 2 years)

Anamika asks the following credit card questions:

Do you pay off each transaction, literally? Yes. Each transaction. Each amount.

Does paying for your credit card in this fashion show that you are using too much credit?

No. It depends on the total amount of credit being used.

If you pay off your credit cards at the end of each cycle IN FULL, then using newly available credit is not an issue.

Credit card companies do not care how many times you spend on the card or pay off the card.

They only care about the net balance at the end of each month to calculate the interest to charge you on the remaining balance and to know whether to approve you for further credit or not.

If you have $10,000 and you have an outstanding total of $9999, you are using too much credit.

The calculation is simply the amount you owe $9999 divided by $10,000 which is 99.99% which tells credit lenders that you are using 99.99% of what is available in credit to you, and that is a BAD thing as it shows you are hard up for money and are a risky person to lend credit to.

Great questions!

I should also note that my credit card companies call me when they see strange charges on my card. I think you might have the same service, no?

When I spent $5000 paying for a bunch of trips, they gave me a call and verified that it was me who was doing the spending and not some lucky thief.

The credit card companies keep track of how much you spend on average each month, and if you really blow through the average, they call you as it is an out-of-behaviour amount for your monthly usage.

Tigerlily wanted to know if paying off your credit card per each transaction would cost more in bank fees

Er.. possibly. If you are charged an amount each time you pay off your bills or cards.

But I do not get charged by my bank at all as I pay online, and they pay ME in points (10 points per bill paid) each time I pay a bill, up to 100 points a month.

Suze2000 wants to know if the Bose headphones work

YES! They work.

Blocks out 80% of the humming on the airplane, and makes a huge difference in whether or not you can hear the music or not.

You can still hear people and the humming of the plane very faintly, but it is negligible if you turn your music up just a bit (not too much as to kill your eardrums, however).

On the plane, people liked to talk as if they were part of a little village (they were ALL flying to Porto, Portugal) and it was hard for me to get any sleep when a little group has gathered in front of your seat to talk to people around them and drink wine on the plane.

Still, they worked.

I should also note that I flew on a very large airplane, which does not quite have the hum of a small, tin can-like plane which will have double or triple the amount of noise as you are closer to the fan in the wings and the metal body is thinner.

But for long airplane flights, thumbs up over using any headphones given while on the plane, or using the Sony over-the-ear headphones that are sold for around $120 but do NOT work as well as the Bose headphones (over the ear ones). Try them in store with the Bose display that simulates airplane noise.

I only wish I could have tested the Audio-Technica ANC7000 headphones, as they cost only $200 CAD total, tax in instead of the $360 I paid for the Bose.

Still, I am happy with them and will be getting great use out of them, in and out of airplanes when I want some peace and quiet.

Thanks for the heads up on having a car in Dallas

As eking said, I am in for a world of hurt if I do not have one in Dallas or a place with air conditioning.

I think I am getting used to the atmosphere of Dallas while in Portugal, because it is DEAD HOT HERE.

I want to stay in the home from noon until 7 p.m. at night because when you walk outside even for a couple of minutes, you MELT.

It is really disgusting here. No fans in the place, no air conditioning.. just heat heat and more heat. Luckily, it is not a humid heat, so I am good to go with a little water splashing on my neck now and then.

I tried not to tan here, but it is impossible. The sun wants to shine 24/7 and I have turned a toasty brown which I am not entirely pleased with..

Okay, so I’ve kind of heard requests for contract information.. and in light of today’s economy, maybe now’s the best time to chat a bit about some basics I learned firsthand (or secondhand) that can be crucial to understand in contracts.

The first couple of tips are simple:

WHO: Who is in the contract? You? 2 brokers? Another company? Another freelancer?

This is done because you need to know who is liable for a project going awry, or something not getting done in time. Who do you talk to if you don’t get your expenses paid? Company A or B? You need to make that dead clear where the roles lie for each party.

You are also NOT an individual when you sign these things, eh? Don’t forget that you’re a company or a corporation. You need to sign on behalf of your company (even if it’s your name), and not as an individual.

You will also want to be clear about what the expected results are going to be (a system implemented, a big advertisement campaign mapped out), and who owns that proprietary information.

WHAT: Services? Goods? The more detail the better.

You also want to re-iterate the roles of each party in the contract. Is it going through a third party who provides the insurance that you pay for, but the client is the one who receives the services?

Contracts can get pretty tricky, and you don’t want to end up being pigeonholed into a “Gee, we didn’t know we were supposed to buy 100 items at $50 a piece every week” sort of deal.

Make it dead clear. Especially in services — the more detail the better. Are you just doing the design? The coding? The blueprinting? The support?

You really need to be clear about what you are responsible for, and what you are not, so that if a dispute arises, you can go back to the contract and say: Nope, coding was not included in my rate. That’s extra.

WHEN: This one seems pretty simple, but how long is the contract going to last?

Give actual dates, not just “Month of July” sort of things. You also want to stipulate when the services are to be delivered (if in phases), and THE MOST important thing of all when will you get paid?

I usually do my “Payment must be received 30 days after being invoiced“. We call this “payment terms”, or “net 30″ (for net 30 days).

You will also want a bit of contingency worked in there, like what happens if deadlines are missed and what penalties there are.

And if you’re selling goods, you’ll want to know when you get paid for selling goods; when you have to pay for buying supplies from a vendor, or how many times and at what quantities or amounts you should be delivering goods to your client per week. Specifics really matter, in this case.

WHERE: You need to know where this is all going to go down

I mean, for services… it’s usually something like “for services to be performed on client site“, but if you are delivering goods, you’ll want to lay out some delivery terms.

Where will the goods be dropped off? At the warehouse? At each store? No delivery required at all, unless the client is going to pay another fee to get things sent to them?

$$$$: My favourite section…. THE MONEY!

How much are you going to be paid? Per hour? Per minute? Week? Day? Month? Year? Fixed Amount per contract?

You also want to know if you are eligible for any discounts from a vendor, or if you as a seller, give a $10 discount per hour, once the client hires you for more than let’s say.. 500 hours into the contract.

I know it sounds trite, but you’d be surprised how open some contracts are without following the above basics.

Now for the intricate bits. The basic rule of thumb for freelancing contracts that I follow is:

What I mean by that, is if the client is requesting something from you — a favour, a way out, or any other sort of special request.. then you should make the rule apply to yourself as well.

The biggest example is what I call: The Way Out or The Two Week Clause

The Two Week Clause

This is when the client says you have to give them 2 weeks notice (sometimes up to a month) before you skip out on a project.

(Note: Some people give notice without having it written in a contract, but I’ve heard of consultants not even bothering.

If a new contract is coming up and it’s too juicy to wait 2 weeks for a proper notice, many freelancers point to the contractual terms of the agreement and skip out without a day’s notice, leaving the client up the creek without a paddle.

That’s something similar to what I did. I didn’t give any notice when I left my company.)

Unlike in a corporation, if the client requires you to give 2 weeks notice, then before they terminate the contract or fire you before the end of the supposed contract, then you’ll want to make sure (as your own mini corporation or company) that they are also obligated to give YOU 2 weeks notice before giving you the boot.

You may also want to think about the fact that if a client steps over the line and BREACHES the contract (like.. made you work 50 hours a week, but didn’t pay for the extra 10 hours), then you should have a clause in there to be able to get out of the contract on the basis of contract breach.

Set a minimum hours per week

Make sure that they give you a set number of hours per week that will be paid. This is your guaranteed income.

Much like being an employee at a company, you are paid for 40 hours of work each week, as per your gross salary.

In freelancing, you’re usually paid by the hour. But some sneakier clients have actually sent consultants home, claiming the work is too low to justify paying them to sit there… but the consultants get screwed because now their income each week is $0 instead of $4000 or whatever they expected.

If you are going to only work part-time, or only at nights, or on weekends, put it in writing, and make sure it’s in there, nice and bold.

Don’t pigeonhole yourself

One consultant we knew, went as a freelancer, working for his former company as a consultant… but then signed some BS agreement with his former employer about not being able to work for any of the customers (old or new) in the same city as long as the former company existed.

WHAT!?

I understand having a clause where if you quit the company, they need to ensure that you won’t poach their clients, so you have a 1-year clause or something where you cannot work for your former customers.

After a year, all gloves are off. You’re a freelancer. You can go work for them without being under anyone’s thumb any longer.

But don’t do something silly and pigeonhole yourself into not being able to work for ANY customer in the city as long as the former company was still there.

If you want to sign something like that, you might as well have stayed an employee.

A real freelancer, is just that — a freelancer.

Changes & Oral Contracts are a hassle

I know in the good ol’ days, your word was as good as gold. But today, whenever you have to work with another company, representing yourself as a company, you need to get it in writing.

Even if you feel comfortable with the company.

Get it in writing so that there are no ambiguous “he said, she said” arguments later on. Just make it simple, clear and proven on paper.

Usually, when things end up in black & white, arguments ensue about not fully understanding what each other meant.

Same with changes. Any changes you or the client wants? GET IT IN WRITING or put an amendment to the contract.

An email may be sufficient if it’s detailed enough, but don’t count on it. Try and get something more formal.

Contracts are not flexible

Another reason to GET IT IN WRITING, is that once you sign a contract, it’s a done deal. You can always negotiate BEFORE you sign, but don’t assume that what they’re giving you is a fair deal.

I’ve received contracts before where the “what’s good for the gander is good for the goose” didn’t apply. The client was supposedly able to fire me at any time, cut my hours, or not have to pay expenses, because it wasn’t in writing.

Needless to say, I re-wrote the whole damn thing and sent it back for review to make it fair for both parties.

And they wanted me, so they signed.

Like any other contract in life (mortgage, marriage, lines of credit), if you don’t agree with the terms, don’t sign it.

Be careful using contract templates

They may not apply to your situation, you may need to edit them, or they may just be plain BAD.

That isn’t to say all contract templates online are bad, but it’s just that it’s difficult to find a diamond in the rough and you will inevitably always have to adjust it to your situation.

Think about the worst legal scenario possible

If you get into a legal fight with your client (please no!) then you might want to put a clause in there that the loser who initiates the fight, pays the winner’s fees.

This will keep BOTH parties honest, because no one will try to bring up a lawsuit just because they know you can’t afford one, being a one-man show, or if they just want to antagonize you into submission because they know they can breach the contract and pay the fees whereas you’d be bankrupt.

I remember reading some contract about how if I brought the client to court, I’d be liable to pay all of their fees.

Nuh uh! If I was the LOSER, I’d pay the fees. Not if I were the WINNER.

But these are all things you hope you will never have to ever encounter in your line of business, but unfortunately, it could and does happen.

Oh, and you want to also lay down WHERE justice will take place, if it comes down to a fight. If you are doing design work in California, but you live in New York — which court handles the fight?

Lay out your roles and responsibilities

If it’s goods, you may or may not want to put in something about “no returns, no refunds once purchased”, or “30 day return policy and then you’re on your own”!

I mentioned this above, but you should be careful with services because it is especially difficult to guarantee a system will work for example.

I mean, I do something pretty cool in a system at a client’s site, but if they don’t listen to me, or are making mistakes, the system might fail!

But it wouldn’t be MY fault, now would it? It was the client who didn’t use the system properly.

However, in a court of law, you want to make sure your liabilities are REALLY limited, and to do that, you may want to think about putting something in there like: “Everything I design or code, MUST be signed off by a client employee and dated before it is set in stone and implemented.“

That usually helps cover your butt. You don’t want a company coming back and screaming bloody murder that you helped put in some business process they (supposedly) never wanted.

That about does it for me.

Remember, whatever is good for the gander is good for the goose, and many contract disputes occur because there wasn’t enough detail or something was misunderstood.

That’s why everything should be in writing, and the more specifics, the better. Dates, times, actual job roles and responsibilities… all things that need to be ironed out on paper so that people don’t get confused about who was responsible for what.