No Post Today

I spent the early part of the week spending the $1,200 that DCI refunded; $1,000 of it is going back to DCI. Most of my two-dozen new products won’t arrive until April or May. None have obvious bestseller potential, but a few might become standbys, and a good stable of those is better than relying on one star item.

I got my corporate tax returns back and paid the CPA. I canceled Merchant Express. I worked on my next newsletter. I’m changing over my seasonal display. (Yawn)

I spent the end of the week working on our household budget, starting our taxes, and scowling at Anne’s layoff paperwork (COBRA and some state assistance plans). It looks like Obama’s going to reimburse 65% of our COBRA payments for nine months. That would be a huge break, since we’re not quite poor enough to qualify for Massachusetts’ equivalent program...yet Mass. requires us to have health insurance, and letting it lapse can prevent one from getting future coverage. None of the COBRA alternatives that I explored panned out.

Sales are tracking my reduced plan nicely. I got a tiny Valentines Day bump – later than expected, but VD has never been a serious holiday for Curio City. Accounting and tax bills make February a losing month anyway. As of today I have paid the CPA and the government $659, and the month’s bottom line is (-$635)…with another $465 tax payment due. The bottom line won’t turn black again until Halloween.