I've had a busy start to the working year with lots of lovely inquiries and new projects - seems it's not just gym memberships and healthy eating on folk's new year agenda.

My own personal resolutions focus on money - understanding it, not being scared of it (or the lack of it), working with it.  I heard myself admitting to a friend that I "am not very good with money" and acknowledging that this was NOT A GOOD THING for someone who owns her own business.
So...never mind food diaries, mine is a spending diary and I will look at my account balances and I will keep my accounts up to date.

My self-help-financial-guru is the lovely Alvin Hall...
 


Him off of the TV and radio - I think I remember him from the early 90s and now with some very readable books.

ANYWAY, I'm still on the first chapter but one of the first things that has hit me is the idea of 'knowing your price'.  This might be about your ultimate aim - a dream house/car/holiday, lottery win type figures or it might be about what you know you need to make ends meet.

I consider myself to be very lucky in all that I have.  I know there are people with more than me but I know there are also many with less.  I don't feel comfortable talking about money or asking for it or even admitting to wanting it.  These feelings have to do with the social constructs around money and it is a relief to admit my discomfort.

'Knowing my price' forced me to look again at my overheads and running costs for my business.  Then I had to be honest with myself about the money I spend on clothes, presents and trips to the hairdresser.  Then it forced me to have a conversation with my husband about how we spend the money we each bring in and what we would like to aim for as a family.  With that information I was then able to look at my fee strategy.  I was able to look at my available hours and what I would need to charge to meet my target and see how that corresponded to the work stages of a project.  It was a relief to feel comfortable about the figures knowing they represented my known needs and expenses.  I didn't need to worry about what other people were charging, that's up to them and if I don't get the work based on these figures then clearly I need to review.

It all seems blatantly obvious once you've done it and probably more money savvy / driven types are wondering what my problem is...but maybe if you've hesitated about asking for a raise or had sleepless nights over a fee bid or job quote, then you might know where I'm coming from.

So what seems relevant to a woman in construction in Cambridge as we slide towards the end of 2015?

On being a woman...
Well I've just listened to a radio programme called the Misogyny Bookclub on the Story of Eve and it's impact on our view of women which has left me feeling pretty flat.

I still ponder the discussion on Woman's Hour about Women in Architecture and why they never get to the bottom of an apparent lack of success yet find lots of women architects to talk to (my view? talk to the ones who don't 'make it' and reevaluate what you call success and/or 'an architect').

I'll be 44 in a couple of weeks and I'm taken aback by the speed of all those "signs of aging"...I wanted to age gracefully and for that read gradually...

On working in construction...
Inquiries have been pretty steady but progression is a bit stop and start and I'm starting to see how one needs many projects in the pot in the hope that a few will go the distance.

Builders are busy and getting interest and having any idea of costs is a challenge.

On Cambridge...
Can you keep up with the changes?  We had a public consultation on new road layouts and social housing near us (Yay! It's not all £1million plus houses getting built).

and then, well, I guess we're thinking about Christmas and then a New Year and some new resolutions - watch this space.