For us residents in California, we’re used to seeing budget cuts applied to a lot of things. The financial crisis in California is particularly apparent when you see its effects on the public school system. Well, this article from my local paper just made me wince, because as you can see, the story [...]
Vacation Pay for Unused Vacation Time? Plus A Suze Orman Event
The parallel between habits when it comes to food and money are significant. Many people reach for a cookie when they’re depressed, others for their credit card. Some celebrate with cake and sweets, still others by purchasing themselves tangible treats. If you’re an emotional spender, best for you – and your budget – to fess [...]
Original Post on The Sun’s Financial Diary
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What an incredibly complex tax year for our household. Before 2009, we lived in an apartment, worked two jobs, and could only deduct student loan interest. But in 2009, we purchased a home, earned freelance income, and donated to charity.
We were eligible to take the home office tax deduction and self employed tax deductions. As the financial guru of our household, I gladly take the reins on taxes. However, all of these tax situations are new to me, and so I was particularly eager to try out the TurboTax 2009 software that touts itself as “GPS for your Taxes”.
Overall I was very impressed with the product and its ability to take a complete novice with some very tricky tax situations and leave me feeling confident enough to submit my own taxes. There were also some frustrations, which you can read about below.
One neat feature of this product is a box at the top of each screen that automatically updates the amount of money you either owe or will receive from the government after each tax form that you input. Of course this was an exciting feature to me because with our tax deductions on purchasing our home and my fiancé’s 401k contributions, he was owed money by the government (think slot machine going up, up, up in green font). Unfortunately I owed money to the government, so for me the number was red.
There is a button at the top right hand screen that you can use to look at the actual tax forms with all of the information you have inserted. This was particularly helpful to me as I was unsure of a few areas based off of the prompted questions, and so I could clarify this by looking at the forms.
TurboTax gives you the option of guiding you through each of the sections through the button “Guide Me”, or to explore the forms as needed through the button “Explore on my Own”. Of course I used the “Guide Me”, and was thankful for the simple and intuitive yes/no questions it asked.
Another neat and convenient feature is the number of forms and asset/tax information that can be automatically imported into this program. My W-2 and mutual fund information (from being sold) were both imported.
Also, there is a neat website called “ItsDeductible” which helps you put a dollar figure to any physical donations you have made through the year. You simply search for the item, and then choose the amount that is suitable, based on condition. The value is based upon the value of the same items sold on eBay. You can also visit the ItsDeductible website and keep track of all of your charitable donations throughout the year, and then import this information directly into TurboTax next year.
My experience with this program was not without its frustrations. One of the biggest issues was that my computer failed to allow the text from pop-up explanation windows. The actual window would pop-up, but there would be no text. This gave me headaches, and I had to search on the internet for answers in some areas. I attempted to call the TurboTax people, but was not given a call back in time for the writing of this article. When I did my own tax return on the online version of TurboTax, the pop-ups did come up. Also, my fiancé works in IT, and he could not figure out the software problem.
The second frustration was with the home office tax deduction. I had specific questions that needed to be answered, and the prompted questions from the software were not as helpful as it could have been. Because I was unable to get the software to work so that the pop-ups worked, I could not access immediate help from the program itself and get my questions answered.
As of the writing of this article, I am still waiting on the TurboTax people to respond to me. Hopefully, when it gets closer to the tax deadline, they will respond faster to their users.
Written by Amanda
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© My Dollar Plan
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This is a guest post by The Financial Blogger: I’m working in the financial industry and I am specialized in personal finance. I’m always trying to find way to make money differently than receiving my pay check every two weeks. I recently hit a 6 figure income at the age of 28 and I am currently [...]
About the Author: Jeremy is a retirement planning specialist and founder of Generation X Finance and the guide to Financial Planning at About.com. To learn more, follow Jeremy on Twitter.
It’s not your neighbor who once gave you awful advice on a hot stock tip (you’re no longer on speaking terms, unless you need to borrow a power tool).
It’s not one of those “market pros” you read about on CNBC who seemed so sure about this one stock that he called it a no-brainer (you [...]
The following guest post was submitted by Evan, the author of StockInvesting101.net, in response to my post earlier this week about dividend investing.
On Monday Jason wrote a great overview about dividend investing . Since you now know what dividends are all about, I figured it would be a good opportunity to do a guest post [...]
Post by Frugal Dad
With tax season around the corner, I finally got around to opening up a SEP-IRA at Fidelity. (I don’t know what took me so long, the process was very, very quick.) For those unfamiliar with SEP-IRA’s, they are a retirement vehicle for self-employed individuals (Read more about SEP-IRAs here). As income from [...]
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Ally Bank now has a new CD product, the second new product in as many month.
The CD product, called 2 Year Raise Your Rate CD, isn’t entirely because it replaces the current 2-year high-yield CD which has a yield of 2.04% APY as of March 9th. What’s new in this product is the promise that [...]
Original Post on The Sun’s Financial Diary
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We’ve covered some of the best high interest savings accounts in the past, and I’d like to add a few more savings products to the list. While I associate American Express with top of the line credit cards, they actually also have a banking arm through which they’ve been offering a couple of high [...]
“I want (fill in the blank)!”
If you’re a parent to young children, you’ve undoubtedly heard your little one utter this phrase many times. Plus, it probably most often occurs at some pretty crowded locales such as the grocery store or Toys ‘R Us where the level of parental shame can be at its highest. At [...]
Original Post on The Sun’s Financial Diary
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Planning a wedding is one of the most fun, and financially stressful events of my life! I feel that I am constantly balancing traditions, ‘must-haves’, wants, and our budget.
I find that if I remember what the day is actually about—love, the union of two people, choosing to spend the rest of my life with someone—and that saying “I Do” is merely the beginning of a long and exciting journey, then it becomes much easier to prioritize spending and get past a lot of the wedding hype. After all, it only takes a bride, a groom, an officiant, a certificate, and some rings to get married. The rest is all extra!
Here are some ways I have found to save money without sacrificing quality to us.
If you choose any month other than peak wedding season—typically the summer months—then you can save money. We are choosing to have our wedding in April of 2010, and were able to negotiate a 17% discount off of the reception and catering costs solely because this is a tougher month for the venue’s director to attract business. On top of having this discount for our reception and catering, we are also in a great negotiating position for our other vendors, such as a photographer and a florist due to lower demand for services.
You can rent purses, and rent textbooks now, why not rent your bridal gown? Sure, you won’t be the first spring chick to wear it, but the quality will still be impeccable, and there is normally an option to buy it at a discount from what you would pay if it were brand new. If you feel like buying new, I tried on probably around 20 fantastic and gorgeous gowns for under $500 at David’s Bridal.
If you do decide to purchase a gown, don’t forget you can donate the dress after the ceremony for a tax deduction.
There are many online sites with great reputations that sell engagement rings and wedding bands at severely discounted prices, like upwards of 50%! You can try different styles of rings on at jewelers, and have your ring finger measured. Then go online to sites such as Amazon and Sea of Diamonds. If you are squeamish about purchasing fine jewelry online, know that many sites give you 30-60 days to return the jewelry for a full refund (although customized jewelry may not be returnable), and you can use this time to get the metal and gem verified by a jeweler.
What do Donald Trump, Sam Walton, and Stephen King all have in common? They all began as amateurs in their individual industries. It took people with faith to employ them, and purchase their products for them to develop their talent and evolve into the household names they are today. You can use amateurs in your wedding as well at a fraction of the cost you would pay normally. Check out trade schools in your area, and interview a few seniors in photography to use for your wedding day. Let them know what your photography budget is, and see if they are willing to accept a paid position for a few hours on a Saturday. You can find a florist this way as well.
One of my friends even used one of her friends who had an interest in photography. The form of payment? They bought their friend a nice camera for several hundred dollars in exchange for her taking all of their wedding photography. The pictures were stunning.
Rehearsal dinners are a nice, informal way to show your bridesmaids and groomsmen how much you appreciate them, and also for everyone to get to know one another and enjoy themselves! Instead of footing a restaurant bill, ask your parents to host a potluck rehearsal dinner at their home. Having this at someone’s home will keep the spirit of the dinner light and joyful, as well as help to create relationships between the two families. If only one or two of your parents is footing most of the bill for the food, offer to pay them for the ingredients and other necessities, which should still save you over half the cost of taking everyone out to a restaurant.
One of the best things that you can do to save several hundred dollars is to open up a credit card that earns you points for your purchases. Then, charge everything for the wedding to this card—being sure to pay off the balance each month—and use the points to buy you gift cards. It will take you several months to earn enough for substantial gift cards, so perhaps the best way to use them is to purchase gifts for your attendants and parents leading up to the wedding.
Written by Amanda
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As you might know I’m all about automating our finances. I make every effort to make our transactions live in the digital realm so they can happen automatically without us having to worry about them:
– We pay our bills with online bill pay. I setup exception checkpoints so that if bills are larger than normal [...]
Late in Bubelah’s first pregnancy, we stopped in at a bar after a visit to the doctor for a routine checkup. I had a beer and she had a seltzer. It was a mild winter day, mid-afternoon and we were savoring some quiet time together before the main event, due a few weeks later. [...]
If you read brip blap via RSS, you might want to visit the site and see the new theme; if you like it, it’s the frugal theme and if you buy it through that link, you help support brip blap.
babies in bars is an original article from the website brip blap.
It is no longer the norm in this generation to begin a career in the mail room and retire 35 years later as one of the top managers. People change jobs often and for any number of reasons. Leaving a job can be a difficult decision especially if you have a strong sense [...]
Last week, Sen. Jim Bunning of Kentucky created quite a stir when holding out his vote for extending unemployment benefits. His contention was that it violated the self-imposed PAYGO (pay-as-you-go) rules that Congress and the President reinstated just a month earlier. Bunning eventually caved and the benefits were extended, but just because the government can’t [...]
Post by Frugal Dad
QuickBooks is the best accounting software for procrastinators like me! I spent part of Sunday working on my business financials for last year (which I should have done sooner) and QuickBooks made it easy for me to get my business accounts up to speed.
When I sat down yesterday morning I was dreading the process of creating all [...]
Some more retirement investing advice.
So how long do you think you will live? I am thinking I will make it to age 81. Well, if I’m lucky. My grandmothers lived to be 88 and 93 so that’s pretty good. The men in my family have all passed in their 60s or 70s. Uplifting thoughts, huh? [...]
Financial Retirement Planning For A Life Expectancy of a 100
Last night, my wife and I were fortunate enough to entertain a few bloggers at our home. While we typically hang out with The Digerati Life and Stop Buying Crap once a month, this time, a couple of other bloggers dropped by while they were in town. If you are a reader of [...]
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After the streak of 10 straight monthly increase was snapped in January, the growth of our net worth returned last month as the overall stock market recovered from January’s poor performance. Even though the gain wasn’t big enough to offset January’s market loss, it was big enough to put net worth to a new high [...]
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This is a guest post from MD of Studenomics. A personal finance blog for 20-somethings that want to kill debt, make some cash, and enjoy life. If you like the article, please consider subscribing for free updates.
In the North American society it’s no secret that owning a home has become apart of life. For many years the adage that, [...]
About the Author: Jeremy is a retirement planning specialist and founder of Generation X Finance and the guide to Financial Planning at About.com. To learn more, follow Jeremy on Twitter.
With the income tax deadline just around the corner for tax year 2009, which is April 30, 2010, it’s time to start thinking about what’s required to file. If you are a small business owner, you have until June 15th to file, but any taxes owning must be paid by April 30th. If you are [...]
I’ve written before about the various passive income streams available, but up until now I have largely ignored the concept of dividend investing. That was until the recession caused interest rates to drop to levels that don’t even keep pace with inflation. As I searched for higher yields, I was introduced to the concept of [...]
Post by Frugal Dad
After a quite month of February because of the winter blizzards, we are back in house-hunting again as the weather turns warmer. The market also seems to be more active now than the first two months. We went to a few open houses this weekend in our area and found a couple of nice houses. [...]
Original Post on The Sun’s Financial Diary
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I’m a bit late with this week’s link roundup (surprise) but I have an excuse. As I was driving to work for an early morning meeting on Tuesday, a heavy, driving rain broke out. The pitch black, heavy rain and early hour (about 6:30) would have been bad enough but my windshield wiper chose [...]
If you read brip blap via RSS, you might want to visit the site and see the new theme; if you like it, it’s the frugal theme and if you buy it through that link, you help support brip blap.
linklings, sneezing leads to a CAT scan edition is an original article from the website brip blap.
Would you know how to remove spyware, malware or any computer virus off your machines? Revanche of A Gai Shan Life shares her stories and questions on the matter of keeping one’s computer clean! For more of her delightful anecdotes on life and finances, you can subscribe to her RSS feed.
The pop-ups and [...]
