Good Time to Buy a House?

If you’ve been thinking about buying your first home, now might be a great time.

I am catching up on my reading this morning, and noticed this article: ‘Home Prices Post Record Drop’ on CNNMoney.com.  According to the home price index, home prices fell 6.7 percent in October, the largest drop in more than 16 years.

In addition to dropping home prices, interest rates are still pretty low (you can get a 30-year fixed mortgage for less than 6.5% if you have good credit).

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Should You Refinance?

The Fed reduced rates once again this week.  This usually causes many people to wonder… should I refinance my mortgage?

Refinancing offers many benefits but if you’re considering it, there are some things you need to know.  Let’s take a look at the benefits first, then answer a couple of questions you might have about the process. 

Benefits of refinancing:

#1:  Save money.  If your mortgage is currently at a high interest rate, now might be a good time to refinance at a lower rate.  Refinancing not only reduces your monthly payment, but could save you thousands in interest over the life of your loan. 

How to Report Miscellaneous Income

The IRS recently released guidance on how to report miscellaneous
income.  The following fact sheet will help you understand
miscellaneous income better and how to report it…

FS-2007-26, November 2007

While most people are aware they must include wages, salaries,
interest, dividends, tips and commissions as income on their tax
returns, many don’t realize that they must also report most other
income, such as:

    * cash earned from side jobs,
    * barter exchanges of goods or services,
    * awards, prizes, contest winnings and
    * gambling proceeds.

New! Hire Your Kids to Save Taxes!!

Announcing "How to Hire Your Kids in Your Business: A Step by Step Guide"

Would you like to reduce the taxes you pay on your small business
income? 
Would you like to keep your children busy, and learning
valuable business skills at the same time? 
Would you like to build
your family’s wealth?

What if you could reduce your taxes, build wealth, and teach your children about business – all at the same time?

You can!  Hiring your children in your business is a legitimate business strategy, and it has many benefits as well!

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How Bunching Can Preserve Your Right to Itemize

Tax laws are at times nothing if not infuriating.  Indeed, with
phaseouts and sunsets coming and going, taxpayers may find it difficult
planning from one year to the next.

Case in point: In 2006 and 2007, the overall limitation on itemized
deductions that reduces the value of certain itemized deductions
claimed by upper-income individuals is scheduled to be phased out.

In effect, higher income individuals will have a small tax rate
reduction, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers 2007 Guide to Tax and
Financial Planning.

Monthly Budgeting When Your Paycheck Isn’t Monthly

One of the biggest obstacles to budgeting is the fact that your paycheck is usually not monthly, but your expenses are. 

This mis-match of income and expenses can be enough to stop most people from even trying to budget.

I recently found a free calculator at DinkyTown that allows you to enter your paycheck and it will create a monthly budget from your weekly, bi-weekly or semi-monthly paycheck.

You can find this home budget calculator by clicking here.  DinkyTown has many other calculators including mortgage, credit card, budgeting, taxes, retirement and more.   

The “Frame It” Photo Challenge

One of the challenges in the Kodak printer contest that I just blogged about is the "frame it" photo challenge.  In this challenge you are supposed to find a creative way to frame your subject using the surroundings, objects, etc. – and take a picture. 

Well… my cat kind of helped me out with this one.  I’m not sure this is quite what Tiffany meant by framing your subject, but doesn’t my kitty look like she is sitting in a picture frame?  She’s actually sitting in a cubby hole in my desk…

Could You Use a New Printer?

I know I sure could!  Two Moms In A Blog is hosting a contest right now, and the prize is, you guessed it… a printer!

This contest has been going on through November.  The rules and challenges change, so you’ll need to check the contest page to see what the current challenge is.

The big prize is a Kodak EasyShare 5300 All-In-One Printer ($200 value), but they’re giving away smaller prizes too.

The grand prize winner will be announced on Friday December 7, so hurry on over to enter before it’s too late!

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