What to Do With Your Tax Refund or Other “Found Money”

Garrett Planning Network Provides Thirteen Smart Ideas

(Lee’s Summit, MO) February 24, 2008 – After concluding their tax
preparation activities, many people will see that they are entitled to
a refund from Uncle Sam. “Whether you refund is large or small, you are
wise to determine now what you will do when that check arrives,” says
Sheryl Garrett, CFP®, author of Personal Finance Workbook For Dummies®
(Wiley, November 2007) and founder of the Garrett Planning Network (www.GarrettPlanningNetwork.com). “Don’t fritter it away or spend it on a whim.”

On a recent teleconference, network members brainstormed thirteen ways taxpayers can put this “found money” to work:

1. Put the entire amount, up to the maximum allowed by law ($4000
for an individual in 2007 unless you are age 50+, then the maximum
contribution is $5000; $5000 for an individual in 2008 unless you are
age 50+, then the maximum is $6000), into a Roth IRA assuming your
income falls below the government thresholds (the phase out for singles
in 2007 is $99-$114,000 and in 2008 it’s $101-116,000; for married
couples in 2007, the phase out is $156-166,000 and in 2008, it’s
$159-$169,000).

Continue Reading What to Do With Your Tax Refund or Other “Found Money”

You Have to File Your Taxes Before You Can Get Your Rebate

By now you’ve most likely heard about the tax rebate that was passed by President Bush last week, with the intention of jump-starting the economy.

But what you may not know is that you have to file your 2007 tax return before you can get your rebate check.

This was not good news to me, because I’m one of those people who waits until October to file (hey, I don’t get paid to file my tax return, and paying clients come first!).

It also means my workload this tax season will be quite a bit heavier because all of my usual stragglers will be getting their tax info in on time this year to make sure they get their rebate checks (sigh…).

Okay, back to the rebate… If you haven’t heard the details yet, here they are:

The IRS is expecting to start mailing out checks in May.

Continue Reading You Have to File Your Taxes Before You Can Get Your Rebate

Save Money By Cooking with Crock Pots

I love cooking with my crock pot, so when I saw Cara’s (of TheHouseholdHelper.com) article about how cooking with a crock pot can help save money I just had to share…

First introduced in 1971, the Crock-Pot revolutionized the way we cook meals. The word Crock-Pot is actually trademarked by Rival Industries, but is used in every day conversations instead of the term slow cooker. Many recipes for the crock-pot require little preparation. The slow cooker can then safely be left to run unattended, making it a convenient cooking method.

Crock-pot meals can not only save you time in the kitchen, but they can also save you money as well. The reasons are as follows:

1. It keeps you out of the fast food line. If you had not loading up the crock-pot with the ingredients this morning you’d likely be in the drive through line at the local fast food restaurant this afternoon after work, grabbing a meal for your family. The average fast food meal for a family of four rings up over $20.

Continue Reading Save Money By Cooking with Crock Pots

What will you do with your rebate check?

By now you’ve probably heard about the tax rebate plan that is still being hammered out in Congress.

A plan passed by the House would provide rebates of up to $600 for singles and $1,200 for married
couples, with an additional $300 per child. The tax rebates would begin phasing out for individuals earning more than $75,000 and married couples making more than $150,000.

A Senate version would provide up to $500 for individuals and $1,000 for couples, plus $300 per kid. The rebates would start phasing out at roughly twice the income limits in the House plan. The Senate bill would extend rebates to seniors living on Social Security and disabled veterans.

The purpose of the tax rebate is to get consumers spending to stimulate the economy. Early polls show that most people will pay down debt or save the money rather than spending it.

Continue Reading What will you do with your rebate check?

How to Pay Yourself First

You’ve heard it a million times… “pay yourself first”. And every time you hear it you think “I can barely pay my bills, how can I afford to pay myself first?”

Many people never start paying themselves first, because they are too concerned that they won’t have enough to pay the bills if they put any money in savings.

Well, this is one of those things that you just have to do, even if you don’t think you can afford to.

So how do you pay yourself first when you are worried that you won’t be able to pay the bills? Here’s how…

Q&A: Do I Need to Collect Sales Tax on my Online Sales?

Q: Do I collect sales tax on all my sales or just those I sell in my
home state? And does this tax money get claimed as income and then
expensed as a deduction?

A: This is a great question and one that I get often!

Currently, online business owners and eBay sellers are not required to
collect sales taxes on items that are sold and shipped to customers in
another state.  If the state the eBay seller or business is located in
has a state or local sales tax, then you are supposed to collect sales
tax on items sold and delivered to the same state, but you do not have
to collect sales taxes on sales to customers located in another state.