http://financeandfitness.today.com Come With Me As I Learn To Improve My Life One Day At A Time Wed, 15 Apr 2009 23:24:50 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en I've been spending a lot of time thinking about free money lately, meaning money that I do not include in my budget. This money can come from a variety of sources, but for me the main two are annual income increases and side jobs (like blogging). As I've mentioned before ... http://financeandfitness.today.com/2009/04/15/thinking-about-free-money/ I love free money, which I can designate for use however I see fit. By my own personal definition "free money" is money that is not needed or included in my current budget. I especially like money that is earned outside of my primary income.  For the most part right ... http://financeandfitness.today.com/2009/04/14/create-free-money-in-your-budget/ I may be a bit behind the times, but did you know you can watch many of your favorite TV shows online now? There are several services available now that might allow you to cancel your cable for good (just not your cable internet). One such site is hulu.com. I ... http://financeandfitness.today.com/2009/04/13/save-money-with-hulu/ I can be stubborn at times, and I'm working to be more open to new ideas and to try to solve my problems creatively. And I think most people are stubborn as well, and lack the ability to creatively solve their problems. I had a good example of this earlier in ... http://financeandfitness.today.com/2009/04/12/i-cant-versus-i-dont-want-to/ I've mentioned this yesterday but I'd like to say it again: you must include all interest earned when you file your income taxes. That's probably no surprise to you, but what may surprise you is that if you earned less than $10 your financial institution(s) are not required to send ... http://financeandfitness.today.com/2009/04/11/tax-tip-dont-forget-about-accounts-that-earned-less-than-10-in-interest/ I also recommend keeping a checklist of tax-related information you expect to receive over the course of the year. For example, I keep an eye out for the following: One-time charitable donations Donations to goodwill Property taxes Receipts for very large items (like cars, boats, etc.) A list of all bank accounts, mutual fund companies ... http://financeandfitness.today.com/2009/04/10/keep-a-list-of-accounts-and-tax-documents-to-make-tax-season-a-breeze/ Tax season can be painful or it can be easy. It's all up to you and how well organized you are. I used to be very disorganized, and preparing my taxes even with a professional was a nightmare. Now I keep a folder starting at the BEGINNING of every year to ... http://financeandfitness.today.com/2009/04/09/tax-tip-organization-is-the-key-to-an-easy-tax-season/ If you have major life changes occurring this calendar year, you should adjust your withholdings appropriately now. For example, my wife and I are expecting twins this year. Although they're not due until mid-year, they will affect my 2009 tax filing. Therefore I need to adjust my W-4 now to ... http://financeandfitness.today.com/2009/04/08/tax-tip-if-you-have-major-life-changes-occurring-next-year-change-your-withholdings-now/ If you complete your 2008 taxes and find that the government owes you money you need to do two things. The first thing is you need to understand WHY they owe you money. Did they owe you money the last few years, or is this a new occurrence? Do they ... http://financeandfitness.today.com/2009/04/07/tax-tip-reduce-your-withholdings-if-you-receive-a-significant-refund/ You should do your taxes yourself, even if you plan to use a professional for your official tax preparation. Tax prep software costs about $50 and is well worth the investment. By doing your own taxes you can learn enough to ask better questions of your tax preparer. I've used both ... http://financeandfitness.today.com/2009/04/06/tax-tip-do-your-taxes-yourself-even-if-you-also-plan-to-use-a-professional/