Feb
19
Save Money while Filing Taxes Online
Filed Under Saving Money, Taxes, Time Management | 1 Comment
It’s mid-February and my taxes are already done. Not only are they done, but I’m actually getting money back, which came as a surprise. Part of that is because I used free online software to prepare my taxes. The services found deductions that I might have missed. This year, it took me twice as long to prepare my taxes - two hours instead of one - because I used two services as a comparison. More details on that tomorrow. Today, I focus on how filing taxes online saves money.
Remember, even if you don’t owe taxes, you must file a return this year in order to qualify for the tax rebate being provided by the government this summer.
File Taxes Online Free with the IRS
The simplest way to file federal taxes online is to go to the IRS website and click the Free File button. If you owe taxes and adjusted gross income was less than $54,000 this year, then this system is for you. Unfortunately, this system is not currently available for those filers who don’t actually make enough to owe taxes but need to file for the rebate. Check back in early April to see if it’s available then. Or you could file form 1040A on paper now. Personally, I’d give the IRS a little more time to update the software before resorting to paper.
File Taxes Online Free with Other Services
If you don’t qualify for the IRS free file program, review their list of e-file partners. Several offer free federal e-filing, although they do charge for the state. Go down the list and click through to view the offers. Spend a little extra time at each site to see if there are other offers that don’t appear on the splash page. For example, TaxAct show their fee-options on the splash page, but if you click over to the main page, you’ll find the free option.
The IRS Free File program doesn’t complete state taxes. If you live in an income tax state, check with your local tax board to see if they have free online tax software. If not, you can paper file in your state or pay to use the software.
Compare Prices and Pay to File
California is an income tax state and a complicated one at that, so I use the pay software to also complete my return. However, I don’t use the most expensive service. When it comes to these services, they’re generally equal (as you’ll see tomorrow), but their prices are not. I would look for a reasonable offer from a robust site and use that one. If you’re concerned that it won’t be up to the task, you can usually use the software without paying. Prepare your taxes once on the cheap site and once on the expensive site. If the returns are the same, use the cheaper option.
Use the Same Service Annually to Save Time
As a bonus time saver, use the same service every year. If you’ve used them in the past, the system will copy over your old information. So, if you haven’t moved, changed employers, or changed your dependents, you can simply click to confirm that information is still accurate and then enter new wage and withholding information. If your information has changed, updating it is simple.
Run Through the Deluxe Q&As
Some services provide tax Q&A screens if you’ve had major life events. I’ll show you more on that tomorrow, but it’s always worthwhile to check the boxes for your major changes and run through the questions. You may discover that you’re owed deductions or credits you wouldn’t otherwise be aware of. Common deductions include medical costs, moving expenses, excess social security deposits, adoption fees, and more.
Avoid an Audit
Finally, these services help you avoid an audit by checking your return for errors and flags. Now, this doesn’t save you money directly, but you will have to miss time at work and travel to an IRS office if you do get flagged for an audit. The screens reduce your chances of being flagged for an audit, unless of course you lie on your taxes.
Never Accept a Refund Anticipation Loan
Refund anticipation loans are rip-offs of the same order as payday loans. When you file online and use direct deposit, your refund will appear in your bank account within five to fourteen days. In some cases, it can take that long for the anticipation loan application to process, and you’ll have to pay additional fees and interest on that loan. Even if you get approved immediately, you still have to pay exorbitant fees of $30-90, plus interest of 178-700%.
Filing taxes is never fun, but with online software it almost feels that way. I love watching that little refund number in the corner go from red to green. This year it meant that we paid almost exactly the right amount in withholding, which means we didn’t loan the government much money. That’s the best savings of all!
Jan
30
How to Watch Less TV
Filed Under Entertainment, Saving Money, Time Management | Leave a Comment
I’m not someone who thinks TV is bad, but I recognize that it can easily absorb a whole afternoon if you’re not careful. Studies have shown that watch TV produces alpha waves, which are the same waves produced when you meditate. That’s why it’s so easy to watch a night of silly sitcoms without realizing it.
At the same time, I find that some shows get me thinking and create interesting conversations. I don’t want to give up TV entirely – there are certain shows my husband and I enjoy together – but I do want to watch less junk. I also wouldn’t mind cutting my cable bill.
Here are my tips for learning to watch less TV:
Keep a Cable Log
Last spring I kept a viewing log for a month in order to pinpoint my viewing habits. Right now it’s more challenging to figure out which shows you do actually want to watch because so few of them are on, but a cable log is still a good way to keep track of where you’re wasting time.
To keep my log, I put a notebook in the living room near the TV. Every time I turned on the TV, I noted the time, what channel was on, what show I watched, and whether I did anything else while watching. I also noted the time I turned the TV off.
Highlight the Shows You Actually Watched and Like
When reviewing my log, I discovered that I intentionally viewed about 50 hours of TV a month, but the TV was on for 85 hours. I also discovered that I never watched several of the premium channels we subscribed to. Those have now been cancelled. Of those 50 hours, probably 16 of them were the Daily Show and the Colbert Report. I discovered that I had a lot more free time when those two shows were off the air this winter, but I also really missed them! Now that they’re back, I watch them during dinner.
Set an Appointment to Watch TV
If there are specific shows you like to watch, make an appointment to watch them. Turn the TV on when the show starts, then turn it off when the show is over. In the fall, I was down to five shows a week (plus DS and CR). At this point, I watch 3-4 a week, but soon that will be just one or two. When/if TV returns in the fall, I plan to stick to just 3-4 shows a week.
Hide the Remote
If you tend to channel surf when you’re bored, make the remote difficult to access. Keep it in a box across the room or another room entirely. Serious TV addicts might want to lock it up. That will force you to think about whether or not you really want to watch TV. If you’re just trying to kill time, do something else. Read a book, exercise, play a game with your family, do something other than letting yourself lose four hours to mindless TV viewing.
Cancel Cable and Rent Shows
With most past seasons of popular shows now available on DVD, you can cancel cable and then rent the DVDs when it’s convenient for you. Even shows like MythBusters and Food Network series are on DVD. Your library, video store, or Blockbuster and Netflix most likely have many of the shows you’d want to see.
By cancelling cable, you also give yourself fewer options for channel surfing. If you don’t have a digital television, you’ll need to buy a digital converter by February 2009 or you won’t be able to receive any television. The government is operating a digital television coupon program to reduce the cost of the converters. Of course, if you want to stop watching TV entirely, cancelling cable and using an analog television without a converter will be a great way to go cold turkey!
Buy a Tiny TV
My best friend doesn’t have cable and only watches a few network shows, so she uses a 13-inch TV. The screen is so small that it doesn’t encourage lazy viewing. If you find yourself watching too much TV, buy a smaller TV and then sit all the way across the room. You’ll probably find yourself watching very little TV after a week of miserable squinting.
I was able to watch less TV simply by being more aware of my viewing habits, but you might need to take more drastic action if you have a serious TV addiction.
Jan
3
Setting Up Good Financial Systems
Filed Under Money Management, Personal Finance, Time Management | Leave a Comment
In addition to lists, I like financial software. I started using Quicken back in 1997 and have used it ever since. When I was in charge of paying the bills, I also had a system to remind me to pay the bills so I never missed a payment and always had the money ready to pay it. Here are the integral parts of my good financial system. If you want to set up good financial systems, you should adopt some or all of these practices yourself.
Financial Software
For me, financial software is the key to managing my money. I still use Quicken 2005, but they release an upgrade every year. I don’t use the tax planning portion of the program, so an outdated edition works well for me. I fear we may have to upgrade this year, though, because my husband has been having trouble downloading the statements. We might also consider switching to Mint or one of the new online programs, but so far the old Quicken works most of the time and we can deal with its quirks.
Auto Pay
If you have recurring bills and a credit card with no debt on it, charge as many recurring bills as possible to that card. We put our cell phone, cable bill, utility bills, and memberships on one card. That way we never forget to pay those little bills and pay them all with one payment. This is also a great money saver if your bank charges a fee per check or have a monthly check-writing limit on your account.
Online Bill Pay
My bank permits free online bill pay. I probably wouldn’t use a bank that charged me to make its processes easier, but some banks do still charge for the service. If you get bill pay free, then use it. It takes five minutes to log in, enter all the bills you want to pay, set up the payment dates, and then let your bills pay themselves. If your bank doesn’t offer free bill pay, compare the cost of their bill pay with other online bill pay services and sign up for the one with the features you need at the best price. Many credit card and utility companies let you pay for free through their websites, but it does require extra steps to go to those individual websites.
Calendar
If you have bills you need to mail, mark their due dates on a calendar every month. I used to mark the payment date (seven days before the due date) on the stamp spot on the envelopes and file them by payment date. Then once a week I went through my bills and wrote the checks for the bills that were due to be paid that week. If I was going on vacation, I paid the next week’s bills, too. That ensured that I always paid my bills on time.
Filing System
We receive most of our bills online and download them into Quicken, but we maintain a filing system for the bills we do receive. We keep them in the files for a year, and then transfer any we need to keep to our tax folders at the end of the year. We also keep our receipts in folders for sorting at year end.
Your system can be as simple or as complicated as you like, but I found that my really complicated system was overwhelming and this more streamlined method works well for us now.
Dec
14
Seven Tips to Save Money Shipping Holiday Gifts
Filed Under Gift, Holiday, Saving Money, Time Management | Leave a Comment
Shipping holiday gifts successfully requires advance planning, unless you’re willing to spend a fortune on it. If you are, then by all means, ship your gifts December 21st by two-day air. If you’re like me and don’t want spend more on the shipping than the gift, use these seven tips to save money. You might even save time.
Plan to ship everything by Monday, December 17. That way you can use Priority Mail. (If you’re shipping jewelry or other expensive items, use UPS or FedEx ground delivery. It will cost more, but it’s more secure.)
If you haven’t already purchased the gifts you need to ship, order them online and have them shipped directly. If you’re buying from an online store that offers free shipping, see if the total cost of the gifts for each destination is more than the minimum purchase for free shipping. If so, place separate orders so you get free shipping to each destination. If you’d have to pay for shipping to each destination, compare the cost having them all shipped to you free and then shipping them to the recipients yourself.
Next year, use the online USPS, UPS, and FedEx rate calculators and online product information to determine the shipping costs for gifts you’re ordering. One year I discovered my cousin’s gift was very heavy. The post office would have charged $12 to ship it. Rather than include it in the order being shipped to me, I had it shipped directly to her. I had to pay $4.95 for wrapping, but it was still cheaper than shipping it myself. You can also compare the cost of buying the gift online and having it shipped direct vs. buying it at a local store and shipping it yourself. Another year I could buy my cousin’s gift cheaper at a local store. Once wrapping was factored in, the cost of ordering it was more than the cost for me to mail it.
Consolidate your gifts. Rather than buy individual gifts for each family member, choose something the parents and children or both members of the couple will enjoy together. That way you only have to ship one gift instead of three or four and it’s a chance for the family to spend time together.
If shipping holiday gifts by USPS, print your postage online. Simply create an account at their website, enter the address and weight info, then select your preferred method, and pay. You can print a label on plain paper and tape it to the box with clear packing tape. Not only will you save time waiting in line, but you get free delivery confirmation on Priority and Express mail packages. You can either drop the package off without waiting in line or arrange a free pick-up by your regular carrier. If you’re not home during the day, I recommend having it picked up from your office.
Use free packaging. Save some of the shipping boxes you receive during the year and reuse them to ship gifts. Save some of the packing material to avoid buying it yourself. If the gift will fit, you can also use the post office’s free Priority or Express Mail boxes for your gifts. UPS and FedEx also offer free packaging supplies.
Set aside a Saturday to wrap and package gifts. Rather than ship gifts a few times during the holidays, spend a few hours one weekend wrapping all your gifts, then putting them in shipping boxes, printing postage, and dropping them off at the post office. By doing everything at once, you’ll save a lot of time and hassle.
Don’t ship food gifts. If you’ve baked something, give it to local people. Homemade baked goods often arrive broken or spoiled. If you must ship baked goods, mail them on a Monday or Tuesday by two-day delivery so they arrive quickly and don’t have to spend a weekend in a warehouse.
Dec
7
Save Time and Your Sanity with 12 Christmas Shopping Tips
Filed Under Holiday, Time Management | 1 Comment
I hate shopping. I hate it any time of year, but I especially hate it at Christmas. The stores are crowded, everyone’s in a frenzy, parking’s a hassle, and it’s hard to find anything. But that doesn’t mean I don’t have to shop.
To save time and my sanity, I came up with a few Christmas shopping strategies. I started with the Christmas shopping list I posted the other day. Then I branched out to deadlines and strategic shopping. I now have 12 Christmas shopping tips
Strategy 1: Finish shopping by mid-December. Each year, I set a hard deadline when all my shopping must be done. I try to make it the second Sunday of the month. Unfortunately, December 1st fell on a Saturday this year, and December 9 is a little too early. I’ll be mostly done, but I’ll probably have a couple gift cards left to pick up. My deadline for this year is December 16. Next year it will be December 14.
Strategy 2: Shop on weekdays. When you’re shopping early in the season, the stores are relatively uncrowded after work on a weekday or during lunch. You can hit a few stores in the mall without spending hours and hours.
Strategy 3: Shop with a list. Always rely on your Christmas shopping list to stay on track. Don’t be tempted to add little things or veer from your pre-determined gift decisions by all the pretty, sparkly things you’ll see.
Strategy 4: Shop online. There are a couple online stores where I regularly Christmas shop. If I can order three to four gifts from them in one shot, it seriously cuts down on my shopping time. The gifts are delivered to my office. All I have to do is take them home to wrap them. As an added bonus, I can reuse the shipping boxes to mail gifts to relatives.
Strategy 5: Use PriceProtectr.com: I just learned about this fantastic site, and already it’s saved me a dollar. Here’s what you do: shop at one of the 70 stores covered by site. Make your purchases as usual. Copy and paste the URL into the PriceProtectr.com box along with your email address. They email you if the price falls within the stated price protection period and tell you how to request your refund.
Strategy 6: Shop the online stores first. Before you head to the store, make the sure the store carries the item you want. With some stores, you can actually check their stock on the website. If you’re feeling brave, you can call ahead and ask to have it held, but I usually get aggravated by this because they either don’t answer the phone or leave me on hold forever.
Strategy 7: Choose one shopping center to visit. Once I’ve decided what to get people, I look for as many gifts as possible online. I then figure out which stores carry the remaining items. Finally I figure out which local shopping center has most of those stores and go there to get the rest of the gifts.
Strategy 8: Order gift cards online. Most sites will ship gift cards for free or for $1. If they charge more than that, I won’t buy the card from them or I make sure that store is at the shopping center I plan to visit. I much prefer to buy the gift cards online though. I hate waiting in a long line to get a gift card.
Strategy 9: Have gifts shipped directly to relatives. Although you have to pay for wrapping, free shipping will often make up for that. Gift baskets are great for clients and distant family members. Amazon often has free shipping on toys, so you can have those shipped directly, too.
Strategy 10: Ask kids what they want. If you have to buy gifts for nieces, nephews, or cousins, email their parents in mid-November to ask what the kids want. This way you know exactly what to get and can start planning where to buy it sooner.
Strategy 11: Shop during off-hours. If you have to go to a store like Home Depot or Toys R Us, go late in the evening, around 9 or 10 PM. The place will be deserted. Many malls are open late during this time a year, so that’s another great time to go.
Strategy 12: Make shopping a date. My husband hates to shop as much as I do, but he also wants to pick out some gifts himself, so we make a date out of it. We pick one Saturday to go to a nearby shopping center. We try to get there by six to get his shopping done. Then we put our names in at a restaurant (sometimes we do this first if the restaurant is really popular and we know there will be a long wait) and look at the lights or just meander while we wait. Finally, we cap it off with a movie. Even though it’s shopping, the evening is less stressful because we made a whole night of it.
All these strategies combined make for very merry Christmas shopping. You won’t be babbling incoherently come Christmas morning, and you can impress everyone with how early you finished.
