& Barb Recommends Links

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“Our current economic crisis calls for bold action to truly stimulate the economy and Renew America back to its greatness.” Herman Cain

9% Business Flat Tax

9% Individual Flat Tax

9% National Sales Tax

Aside from the fact that there is no way this proposal will be passed, a national sales tax is regressive.

A regressive tax disproportionately hurts the poor!

That’s right. The poor are hurt most by this system!

Consider FAMILY #1 with 3 kids and $30,000.00 per year annual income, a trip to the mall for back to school clothes and supplies costs at least $250.00. Tack on 9% sales tax or $22.50. For the FAMILY #2 making $75,000.00 that same trip also pays $22.50 in tax payments. But here’s where the lower income family gets screwed.

FAMILY #1: $22.50 is taxed .075% of their $30,000.00 annual income

FAMILY #2: $22.50 is taxed .030% of their $75,000.00 annual income.

The tax impact on the poorer family is more than double that of the wealthier family. That is not fair.

Then consider the additional impact of state taxes on top of that, and the poor family is totally penalized!

The Takeaway

A flat sales tax disproportionately hurts the poor. It is a bad idea. A flat income tax has some merits as long as those at the lower income levels are exempted, but the idea will never catch on! There are too many individuals supported by our existing tax system.

So, Herman Cain, although charismatic and innovative is going down a no win path.

BARB RECOMMENDS

Please enjoy these superior articles from top personal finance bloggers.

Causes of Stress; Rating the Most Stressful Financial Events at The Digerati Life. After spending the entire summer in transit, waiting for our short sale home, halfway across the country, to come through, I know firsthand about financial stress!

Laura Adams from Smart Moves to Grow Rich writes about 7 Tips to Choose the Right Life Insurance. You can read or listen to it!! But, don’t avoid, it’s important.

Online Income Report-September at Tight Fisted Miser-Who doesn’t like money? See how Andy does it!

My Current Financial Problem; Too Much Extra Cash at Buy Like Buffett. This is how hard work pays out. Mark Riddix is a great model.

OccupayLA by Wealthinformatics-Great reporting on the inside scoop from a real person. Get the scoop about the movement by someone on the street, for real.

OccupyPortland at Retire by Forty-He actually went down to query the protesters in person. Read about it firsthand, it’s fascinating.

8 Ways to Waste your Cash Back at Money Smart Life-Cash back credit cards are great, but…… beware of wasting the rewards through bad behavior.

11 Steps to Financial Freedom; Step 5, Set Your Top Three Goals at Boomer and Echo- I am a huge fan of goal setting. It is the key to success! (Of course you have to act on the goals too )

Best Investment Advice, Avoid the Next Fad at 20s Finance-Jump on the fad investing bandwagon and watch your wealth decrease.

Barbara Friedberg Personal Finance Across the Blogosphere

Guest article:

How a Vacation Can Teach You About Financial Markets at Dividend Ninja

Mentions and Carnivals:

Carnival of Personal Finance at Squirrelers posted What should I invest in?

TotallyMoney Blog Carnival at BankNerd.ca posted How to Get Rid of Debt; Start Here

Carnival of Wealth at Control Your Cash posted Money Tips

Young Adult Finances mentioned her Forex Guest post at my site.

20s Finance included Get Rid of Debt in his week-end round up.

MoneyGreenLife included What Should I Invest In in his Friday iphone Roundup.

101 Centavos included GO BEYOND KEEPING UP WITH THE JONES in his round up.

So what do you think of the Republican Presidential Candidates? Anyone you agree with?

image credit; subxinu

UPDATE; Over the next month my family is moving across the country to a new home. Please enjoy a variety of guest articles from top notch bloggers and sponsors. Also, catch up with earlier favorites from Barbara Friedberg Personal Finance.  

For a quick overview of Investing Strategies, pick up my FREE eBook; 20 Minute Guide to Investing (top right of the page). If you like what you’re reading, sign up for my RSS feed or email subscription and follow me on twitter so you get the word immediately.

 Below is a guest post from Super Frugalette. She blogs about being elegant in a fiscally contentious way. She shares with us that the IRS caught a faux pas on her tax return. It netted her $800 but wounded her pride.

In the past my last job, before I accepted the position of full time family COO (otherwise known as a stay at home mom), I worked as an accountant. I have done countless 1040s…I have done my own taxes for years. Many of the years had more complicated returns with Schedule E  (rental real estate) and one year painstakingly tracking $22K worth of medical expenses for Schedule A.

Thus you can understand how horrified and humbled I was when I received a letter from the IRS stating that I had made an error. The letter told me that I did not include Schedule M and that I would be receiving $800. Schedule M is the “Making Work Pay Credit”. It is refundable tax credit. Most workers have received the benefit of this credit in their paychecks. Thus, their paychecks were larger.

How could I forget Schedule M?

Everyone gets M!

(Well not everyone, but if you make less than $95,000 as a single person or $190,000 as a married couple and you have income, you qualify for the making work pay credit…I am starting to get way too excited about talking about taxes so I will stop…)

I knew everyone got M in 2009. I had forgotten that it continued into 2010 as well.

If I had paid for tax software, Schedule M would have been listed as a form for me to fill out…but no, I *do* taxes…I know it is snobby but it feels so beneath me to pay for tax software and I am a huge fan of freefillableforms. I mean it is FREE. What is better than FREE.?

$800 is better than free.

I wish I could say that I “learned my lesson” and that I will not use freefillableforms again. I will. However, I have new faith in the IRS. They are not just interested in auditing your return but ensuring that you receive your credits too.

So, the lesson learned from this story is do not be afraid to use free tax software. I still got my $800.

FYI – One month after I submitted my return, I received the letter that I had failed to file Schedule M. The IRS said it may take weeks for me to receive a check. The check was next piece of mail that I opened that day. It was right behind the IRS letter in the mailbox. 

What are some of your oops financial moments? Ever had your money pride wounded?

“I save money when I’m working so I never have to take a role just for the money.” Gary Sinese 

I like hearing movie and television actors espouse smart money habits. It hammers in the importance of saving, regardless of 

Main Topic; Tax Time Has an Added Benefit 

I’m finally getting around to organizing our family records so I can complete our tax returns. In addition to W-2′s we have royalty income from published books, income from consulting, and dividends, interest, and capital gains. Before you turn away in disgust, let me say El Carino and I have been working many many many years in order to build up these revenue streams. We have devoted lots of time and money to education….. and many hours to work outside of the typical 9 to 5 gig. 

I was somewhat surprised when I complied all of the 1099′s and various tax forms. I certainly don’t feel like we are swimming in cash. Of course with a daughter in college, the money goes out rather quickly. 

Practical Application; Out of Sight Out of Mind

The reason these tax forms caught me off guard is this; almost every bit of our additional income goes immediately into savings. And a  big chunk of our regular salaries goes into retirement funds. So the actual money we have in our checking account, which we use for our living expenses is rather modest. We live a life free of excess and filled with lots of low cost fun.

I realized something that the famous financial writer, Jane Bryant Quinn stated in one of her many books; If you don’t see money in your account, YOU WILL NOT SPEND IT.

Her budgeting advice was brilliant, transfer a set amount from your paycheck into savings, and spend the rest. You’ll build up savings and you will learn to make do with what you have, not the other way around.

Instead of saving what you have left at the end of the month, which won’t be much, save at the beginning, and spend what’s left. Trick yourself into thinking that you have access to less cash and I promise, you won’t miss it.

 Say no to a couple of extravagances during the month, and over time, your net worth will grow.

ACTION STEP:

Get a notebook and label it: “(your name) Personal Finance” and keep it by the computer. Use it to keep all of your personal finance goals, thoughts, activities, and plans.  

Even if you already have money transferred from your paycheck into a retirement account, have a bit more transferred into a savings or brokerage account. Write in a let me know if you miss it! 

And if you don’t have any automatic savings, get started NOW, having money from you paycheck transferred into a retirement and savings account. 

What are your tricks for keeping cash from flying through your fingers? 

Stop by Everyday Tips and Thoughts today to read my featured article entitled, “Why I Don’t Want a Smart Phone.”

For a quick overview of Investing Strategies, pick up my FREE eBook; 20 Minute Guide to Investing (top right of the page). If you like what you’re reading, sign up for my RSS feed and follow me on twitter so you get the word immediately.  

image credit; John-Morgan

A version of this post was originally published on March 15, 2010

“I am favor of cutting taxes under any circumstances and for any excuse, for any reason, whenever it’s possible.”
Milton Friedman

All I can say about this quote is “ME TOO.” Yet I also really like some of the stuff taxes pay for, like roads, national parks, social security, education, etc. So I guess my recommendation on this matter would be to cut all taxes that I don’t like, and keep the ones I like!                         

Main Topic; I Prepare Many Tax Returns

I have a lot of taxes to complete; our personal family federal, state, and local, my daughter’s, and my corporation’s business tax preparation. I usually tackle this overwhelming annual project by breaking it down into bits. And I try to get the worst ones done first. So far, I’m almost done with all of them (just Jr. Carino’s and the local remain).

Additionally, (refers to 2010) I finally achieved something that I’ve wanted to do for several years. I passed the 2 qualifying exams to volunteer as a tax preparer for low income families. So, on top of all these personal tax returns I must do, I assisted others a couple of hours per week with their taxes.

 I like to give back, but I don’t want to do any volunteer work that isn’t interesting and fun for me! And that’s why I chose the tax prep.

So here’s the summation, I have a lot of tax returns to do!

I know that everyone reading this also has to do their own taxes or pay a professional to do them.

 And most of us look at this annual ritual with disdain.

Practical Application; Benefit from Action

Aside from the benefit of doing something for others, the volunteer tax prep informed me of  INCREDIBLE TAX CREDITS. Because we are paying some college tuition fees for our daughter, we got to take advantage of the American Opportunity Grant and got a very nice TAX CREDIT! We also qualified for another credit called Making Work Pay! These credits make the tax preparation a little less painful this year.

A tax credit is the equivalent of FREE MONEY!

You’ll see that you probably qualify for some really cool tax credits this year. If you make any side income, fill out a Schedule C and make sure to take all of the deductions for which you qualify! Actually, our family has some schedule C and E income. It’s well worth your time to review the related tax publications at IRS.gov to increase your knowledge of the deductions for which you are eligible. If you can itemize, you may encounter an even lower tax bill!

So, what is the personal finance task to do NOW in order to feel great?

DO YOUR TAXES NOW AND YOU WILL FEEL GREAT!

Here is why…… You will have gotten them out of the way and they won’t be hanging over your head. Thus, more time for other activities!

Action Step:

Get a notebook and label it: “(your name) Personal Finance” and keep it by the computer. Use it for all of your personal finance goals, thoughts, activities, and plans.

Start your tax prep today. Just do a bit today. And then do a bit more every day until you are finished!

Write and tell me if you started your tax prep and/or finished it. DID YOU FEEL GREAT OR NOT? If you finished and didn’t feel great, feel free to blame me!  

For a quick overview of Investing Strategies, pick up my FREE eBook; 20 Minute Guide to Investing (top right of the page). If you like what you’re reading, sign up for my RSS feed and follow me on twitter so you get the word immediately.  

image credit; lastnychero 

“In this world, nothing is certain but death and taxes.” Benjamin Franklin

The only way to avoid taxes is to be dead or not to earn any money. Which alternative would you choose? As Franklin succinctly implied, there is no positive manner to get away from the tax man!

Let me continue by saying, even as a personal finance writer, taxes don’t excite me. That said, there are some reasons why you need to focus on them.

MAIN TOPIC: The Benefit of Knowing About Taxes

How much time do you spend researching a new washer and dryer before you buy one? Or what about a new computer? If you’re like most people, you spend a considerable amount of time reading reviews and checking prices on line before you make a major purchase.

Now, how much time do you spend trying to understand and reduce your taxes? Probably not too much. Yet, taxes are one of the biggest expenses incurred, and you don’t just pay them once per year, but every year during most of your life. Ask yourself if it’s worth a few moments to familiarize yourself with the federal, state, and local tax codes in order to save thousands of dollars over your lifetime.

Fortunately, my parents were very savvy business people and serial entrepreneurs. I remember the times my dad would sit me down and talk to me about capital gains, business expenses, and ways to cut the tax bill. I learned so many legal ways to minimze taxes, that I’m sure our family has benefitted substantially. And, it has become a habit to think about legal ways to reduce our family tax bill.

Let me be clear, I AM NOT AN ACCOUNTANT AND ANY SUGGESTIONS IN THIS ARTICLE MIGHT NOT BE APPROPRIATE FOR YOU! That said, I’d like to share an incomplete and somewhat random list of helpful tax saving information. I invite any accountants out there to chime in with additional recommendations.

PRACTICAL APPLICATION; Pay Less Taxes by Having Less Taxable Income

The lower your TAXABLE income, the lower your taxes. None of us pay tax on every penny we earn. The key is to earn a lot, and get enough deductions and exemptions to make your tax bill smaller.

According to Jeff Schnepper of MSN Money, you get certain deductions whether you itemize your taxes or take the standard deduction. These deductions are worth examining; IRA and certain pension deductions, student loan interest, moving expenses, alimony, medical savings account deductions, self-employed health insurance premiums, and one-half self-employment taxes paid.

Contribute as much as you possibly can to an IRA and/or workplace retirement account. The dual benefit means you’ll have more money in retirement and pay less taxes.

Decide whether to itemize or take the standard deduction by calculating which approach will allow you to pay less tax. If you itemize your taxes, there are many more items which may be deducted such as mortgage interest, charitable contributions, real estate and other taxes, and business losses. If you have a small business where you make some income (like a blog), you have a wealth of expenses related to your business which may be deducted. If you qualify for itemizing, do a quick check and prepare your taxes with the standard deduction and again with itemizing to determine which method results in a lower tax bill.

Credits are the best, because a tax credit is a dollar-for-dollar decrease in your taxes. Some of you will qualify for the child tax credit or the child and dependent care credits. There are also some education credits available for the student(s) in the family.

For those parents out there, aside from the pure joy of parenthood, you get up to $3,650 deducted from your income for each qualified dependent. Don’t forget to take it!

The tax brackets change every year, and it’s really important to understand how they work as well as your marginal tax rate. You pay differing amounts of taxes as your income increases. Your marginal rate is the amount of tax you pay on the last dollar you earn. Knowing the 2011 marginal tax rates will help you to understand how much of that fat raise will go to you and how much to Uncle Sam.

HELP

• There are many free and low cost tax preparation services available. If you fall under certain guidelines, the IRS (usually through the United Way) offers free tax preparation by trained VITA volunteers. I trained and provided this service last year and helped out a lot of folks as well as learned quite a bit about the tax code! Check with your local IRS office for more information.
• AARP also offers tax prep for older citizens.
• Even the IRS and state tax offices may help with your return; but be prepared to wait.
• HR Block and the IRS dot gov web sites, have a wealth of tools to help with your tax questions.
• MSN Money has loads easy-to-read tax articles.

For your own wealth, give your taxes a little extra time and you will reap tremendous benefits. 

ACTION STEPS:

 Get a notebook and label it: “(your name) Personal Finance” and keep it by the computer. Use it to keep all of your personal finance goals, thoughts, activities, and plans.

• Commit a few minutes each week to increase your tax knowledge.
• If you have a side business, keep track of your expenses and include them on your taxes.
• Give to your favorite charity and make a quick trip to Goodwill or the Salvation Army for a charitable contribution deduction before the end of the year.  
• Even if you don’t prepare your own taxes, consider using a free on-line tax preparation service or buying some tax preparation software to learn how you might lower your tax bill.
• Don’t forget to learn about special tax benefits like the 2011 energy tax credit.

 If you like what you’re reading, pick up my RSS feed and follow me on twitter so you get the word immediately. 

image credit: JD Hancock

What are your tips for LOWERING THE TAX BILL?

Summer’s a time when you can kick back, relax and read a bit more. In that vein, I’d like to recommend some enjoyable and informative articles I’ve come across recently. Get a taste here, and stop by the authors’ sites for the full versions.

Could the Free Market have Ended Racism?

Let me state, I am not a fan of racism (As a matter of fact, some might call me a “liberal.”)! I don’t think the free market is enough to end racism but read on to hear a fascinating discussion at The Amateur Financier:

“ ‘The free market, as usual, will address the problem.  It punishes racists.  A business that doesn’t hire blacks will lose customers and good employees.  It will atrophy while its more inclusive competitors thrive.’ (John) Stossel raises an interesting point: could the free market have ended discrimination without government intervention?  Or were the government actions like the Civil Rights Act and its prohibitions on employment discrimination a needed remedy to the segregation era?”

2010 Tax Brackets; Which Income Tax Bracket am I in?

No one is enthusiastic about paying taxes, that being said…. the more you understand about the system, the more likely it is that you will KEEP MORE OF YOUR CASH! Read on about this important issue at The Oblivious Investor:

“The Federal income tax is referred to as a “progressive tax.” Of course, it’s not progressive in the same way that a social movement could be said to be progressive. What the term means in this case is that, as your taxable income increases, so does the rate at which you are taxed. People will often make statements such as “I’m in the 25% tax bracket.” For example, as you can see in the table below, a single person with a taxable income of $40,000 would be in the 25% tax bracket. People frequently misunderstand this to mean that all of the person’s income is taxed at a rate of 25%. In reality, the person’s overall tax rate will be much lower.”

The TAO of the Intellect

Loved the title, and the content gets you thinking… just not too much! Read more at Early Retirement Extreme:

“Another very human trait is to weigh recent information more than historical information or worse, weigh it higher than  “what is not seen”. The latter causes an enormous amount of confusion. One might almost say that the entire field of economics is dedicated to solve this problem (the broken window fallacy), at least after a couple of beers.”

Six Tips from Yorkshire’s Top Thriftiest Grannies

Who wouldn’t want to read this post? The grannies have the best tips; here’s a sneak peek, read more at Miss Thrifty:

“TOP TIP 4 – Pack junk mail into the empty cardboard toilet roll tubes and use them as firelighters.”

Good Debt vs. Bad Debt 

I agree with MOST of the content here… but read on and see what YOU think. Young and Thrifty has a great writing style, enjoy….. 

“Yes.. I mentioned the “D” word. Debt. Just letting that word roll off your tongue makes you feel like you have halitosis. Well, get that tongue scraper and Listerine out, because as surprising(and somewhat crazy) as this may sound, there is such thing good debt AND bad debt.”

Crank up your Savings Goals at Smarty Pig

Right now, get a (relatively) high yield at this unique goal-oriented savings site as discussed at Free From Broke.

“Whether you want to save up $500 for back to school shopping, or $5,000 for a family vacation, it is possible to use SmartyPig to reach that goal.  The concept is fairly straightforward, and works simply.”

Could you Give it all Away?

The uber-wealthy Bill Gates and Warren Buffett are doing just that? Join the discussion at Beating Broke:

“At the real bottom of this is a more important question.  Why do we build wealth?  What purpose do we give our lives that we strive to attain wealth.  In Warren Buffetts case, I think you could argue that he has always seen it as a challenge.”

Buying Blogs, Selling Blogs: How I Built my Blogging Business

Sam at the Financial Samurai is somewhat of a “rock star” in the personal finance blogging world as founder of the Yakezie Network. This guest post on his site is a real peak inside the “business of blogging.”

“This is a guest post written by Mike, a young financial planner / web entrepreneur who is pursuing his dream of running his online business. You can follow his progress at The Financial Blogger and read his other financial blogs at Green Panda Treehouse and Intelligent Speculator. 3 years ago, I was told by many bloggers: “You will never make money blogging. And if you do, $200/month will be your highest peak ever”. Three year ago, The Financial Blogger was averaging 500 visits per month and I was ecstatic when I made my first deal of $10 for a link. Three years later, I now run three financial websites, bought 2 of them and flipped a blog within a year.”

My Teen-age Son, the Cell Phone, & a Bill for $1,055.20

Len Penzo dot com is one of the most hilarious personal finance writers around. He DOES NOT DISAPPOINT with this uproarious post about his son’s adventures with texting & a new cell phone:

 ”I can’t remember the exact day he first requested his own cell phone, but I am quite certain the first letters he learned in school weren’t A-B-C.  They were A-T-(T). When Matthew turned 12 last year, we decided it was finally time to grant his wish.   The only condition was that he had to pay us $25 per month to maintain his account.  Knowing that he could easily earn $40 per month by simply mowing the lawn and doing chores around the house, Matthew readily agreed – and so we got him his phone.”

CARNIVAL of Money Stories 2 featured my article this week; Reduce Stress Get Rid of Dysfunctional Money Behaviors-Part 2. Read my article as well as other money stories at this informative round up.

“Overcome a Passion for Procrastination (in dealing with financial matters). ‘Procrastination is like a credit card: it’s a lot of fun until you get the bill.’ Christopher Parker

This young actor hit the nail on the head! Avoiding and procrastinating seem fine, for a while. Later- the price you pay for procrastination is quite HIGH. Charge away with the credit card; if you don’t have the cash to pay it off every month, you are walking on a treadmill of pain.”

ACTION STEP:

Get a notebook and label it: “(your name) Personal Finance” and keep it by the computer. Use it to keep all of your personal finance goals, thoughts, activities, and plans.

Today, and every day, LEARN SOMETHING NEW!

What do you think about this summer reading? Agree, disagree, join the discussion……leave a comment.

Categories: Taxes, Carnival

A carnival of tax tips sounds like an oxymoron!  Believe it or not, even tax tips can be fun!

If you want the latest TAX info in one place visit the  DON’TMESSWITHTAXES site!

Listed FIRST is my “feel good” article and it is  a good motivator for getting your taxes done. 

Other posts include:

13 deductions you don’t want to miss

Evaluating a Roth IRA

How to File Your Taxes for Free

16 Ways Not to Blow your Tax Refund

and many more useful posts!

If you’ve never been to a PERSONAL FINANCE carnival before, now is a great time to visit and brush up on your tax tips.

“A festival marked by merrymaking and processions.”

Definition of carnival

I would like to invite you to a PERSONAL FINANCE Carnival. There will be lots of personal finance information and tips, and for those of you interested in more money and a better life……..IT WILL BE FUN!

What is a PERSONAL FINANCE CARNIVAL?

It’s a place where lots of authors publish articles about personal finance topics.

In one LOCATION you can get information about TAXES, CAREER, REAL ESTATE, CREDIT, DEBT, FRUGAL LIVING, SAVING, BUDGETING, INVESTING, FINANCE, and MONEY MANAGEMENT.

Why should I go?

• To learn 101 MONEY MANAGEMENT MYTHS
• To get some cash from Tips to Make Money on Craigslist
• To Get Rid of Debt Once and for All
• To gain access to a wealth of tips, information, and ideas to improve your finances and your life!

How long will it take?

• As long as you want!
• You choose the articles you are interested in.
• Read the posts at your leisure, and come back at any time.

Where is the CARNIVAL?

• It’s right here.

What are you waiting for?

Go have fun at the carnival!

Categories: taxes, goals

“I am favor of cutting taxes under any circumstances and for any excuse, for any reason, whenever it’s possible.”
Milton Friedman

All I can say about this quote is “ME TOO.” Yet I also really like some of the stuff taxes pay for, like roads, national parks, social security, education, etc. So I guess my recommendation on this matter would be to cut all taxes that I don’t like, and keep the ones I like!                         

Main Topic

I have a lot of taxes to complete; our personal family federal, state, and local, my daughter’s, and my corporation’s business tax preparation. I usually tackle this overwhelming annual project by breaking it down into bits. And I try to get the worst ones done first.

Additionally, this year I finally achieved something that I’ve wanted to do for several years. I passed the 2 qualifying exams to volunteer as a tax preparer for low income families. So, on top of all these personal tax returns I must do, I assist others a couple of hours per week with their taxes.

 I like to give back, but I’m also pretty selfish, so I don’t want to do any volunteer work that isn’t interesting and fun for me! And that’s why I chose the tax prep.

So here’s the summation, I have a lot of tax returns to do!

I know that everyone reading this also has to do their own taxes or pay a professional to do them.

 And most of us look at this annual ritual with disdain.

Practical Application

Aside from the benefit of doing something unselfish (for a change), the volunteer tax prep informed me of  INCREDIBLE TAX CREDITS THIS YEAR. Because we are paying some college tuition for our daughter, we got to take advantage of the American Opportunity Grant and got a very nice TAX CREDIT! We also qualified for another credit called Making Work Pay! These credits made the tax preparation a little less painful this year.

A tax credit is the equivalent of FREE MONEY!

So, what is the personal finance task to do NOW in order to feel great?

DO YOUR TAXES NOW AND YOU WILL FEEL GREAT!

Here is why…… You will have gotten them out of the way and they won’t be hanging over your head. Thus, more time for other activities!

You’ll see that you probably qualify for some really cool tax credits this year. If you bought a house or new car, you will probably get even MORE CREDTS.  

Action Step:

Get a notebook and label it: “(your name) Personal Finance” and keep it by the computer. Use it for all of your personal finance goals, thoughts, activities, and plans.

Start your tax prep today. Just do a bit today. And then do a bit more every day until you are finished!

Write and tell me if you started your tax prep and/or finished it. DID YOU FEEL GREAT OR NOT? If you finished and didn’t feel great, feel free to blame me!