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I'm on a few IRS mailing lists, and this message seemed worth sharing. I particular like that they included some help contact info at the bottom. I usually have a really good experience when I call the IRS people with questions, so don't hesitate if something confuses you.
( Tax tips behind the cut )
With my Christmas money I had hoped to buy the last the seasons of X-files at Walmart where they had been selling for $13.42 each a month before. Unfortunately they were all sold out by the time I got to the store. I checked on walmart.com and they were available for about $22 each. However my B&N members card was still active, so I decide to try that store first. They had some in stock, but they were about $40 each. A few days later I was got an e-mail from barnesandnobles.com saying they had a sale going, so I check their website. I found the DVDs I was looking for at $15.99 each, and my members discount took off $1.60 each, and shipping was free in this case.
That's over a $20 dollar difference between the store and the website within the same company. So check both if you are comparing prices on an item. Happy bargain hunting.
| January | $84 |
| Febuary | $168 |
| March | $252 |
| April | $336 |
| May | $420 |
| June | $504 |
| July | $588 |
| August | $672 |
| September | $756 |
| October | $840 |
| November | $924 |
| December | $1000 |
Tables like this can be helpful regardless of what your savings goals are, so feel free to drop in your own numbers and post it somewhere that you'll see if often enough to keep you motivated!
I had to lean on my savings a bit at the beginning of the year as I was starting up my business, by some mircle I managed to get it to eek up close to $3200, which is much better than this time last year. Now that I'm able to pay myself a regular salary, I hope to do some more regular and aggressive savings. I really want to get my emergency fund back up to $5000. Realistically that will only happen this year if I'm able to increase my pay (which I hope do in next few months). Right now, however I'm giving myself the more realistic goal of saving $100 a month.
I'm spending today and tomorrow wrapping up old projects, and getting myself and my business ready for the New Year. I watched a great movie last night "James Journey to Jerusalem" one of those best films you've never heard of type things. The central theme of the film is getting caught up in the pursuit of money and things and how it can cause you to lose sight of your true goal(s).
So I'm encouraging everyone to reflect on your goals for life and what you're doing or should do to move towards them. Are you moving towards them? Are you letting other ultimately less important things distract you? And are you dealing honorably and honestly with the people in your life? We begin our book by saying that money is a means to an end, not the end itself. That's something I believe very deeply.
Goals don't always have to be grand things. They can be very simple, but having them helps us keep focus. Ask yourself what your ultimate goals are? What steps do you need to take to acheive them? What can you do in the coming year to get yourself closer to your goals?
I hope everyone who celebrates Christmas has/is having a lovely one.
After coming home from my grandmother's, I spent some extra time with my brother (who is also probably my best savings pupil). He was trying to decide what to do with the Christmas money he had gotten. I went through my priority list for unexpected income and that brought us to his Emergency Fund, at which point he reveals to me that he has $9000 in his checking account. My first reaction was to tell him "Good job!" My second reaction was to go "Wait, you have that all in regular, no interest checking?"
When you first start out, it may makes sense to only have a checking account as they tend to have no or low minimum balances. However once you saved enough to be safely above the minimum balance, you really ought to move a portion of it into an interest bearing account. Partially to earn interest and partially to give your money better protection. If some one steals the debit card linked to your checking, this can help prevent them from getting to all your money. It's part of the "don't keep all your eggs in one basket" bit of wisdom.
My brother and I made a list to figure up his living expenses for 6 months, and decided that $5000 would be a reasonable amount for an Emergency fund. So he's going to move that much into a money market account, where it will both gain interest but remain fairly accessable. He is 24 and has no retirement fund set up yet, so I've encouraged him to look into setting up a Roth IRA (last I checked $2000 was the minimum for getting one started.)
His monthly expenses are generally less than $1000, so I told him he normally didn't need to keep more than that in his checking account. He should consider keeping the remainder in a regular savings account (which in the book, I would label as short term savings).
Unless you have a larger than average purchase in planning, you generally don't need to keep more than a months worth of expenses in your checking account, particularly if it's not an interest bearing account. While I realize the interest rates on regular savings are fairly low right now, every little bit helps. Compound interest is a marvelous thing. Particularly as your savings increases you want to diversify it, so it can be as safe and fruitful as possible.