Posts

$300 Tax Deduction

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I have been majorly slacking off on my blog, but I just had to inform you all about a t ax deduction that everyone needs to do for 2020 taxes. If there is one thing you do before the end of the year, you should read this and take action. For a pre-covid tax year, the only way that you could claim any charitable donations you have made is if you itemized your taxes. In December of 2017, Trump signed The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act that significantly raised standard deductions. When I say significant, he nearly doubled it; It is the highest deduction in American history. Before this, 46 million people would itemize their taxes and charitable donations were included in this and deducted, it is down to nearly 16 million since this new Act. I do not mean to say that this Act is bad, it is actually great and very beneficial to many. But for those that can no longer itemize, it meant that they could no longer take charitable tax deductions ... until this year. For this year only, thanks to the CA...
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Holiday Season 2020

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We are in November, and the holidays will be here before we know it.  Not gonna lie, I cannot wait for Christmas. I just love this time of year! Last year, households spent an average of $1,536 during the Holiday season. With the holidays come a lot of spending, especially for those who host or have small children. And every year people will say how Christmas snuck up on them. It is literally on the same day every year, it did not sneak up on anyone, you failed to plan. Are you ready for the holiday season? Did you prepare financially? I have a friend who is not a planner or a saver and every year she would tell me how Christmas arrived so suddenly and she put all of her charges on her credit card. This family then had to start the year out with a cloud and burden hanging over them because they needed to figure out how they would pay off their credit card over the next few months. I finally sat her down and told her that they needed to save a little every month starting in January ...
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Payroll Taxes

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Trump recently signed an executive order which includes payroll taxes. He is wanting to stop payroll taxes from being deducted from your paycheck effective Sept 1 to bring relief to the American people. The problem with this is that he is not forgiving these taxes, you will still owe this money, he is just delaying the tax. As someone who works with clients who are struggling to manage their money, I see this as a huge burden to the American people. What are Federal Payroll Taxes ? Federal payroll taxes are collected by federal authorities and are deducted on an employee's pay stub. Federal payroll taxes cover Social Security and Medicare contributions.  How much will I get from the payroll cut? The executive order applies only to the 6.2% Social Security obligation. Based off a salary of $50,000, you would receive about $258 per month during the Sept 1 thru Dec 31 period.  When is this owed? If these taxes are not forgiven by the federal government, individuals will be respon...
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Is Starbucks making you broke?

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Have you heard the debate that getting Starbucks everyday is killing your finances? I once worked in an office where Starbucks was in the lobby, it was no big deal... until the fall came and so did the Pumpkin Spice Latte. I had received a gift card to Starbucks and treated myself to a few until my card ran out. But then I kept getting them. Not only did I spend way too much on Starbucks in October that year but I also gained 5lbs from all the sugar. This year I told myself I would not get Starbucks, and the only time I have is when we were on a road trip to/from Florida and I needed coffee on the drive.  I often debate with my peers about getting coffee everyday or even grabbing lunch out. My stance is it is a waste of money and your money can be working harder someplace else. In the last 3 years, I have paid to eat out lunch less than 10 times. My brain also works differently than most because when I eat out, I think about how much that meal would have cost me to make at home ...
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Online Banking

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You know how people always say that getting life insurance or a will is on their list of things to do but for some reason, they never actually get to it? That is how I am with online banking, but this past weekend I finally got to it! I don't know about my readers, but with coronavirus, you should really be stacking up that cash even more than usual because we really do not know what is going to happen in the winter from this. If you stick all of that money in your regular bank, say J.P. Morgan, then you are earning nothing on your hard earned money. With Chase , I am earning 0.01% on my savings which is pennies but you can find online banking right now with 1.25% savings rates. That can amount to a few hundred dollars for us. Of course, it all depends on how much money you are going to put in your account. But if you are stacking cash, like us, then this is the place you want to be.  How do you know what online bank is right for you? First, how much money are you going to b...
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Halfway Thru the Year Review

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I know, I know, another post about reviewing your spending. BUT IT'S IMPORTANT! If you do not consistently check your spending habits and how you are doing compared to your budget, then you will never know when to pull back or indulge. Would you even be shocked if I told you that I look at our finances for at least 30 minutes a day? It's true. I also do not use Mint or any other platform that links to your banking because it does not break everything out enough. Plus, I am a huge nerd and just love spreadsheets and analyzing different scenarios. I really do find this to be fun. When it comes to finances, June was a great month. It was our highest income month this year, highest savings month, we went on a vacation under budget , increased our emergency fund and spending was down. I believe that when you become intentional with your money, you find money that you didn't think was there.  Below is our June budget for food, alcohol, cats, etc. In my May review , I sai...
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What is your net worth?

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Have you ever calculated your net worth? Have you really sat down and written all of your assets and liabilities to figure out your household net worth? This is something that I think should be done at least once a year.  When JP and I went to Tennessee with my brother to do our debt free scream with Dave Ramsey in 2016, my brother and I started a financial race. The first one to x amount of dollars, wins. Now, I don't know if he remembers this, but I have taken it seriously ever since. JP and I also have an age in mind where we want to accomplish this same goal, so to make sure we are on track, I check our net worth each month. Below is an average net worth by age : How do you stack up? Below I will put 2 examples, the first is a household similar to ours without debt except the mortgage and the second, a household that has the average amount of debt in their 30s. Do you see yourself in any of those situations? Write out your balances in those amounts and add any ot...
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