Last Minute Tips for Getting Your Taxes Done

by Miranda Marquit · 0 comments

Have you procrastinated on your taxes too long this year? This is the longest I’ve ever waited to complete my tax paperwork. Part of it has to do with the fact that I moved across the country, and I have a lot more paperwork to do. Since we moved partway through the year, we’ll have to pay taxes in two different states, and pay our federal taxes.

If you are looking at your timeline and realizing that you need to get your taxes together, here are some tips for getting your taxes done last-minute:

Make an Appointment

Now is the time to make an appointment with a tax professional. I have an accountant, and I’ve made my appointment with him. One of the great things about making an appointment is that it forces you to acknowledge a deadline. It might be difficult to get an appointment right now, but you can still squeeze in before tax day if you call around right now.

If you are concerned about cost, you can check to see if you qualify for VITA. This is a tax prep service offered to those with low incomes. You might also be able to find affordable help when you have your taxes prepared by a service like H&R Block or Liberty Tax. The reality is that having a professional help you double-check the documents you need to bring can be very helpful. Plus, that deadline means that you have incentive to get your documents organized and ready to go.

Block Out Time to Gather Documents

Put together a checklist of documents you expect to need to complete your tax forms. Then, block out time to get everything together. One of the great things about hiring someone else to prepare your tax return is that you don’t need to be particularly organized (although it can help). Just make sure you have everything on your checklist and take it in. Set aside two or three hours to look for what you need and gather it all up. Then you can bring it into a professional. When you are pressed for time, trying to desperately do everything last minutes has a great chance of ending in disaster.

Consider Last-Second Tax Breaks

Finally, don’t forget about last-second tax breaks. If you are eligible, you can still make HSA and Traditional IRA contributions for last year. It might help you lower your income and save you money on taxes if you can boost your last-second tax breaks. Consider it as you prepare to file your tax return.

Organize for Next Year

If you want to reduce your stress level this time of year, do yourself a favor and get more organized for next year. Set up a folder and put all of your documentation inside it immediately. Once you do this, you will have less worry about hunting for what you need. Also, take the time, after you get through tax time this year, to plan ahead. When you plan your deductions and credits in advance, it makes life easier, and you are less likely to leave money on the table.

Would You Spend More than $30,000 on Your Wedding?

by Miranda Marquit · 0 comments

Every year, The Knot analyzes the cost of a wedding, and in 2014 Americans spent an average of $31,213, according to CNN Money. Wedding costs are on the rise. Additionally, I suspect that the economic recovery is also inspiring a little more confidence in some couples to spend a little more money.

But would you be willing to spend more than $30,000 on your own wedding. When I married a little more than 14 years ago, my wedding cost a little more than $3,000. Even then, though, my wedding was less expensive than the “going rate” ($23,000). One of the reasons was the fact that my religion doesn’t charge for marriage services. The venue for the wedding cost nothing, nor did the venues for both of my receptions. Additionally, marriage officiators don’t accept money. Not even a tip under the table. That fact alone dramatically reduced the cost of my wedding.

My family and my husband’s family also did a lot of DIY planning for the wedding. My husband’s family had a potluck reception with every bringing homemade dishes. The reception put on by my family involved desert and light drinks, and my numerous aunts, uncles, and cousins helped out — much as I helped out at my own cousins’ wedding in previous years. My mom sewed my wedding dress, and my former band teacher brought his jazz trio to provide the music. Because of the great support system I had, and because I really don’t care for things to be fancy and overdone, the whole thing cost a small amount, especially when you consider that the cost included airplane tickets for family members that flew across the country.

Deciding What’s Most Important to You

Of course, a big wedding wasn’t important to my husband and me. We have other priorities. For some people, though, a big wedding is important. If a big wedding is important to you, and you are willing to spend the money, it makes sense to figure out what items are “must haves,” and what items you can live without.

This is especially true if you don’t have the capital on hand to pay for your wedding. You might have to look for ways to cut costs, or attempt to raise money in other ways, such as through loans or with the help of crowdfunding campaigns. Some couples even get sponsors for their weddings. There are a lot of options for paying for weddings without resorting to loans that require you to pay interest for years after you are actually married. Even with the prospect of interest, though, there are some couples who feel that a loan is worth it in order to have the “perfect” wedding day. It’s up to you to decide what you think is worth spending money on, and what you might be willing to give in order to make your dream wedding a reality.

In the end, it really is about your long-term goals, and what’s important to you and your partner. But before you decide to spend a large amount of money on a wedding, carefully consider your options, and what you want your big picture to look like.

4 Ways to Save on Dental Costs

by Miranda Marquit · 0 comments

My family now has a dental plan. It came as part of the benefits package associated with my husband’s job. Prior to this job, we had always paid for dental costs out of pocket because buying dental insurance didn’t make sense. The benefits package makes dental insurance a no-brainer now, though.

If you don’t have dental insurance, saving on dental costs can be elusive. Here are 4 ways you can save on dental costs if you aren’t using insurance:

1. Non-Insurance Dental Savings Plans

These plans can help you reduce the cost of procedures. You pay a lower cost, and you get access to discounts on procedures. Be careful, though: Not all dental savings plans are good deals. In some cases, you pay the fee, only to find out that what you thought was covered really isn’t. And you should realize that these savings plans aren’t insurance, so you still have plenty of out of pocket expenses.

2. Research and Negotiate

You should research costs for common dental-related procedures to get an idea of what things should cost. We have an orthodontics rider on our insurance since my son will doubtless need braces at some point. However, we will still probably have large out of pocket expenses. As a result, we are already considering options. FAIR Health is a site that can help you find the costs in your area for procedures, and give you information needed to negotiate.

Many dentists will give you a discount if you don’t have insurance. We routinely received a 10% discount on dental services back when we didn’t have insurance. Negotiate for procedures, and know your stuff.

3. Dental School

If you live near a dental school, you can check out the student work. Many students work under the supervision of a professional and you usually are worked on by the latest tools and equipment. The advantage is that you usually pay a much lower cost when you are willing to let students work on you. Realize, though, that appointments often need to be scheduled well in advance, and that there are limited spots, depending on the procedure you are hoping to have done.

4. Take Good Care of Your Mouth

Dentists regularly tell me I have great teeth and good oral hygiene. I’ve never had a cavity. When you take good care of your mouth, you a smaller chance of paying for expensive procedures. You can spend thousands of dollars on filling cavities, having root canals done, and replacing crowns. It’s much cheaper to just practice good oral hygiene now. I also took the precaution of having my son’s teeth sealed. Even though it cost a little bit more now, it is likely to help him fight off cavities and save us money in the long run.

Save Up for Dental Costs

We routinely saved up for dental costs. Our Health Savings Account was a geat help to us and can still be accessed for co-pays and deductibles. And, since we know that our son will likely need braces, we are preparing for that. Just as you need to look ahead to any other expense, you need to think about what’s coming in terms of dental procedures.

Debt Reduction: Steady Progress May Be More Important Than Speed

by Miranda Marquit · 0 comments

When it comes to paying off debt, we are told that we need to get rid of our debt as quickly as possible. However, sometimes we get so wrapped up in speed that we forget that our debt reduction needs to be manageable for the long term.

One of the problems with paying off debt quickly is that it doesn’t really allow for truly changing underlying financial habits — especially if you view everything you do to get rid of your debt as temporary. Research indicates that many people who pay off debt quickly find themselves back in debt again, simply because they feel like they have new freedom to spend.

In some cases, depending on your situation, slower debt reduction can make sense. The idea is to make your debt reduction manageable while you reform your other money habits. That way, when you pay off your debt, you have other financial practices in place to improve your situation.

Paying Off Debt Over Time

When reading stories of consumers who paid of tens of thousands of dollars of debt in less than a year, it can be tempting to think that you need to do that, too. However, that setup doesn’t mean success for everyone. While rapid debt pay down can be effective for some people, it doesn’t always work well for everyone. Here are some of the risks that come when you try extreme debt pay down:

Begin to feel deprived. After a while it weighs you down and you might not be able to keep with it. Even if you do manage to finish, there is a chance that you will overreact and spend your way back into debt because of the freedom you feel — and your desire to “make up” for all the sacrifices you made.
Overwhelmed by debt plan: Another problem is that you might feel overwhelmed by the pacing. Sure, you might be able to keep up with the frantic pace for three or four months. But after awhile, it is easy to become overwhelmed, feel like a failure when you can’t manage it one month, and give up altogether.
So much focus on debt that other aspects of finances are neglected: Finally, there is the chance that you will focus so much on debt pay down that other aspects of your finances are neglected. You might not have an emergency fund, so a setback could mean more debt.

Yes, you want to get rid of debt. However, sometimes a measured approach is best. Be realistic about what you can use for debt repayment. Additionally, make sure you have some sort of emergency cash cushion so you don’t have to fall back on your credit cards if you need a car repair or some other unexpected expense comes up. If you make steady progress, you will also have the chance to fix the underlying problems that caused your debt in the first place.

Changing your money habits over time so that they become part of your lifestyle is essential if you want to maintain success after you pay off your debt.

Millennial Strategies for Spending Less Every Day

by Miranda Marquit · 0 comments

We spend a lot of time disparaging millennials. I know that, as a “mature” and “thoughtful” member of Gen X, sometimes I shake my head at members of Gen Y. However, just because we give millennials a hard time it doesn’t mean that we can’t learn something from them. In fact, according to David R. Smith, with Kaiku Finance, millennial strategies for spending less every day can benefit the rest of us.

Creative Cost of Living

Cost of living can be one of the biggest drains on your finances. If you want cheaper living, you can employ some of the strategies that Smith says millennials focus on. “They create and share life hacks to lower their utility bills, stretch their grocery budgets, and more,” he says.

These life hacks might be seemingly small changes to living, such as getting a programmable thermostat or using online coupons to save on groceries, in order to watch the small savings add up to bigger savings over time. Many millennials are more aware of how their actions can lead to greater costs, and are willing to make changes to their lifestyles in order to reduce the cost of living.

“Millennials are also more likely to be renters who use public and alternative transportation, such as bikes, to avoid the burdens of mortgages and high car payments,” Smith says. Being able to look around the community and look for alternatives to high-cost modes of transportation, as well as getting creative with housing costs by living with roommates or taking on lodgers, can be ways to reduce your cost of living.

How Much Stuff Do You Need?

One of the things that Smith points out that really resonates with me is the idea that many in Gen Y aren’t as interested in stuff as some of those of us in previous generations. “Millennials tend to value community, simplicity, and experiences above work and material possessions,” he says.

To some extent, I can see how that can help you reduce your expenses every day. If you aren’t worried about how much stuff you have, you tend to spend less on things (saving money), and you don’t need large living spaces. Since downsizing to an apartment, I’ve seen this in my own life. We don’t need to spend as much money on taking care of our stuff, and we are also fortunate in that our new location offers us easy and inexpensive access to a number of cultural experiences. There’s a lot to see and do, and we don’t need to spend as much to be entertained.

The millennial strategies of living with a little more simplicity and relying more on alternative transport and arrangements can make a lot of sense for the rest of us. While I still think it’s a good idea to cultivate a regular source of income and work hard for it, I can see the value in a situation that allows you to choose your hours (after all, I’m a freelancer working from home).

What other lessons can we learn from millennials?

4 Places to Save Money on Concert and Sports Tickets

by Miranda Marquit · 0 comments

I love experiences. I’d rather go out to eat or attend a concert than buy a new TV or purchase some item for my home. I feel life is enriched by experiences. However, it’s not always cheap to enjoy experiences. When you want to attend sporting events or concerts, you can expect to pay a price.

The good news, though, is that there are ways to save money on concert and sports tickets. If you know where to go to get cheap tickets, you can reduce the overall cost of your excursion, and still have a great experience. Here are some of the places I like to go when looking for cheap tickets:

1. StubHub

One of my favorite places to look for tickets on the secondary market is StubHub. It’s possible to find deals on sports, concerts, theater, and more. I’ve bought tickets to see comedians through StubHub, but I’m most likely to get sports tickets this way. You can usually have the tickets delivered electronically, although in some cases you need to have hard copy tickets sent to you.

I also like that there is a loyalty rewards program with StubHub. The last time I bought tickets, I ended up saving an extra $50 because of my rewards.

2. Flash Seats

Flash Seats is great because there is no paper involved. You can swipe an electronic ID (such as a credit card) at the gate to get your seats. It’s also very easy to transfer your seats to others, and get reasonably-priced seats that are guaranteed. It was a little strange to get used to the way Flash Seats does things, but if your venue uses the service, it can be worth learning the ropes. You can get access to concerts, sports, and more. Search by your favorite team, or by location, to find the event you’re looking for.

3. Vivid Seats

One of the cool things about Vivid Seats is that it’s possible to combine your sports, concert, or theater tickets with travel and hospitality packages. This means that you can get transportation, VIP access, and customized add-ons for different events. You can even put together party packages and corporate group events with the help of Vivid Seats, which includes road trips and even luxury tailgates and field passes. You’ll pay more for some of these experiences, but it makes it easy to really have the experience of a lifetime.

4. SeatGeek

If you are looking for tickets to an event, SeatGeek can help. It allows you to search for tickets for sporting and music events, and more. It’s an aggregator that allows you to compare ticket prices from around the web. It includes interactive seating charts, so you know exactly where you will be. Another great feature of SeatGeek is the fact that you can see when something is a great deal. A green dot indicates that you are getting an amazing deal. SeatGeek makes it easy to see where you will sit, and access great deals from around the web — from one easy website.

How to Get Back on Track with Your Health Resolutions

by Miranda Marquit · 0 comments

One of the ways that you can reduce your overall costs in life is to improve your health. Cutting your health care costs is often a matter of comparison shopping and engaging in healthier habits. Unfortunately, according to information reported by LabDoor, resolutions for health habits are the ones we are most likely to break.

What are the Most Common Resolutions?

The most common resolutions, according to LabDoor, are:

Lose weight
Get organized
Spend less and save more
Enjoy life
Stay fit and healthy

It’s no surprise that these items are among the most popular resolutions every year. After all, they are what many of us would like to improve on in our own lives. However, actually following through with these resolutions is easier said than done.

As a result, the most common resolutions that we break are:

Eat healthier
Lose weight
Minimize stress

These are health resolutions that can help us live better, true, but also help us save money. Many of the actions that we take in order to eat better, lose weight, and minimize stress can also save us money. Plus, there are savings that come with needing fewer health care services.

Unfortunately, it’s now February, and for many of us the excitement of setting resolutions has passed. In fact, “real life” might have set in and put us in a position where we feel like we’ve failed in our goals.

While you might have gotten off track, it’s important not to view yourself as a failure. Instead, realize that you are a work in progress. Just because you’ve had a setback it doesn’t mean that you won’t be able to eventually reach your goals. Don’t wait for another year to start to make new resolutions; get back on track right now.

How to Reset Your Health Resolutions

First of all, don’t fall into the trap of believing that you can’t improve once you’ve “failed” on a goal. It’s not like you can’t start all over again. Think in terms of ongoing progress. That way, you can measure how far you’ve come, rather than getting hung up on the fact that you “slipped up.”

Next, evaluate your goals. Why do you want to achieve them? I want to lose weight and eat healthier because I know that I’ll feel better and have more energy. Plus, the exercise will improve my mood so that I have better relationships with my son and husband. Finding reasons to encourage changing for the better can help you stick with it, and be motivated to keep moving forward.

Finally, take baby steps. You don’t need to lose 10 pounds by next month to be successful. Instead, make small and achievable changes in your every day life that will result in lost weight by the end of the year. Step up your efforts. Say you’ll exercise 10 minutes a day for two weeks before stepping up to 15 minutes, and then to 20, and so on. Most of us can’t just add exercise to the daily routine without stepping up slowly. And that’s true of most things, whether it’s healthier eating or adding meditation to reduce stress.

Once you are realistic about your expectations, and you decide to press forward now, you’ll be more likely to get back on track.

Acorns: Investing with Spare Change

by Miranda Marquit · 0 comments

Chances are that you understand that you need to invest if you want to build wealth for the long haul. However, it can be difficult to feel confident about investing when you feel like you don’t have enough money to get started. It’s true that you can start investing when you have as little as $25, and can spare as little as $50 or $100 a month. But what happens when you don’t think that you have enough to do even that?

Acorns is a relatively new investing site that helps you start investing with your spare change. It’s an interesting idea that suggests that you can use your spare change to add up to something serious over time. It’s kind of like putting your spare change in a jar at the end of the day. However, rather than waiting for a coin jar to fill up, you can be earning compound interest on your change from the very beginning.

How Acorns Works

Basically, Acorns sets up as a fee-based account. You can open an account with as little as $5, and there are no minimums. If you withdraw and end up with a $0 balance, Acorns won’t charge you a fee, which is kind of cool. The fee structure is very straightforward. You pay $1 a month if your account balance is less than $5,000, and you pay an annual fee of 0.25% on accounts with more than $5,000. It’s fairly inexpensive, although once you get to a really large account, other similar services might charge less. For example, Betterment only charges 0.15% a year when you have an account balance of $100,000 or more.

You can choose to have a set amount of money put into the account each month, helping it add up over time. Or, if you want, it’s also possible for you to arrange so that your purchases are rounded up to the next dollar and the spare change is deposited into your Acorns investment account. Either way, it’s automatic. No matter how small an amount you have, you can start investing — and do it automatically.

Who Acorns Works Best For

Acorns works best for those who want to get started investing, but don’t feel like they have a lot of money to get going. It’s a good way to get your feet wet.

You can also get a lot of benefit from using Acorns if you want to use it as an emergency fund. I keep my emergency fund money in an investment account, and it’s worked out well for me. If you are looking to build up your emergency fund, with a small amount of money, this can be a great way to do so. However, you want to make sure that you are aware of the implications that come with doing so. I like using an investment account like this because it provides you with a way to boost your returns (better than a traditional savings account), while at the same time providing you with a tax deduction if you happen to end up selling at a loss when you need the money for an emergency.

Overall, Acorns is a great tool for those hoping to get started investing and who hope to start with a small amount of money.

Struggling to Pay Debt? You Have Rights

by Miranda Marquit · 1 comment

One of the hardest situations that many consumers face is trying to deal with debt collection. Not only is having the debt stressful, but it can be even more stressful when you aren’t able to repay the debt, or if the debt is the result of a financial catastrophe, such as a lost job or a medical condition. Adding to the stress of having the debt might be the phone calls from debt collection agencies and others. While you might feel hopeless in these situations, the good news is that you have hope. You do have rights, and it’s a good idea to know them.

Phone Calls to People You Know

Sometimes, when you aren’t answering the phone or the mail, a debt collector might call your relatives, work, and friends. First of all, there was a time when debt collectors would tell people you know about your debt, embarrassing you and possibly hurting your standing in your community. Now, though, thanks to the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), collectors can’t tell others about your debt. However, they can still call and ask how to get a hold of you, without mentioning the debt.

When it comes to work, you can tell debt collectors not to call you at that location. Additionally, it’s possible to ask them to stop contacting you by phone. Send a request in writing, and they are supposed to contact you via mail. You can even ask them to stop contacting you through the mail. When you do that, they can only send you information related to a legal proceeding (if that’s what they decide to do).

While it’s hard to think straight when you have all these calls and letters coming, you still have rights. The debt collectors shouldn’t be telling others about your debt, and they shouldn’t keep calling your workplace after you tell them to stop.

Threats and Demeaning Language

The FDCPA also has regulations against what debt collectors can say to you. First of all, watch out for those who try to intimidate you by saying that you could be arrested. You can’t be arrested for failing to pay a debt, and it’s against the law for collectors to make those threats. Other threats against you, as well as demeaning language, are also forbidden by law. Debt collectors also can’t lie and pose as someone else (such as an attorney or credit counselor) to convince you to pay the debt or share information.

If you are being treated rudely by a debt collector — and this includes calls outside the mandated times of between 8 am and 9 pm local. So if you are getting calls early in the morning or late at night, someone is violating the FDCPA.

When you are subject to unfair practices, you can report the debt collection agency. Keep track of when these abuses occur, and what happens. Then, you can hire an attorney and sue in your own turn, or report to the right federal authorities. If you want more information about your rights when it comes to debt collection, you can visit the FTC web site.

Ad Matching: Know the Policies

by Jessica Sommerfield · 0 comments

Advertisement matching with competitors is one way retailers keep you, the customer, in their store and not somewhere else. With the popularity of this kind of savings, more retailers are jumping on the bandwagon and broadening their ad-match policies to better accommodate their customers. While this is a win-win situation for consumers, it’s important to remember that ad-match policies vary widely from one retailer to the next, and this will affect your savings potential. Here are a few nuances from a few of the major retailers you probably shop with on a regular basis.

Ad match to another competitor’s price. This is the most basic form of ad matching, and is fairly universal from one retailer to the next. The main difference lies in whether or not the competitor requires you to present proof of the advertisement in a flyer or on your smart phone. Wal-Mart, for instance, no longer requires you to present ads at the register. You can even use a new feature they call Savings Catcher to scan your receipts and let them do the ad matching for you. Other retailers such as J.C. Penney are still old school and want you to bring in the paper flyer or email showing the advertisement price. Because this varies from one retailer to the next, it’s always a good idea to have some proof of the sale price with you when you purchase the item or request a reimbursement.

Retroactive price drops. Sometimes you notice something goes on sale after you’ve already purchased it, or is featured at a discounted price at another store. The good news is that you can still take advantage of the savings. Some retailers retro-actively honor competitor (or changes in their own) pricing for a period after your purchase, such as two weeks to a month. Keep your receipts and some proof of the price difference if you notice an item cheaper somewhere else after you’ve already purchased it.

Ad match an online price. This is where it gets tricky. Few retailers used to offer ad matching to online prices, but with the increasing presence of major retailers online, and the trend of shoppers towards online purchases, this category is opening up. For instance, Best Buy offers ad matching for specific online competitors, including themselves; Wal-Mart honors its .com pricing as well as major online-only retailer Amazon.

What you can’t price match. In spite of the increasing range of ad matching, some situations still aren’t accepted at most retailers, such as buy-one-get one offers without a retail value, clearance or closeout pricing, or specific offers such as gift cards or other incentives. While these are understandable, it never hurts to ask, since policies changes continually.

Additional perks. Some competitors really go the extra mile with ad matching, such as Home Depot’s promise to match and beat their competitors’ prices by 10%. This has some restrictions, such as in-store shopping only, but is still a great way to save.

The key to successful ad matching is to know the policies (if you don’t, simply look them up online) since many employees aren’t thoroughly versed on them. In any case, it never hurts to ask for the lower price, because they might just give it to you anyway.

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