by admin
by admin
It may seem strange to be discussing Christmas one month earlier, but you and I both know that, year after year, parents, husbands, wives, and kids spend too much on one another and, because they’ve relied on credit cards to pay for the holiday, January and February are “tight.”
Now, in November, is a far better time to get ahead of that train than two weeks before Christmas.
Let’s look at some ideas for making the holiday season more economically friendly.
Number one is simple – have a budget. How much will you spend on each member of the family? What friends are on the list? How much are you planning on spending for them?
It’s nothing personal, but we all know that “incidental” expenses around Christmas – including last minute gifts for co-workers, that bottle of wine you bring to your host at a party, and even postage can all add up.
Get it on paper now, and be real with your budget. If you have kids, of course, you know they want technology – video games, game systems, and computers/laptops/tablets. Can you buy them now and avoid price-gouging after Thanksgiving?
At the same time, does it make more sense to buy a “family” Christmas gift? One of our clients decided he was tired of the Christmas silliness last year, so he took the bull by the horns. He told his wife and children they would each buy one gift for each member of the family – all less than $20, and then he and his wife used the rest of their Christmas budget and took the family on a vacation.
By buying plane tickets one quarter, paying for the time share in another, and finally, allocating incidental expenses in the las quarter, there simply wasn’t any exceptional costs for a truly unique gift the entire family enjoyed.
In the end, because they had done this well in advance of the actual travel dates, they were able to secure airfare at astronomically low rates, they rented a friend’s timeshare in the mountains, and overall, they spent far less than they normally would during the holidays and created a week’s worth of memories.
I’d say that’s a pretty good return on their investment and there were no batteries required.
Now, that isn’t for everyone. Nonetheless, if you haven’t already started to put back some money for the holiday season, or even started to shop, then now is the time. Be honest here, every year, you mutter to yourself as you park your car in the mall, “Next year I’m going to state earlier.”
And I say this as someone who loves the holidays – don’t take on debt to somehow validate your love to your family or your friends. If you can’t afford it, then send a card. How many times have we spent a small have we spent a small fortune on Christmas only to eat macaroni and cheese and peanut butter sandwiches all January? Stop it.
Plan now and enjoy the holidays!
If you or your clients have any tax issues or problems with the IRS/State or other federal tax problems, please feel free to contact me directly at (909) 570-1103 or by email at Carlos@HealthcareTaxadvisor.com
Carlos Samaniego, EA
Enrolled Agent
Licensed by The Department of Treasury to represent taxpayers
Listen to my podcast on Anchor or your favorite podcast app – Click Here
1255 W Colton Ave, #535
Redlands, CA 92374
Ph. (909)570-1103
Fax (909)586-9190
by admin
There’s no denying that over the last decade, the idea of the nature of work and money for Americans has changed. Of course, it’s been changing for years – gone are the pension plans of our grandparents and the product-based economy that supported them.
Today, Americans build far fewer things, and services have taken over as the basis for most of our jobs. That’s not to say we don’t build anything, but fewer and fewer among us are in that sector. As a direct result of the Great Recession, a lot of us began picking up side jobs and contract work. Uber, UpWork, and dozens of other business models are now in place to help bring buyers and sellers together and help folks to put back a little extra money.
But what about folks that are truly busy? The stay-at-home Mom, raising three children while her husband is deployed? The legal assistant who is going to law school at night? The poor soul who is already working three jobs?
Well, as an accountant, it’s me and my team’s job to figure out how to put more money in every one of my client’s pockets. With that in mind, let’s talk about ways to do that.
The first thing we would ask if you came into the office needing more money would be to look at how your taxes are structured. How many deductions are you claiming? Are you leaving money on the table because you haven’t itemized, or are you “stuck” filing your own taxes and using a software that might not prompt you to look in the right places?
Everyone loves a big refund I the Spring, but let’s be honest. If you’re broke the rest of the year, then it might be smarter to spread some of that money out so that you don’t stress as much each month. Even an extra $25 a week can help. And you’ll likely still be able to generate a refund at the end of the year.
Now, that’s the easy one – any accountant worthy of the name can help you figure that out, but let’s get into some of the more subtle ways you can make extra money if a time-for-money gig isn’t in the cards for you.
First of all, most of us have too much stuff. If you have kids, you know that toys, clothes, and “accessories” all seem to magically grow with time. Sell them! There are consignment shops for kids’ items in every town. While they may or may not pay you a fortune for the items you’re tripping over at home, they’ll get them out of the house. In a pinch, you can donate them, to, and when you do, you’ll have a nice deduction to add to your taxes.
Along those lines, you certainly have that option for clothing and items you aren’t using anymore, too. Use it! Not only will you clear out the clutter, you’ll make a little extra money – and that’s the point of this exercise, isn’t it?
If you or your clients have any tax issues or problems with the IRS/State or other federal tax problems, please feel free to contact me directly at (909) 570-1103 or by email at Carlos@HealthcareTaxadvisor.com
Carlos Samaniego, EA
Enrolled Agent
Licensed by The Department of Treasury to represent taxpayers
Listen to my podcast on Anchor or your favorite podcast app – Click Here
1255 W Colton Ave, #535
Redlands, CA 92374
Ph. (909)570-1103
Fax (909)586-9190