End of Year Financial Preparation

So we are once again approaching the end of the year. There are some things you can do to minimize that tax bite that is coming in April. Most of these need to be done by the December 31, so don’t delay!

Donations - Want an easy tax deduction? Don’t forget to spread some of that holiday gift giving to some charities. Make sure they are recognized by the governement as verified charities. Here are some where you can donate online:

• Salvation Army
• American Red Cross
• Toys For Tots

Stocks - Have any bad stock pics this year? Well now is the time to get rid of them. They will offset any gains you have made in other places. Be sure to write down the detials of the stock sale as you will have to note it down on your taxes.

401k / ROTH / IRA Contributions - Did you max out your 401k? You probably have 2 more pay periods to bump up your contributions to get the most in for 2007. You still have till April 15th 2008 to get those ROTH IRA Contributions in. This year is a max of $4000, so start planning now to max that out in April next year!!

HRA / FSA - If you have an HRA (Healthcare Reimbursement Account) or a FSA (Flexible Spending Account) be sure to use up all the money that was set aside.
You can spend your remaining dollars on things at most Drug Stores. drugstore.com has a good FSA Store as well as a HSA Store. That is where I spend the remaining dollars at the end of the year.

Cut Down On Email Spam

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LendingClub Bonus Update

It looks like LendingClub has sweetend the pot on its bonus offer when you open a new account.

They are now offering 5% of anything you lend over $5000.  So, for example, if you lend $7,500 Lending Club will credit your account with $7,500 * 5% or $375. You need to subimt your loan bids by February 3rd, 2008 to receive the 5%. LendingClub will notify you of the amount of your bonus by the end of day, Friday, February 8th, 2008. Not a bad deal if you were going to loan out the money anyway.

If you are not willing to part with more than 5k, they are still offering the following signup bonuses when you lend less:

$25 bonus when you open a lender account with $1-$999

$50 bonus when you open a lender account with $1,000 or more

I have already dropped $500 into 20 various loans and have received my $25 Bonus. We’ll see how this works out.

Don’t Pay Full Price For Checks

Not many people know that you don’t have to reorder your checks through the bank when you run out. Of course the banks don’t want you to know this since they make a commission on the checks you order through their provider.

One place to look at is Walmart.com. (Select “Money Services” then ”Check Printing”) They offer Check Printing at a pretty good discount over what your bank offers. You can walk away with a basic book of checks for only $5.96. They also do offer specialty items like photo checks, personalized leather covers, address stamps, etc. I wasn’t even aware that Walmart offered thses kind of things.

In today’s electronic age when more and more payments are being handles online, don’t overpay for checks that you still use.

Merry Christmas

BudgetCents wishes everyone a happy and safe Christmas!!

Last Minute Holiday Tipping

 

Don’t forget about all those other people that do things to make your life easier this holiday season. Now is the time to show them a little something extra. Giving them a tip is a nice way to show your appreciation. This can be done in many ways such as giftcards or cold hard cash. 

Here are mine for the year:

Postal Carrier - $30 Amazon Gift Card (everyime I see him he is jamming to his iPod (which I believe is illegal when driving and using head phones , so I am hoping he uses this to get some iPod speakers)

House Cleaner - $50 Target Gift Card (she works her butt off!)

Newspaper Carrier - $10 Walmart Gift Card (since he never gets my paper on my porch)

Employees - $35 Lettuce Entertain You Gify Card (since I wouldn’t have my job without them)

Hair Stylist - $25 (only works if you go to the same person ever time, otherwise usual tip applies)

 And last but not least, the UPS guy: $25 Amazon Gift Card (He is at my house a few times a week delivering stuff from Amazon, so I thought it only appropiate to return the favor!)

 Yes this all does add up, but making sure they all know that you appreciate what you do is priceless!!! Make sure you get your tipping done prior to New Years!

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