Are you totally clueless about your taxes? Don’t worry, the government is here to help! The IRS puts out a 300-page document called Publication 17. It can serve as a getting started guide for doing your taxes and answer questions like what to do when you have a baby, retire, or sell stock. Pub 17 also covers some of the new changes in store for 2008, like the expiring capital gains tax, IRA deduction increases, changes to child’s investment income, and ever so much more. No, you don’t have to read the whole darn thing. It’s a PDF so you can search for specific keywords and phrases. If you’re doing your taxes yourself and have some basic questions you need answering, Pub 17 is a good place to start.
money
Man Turns Chevy Trailblazer Into Giant Cellphone
By 1.18.08
Wayne shares a cool Chevy/On-Star/Verizon billing hack that reduces his monthly bills:
I just bought a new Chevy Trailblazer which came equipped with On-Star and hands-free phone service. The hands-free service was provided through a pre-paid plan with Verizon Wireless. I called Verizon and they actually put my Chevy onto my already existing Family Plan for $9.99 a month. Now, my car is a giant cell phone with all the same calling features of a regular phone ( Verizon to Verizon for free, free evenings and weekends, etc… ).
Sweet deal, no doubt it would work for any other car prequipped with On-Star. Anyone else hack their car’s hands-free service in a similar way?
$800-$1600 Rebates Expected In Bush Stimulus Plan
By 1.18.08
It looks like Bush’s economic stimulus package is going to take the form of instant cash bonuses: $800 for individuals and $1600 for married couples. That’s dumb, everyone should get Costco coupons! All kidding aside, the NYT says the ~$500 rebates granted after the 2001 recessions proved “surprisingly effective…people spent most of the money rather than salting it away in savings or using it to pay down credit card debt. A 2004 study by economists at the Department of Labor, Princeton University, and the University of Pennsylvania found that households spent between 20 and 40 percent of the rebate within three months and another third in the following three months.” Will this “wealth surge” be just what the countries needs to beat back the forces of recession holed up in our economy, terrorizing our financial well-being? Bring on Operation Cash Dump.
By 1.18.08
../../../..//2008/01/18/if-you-live-in-texas/
If you live in Texas, have a car that’s over 10 years old or has failed an emissions test, and you don’t make much money, you could qualify for a $3,500 voucher to be used towards the purchase of a new car. [TCEQ]
Stay Away From Tax Refund Anticipation Loans
By 1.18.08
I saw a big billboard for Jackson Hewitt showing a broadly smiling woman of indeterminate ethnicity holding a fistful of money that she just got by getting a refund anticipation loan, and it reminded me of how we need to do our annual telling of people to once again stay away from said refund anticipation loans.
MedFICO In Development, It's FICO For Patients!
By 1.18.08
From the folks that brought you the credit score system in all it’s glory, here’s MedFICO! It’s a new business project underway with the goal of assessing patient’s ability to pay their medical bills. The system would gather patient’s bill payment history from hospitals around the country and then assign patients a score similar to a credit score. Critics are worried if the same problems with people getting erroneous information in their credit report and then having an insanely difficult time cleaning it up would also affect MedFICO. They also worry whether hospitals would use MedFICO to determine the level of care offered, like whether the person gets a hospital stay or not. FICO scores are now being used by some employers to screen out potential employees, would they use MedFICO to see who might take a bigger chunk out of the health benefits?
Walmart's Debit Card Has Lots Of Hidden Fees
By 1.17.08
Great idea, tap into the “unbanked,” and then rip them off. Here’s an even better idea for potential Walmart Debit Card users: cash! No fees!
Owner Still Has To Pay For Dead Cat's Banfield Health Plan
By 1.16.08
Sarah Harper was surprised to learn she would have to keep making payments on her cat’s “wellness plan” even after the cat was dead. She was told that she had signed a one-year contract and would have to honor it. Though the service sold by Banfield pet hospitals is packaged like and sounds like insurance, it’s not, it’s a payment plan. The media kit Banfield sends to reporters explicitly says “wellness plans are not insurance policies.” The contract does say that owners will still have to make payments even if the animal has passed away. However, brochures provided to consumers don’t say anything like that, instead saying things like it’s, “”the best preventive care your pet needs to maximize its life,” and that after you enroll, “your pet is on its way to a happier, healthier and longer life!” Catveat emptor.
11 Tips For Making Extra Money
By 1.16.08
Would you like to make some extra income in 2008? So would I. I’m on a quest to earn an additional $10,000 this year above and beyond the typical cost-of-living adjustment I expect from my job. And to get kick-started, I’ve listed 11 ways to earn extra money including tips on getting a higher salary, starting side businesses, and even doing simple things like maximizing investments and checking to see if you’re due any money from abandoned accounts. For one thing, consider turning your hobby into an extra income. This could be anything from starting your own website to monetizing your artistic penchant to launching your own blog to creating crafts to whatever.
It's Time To Call The Credit Card Company When…
By 1.15.08
If you want to consolidate balances, you can ask them to waive balance transfer fees…
"Major Retailer's" Data Breach Results In Wave Of Credit Card Fraud?
By 1.15.08
Anecdotal evidence suggests that a recently reported data breach by an undisclosed “major retailer” has resulted in a jump in consumers having their debit cards forcibly reissued, or calls from their bank to verify their recent purchase history. The problems seem to have started just around Christmas time and have continued into mid-January.
Thief Buys $812.28 In Shoes Using Personal Finance Columnist's Stolen Identity
By 1.15.08
A Washington Post personal finance columnist got her identity stolen and someone tried to use it to buy $812.18 worth of running shoes. Somehow, the thief had gotten access to the Nancy Trejos personal information and stolen her Bank of America debit card number. The crook placed an order online with the store and arranged for an in-store pickup. The clerk grew suspicious when the woman couldn’t produce the card used to place the order.
By 1.14.08
../../../..//2008/01/14/how-to-cancel-dead-parents/
How to cancel dead parent’s credit cards. Remember that when closing down a deceased relative’s accounts, any outstanding balances are to paid by their estate, not their heirs. [Kiplinger]
American Express Writes Down $275 Million Because You Can't Pay Your Bills
By 1.12.08
American Express stock fell 7% after saying it would have to write off $275 million, thanks to more and more customers not paying their bills. What is probably happening is that people can’t tap their home equity so they’re going to the next easiest line of credit, credit cards, and failing to pay their bills there as well. In Walden, Thoreau talks about how early New Englanders would make their first homes by digging a cellar in the ground and putting a roof of saplings and bark over the top of it. My, that would make a mighty fine recession shelter.
2 More Stupid Financial Mistakes Sasha Made In 2007
By 1.11.08
Here they are, the final two mistakes in Sasha’s top-five screw-ups over at Consumerism Commentary. Mistake #4, “Failing to Balance Rental Property Income with Deductible Expenses,” is a bit specialized, although it contains a good lesson that can be applied to other situations. It’s the final entry, however, that applies to pretty much everyone (we’ve suffered from it ourselves in the past): “Failing to Remain Competitive Within My Field.”
