Tag: income
There are 9 entries that are tagged income. Now displaying reults 1 - 9.
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Miscellaneous Tax Stuff
Posted on February 05, 2008 by Him
No cohesiveness in this post, just tax stuff that's been on my mind...
1. It's the beginning of February, and all of our W-2's, 1099's, and other weirdly numbered tax documents are in. Right now they're sitting in a pile with all of our other financial crap - I get the feeling that neither Her or I don't really feel like dealing with it. In years past, we usually run to the computer and do a quick run of our numbers (this and last year using TaxAct
2. While we are less enthusiastic, I ran the numbers for all of my paperwork only. It seems that when I filled out the w-2 calculator last year after I received a raise I may have goofed a little; preliminary calculations are projecting for me to receive about a $4,000 tax refund. Hey Uncle Sam, I'd like some interest on that! No?
3. Speaking of the IRS w-2 calculator, it seems that it has been unavailable for a little while now. I'd like to adjust my withholding so that I don't overpay my taxes. We also need to see if Her's withholding is sufficient as well. Since we'll be married this year, we have to figure out how that will affect our tax situation.
4. We need a tax guy. While I'm fairly confident that I ran the numbers correctly, things are starting to get a little more complicated that I'm comfortable with. Revenue from this website has forced us to turn this into a business operation; therefore we'd like to get the eligible tax deductions. Also, as stated above, we're getting married this year and will need to account for that in this year's tax planning. I've asked around, and surprisingly enough one guy's name did pop up more than once. I didn't expect that since there's a billion tax guys in the city.
5. After we get married, our income will be too high to collect the full student loan interest deduction. Heck, we may even go over the income amount to collect any of the deduction. That means we have a bigger incentive to pay that sucker off more quickly.
6. When the hell did tax planning becoming something I worried about? Must...continue...to...resist...getting...older...
What's been on your mind about taxes lately?
Credit Cards In The Cold, Weekly Roundup
Posted on January 10, 2008 by Him
The weather in Chicago has been pretty crazy. Last week, we went from temperatures in the single digits (with biting wind chills) to 60F+ days. Of course, I chose one of the super cold ass days to leave my credit card at a bar, necessitating a frosty trip back to get it.
Here's what I've found to interesting reads this week...
Jonathan at My Money Blog revamping his asset allocation. See how he's allocating his funds according to which account. His style of asset allocation and number of accounts closely resembles ours.
Clever Dude reveals how he monetizes his site. As you can tell we're not exactly ad-free either. We should put up a post detailing our strategies as well.
Million Dollar Journey is considering building a home gym. We have well-used memberships to the health club.
Making money as a blogger? You may want to check out these 46 tax deductions that bloggers often overlook. (via BeanCounter)
It's Your Money tells what he did with his website income in the year of 2007. His isn't quite the enviable position to be in, is it?
Are SMART goals really smart? Millionaire Nuemes loudly opposes the prevailing trend towards SMART based goal setting, and challenges you to make and accomplish some Real Goals.
The Honest Dollar writes a post in defense of personal finance bloggers who write mostly about retirement. Yes, the PFblogosphere is inundated with posts about retirement, frugality, and saving. Here's a little secret: we try and write about the fun stuff about finances. Read the archives if you don't believe us!
Happy 2nd Birthday, Make Love, Not Debt (With Roundup Included!)
Posted on January 03, 2008 by Him
photo: LensENVY
On January 1, Make Love, Not Debt had its 2nd blogoversary! I really can't believe that this project took off the way that it did. I couldn't have done it without all of you, the readers and pfblogosphere!
Here are some posts that are pretty interesting:
2 Million is finding out the difficulties of managing cash flow as a newlywed. Her and I have had our finances intertwined for almost 3 years and we're still figuring it out.
Lazy Man has posted his alternative monthly income status report. He raked in an incredible $2,200+, mostly from his blog income!
Money and Values asks if you go the long way to avoid tolls. We dont - in Chicago tolls aren't too expensive and we hardly drive. Plus, with the addition of open road tolling we just bite the bullet and go the toll routes.
eFipo tells how he splurges on the big nights, with a good story from his New Year's celebrations. We tend to do a lot of small things since we've found many cheap forms of entertainment.
Five Cent Nickel answers a reader question on Roth IRA limits being reached after marriage. This is of particular interest since Her and I will be tying the knot this year, and pay raises may put us close to the income limit.
We're in Debt muses: when can you have too much credit? Interesting that they ask, since we're still wondering what to do with all of our credit cards with no balances.
Another Raise: How Bitersweet It Is
Posted on September 14, 2007 by Him
This past month marks the third year I will have been working for my company; it also marks the date of my annual salary adjustment. When I opened up my pay stub I was pleased to note that my salary has been increased by 10.5%. I certainly have nothing to complain, as that is well above inflation and is pretty generous considering I got two raises last year.
I now earn 57.5% more than when I first started my job three years ago. While the per-paycheck net take-home pay increase isn't that significant, if we're careful the extra cash can certainly go a long way.
With this raise, though, comes a saddening realization: I now make what I consider more than an entry-level salary. Why is this sad? Because for the first time in my life, I feel locked in to this one job in one particular niche field for financial security. In the past few months I was lightly considering a career move into a related field, but in order to do that I would have to start at a near entry-level position, presumably with a salary to match. Before this raise, the financial hit, if any, wouldn't have been too severe. What this raise has done has, in effect, limited my career options.
Thankfully, I really do enjoy my job and the people who I work with. My job also doesn't demand too much of me outside of regular work hours. Not to mention the nice perks that we get. My life outside of my job remains fulfilling and joyous.
But now I am beginning to realize the whole depth of the term "financial freedom." It really all boils down to having choices and options. It may take us a long time to truly achieve that freedom, but in the meantime I hope I can have a fulfilling life so that I can be most happy with the options and choices that I'll have when I finally get there.
Payroll Error In My Favor
Posted on August 31, 2007 by Her
I got overpaid on my latest paycheck by several hundred dollars. When we had guests at our house this month I took off some days without pay because I had run out of vacation days. I filled out my time sheet correctly, but it looks like payroll wasn't paying attention. At first I was delighted, then confused, then dismayed. I considered keeping the money (it's their mistake and obviously nobody had noticed, maybe I could just not notice either?) but my conscience compelled me to do the right thing. I sent a note to payroll and expect the money to be deducted from my next paycheck.
Le sigh.
Follow up: Raise and Taxes
Posted on September 13, 2006 by Him
Last week I wrote about my awesome raises that I was fortunate enough to receive this year, and how I hadn't adjusted my withholding accordingly.
This weekend, I played around with the IRS Withholding calculator, and plugged in the numbers that I had now. According to the calculator, I would owe Uncle Sam $1,721 at the end of this year. Ouch. That's even worse than last year's taxes owed.
I played around with the calculator for a bit, and I decided that raising my contribution to my SIMPLE IRA would not lower my income enough to really make a huge dent in the amount that I would owe. I followed the directions that the calculator page gave to me - decreased allowances to "0" and withheld $130 in addition - and hopefully I won't owe or be refunded more than $25.
This won't set us back financially, although we were going to put the extra money towards the credit cards. Maybe next raise.
Are there any other alternatives to lowering that tax bill?
Promotion and a Raise!
Posted on September 08, 2006 by Him
A few weeks ago I was promoted! There were a hints dropped by my supervisor, as well as rumors from the higher-ups at my company. Hey, when you work at a small company of 30 people, word tends to travel pretty fast. It was pretty awesome to get a new batch of business cards with my new title on it.
With the promotion came a salary increase. In fact, this would be the third pay raise in a little under two years. Since I've started, my pay has increased by 42.5%. This year alone my pay has increased twice, I got a bonus for referring a co-worker, a summer bonus, and I'm expecting another bonus in the winter. Including all of these bonuses, Her and I will breach a six-figure gross income this year. Whoa.
The downside to all of this? I haven't checked to see how these pay increases will affect the amount that I owe on taxes. I'm going to run all of my numbers through the IRS Withholding calculator and see how I'm doing. I'll provide an update on Monday.
One-Year Update: The Joint Checking Account
Posted on April 14, 2006 by Her
About a year ago we decided to combine all our income, assets and debts. This was because we were moving in together for the first time, and it seemed it would be impossible to fairly divide all the shared expenses. Not wanting a big hassle, we held our breath and jumped into the pool of joint finances. One year later, I have to say it was a great decision. All our income (salaries, bonuses, tax refunds, eBay profits, rebates, etc) goes directly into the joint account. We each divert $75 per paycheck into our own "allowance" checking accounts, so we each get $150 per month to use toward our individual wants. Individual gifts (from birthdays etc) gets divided up so that $100 goes into the allowance account and the remainder goes into the joint savings account.
All our joint expenses are paid from the joint checking account. Every Saturday we sit down toegther, gather up the bills, decide how to allocate the funds available (which credit card gets an extra payment etc) and pay bills. We leave around $100 in the joint account to cover any additonal expenses during the week, and put any leftover money directly into our online savings account. We do this knowing we can always get the extra cash out of savings if we need it, however just having it out of sight has always prevented us from going over budget.
Other joint account expenses include things we can both use, such as dinners out, date nights, household items. groceries, etc. We also sometimes use the joint account to pay for some new clothes if we both need to stock up on necessities and are out shopping together.
Expenses that come out of our allowances include personal indilgences such as trendy clothing, lunches out, happy hour with coworkers, hobby supplies, etc.
This arrangement has worked out so well that the only time we argue is when we miscommunicate about our intentions. For example, a few times I have been trying to decide whether or not I should splurge on an expensive item with my allowance. I ask him what he thinks, and he assumes I'm asking because I want it to come from the joint account. That has happened a few times, so now I'm better at being clear about where the money will come from.
Money is All Relative
Posted on February 19, 2006 by Him
In college, everyone is poor. That makes it pretty easy to just make friends regardless of how much money one has. Sure, there are a few people who seems to have an endless supply of beer money, but they are usually the exception and not the rule.
Then comes graduation. Many of my friends had jobs waiting for them right away. Others weren't so lucky. Some went to law or med school. She and I choose grad school.
Two college roommates/great friends had very different post-graduation financial lives. One didn't find a job out of college, and lived at home. He eventually found a job outside of his field that didn't pay so well; he eventually worked his way up the ranks, bought and paid for an SUV, and is now looking and saving for a house. He doesn't go out so much to bars or restaurants, but when he does, he sticks around home in the suburbs where it isn't so expensive.
My other friend found a really good paying job out of college. He actually bought an SUV in college when he had a high-paying internship. He travels extensively, goes out to expensive bars most nights of the week, and eats out all the time. Weirdly enough, he didn't know what an expense ratio was when we were talking about mutual funds.
It is weird how money has changed my relationships with my friends. With the first friend, I don't feel so...poor? uncomfortable?...when we go out. With my second friend, I sometimes feel inadequate and cheap, and that I can't keep up. The MightyBargainHunter reminded me of an article I read this week at CNNMoney about the discrepancies of the incomes of recent college grads. From the article:
Wealth disparity can drive a wedge between even the closest friends. This is increasingly a fact of life in today's winner-take-all economy, where some skills are in fevered demand and others are, well, not. And it can make a friendly lunch feel weird.
There is nothing wrong with either of my friends' lifestyles, but the differences in income have dictated how they are spending (pun?) their young adult lives, and have had the potential to change the way that we all handled our relationship with each other. A few nights ago we went to an event where money wasn't even a consideration, which gave us the opportunity to have a lot of laughs just like the old days. It reminded me that our friendship is based on everything but money.
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