by Joe
on December 5, 2010
Did I miss something? It’s December already? How did that happen? I was just wishing everyone a happy “10,” has the year nearly come and gone already? Time to think about the upcoming holidays, and time to read a few of my fellow Maven’s Christmas posts!
Let start with Jeff (from Deliver Away Debt) who wrote Christmas 2010 On a Budget. Jeff wrote this back in July, and with “150 day to go” gave some great advice how to save for the big day. Jeff will help you avoid the dreaded “debt hangover.”
From Len Penzo came A Peek at My Kids’ 2009 Christmas Lists.Interesting to see kid’s strategy and what they hope for. For the holidays this year, my 12yr old wants a puppy. Not happening. Sorry.
On another topic, Neal Frankle posted on Guaranteed issue life insurance and Disability insurance for the self employed.
The Military Wallet explained Thrift Savings Plan Contribution Limits. These plans are a bit like 401(k) accounts, but for government employees. Now you know.
At Money Help For Christians (I have to say, the advice there will work regardless of your religion, good stuff there) Craig offers Dave Ramsey Debt Snowball: Paying Off Debt Spreadsheet. Sometimes the little extra help you get by visualizing the numbers is enough to get you motivated, and on a path toward debt reduction. Nice work.
Monevator talked about An emerging market index fund for UK investors. Overseas (from the US) investing is one of my weak points, this is a nice article to help me out.
And last this week, at Canadian Finance Blog, How to build an Emergency Fund. My fellow Maven, Tom Drake takes a crack at helping you get your emergency fund going. It’s never too late, until you have an issue and wish you started some time back. Why not start today?
Joe
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by Joe
on December 4, 2010
Leslie Nielsen, famous for his dead-pan humor in “Airplane*” has passed on. I hope to achieve enough fame one day to find a political cartoonist memorializing my passing.
Joe
(Thanks to Kendra for correcting the movie title – surely, I was up too late when I wrote this one-liner)
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by Joe
on November 30, 2010
My latest guest post “Your New Little Tax Deduction!” is now up on TurboTax’s Blog.
When the topic was suggested to me my first thought was: “congrats on the new baby! Since you won’t be getting any for a few months, use that time to learn how the little one will affect your taxes….” Of course, that wasn’t PC, and I toned the sentiment down to “having your first child is an exciting time in your life and I’d like to congratulate you on the birth of your newborn. Along with the rest of the changes this new responsibility brings there are also many parts of the tax code that will impact you financially.”
There are quite a few tax breaks you benefit from when the new baby arrives, so have a peek, I’d bet you find at least one that you weren’t aware of before reading the article. Please leave a comment or question there and let my friends at TurboTax know you enjoyed it.
If you are wondering if the cost of the delivery was in line, check out my fellow Maven Craig Ford’s Average Cost of Delivering A Baby.
I promise, you will get to enjoy a good night’s sleep again. Just not too soon.
Joe
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by Joe
on November 27, 2010
Never thought about this as a consequence, but the data tells us it is…..
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by Joe
on November 25, 2010
I’d like to wish all my readers a healthy, Happy Thanksgiving. We all have much to be thankful for and this is a good time to take a moment to reflect on that.
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