Taxes are high. The economy is struggling. Everyone is hurting right now, but there are ways to survive the growing cost of living by adopting a few smart habits and practices. This thread has three quick tips that you can use to make sure you get the most out of your tax dollars.
-First, it’s important to have receipts from every purchase you made over $25 and also from any electronic devices you bought this year so that you can save those as well if they qualify for a tax credit or deduction.
If you have your receipts, then you have proof. Save them. You’ll need those for income tax time in April.
-Next, track all of your expenses throughout the year so that you can see where your money is going, especially if you’re trying to make ends meet or save up for a big purchase. If you want to be more organized and plan way in advance, you can use a service like Mint.com (which is free) to save all of your transactions and categorize each one so they’re easy to read later on when it comes time to calculate your tax bill.
You can also use an Excel spreadsheet as your own personal tax accountant, but that may take some time and probably a lot more work than you want to do.
-Another good idea is to get a review of your credit report at least once a year, but especially before you file your taxes. This way you can make sure that there aren’t any mistakes or errors from previous years of filing. You may be able to get some money back by claiming deductions for medical bills if you have high medical bills, for example. Or maybe you were laid off last year and can claim extra expenses made during that time period.
-First, it’s important to have receipts from every purchase you made over $25 and also from any electronic devices you bought this year so that you can save those as well if they qualify for a tax credit or deduction.
If you have your receipts, then you have proof. Save them. You’ll need those for income tax time in April.
-Next, track all of your expenses throughout the year so that you can see where your money is going, especially if you’re trying to make ends meet or save up for a big purchase. If you want to be more organized and plan way in advance, you can use a service like Mint.com (which is free) to save all of your transactions and categorize each one so they’re easy to read later on when it comes time to calculate your tax bill.
You can also use an Excel spreadsheet as your own personal tax accountant, but that may take some time and probably a lot more work than you want to do.
-Another good idea is to get a review of your credit report at least once a year, but especially before you file your taxes. This way you can make sure that there aren’t any mistakes or errors from previous years of filing. You may be able to get some money back by claiming deductions for medical bills if you have high medical bills, for example. Or maybe you were laid off last year and can claim extra expenses made during that time period.
