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Written by money funk on February 28, 2010
This week is the start of the 21-Day Vegan Kickstart. I am looking forward to it! I plan on following the menus guidelines but with some revisions, as to stay in sync with my family’s meals.
Why am I doing this?
Well, some of your hear me tweet that I want to start a Veggie Business. It partly has to do with this idea (will expand on it more later). Next it is to explore aspects of better health. Then, because I love my fruits and veggies. This type of diet is perfect for me. Finally, I want to see if doing a vegan diet full-time with a family of carnivores is possible; sort of a research project for me.
This Week’s Menu Plan
Breakfast(s): Muesli, Granola, Oatmeal, and Mango-Strawberry Smoothies
Lunches: Hummus & Veggie Pita Sandwich, Brown rice w/ Tadka Dal, Salad & Veggie Soup(2).
Dinner:
- Sunday: Baked Potato topped Veggies & Lemon Pepper. Side of vegan chili
- Monday: Crockpot Cauliflower Curry (I didn’t get to make this last week. Omitting Chicken and adding Cauliflower), brown rice, and Boondi raita
- Tuesday: Black bean tacos and Carrot & Red Pepper Soup
- Wednesday: Pasta with a simple vegetable marinara and a mixed greens salad
- Thursday: Ultimate Veggie Burger, Mashed Cauliflower with roasted garlic, Veggies
- Friday: Out to Eat. This will be interesting to see what I order
This week’s weight loss: *tisk* 1 pound
I guess it’s good I am still on the losing side. No, I did not get exercise in to the days. Which is my culprit for not shedding more.
What’s on Your Menu?
To find more great menu plans, visit Orgjunkie.com
Weekly Round Up: Tax Season *Expanded*
Written by money funk on February 26, 2010
Many know the fundamentals to building a solid financial foundation are “spend less than you earn” and “save! save! save!” (I am sure there are a few more you could add 
).
It is with these fundamentals mixed with some killer content written by personal finance bloggers that can help to build a solid win-win financial future. Content anywhere from how to invest in the stock market to cutting our daily expenses.
Today we will look into some of the blog posts written by some keen personal finance writers discussing all sorts of great subjects; taxes, investing, negotiating, outsourcing… The list goes on.
Big Tax Refund or No Tax Refund. What’s your thought? Do you know someone actually put down a sizable down payment on their house (like 30%)? Can you duke it out reduce your bill? What about investing in CDs? What about quickly paying down the mortgage? Lots of great stuff to read. Please, do enjoy! 
Great Posts to Read
Since Financial Samurai has me thinking about using Certificates of Deposits as a route for investing, Personal Finance Student has a great article listing the The Advantages and Disadvantages of CDs. Nicely done.
Rainy Day Saver’s post, Do You Have to Give Up Convenience in Order to Save Money?, looks at making cut backs with convenient services or goods for a better financial future.
Stay at Home Mom CFO looks at how Getting a BIG Tax Refund was Keeping us in Debt. Interesting article. I have to say that I am starting to think I don’t want a refund check going forward. I think that money might sit better in my 401K.
Young and Thrifty is out to serve the rights for Canadians. See her pull out the big guns against Rogers in, Step-by-step Guide on How to Save Money on Your Cell Phone Contract.
My Money Minute wants to know, Tax Refunds: Does Size Matter? In a not so ideal world, big tax refunds are not such a horrible thing after all.
151 Days Off looks at, How to Pay Your Mortgage off in Record Time. I enjoyed the closing statement, “Every time you go out and think about buying an item, multiply the item price to that number. If you are tempted to buy a $100 dress, think that you can either waste $100 or put that money into your mortgage and save $395 in interest! If this doesn’t put you off from spending, I don’t know what else could.”
Chasing Prosperity has a lyrical fun post looking at, Thriftygal’s Top Ten Money Tunes (Feb. 8th post). Gotta say, I love Donna Summer’s “I work hard for the money”.
How to Peacefully Split Bills in Your Relationship by Foreigner’s Finance spoke my tune as my husband and I decided separate the bank accounts.
Little House in the Valley, great post with, Should everyone buy a house?! I like your stance, “No one should buy a home unless they are financially prepared to do so, no matter how low interest rates are or how inexpensive homes may seem.” I agree with having a sizable down payment when buying a home (that will be sometime before I can do that, too!)
The Amateur Financier wants to know your thoughts about Taxing Financial Transactions: Good Idea or Not? As a passive investor he likes this plan. Do you agree?
Which Way are You Outsourcing? by Engineer Your Finances, is a great article! Since I want to outsource areas in my life, this will serve as an effective tool to determine if I am UPsourcing or DOWNsourcing. WHICH WAY you are outsourcing?
Couple Money has family financial meetings. I think that is a great idea! In Elle’s post called, Cash Flow: Managing and Improving Ours, she writes about Increasing your Income, Optimizing Your Expenses and Which Software Can Help. Great job!
Free From Broke helps you decide to get your credit cards under control in, Pay Off Highest Interest Or Highest Balance Credit Card – Analysis Paralysis
Frugal Zeitgeist did a great piece called, Save Money on Printing. I never new about Eco Font and that it uses about half the ink of conventional fonts. Very cool!
Deliver Away Debt learned that he should be claiming 8 in How to Adjust Tax Withholdings. What’s he going to do with that money Sam was holding interest free for him? Dump it into his snowball!
Monevator wants you to Get out of debt to unleash your inner money maker. I agree, I want my “month’s salary is going wherever I want it to go” and “not on paying for things bought and forgotten about years ago”.
Evolution of Wealth discusses the changes that have come about in the life insurance industry in, Whole Life Insurance is Stackable.
Easy Ways to Improve Your Memory is well written by MBA Briefs. I like that a better memory could greatly improve your income potential. Read on!
Eliminate the Muda offers some advice in Dealing with Debt Collection. As a former debt collector… yup, we like to bug you and try tactics, but as a consumer you still have rights not to be harrassed. Learn them here.
The “Secrets” to Landing Guest Posts is a great piece by Experiments in Passive Income. Especially for all you challengers looking to forge new connections in the blog-o-sphere!
Taxes 101: 3 Ways to Reduce Your Taxes
Written by money funk on February 24, 2010
Long gone are the days of having a lower income, claiming head of household with two dependents, and receiving a big fat refund check in the mail. *sigh*
Since our family threw ourselves into another tax bracket two years ago, I just don’t find the joy in doing taxes anymore.
Now that I filed my 2009 tax refund form with Turbo Tax, payed too much in taxes because I don’t seem to think I know diddly squat about maximizing my income, and am receiving a minuscule tax refund check, it is my intentions to figure this stuff out.
And since I need to be informed of this matter, I have an inkling that it could do some good to share the information with you.
Let’s Begin
Adjusted Gross Income (AGI):
“is your income from all sources minus any adjustments to your income. The higher your total income, the higher your adjusted gross income. As you can guess, the more money you make, the more taxes you will pay. Conversely, the less money you make, the less taxes you will pay. The number one way to reduce taxes is to reduce your income.” – Taxes.About.com
Like a wanna be mechanic in the cartoons, can I just toss out the nuts and bolts in the statement, “the more money you make, the more taxes you will pay.”? I want to make more money, keep more money. I want to reduce my Taxable Income. (I think I am finally on to something here! 
)
How to Reduce Your Taxes
- Reduce Your Taxable Income. Best way to reduce your income is maximize your contributions to your 401(k), 403(b) or similar retirement account.
Me: Increase 403(b) contributions
- Increase Your Tax Deductions. Itemize deductions to reduce your taxable income. Itemized deductions include tax preparation fees, car registration fees, charitable contributions, etc… You can read more about allowable Itemized Deductions at IRS.gov.
Me: this is where I could have done better or kept better records. Least I know that gift I bought my boss last year while at conference – deductible (up to a $25).
Also, I plan on keeping track of all the Itemized Deductions that I can potentially claim. Going to grab a shoe box and an Excel spreadsheet to track my receipts.
- Take Advantage of Tax Credits. Tax credits reduce your tax. Sweet!
Earned Income Tax Credit, Child Tax Credit, Child and Dependent Care Expenses, Education Credits, Energy-Saving Tax Credits, etc…all good.
Conclusion
Well kids, that is lesson for today. I see that I have some minor changes to make like increasing my 403(b) contributions, tracking my deductions, and making sure to claim all necessary credits. I finally feel a sense of accomplishment in learning this basic lesson.
Did you learn anything today? Do you have something to add?
Rise of the Women Breadwinners
Written by money funk on February 23, 2010
Gone are the days of the woman having dinner on the table, the evening drink ready for their man, the house cleaned and children raised in the home.
Women are becoming equal breadwinners with their male counterparts. The figures show that close to 40% of women are the breadwinners in supporting the family.
To think, women were only 7 percent of primary breadwinners in 1970!
Excerpt from Heather Boushey’s article called, The New Breadwinners:
Clearly, the days of Ozzie and Harriet are long gone. Within married-couple families, the typical working wife now brings home 42.2 percent of her family’s earnings.14 And women increasingly are the primary breadwinners. In 2008, nearly 4 in 10 mothers (39.3 percent) were the primary breadwinner in their family—either because they were a single, working parent or because they earned as much as or more than their spouse. An additional quarter (24.0 percent) of mothers are co-breadwinners—that is, a working wife bringing home at least 25 percent of her family’s total earnings (see Figure 2 and Table 1). 15
Gender Roles
But one thing hasn’t moved forward as quickly, the traditional gender roles. Household chores and childrearing activities still primarily are held with the woman. The balance of labor just isn’t divided equally, and a woman comes home from a long day of work and still has to do the chores. In fact, about 2/3rds of the household work remains with the woman in the role.
Do you think there can be a happy medium to be met with one’s partner in taking on some of the household responsibilities?
I see three options:
Communicate with your partner. Ask for help in taking on the household work. Could your partner help you cook some of the meals, take on some of the laundry, drive the kids to sport practice or vacuum? My husband comes home before me to start dinner. During the weekends we alternate who does the laundry. At times, he even helps me to make the kid’s lunches.
Outsource household work. You did read this guest post by Erica Douglass on Outsourcing, right? I am seriously considering hiring someone to deep clean the house twice a month just so I have time to spend with my family. Maybe even hire someone to make my children’s school lunches for me (don’t like to give them money for school lunches – bleck!). Hire a tutor to help the kids with their school work. Pay for services that will allow me to focus on the more time with individual family members and/or free up a bit of personal time.
Become a Stay-at-home parent. My husband and I once calculated the money saved if one of us stayed home. You reduce the childcare costs ($400 month), commuting charges, auto maintenance fees, etc… It is rather tempting to say, “I QUIT”, to my boss. But what is holding one of us to continue working, the two-income household still brings in more money to pay down our debts. Once our debt ratio is far down, we are going to revisit this last option for one of us to stay home. But one needs to consider if you can handle placing the financial responsibility to your partner.
My question to you: How would you resolve the stress issue? Are you a woman living as the breadwinner? Or a man supporting his breadwinner wife? What works for your family? What doesn’t work?
New Credit Card Protections Take Effect
Written by money funk on February 22, 2010
Monday, February 22nd, marks the day the new Credit CARD Act of 2009 takes effect.
Its purpose is to protect the credit card consumer and potentially save consumers billions of dollars. What do you think?
Keynotes of the Credit CARD Act of 2009:
Credit card issuers cannot raise the rate in the first year after an account is opened unless an introductory rate has come to an end. After that, cardholders must be notified 45 days in advance of any rate change.
For existing balances, rates can’t be raised unless the account is at least 60 days past due. If payments are made on time for six consecutive months, the original rate must be restored.
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Cardholders will see how many months it will take to pay off a balance if only minimum payments are made. Statements will also indicate how much needs to be paid each month to pay off a balance within three years.
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Service fees, such as activation and annual fees, will be capped at 25 percent of the credit limit during the first year of use. After that, there is no cap.
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The law requires that due dates remain consistent. Statements must be sent out 21 days before the payment due date, and finance charges and fees cannot be applied before that period is up. In practice, about half of card issuers have extended grace periods to as long as 25 days.
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The cardholder must specifically agree to permit transactions that exceed the credit limit. Only then can over-the-limit fees be charged. But the fees can’t be triggered by other fees or interest charges. Only one over-the-limit fee may be imposed during a billing cycle. No over-the-limit fees may be charged unless the cardholder has specifically agreed to permit transactions exceeding their authorized credit limit. These fees can no longer be triggered by other fees or interest charges imposed by the card issuer, and only one such fee may be imposed during a billing cycle.
In practice, several of the largest card companies have dropped these fees. Some banks are using pop-up boxes on their Web sites or other methods to obtain consumer authorization.
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Card companies cannot raise interest rates on existing credit card balances. Interest rates can’t rise during the first year an account is open, unless the original agreement spelled out a promotional rate for a limited time.
Consumers with older accounts must be informed of any interest rate increase on new charges at least 45 days in advance. They must also be given a chance to opt out of the hike by canceling the account and paying down the balance at the old interest rate. If an interest rate is increased, the card company must review the account once every six months to assess whether the rate should be dropped.
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Credit cards may no longer be issued to anyone under age 21, unless the applicant has a co-signer, or can show independent means to repay the debt. Colleges must disclose any marketing deals they make with credit card companies. Banks are not allowed to hand out gifts on or near campuses or at college-related events.
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My Thoughts
Personally, I know that even though I have an excellent credit score, my rates were all hiked before this came into effect. Luckily 99% of these cards have a $0 balance. But there is one credit card, my husband owns, with a $7,000 balance. And that credit card did get hiked. So, we got screwed on that one. But we are paying down as fast as we can.
Unfortunately, banks can still charge what they want in interest rates. So after that first year or being notified of a rate increase… watch out, you could be in for a shocker!
Other than that, I do see some good factors in the Credit CARD Act of 2009. People NEED to see how long it will take them to pay off the credit card. Hopefully, this will put some sense people to pay off that credit card! Hopefully college students won’t keep getting sucked into buy now, pay later mentality; now that it will be harder to get a credit card (at least, my hope is that it will be harder). We are actually notified of rate increases before hand. It’s nice to have control on our finances before changes happens. Companies are capped on giving us finances charges. But wait, only for the first year of use. What about us consumers with credit cards we had for years? Are we safe?
Use Credit Cards the Right Way
I personally don’t use credit cards anymore, because I have a difficult time controlling my spending on them.
If you are going use a credit card then do so responsibly. You should be paying the balance off in full each and every month. If you can’t commit to that term, don’t use it!
Pay your Credit Card Balance in Full Each & Every Month
