Hope for your financial journey and beyond
It’s a tough question to answer, isn’t it? My mind immediately goes to the question “How much stuff am I being asked to give away?” I could easily part with many things in my house and not feel any pain.
But what if I was being asked to give away the entire house? Or my cars? Or sell all my investments and give the proceeds away? Oy, that’s enough…I’m starting to get woozy.
I can think of only one instance where this might occur…
I have a confession to make…I love to clean. This is part genetic predisposition (received from my mom I think, who I always remember keeping a clean house) and part learned (from my days as manager of our community’s swimming pool concession stand. ALWAYS had to be ready for the health department!) Give me a rag, a mop and some liquid Lysol and I’m a happy camper!
My favorite thing to clean is the bathroom. We remodeled ours several years ago and it’s become a sanctuary in the morning as I’m getting ready for work. Sometimes I pretend I’m on vacation and walking into a fancy bathroom at a five star hotel. (OK…it may not be that awesome but this is my pretend fantasy here.)
No matter how nice the bathroom, they need to be regularly cleaned. Mold still grows in the shower. The sink and tubs get scummy. Personal hygiene items litter the countertops and pack the vanity drawers. And the toilet…well, we won’t even go there.
And I love cleaning it because…
The following is a guest post by Kim, otherwise known as Mrs. Luke1428. She is a CPA at Loggins, Kern & McCombs in Jonesboro, Georgia. The following is not tax or legal advice. If you have questions about your own situation, please consult a professional to discuss your particular situation.
When is it important to consult a tax professional? Well, as a tax professional, you may be surprised at my answer. At my firm, this is what we tell people who inquire about our services:
If you understand the questions and can answer them properly, then Turbo Tax works great.
It really does. It would make no sense for someone with a couple of W2s and some mortgage interest to pay a CPA to prepare their taxes. But, there are times when you need to consult a professional. Like when…
It has been a week of recovery for me as I have allowed my leg muscles to heal from the torrid (for me) pace I set at last Sunday’s half-marathon. It’s also been a week of reflection. It has been two years this coming week that I first laced up the sneakers and started running. Oh, the pain of that first run I will never forget!
I have come to truly appreciate the value running has added to my life. I would encourage anyone reading this who is not engaged in some form of exercise program to begin today. Exercise will mold you into a different person - mind, body and soul.
Now on to some great reading from around the web this week. Have a great weekend!
Is It Time to Get Out of the Stock Market at Frugal Rules
What It Means to Finish Something at L Bee and the Money Tree
Who Do Americans Look To As a Financial Mentor? at Debt Roundup
How to Steal Like an Artist at We Only Do This Once
Loans Among Family Members: Is It Worth It? at One Smart Dollar
What You Must Consider Before Opening a Brokerage Account at Free From Broke
Setting Up a Passive Income Stream at Johnny Moneyseed
“Bulls win! Bulls win!”
Let’s face it…losing sucks! In the moments right after a defeat, there are no positive feelings. Dejection, pain, frustration, anger, confusion - these are the immediate emotions of losers.
Winners experience something quite different. Their victorious moments are bursting with euphoria, pride, joy, amazement, and gratitude. That’s how I felt Sunday when I completely blew away my stated goal for completing the Publix Georgia Half-Marathon.
Winners also experience another feeling that never presents itself when losing. It’s really a chemical reaction taking place at the cellular level. Some call it an “endorphin rush”. Some call it “runner’s high”. It’s best described as a tingling sensation that flows through the body. It clouds reason and logic. It dulls pain. It’s what allows marathon runners to sprint the last half-mile of a race having already completed 25 plus.
I cannot adequately describe how powerful that bodily reaction is. It has an addicting quality that pushes me to come back for more. It’s reason one that I say winning is more valuable than losing.
Can you remember the last time when you completely exceeded any and all of the expectations you had hoped for? Remember how it sort of left you breathless in disbelief? I had one of those days this past Sunday and boy, did it feel good.
As those of you who have been reading here for a while know, one of my goals for the year was to run a half-marathon in under two hours. I’ve been training for the Publix Georgia Half-Marathon in Atlanta since December and was pretty encouraged lately by my training times. Still, there are so many unknowns on race day…like your stomach not digesting the pre-race meal well, getting tripped by another runner or poor weather conditions, just to name a few.
While I felt prepared, you could not have convinced me a week ago that I would be able to pull off this kind of effort.
Thinking of starting a new business? Congratulations and thank you from the rest of America! Small businesses are what keep our country running. I thought I’d post a few things to think about if you are starting a new business. Of course, this isn’t an exhaustive list, and I’d encourage you to take the time to speak with a lawyer and a CPA to make sure that all your ducks are in a row. The expertise is worth the cost.
Having said that, here are a few things to think about:
What type of business will it be?
Image courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Tomorrow is the big day - 3/17/13. It’s the date I’ve had circled on my calendar since I started training in December. At 7:00 AM the gun will sound and I’ll run in the Georgia Publix Half-Marathon in downtown Atlanta. My goals for the year included running an officially timed half-marathon in under two hours. My training has gone well and my body feels really good heading into the race. One thing that broke in my favor is that the weather has turned warmer that last couple of days. I’ll be looking at morning temperatures in the 50s instead of the 30s. Nice!
You never know what will happen on race day but I’m predicting I’m going to CRUSH my goal. I’ll tweet-out how I did after the race tomorrow and give the full details in next Tuesday’s post.
Now, on to some awesome articles from this week. Enjoy your weekend!
Ask the Reader: Would You Give Your Child a Credit Card? at Get Rich Slowly
5 Reasons I’m Killing My Mortgage at Club Thrifty
Your Kid Does Not Need a New Car at Out of Your Rut
Buying a House Tips at Making Sense of Sense
Too Focused on Money and Losing Focus on Enjoyment? at Debt Roundup
How to Select an Investment Property at KrantCents
Motivation: Words of Wisdom from Paul Milligan at The Frugal Farmer (Paul Milligan is a Christian finance teacher)
Is Fake It Until You Make It A Good Strategy? at Yakezie (about building authority in your field as a beginning writer)
Have you ever told a little white lie about money? What might a “money-lie” look like? Here are some examples I could think of:
*Exaggerating your net worth or monthly income on a blog post.
Photo courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net
*Saying you got a better deal on an item than you really did.
*Telling someone who asked for money that you didn’t have any with you to give (ashamed to say I’m guilty here).
*Pretending you gave more to a cause than you actually did.
*Hiding or covering up your spending habits. (Guilty here as well and as you can read about here).
*Failing to report income earned in cash on your tax forms.
Why are we so apt to distort the truth? I think the core of the issue revolves around three main principles:
A couple of weeks ago, I had a not so great day at work. Nothing really dramatic happened, it was just one of those long days where everything seemed to be a little off and annoying. After work, things didn’t get much better.
I had to stop at the bank and then was supposed to meet a contractor at one of our rental properties to discuss some repair work. Something came up after school (which often does for teachers) that did not allow me to leave as soon as I had hoped. I’m a stickler for being late to appointments, so this didn’t set well with me.
At the bank we had to wait in line at the drive thru for 10 minutes to make our deposit. That’s unusual but they were shorthanded for some reason. Needless to say, I’m feeling the pressure to arrive at my appointment on time.
At this point, I encountered one of the strange oddities of life.
It was a milestone week as I celebrated my 40th birthday this past Thursday. So what’s a man to do that’s really kickin’ on his birthday? How about stay home from work all day and take care of a sick child. Ahhh…the joys of parenting.
In between kid-trips to the bathroom, the day off did afford me the chance to do some cleaning around the house and read some great blog posts. Here are some of the best articles I read from the past week. Have a great weekend!
An Interview With J.D. Roth - Founder of Get Rich Slowly at Club Thrifty
How Much Student Loan Debt Is Too Much at Out of Your Rut
10 Mental Barriers to Paying off Debt: You Aren’t Saving Any Money at Ready For Zero
4 Simple Ways to Make Filing Taxes Easier This Year at Frugal Rules (My soon to be CPA wife loved this one!)
Buy My Method, Not My Lifestyle at Reach Financial Independence
Debt Repayment Is My Middle Name at Making Sense of Cents
Always Expect the Unexpected at One Smart Dollar
What’s On Your House Hunting Checklist at The Savvy Scot
8 Money Management Tips Anyone Can Follow at Tackling Our Debt
Why Your Income and Passion Should Align at Young Adult Money
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