August 9, 2010
My high school service award was a $500 savings bond for college.
Our lovely Kiwanians, however, hadn’t really looked carefully at the terms of the bond, or the kind of bond they were buying, and 10 years later, the Series EE bond has only appreciated to a grand total of $374. It’s the sort of bond that takes thirty years to accrue to full value, you see, and so was probably the worst choice for a college fund.
I can’t really decide if it’s worth waiting another 20 years for that bond to mature. Why not cash it out at $374 now and invest it or just put it toward one of my mid-term savings goals?
June 28, 2010
It’s time. It’s more than time. Given all my health spasms, the delay makes absolutely no sense but it should. Going to a new doctor to explain all my issues (pronounce: “iss-seeuuwws”) from the last 15 years transports me into the state of denial and aggro.
It’s dumb. Absolutely dumb. I know it but there’s something that’s balked at having to start that Find a New Doctor and Start Over nonsense. That would be the memory of 10 years of being bounced from doctor to doctor who all told me it was in my head, that my pain was imaginary, that no one my age could be experiencing what I was, in fact, experiencing. Jerks.
Anyway, no more delaying tactics – I’m going to start going to the doctor so I can find a good doctor. As much as I hate the rigamarole, I have to start somewhere and at least I’m not a confused, shy, teenager in too much pain to stand up for herself.
I’m compiling a single page document to summarize the past 15 years of tests, meds and exams and bringing it with me – that’ll save time.
And the bigger pain is the literal one in my neck and shoulders that tighten up to iron-rod strength every time I get stressed or something else hurts. It’s just foolish to not try and fix *that.*
Wish me luck!
{————Carnivals————}
My thanks …..
to Suburban Dollar for hosting this week’s Carnival of Personal Finance.
May 23, 2010
This is the clearest, possibly best round of chicken stock cooked up yet!
As I write this, I’m watching people on the water with my feet hiked up on a deck chair, squinting in the sun. Max brightness setting has nothing on the direct sunlight! I’ve been firmly scolded that weekends are not for working. Luckily, I did bust my butt to finish up a major project two weeks early just so I could invoice it out and claim that income for this challenge, so I can cooperate with my “orders” to rest and relax.
The reports on the challenge for last week:
Ciawy saved $215 of the intended $250 per week, brought lunch and snacks to work every day and fell to the siren call of the farmers’ market. But she bought fruit so I can’t really argue with that!
Candace of Cody and Candace saved another $124 which brings her to 57% of the goal.
The Fit Lounge committed to saving at least $1000.
Anyone else out there? @ConvertingMe? @tiredofbeingbroke? Frugal Scholar? Funny about Money? I know you’re working at it, and I’d love to hear about your progress!
My progress this week was incremental again: $2,179.18 [43%]
Not so incidentally: Single Ma is tearing up the Fitness part of this challenge, blogging about it every day AND experiencing all the glorious ups and downs of training.
December 28, 2009
It’s the end of December, which means tax preparation time! Well, prepping for tax prep, anyway. I like to start pulling together my records early in December to make sure things are all set for this tax year.
This is the first year since 2004 that I can claim Education Credits because I took a couple classes this last quarter. I should also be able to claim the money paid towards next quarter’s tuition since that’ll be paid before December 31st.
The usual two choices are the Hope and Lifetime Learning Credits. This and next year, however, a new player is in town: The American opportunity tax credit (AOC), a modification of the Hope Credit.
Here’s a quick comparison of the credits:
AOC, a modification of the Hope credit:
— The maximum amount of the AOC is $2,500 per student. The credit is phased out (gradually reduced) if your modified adjusted gross income (AGI) is between $80,000 and $90,000 ($160,000 and $180,000 if you file a joint return). Exception. For 2009, if you claim a Hope credit for a student who attended a school in a Midwestern disaster area, you can choose to figure the amount of the credit using the previous rules. However, you must use the previous rules in figuring the credit for all students for which you claim the credit.
— The credit can be claimed for the first four years of post-secondary education. Previously the credit could be claimed for only the first two years of post-secondary education.
— Generally, 40% of the AOC is now a refundable credit for most taxpayers, which means that you can receive up to $1,000 even if you owe no taxes.
— The term “qualified tuition and related expenses” has been expanded to include expenditures for “course materials.” For this purpose, the term “course materials” means books, supplies, and equipment needed for a course of study whether or not the materials must be purchased from the educational institution as a condition of enrollment or attendance.
After all is said and done, the Lifetime Learning Credit remains my best friend. This gives a 20% of the first $10,000 of qualified education expenses you paid. Quick calculations say that I’m looking at a credit between $400 and $500. Of course, these are just rough numbers right now — there’s still a lot of income crunching to be done before I’m ready to file my tax returns for 2009.
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Carnavale!
The last Carnival of Personal Finance for 2009 is up at Gather Little By Little. Mike included my update on investing.
August 11, 2009
Even though my authorial participation in carnivals is low, I haven’t found my stories yet, at least, not the stories that fit into each specific carnival, I still want to remain engaged with the pf blogging community at large.
I’ve found a job for myself that is more in line with my behind-the-scenes style: helping Flexo manage the Carnival of Personal Finance!
I’m excited about this opportunity, and hope that I’ll be a good fit on the other side of the curtains!
