Blog Archives

5 Unique Ways to Save Money for Your Family

8/20/2019

Has this been a financially difficult year for you and your family? Here are five unique ways to help your family save some money to make those difficult times a little easier.

Home and family expenses are something that will always be there. No matter where you are in your life, something usually always pops up that becomes an unexpected cost or something you just weren't financially prepared for. It's okay, it happens! Commonly, you are always looking for the next best way to save a few dollars every month or every week as you budget for your family or your life. Here are five different and unique ways to save a little extra money to help your family stay a little more financially comfortable no matter what happens.

Save The Tips

It's understandable why so much of our paychecks go to our favorite restaurants. If you have a busy schedule, you might not have enough time or want to spend any free time you have left in the kitchen cooking three meals a day, seven days a week. You might not be the best cook or even know how to cook. But, so much extra money can be saved even by cutting one meal out a month, a whole week of meals out, or even cutting your weekly Starbucks! Don't believe us? Try this experiment. Go out just like you normally do and save your receipts for a whole month. Even for your cups of coffee throughout the day. At the end of the month, add up everything you spent when you skipped out on the kitchen. Multiply that number by 12 and just see how much you could potentially save in a whole year! It just might shock you.

2. Work From Home
Who wouldn't love the opportunity to go to work in your PJs, in a beautiful and comfortable space that you've created, with your favorite four-legged pet as your coworker? A lot of perks will come out of this choice faster than you could think. Right away, you'll be saving money on your commute. You might be walking a few feet to get to work, but you will no longer be driving miles to get to the office and back home again. This will cut down on gas cost and maintenance to your vehicle. This could also be a huge time saver for you. You can have the option to sleep in a little longer before you have to clock in. You can use this extra time to drop your kids off at school or pick them up. You can save money on babysitters, too! You'll be home if anything happens, you won't need a pickup service, and you no longer need to rely on anyone to be there when they get home.

You also won't need to go out for breakfast, lunch, snacks, or coffee. You can walk right into your kitchen for anything you might need. This could also turn into another monetary gain from your employer. It ultimately saves them money in operational cost if you're working from home using your own power, internet, and phone lines. So, they just might be willing to give you a raise for making this move home since you will be helping them save more money in the long run too.

3. Weekends and Vacations
How often do you take advantage of your town or city? How often have you treated yourself to a staycation? You don't have to spend tons of money or any money at all to create the best weekends, trips, or memories. Take advantage of the free parks and natural wonders around you. Take a packed lunch to the beach, a local pond, or park. Take advantage of free concerts, free admission days to art galleries and museums. Pay close attention to your town's local paper and read up on all the free activities offered throughout the year. Volunteer for local charities, go fishing, check out our local library, and go stargazing! The possibilities are endless!

Have you heard of a staycation? It is exactly what it sounds like. Get ready to spend the most relaxing weekend (or week!) in your favorite PJs, cooking your favorite meals, and finally renting or checking out that movie or book you've been dying to get your hands on. If you're taking a full week of vacation - enjoy the wonders of your city. You don't need to spend hundreds or thousands of dollars to travel somewhere. Stay in a local hotel and pretend you're a tourist. See the sights, finally try out that new restaurant, and find a new (to you) watering hole! Enjoy your whole vacation with the comfort of your own home or hometown in the background!

4. Programmable Thermostats and Solar Panels
It's easy when the depths of winter and the height of summer comes along that your electric bill skyrockets into some very scary high numbers. But think about it - you're keeping your home cozy or cool for a lot of time that you're not even home to enjoy it. And, it can be cumbersome to remember to change those thermostats before you walk out the door every day. Why not invest a little to gain back a lot? Programmable thermostats have become very affordable and most, if not all of them, can be controlled by your smart devices. So even if you forget to set them before you leave for the day, you can change your thermostats from anywhere!

On top of that, save even more money by taking advantage of the sun here in the Lowcountry! If it has to be so hot, why not take advantage of it? Installations of solar panels can be extremely affordable if you work out the proper contract and don't buy them. Once they're installed and up and running if you're not using all the power you're generating, a lot of the time this power can be carried over into the next month. And sometimes, your local power companies will buy this extra power from you - giving you a little more money in the bank or credit towards the months when the sun isn't out as much. And don't worry about those cloudy days or cooler weather. Solar panels store energy for days and months that are known for not soaking up the sun. This way your money-saving options can continue throughout the year!

5. Save Money when the Windfall Comes
Have you recently stumbled upon a very profitable time in your life? Have you recently inherited or won a good sum of money? Have you recently received a wonderful raise or bonus? Congratulations! The first thing a lot of us will do is throw this exciting chunk of change at a new car, a shopping spree, or a lavish vacation. There is nothing wrong with celebrating and enjoying these profitable times, but these windfalls won't always come around. Instead of spending all of this exciting capital on the fun stuff, put some of it in savings. Invest it for tougher and tighter times. Save it now for an even bigger and better dream or the opportunity to retire sooner. It might not be the most fun you could have at that moment, but you will appreciate it later down the line. Maybe when you least expect it!

Hard financial times happen for all of us. But if you think about money-saving tips in new and unique ways, these hard times may become fewer and farther between. Start now by implementing these 5 tips into your everyday life to make the rest of 2019, and into the beginning of 2020, a little easier for you and your bank account!

0 Comments

Hidden Financial Changes

8/2/2019

0 Comments

Our most recent blog was dedicated to all the known and unknown items you can look forward to writing off your personal taxes this year. But with new tax cuts and the Job Act of 2017 are you aware of everything you can no longer write off on your personal taxes this year?

It was a delight to share in our last blog all of the wonderful known, and possibly unknown items, that you can write off of your personal taxes come April 15th. These write-offs can be such a relief to any family and a surprise to your bank account when Uncle Sam comes knocking. But it's just as important to know what you cannot write off your family's taxes, so there are no unpleasant surprises. This year could be one of the most difficult years of write-offs thanks to Tax Cuts and the Job Act of 2017. Tax code has changed dramatically, and once you have filed your 1040 (your personal federal income return) this tax season - these write-offs will no longer be available to you.

Understandably, you may not know about these new laws. Tax law for your personal taxes are hard to keep up with or hard to follow - the documents are all available for research, but they can be difficult volumes to understand and interpenetrate. But these new changes are credited to be the largest tax overhaul in over 30 years. A lot of people won't even know about these changes until they go to file. Beat this statistic and read up now - this way you can prepare your finances to pay for items this tax season that you've never had to pay for before.

Personal Exemptions. You can no longer claim a deduction for yourself, your spouse, or for any of your dependents. Thankfully the tax credit for children under 17 has been raised to $1000 and is much easier to access. There is also a new credit for all other dependents (although not of spouses or the taxpayer) for $500.
Alimony. As of December 31, 2018 alimony is no longer a deductible and is no longer included in taxable income. But if you were divorced before this date you can continue to deduct and report alimony payments.
Home Equity Loan Interest. Home equity interest money, which is interest on mortgage debt to pay for anything, used outside of helping to buy, build, or improve your home is no longer deductible. Existing home equity debt is no longer grandfathered in either.
Personal theft losses can no longer be deducted.
Casualty losses that are not declared a disaster by the President are no longer deductible.
Investment expenses are no longer deductible.
Tax preparation fees are no longer deductible.
Legal fees paid on an award, judgment, or a settlement are no longer deductible.
Nonmilitary job-related moving expenses. These expenses are will now be included in taxable wages, tips, ad compensations reported on a W2.

Were you aware of all of these changes? How much are they going to affect you and your family this coming tax season? These are the general changes - but there are more fine print restrictions that live in much grayer areas that have changed as well and are no longer offered.

Unlimited state and local tax deductions.
A $1 million mortgage interest deduction.
Deductions for unreimbursed employee expenses.
Miscellaneous itemized deductions.
Deductions for certain school donations.
Deductions from tax extenders.

For many families, this might be one of the most difficult tax seasons they experience. But knowing ahead of time may help ease the shock. Be prepared and if you can, save as much as you can to begin paying for these new tax items or for what you will no longer be able to write off. Hoods is here to help you prepare for it all, and here to answer any questions you might have!

0 Comments

Hoods Tax &
Accounting Blog

5 Unique Ways to Save Money for Your Family

Hidden Financial Changes

Author

Archives

Categories

​Hoods Tax & Accounting Blog

5 Unique Ways to Save Money for Your Family

Hidden Financial Changes

Author

Archives

Categories

Hoods Tax &
Accounting Blog