Archive for January, 2009

My Take: H&R Block Tax Cut

By: Green Panda | Date posted: January 30, 2009 (8:01 am)


In the interests of full-disclosure, I purchased H&R Block Tax Cut before signing up for affiliate ads. 

We’re filing our taxes ourselves this year and decided to get tax software. We don’t believe our filing will be complicated, but between the move and some other changes, we wanted a program to enter our financial information. After some thought, I picked  H&R Block Tax Cut, specifically the Premium Federal Edition. 

TaxCut appealed to us for two reasons:  Ask a Tax Advisor (1 session) and Worry Free Audit Support. We don’t anticipate an audit, but I might have a question or two concerning our taxes. 

I picked up the program from Wal-Mart Tuesday as I was picking up a gift for some friends. It was by the electronics section and there were three options to choose from: TaxCut Basic Federal + E-file, TaxCut Premium Federal + E-file, TaxCut Premium Federal + State + E-file. I didn’t see the TaxCut Home & Business + E-file Edition, maybe they were sold out at the store.  

When I reviewed the package  a bit more at home, I noticed that I also got WILLPower CD for estate planning. Installation didn’t take too long. I installed both TaxCut and the Deduction Pro program that came free with the software. When I first ran the program, it checked for update, which was about a minute or two. Maybe this will motivate me to actually get some important paperwork done.

Our Premium Federal Edition of  H&R Block Tax Cut includes up to 5  free federal e-files and 1 state e-file. Since we moved, we’ll need to pay for the second state.  I decided to start entering our information into the program. We’re still waiting on some W-2s to complete our filing and as they come in, I’ll enter them. The process is relatively painless and it’s like an interview with questions to answer. It’s easy to save and enter new data in our return.

It transferred our federal return information to our state return, a nice time saver. So far, I’m finding the program to be easy to use and I don’t feel intimidated with getting our taxes done.  I like the summary pages which allow to go back fairly quickly to section you want o double check or update. My only big gripe is that a second state e-file is $19.95. 

Update: We sent our federal and one state tax return through the e-file. It was quick and painless. The other state needs a paper tax return, so I’ll get busy with sending that tomorrow. 


Operating Systems for H&R Block Tax Cut: 

  • Windows XP / 2000 / Vista
  • Mac OS X

Tax Resources

How to Make a Price Book

By: Green Panda | Date posted: January 28, 2009 (7:59 am)

grocery-store

Photo Credit: KSquier

This article was included in the Festival of Frugality #164.

My Two Dollars posted a story last week on what your grocery store may not be telling you. I thought it was an interesting topic and wanted to explore price books to help people become aware of possible savings in their grocery bills. Many people think of price book and think it’s overly tedious and don’t think it’s time well spent. I disagree and wanted to help get your price book started. 

I also collaborated with Simply Forties for a real life guide on creating a price book using Google Docs. She has put a lot of effort into this and I think it’ll be a real help.

Having a price book isn’t complicated. Here are a few steps to get you started:

  1. Write a list of the staples that you get every shopping trip, like meats, bread, juice, produce, snack ,etc.
  2. Visit your normal grocery stores and record the price and the size amount for each item.
  3. You can load up the data on a spreadsheet and figure out who has the deal by comparing unit prices (apples to aples comparison). 
  4. Base your shopping trips on the price book guide on who has the best value for certain products. 
  5. As a comparison, sign up for MVP/VIP etc emails from the grocery stores to see if any sales are on your grocery and if they are a better deal than the price book listings. 

You’ll discover trends on certain items and where you’ll most likely find the best deal. Costco and Wal-Mart can have good deals on dry foods that last for a bit. For our more time sensitive foods, we tend to go to Wal-Mart or take advantage of Harris Teeter’sVIP specials. I’m going to be checking the prices as we have our monthly grocery shop coming up.

Using a price book along with paper and printable online grocery coupons can draticall cut down your bills. 

If you’re looking for a wonderful real life example of how to construct a successful price book, Simply Forties has all the information. 

As always, please feel free to leave your tips in the comments section. We can learn from one another.

If you’re looking for more information on price books, please check out:

»crosslinked«

Car Loan Balance Update: $500 Balance!

By: Green Panda | Date posted: January 26, 2009 (2:31 pm)

Photo Credit: Rojer

I just checked the balance on my car loan and the last payment went through. My balance is now $$508.74! We’re getting there and I feel excited about killing this loan. It’s in good condition, as we replaced the timing belt this past October and try to keep it maintenanced.

Once the car loan is paid offf, the money will be most likely be redirected to our emergency fund until it can cover 6 months of expenses. 

How have you been doing with your goals?

Auto News Today:

This article was included in the 177th Carnival of Debt Reduction over at SimplyForties.

Weekly Round up: Winter Weather

By: Green Panda | Date posted: January 25, 2009 (12:35 pm)

apt1

It has been freezing cold this week! We had some snow fall Tuesday and it was a little more than the local weather channels said. We had a semi-warmer day yesterday in the low 50s, but we’re back in the 30s and it feel like it’s in the 20s. Here’s a picture from our apartments to give you an idea of the beautiful snow we had. 

Good news was that my husband worked from the apartment on the snow day. We managed to get into a snowball fight and walk around the fake lake behid our apartments. Hot cocoa was a must and it gave me an excuse have some hot cookies! I may have went overboard and ate most of them, but I’m sure he understands.  :) We’re still waiting to see if Circuit City’s liquidation deals get better.

Special Announcements:

Carnivals:

  • Money Hacks Carnival – Presidential Edition
  • Carnival of Personal Finance No. 188: The Jane Austen Edition 
  • Festival of Frugality #161 – Frugal Businesses
  •  Carnival of Debt Reduction #175 – Historic Moment Edition

    • Top Personal Finance Posts This Week

    Use Allpoint ATMS to Reduce and Eliminate ATM Fees

    By: Green Panda | Date posted: January 23, 2009 (7:00 am)

    atm

    With the average ATM fee around $1.97, finding ways to reduce and eliminate ATM fees is becoming a bigger concern. While many banks charge non-customers surcharges, there are ways to save.

    I mentioned before, but I thought I might remind that ING Direct and other banks use Allpoint network for their banking ATM services. Whatis  great about Allpoint?

    Allpoint is America’s largest surcharge-free ATM network. With over 37,000 ATMs, Allpoint is your single source for surcharge-free access coast to coast.

    Banks use tranactions fees to increase their profit

    Why do banks charge so much on ATM surcharges? Apparently it’s not because they are expensive, according to Stop ATM Fees the cost for banks is less than $0.30 per transaction.  It’s a business, so making a profit isn’t a problem. You have to learn to be smarter than the bank.

    You can use Allpoint’s ATM locator to see how close they would be to you and your location.

    atmstatesSource: Allpoint

    Besides using Allpoint network ATMs, how can you reduce and hopefully eliminate paying ATM fees?

    1. Use your own bank or credit union ATM whenever possible. Plan ahead and go before or after work. Avoid using ATMs in convenience stores, hotels, malls, and restaurants, which have higher surcharges.

    2. Switch your account to a bank that doesn’t charge ATM fees. Another option is local credit unions, some which use ATMs that don’t charge you a fee, such as the CO-OP network. I’ve been told Charles Schwab checking  does reimburse ATM charges.

    3. Check out Bankrate.com to compare checking accounts and their fees. The site does a great job of updating the lists, so it’s a wonderful resource to examine.

    4. Take more money out when you use ATMs. Don’t make several trips to take out $20-$40. More trips increase your chance of hitting another bank’s ATM. If you still need cash, just get cash back from your purchase. There’s the cash back option with debit cards.

    If you’re looking for more information, please check these great posts:

    Photo Credit: roland

    Free Chick-fil-A Breakfast Every Thursday in January

    By: Green Panda | Date posted: January 22, 2009 (3:40 pm)

    Sorry,I’m a little late on this but I found that Chick-fil-A has free breakfast items on Thursdays this month. 

    Go in from 6:00am to 10:30am to receive a featured breakfast entrée….

    January 8 – Chick-fil-A Chicken Biscuit

    January 15 – Chick-fil-A Chick-n-Minis (3 count)

    January 22- Chick-fil-A Chicken Biscuit

    January 29 – Chick-fil-A Chick-n-Minis (3 count)

     

    Thanks Yelp!

    Circuit City Liquidation Deals Aren’t Good Deals

    By: Green Panda | Date posted: January 19, 2009 (1:24 pm)

    circuit-city

    Yesterday my husband and I decided to head over to Circuit City after meeting some friends for brunch. Since we had heard they were going out of business, we decided to look around for any liquidation deals. While the place was crowded; the deals were few and far between. Most items were 10% off and I noticed car stereo equipment was 30% off . Circuit City has liquidators handling the inventory for these final sales.

    Checking Out HDTVs at Circuit City

    We looked at a few things, including  flat screen TVs, and I was surprised to see how expensive these ‘out of the box’ deals were. We were looking at a 42″ LCD HDTV that was around $1200 at Circuit City, not quite a deal as Costco’s $1,199.99 for 2 LCD HDTVs (42″ & 32″) or Best Buy’s LG – 42″ 720p Flat-Panel LCD HDTV for $899.99. (Costco sold out of their 46″ LCD HDTVs for $699.99.) Needlessly to say, we left the store without making any purchases.

    Consumerist has a Circuit City Death Watch with readers leaving their observation on the sales and prices. I pretty much agree that the prices were not really deals as it look as they were raised and then the discount was taken.

    If you think you’re going to get a fantastic deal on a flat screen TV, think again.

    All Circuit City locations are scheduled to close by the end of March, and discounts could reach as much as 90% off in the final days, according to Scott Carpenter, executive vice president of Great American Group, one of four liquidators appointed to close out the stores.

    But Carpenter said customers would probably not see such hefty deals on big-ticket items such as flat-screen televisions. Those products will likely fly off shelves well before the end of March, he said.

    If you have purchased merchandised from Circuit City or are looking for a deal to pop up, please go to their website for more information. I have some FAQs from the site that may be of interest.

    Are Circuit City’s extended warranties affected by the liquidation?

    • No.  Circuit City Advantage Protection Plans® (extended warranties) have been backed by third-party independent companies for more than 15 years and as a result, are not impacted by Circuit City’s closing.

    Currently, all Circuit City Advantage Protection Plans are fully backed by the Assurant Solutions companies.  Assurant Solutions operates as Federal Warranty Service Corporation, Sureway, Inc., and United Service Protection, Inc.  Assurant Solutions is part of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE: AIZ), and its extended service contacts are backed by an Assurant insurance subsidiary rated A “Excellent” by A.M. Best Co.

    When will the liquidation sales begin?

    • Liquidation sales begin as early as Saturday, January 17, 2009, and will last as long as it takes to sell through the merchandise at each of the stores.  We expect the sales to wrap up by the end of March 2009.

    How much will merchandise be marked down, and can customers negotiate prices for the merchandise?

    • There will be clearance pricing, but specific discounts are not being announced.  All sale prices are at the discretion of the liquidator.  Prices are non-negotiable and all adjustments must be approved by the liquidator’s on-site managers.

    What payment types will be accepted at the liquidation stores?

    • Stores in liquidation will accept cash, Circuit City gift cards and most credit cards.  Personal checks will not be accepted.  All sales are final.

    Will Circuit City’s price matching policy or the One Price PromiseSM apply during the liquidation sale?

    • Because the liquidation company is in charge of the sales at the closing stores, their policies are in force.  So, One Price Promise does not apply during liquidation events, nor does the company’s Unbeatable Price Guarantee.  All sales are final.

    What about returns and refunds?

    • Customers can return products they purchased prior to January 16 for a 14-day period for exchange or refunds.  All other terms of return policy are in force.
    • When closing sales begin on or around January 17, 2009, all sales will be final.

    My advice? Before you step into a Circuit City find out what is the price for the electronic you’re looking for so you don’t lose money on this liquidation sale. If they are raising prices, then it’s not a good deal.

    Your Take

    If you’ve been to a Circuit City in your area, what have you noticed about the liquidation sale? Are there any good deals to be had yet?

    Photo Credit: qnr

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