NEAT & SIMPLE LIVING with Ariane Benefit, Organizing Coach

The TRUE cost of things

"The cost of a thing is the amount of what I will call life, which is required to be exchanged for it, immediately or in the long run."
--Henry David Thoreau

When you think about buying things, or decide to keep things you no longer really love or use, how often do you stop and think about the true cost of things?  I'm talking about the true cost of owning the thing throughout it's life cycle.  

For example, are you aware of how much time you spend maintaining the things you own?

When you think about buying something, do you think about the time, energy and money it will take to:

- Shopping for things
- Choosing and buying things
- Storing things, choosing and buying containers, shelves etc. 
- Fixing things (especially houses and cars - do you really plan for all the repairs?)
- Cleaning things
- Looking for things
- Inventorying and insuring things
- Worrying about people taking your things and paying for security systems
- Yelling at your kids about things
- Fighting with your spouse about things
- Figuring out how to let go of things such as finding some one to give them to

How much of the cost of your home actually goes directly to storing things you can't find when you need them anyway?

Do you argue with people in your life about stuff? Is it worth the trouble?

What would you do with your time, energy and money if you didn't have to worry about so many things?

Are your things helping you avoid having to make the tough decisions about what you really want to be and do with your?  Are they filling a void in your heart and soul?  Keeping you stuck in pattern that is painful but familiar and therefore its hard to change? 

Starting to let go of unneeded things gradually can actually help you face this.  Sometimes the first step in stopping the cycle is just to acquire less and refocus all that shopping energy on self-care.  

How would your life be different with fewer clothes? fewer books, DVDs, CDs? fewer magazines? less junk mail? fewer toys? fewer photos? a smaller house? no car payments?  

MORE FROM THE WEB AND BLOGOSPHERE ON THE TRUE COST OF THINGS AND LIVING WITH LESS 

• ZEN HABITS Leo Babauta published a free e-book on Thriving on Less: Simplifying in a Tough Economy that is worth a read. He has also published a book on the Power of Less. I haven't read it, but thought you might like to know!
   GET FREE DOWNLOAD
  
• THE DEBT FREE KID - A neat post by Karissa about the true price of things...a great reminder that things really don't buy happiness.
  
• GREEN FERTILITY - Here's a neat couple of posts about the true cost of things...like the true cost of a dozen eggs...and the true cost of low cost food...this one really opened my eyes.
  
• THE TRUE COST OF OWNING A HOME - Owning a home may not be as much of an investment as you think...if you are thinking of owning  a home, think it all the way through and DON"T let the mortgage companies talk you into "buying the largest home you can afford"  or "don't worry about the total cost, just think about the monthly payment"   The total true cost can be as must as 5 TIMES the monthly payment to cover utilities, property taxes and maintenance. Even if you have two incomes, I always recommend buying a home you could afford on 25 - 40% of the lower income ALONE.  The freedom is so worth it! 
  
• THE TRUE COST OF DRIVING  A neat little calculator to help you learn the TRUE cost of driving your car. You might be really astonished! 
  
• THE TRUE COST OF CREDIT  - Tells you what it really costs to use your credit cards.
  
• THE WALDEN POND PROJECT - An activity to help kids learn the true cost of things.

Do you have or know of a great post on the true cost of things?

Post your link below!

Are you dreading tax season? Are you ready to take charge of your financial paperwork?

I vividly remember how hard it is was to live under that constant feeling of "impending doom" that comes along with not being prepared to file my tax return and running out to the post office in the middle of the night to meet the deadline. I also remember how hard it was to be living under a mountain debt.  That's why I've written so many posts about Organizing Your Finances over the past few years. (Remember my post about how I got out of $25,000 in debt?)

In economic times like this, it's more important that ever to know the state of your financial health, and take steps to "weather the storm"  like lower your "fixed" expenses, pay bills on time and not pay late fees, lower your interest rates, pay off debt, and file your tax returns on time so you don't pay penalties or extra charges to tax preparers because you filed an extension. 

If you feel overwhelmed about dealing with financial matters like these, then YOU are the inspiration for my newest educational coaching program, a holistic financial empowerment coaching program unlike anything you have EVER seen before!  

My partner, Ellen Shapiro (who happens to be an MBA and CPA with a degree in Psychology AND is a Certified Repatterning Practitioner AND a Sedona Method coach) brings an amazing combination of talents and experience to help you overcome fear, dread and overwhelm around finances, getting ready
for taxes, dealing with credit card debt, and organizing your paperwork. In fact, she is now our resident Prosperous Living Coach and is hosting a regular support group forum / workshop within the Getting Unstuck Group!  We have been incubating Taking Charge of your Finances program for over a year now. 

WHY?  Because we have both had to overcome our own issues with finances and we BOTH have extensive experience in helping other people do it, too. We KNOW that it's not enough to just give tips on how to set up a bill pay system, or how to organize your paperwork for tax time. 

You also have to make a "mindset" and "energy" shift AS WELL as learn the "how to's" to truly conquer "financial phobias" and get over strong emotional resistance to dealing with money.  People like me who grew up on welfare and knew nothing about how to handle money or credit cards when we finally had some to deal with, plus have ADD, have an especially difficult time absorbing and applying everything you have to learn to manage your finances.  That's why our Taking Charge of your Finances program provides you with holistic support over a 3 month period. We help you:

-  Deal with and overcome your emotional issues and fears PLUS

- Understand the basic concepts involved in financial management, PLUS

- Learn the "how tos" of organizing the systems and routines that empower you PLUS

- Deal with communication issues with your spouse/partner PLUS

- Deal with your brain issues like ADHD or ADD-like personality traits such as dislike of routine, impulsivity etc. 

- Stay motivated throughout the transitional period of changing your habits by providing ongoing support between sessions.

The Power of Repatterning

Repatterning is a powerful tool to create mindset change, shift your energy and clear negative beliefs. Ellen will provide a one hour session on each 2 hour call to help you feel confident and capable of getting your finances in order. I've experienced many sessions with her now and I can tell you that it never ceases to amaze me not only how transformed I feel after, but also how much people LOVE her work and rave about it after the call.  If you haven't already, you listen to a FREE Repatterning session on our Blog Talk Radio show here.  

There has never a program like this anywhere before that combines the skills of: CPA, MBA, Educator/Instructional Design Expert, Financial Organizing Expert, ADD Coach, Cognitive Behavioral Belief Reframing, and Repatterning Practioner ALL in one program.  

WHEN / WHERE / HOW

DATES: January 29th, February 19th and March 19th.  By the time we are done, you could have your tax paperwork completely ready to go, or maybe even already Filed! Wouldn't that be awesome to be able to enjoy the spring without that hanging over your head?

NOTE: If you happen to be reading this after the 29th
you can still join - everything is recorded for you
and we will still be there to provide you with support.

TIME: Calls are Thursdays from 11:00 am - 1:00pm EST (Eastern Standard Time) 
The calls will also be recorded and available for download immediately after the call. 

All this alone is worth the normal price of a 3 month membership, $297, but for the first 100 people to join, the price is only $197.  There are already 25 members, and we would love to have you join us! 

Ready to Enroll now?  Click here

This 6 hour program with personal coaching over 3 months is an amazing value.  The program could stand alone, but it's even more effective combined with the support you get from being part of the Getting Unstuck forum and website. You will get not only this program...but you will also get my Office Organizing Book, The Neat & Simple Guide to Organizing Your Office, my paper organizing Book, Take Charge of your Paper, my Neat & Simple Paper Retention Guide, and a wealth of other resources. But you will get even more! Here's a few of the other classes lined up for the next 3 months that you can participate in as well.  NO EXTRA CHARGE.

__________________

Simplifying Your Life

What it really takes to simplify, what gets us stuck and how to get unstuck so you can take steps to make your life simpler and easier. We'll also be covering how Creative Personality Type, ADHD, and ADD-like traits affect your ability to keep life simple and what you can do about it!  (February 5)

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Simple Solutions to Healthy Eating Challenges

Bernadette Armiento, Certified Holistic Health Counselor will be joining us to kick off a monthly series on Healthy Eating Challenges and ways to simplify menu-planning, grocery shopping, meal preparations and eating healthy when you have no time. (Feb. 26)

__________________

Cleaning Your Home - The Quick & Simple Way - FREE BOOK!

Ariane will be presenting super shortcuts to Quick and Easy Cleaning and Clutter Clearing. Learn how to simplify cleaning and get your family to help, too! She will be releasing her new book too!  As a member you'll get the book free! (March 5)

Ready to Enroll now? 
Click here

Have more questions?

Learn more about Taking Charge of Your Finances and the  Getting Unstuck Group

p.s. I'll be posting a few articles related to all the above topics over the next few weeks, so stay tuned!

p.p.s.

LIVE OUTSIDE THE US or PREFER TO LISTEN OVER THE WEB?

No problem! All of our conference calls are streamed over the web so all you have to do is click a button to listen live. You can also post questions LIVE during the call via our special web page. AND all calls are recorded and AUTOMATICALLY available for download within 5 minutes of the call.

• No need to tie up your phone line
• No long distance charges
• No software for you to download either

25 Ways I Save Money - 2008

I wrote a post on this a few years ago, and with financial times the way they are, I thought this might be a good time to update it and ask: How are you Saving Money?

1. We live in a smaller house than we can afford, and do our own gardening, home repairs and painting. This year, we redid our front garden to expand it and use only plants that don't require watering, and that are perennial.  This is going to save us a lot of money on annuals! Plus it's going to save a lot of time spent on mowing. The new tree will also give us more shade in the summer and save on energy.  I have posted a video clip of the project in the Neat and Simple Living Cafe. 
   Find more videos like this on Neat and Simple Living Cafe
    
   
2. Pay bills online with a free checking & online account from Wachovia which also pays interest on our balances.
   
3. We still have our home equity loan balance on a 0% credit card. Haven't paid interest for the 3 years since we renovated the entire front and backyard of our home which has enabled us to pay it off much faster. I set up reminders in my GOOGLE CALENDAR to tell me when the 0% rate is up and then we move it to another 0% interest account. We have paid most of it, and used it to invest in a new roof. But it's still all 0%.
   
4. We never use an ATM or any other banking service that charges fees.
   
5. We changed all our lightbulbs to compact flourescent bulbs including our front porch and outdoor lights. Of course we got them in bulk on sale! We still have not had to replace any of these bulbs.  They really last!
   
6. We use a single Amazon.com Rewards Credit Card and get $25 rewards every month or two. We put all daily living purchases on it and pay it in full every month. We use the reward certificates for birthday gifts that we can simply enclose in a birthday card. In 2008, we earned over 500$ for using our card.
    
7. We use a Miles One Rewards credit card for all business purchases and get free miles for traveling. In 2008, we got Alan's ticket to go with me to the NSGCD Conference for free.
   
8. Don't go to movie theaters anymore - we have cable & wait for movies to come out on cable.  We use Tivo to record movies we really want to see.
   
9. We only eat in restaurants or get takeout maybe once a month or even 2 months. We cook at home every day.
   
10. We only run the dishwasher and washing machine when it's full.
    
11. Buy water by the case -  on sale. Only drink water, coffee or tea...no sodas, etc.  We don't drink alcohol at all any more.  NOTE: We are looking for a water filtration system and no longer using plastic bottles.  We hope to soon be able to find water packaged in those biodegradable corn-based plastic bottles.
    
12. We moved our car insurance to Geico last year and saved $1500 per year.  Northern NJ has nearly the highest insurance rates in the country. We couldn't believe we saved this much.  And our insurance rates have actually gone down every year!  Probably because my car just keeps getting older.  We also have a huge collision deductible which also keeps rates down.
    
13. I cut my husband's hair myself.
     
14. I keep my own hair long and trim the front of my hair myself so I only have to go to the hairdresser 2-3 times a year.
    
15. I color my own hair.
    
16. I mostly only wear lipstick and blush.  Only use full makeup for special occasions.  :)
    
17. Only wear a watch and my wedding rings as jewelry.  Jewelry on my neck, wrists or ears causes me a lot of discomfort and annoyance anyway.
    
18. Do my own pedicures and go out for a pedicure maybe once a year as a treat for a special occasion.
    
19. Do my own manicures...and I don't use nail polish on my fingernails - it saves a lot of time too!!  : )
    
20. We rarely throw any food anyway. We have a system for storing leftovers to make sure we use them them. We always put leftovers in a designated section of the top shelf in the fridge next to the milk so we can't forget about them. We use leftovers the next day for lunch or snacks or as a side dish with dinner.
     
21. We have a small Cuisinart counter top combo toaster, broiler and convection oven and use that for heating & baking small portions instead of turning on the oven. 
22. We keep our cars. I've only bought one brand new car in my life! Cars only depreciate so I never saw the point in losing a few thousand dollars as soon as you drive it off the lot.  But I did finally splurge on my 40th birthday and got myself a 2000 Sebring Convertible which I will keep as long it is still safe to drive!  I love it!  It is actually very practical as we can open the top and haul just about anything an SUV can.  Even more!  Plus it gets about 27 MPG.  Not bad when you consider how much mileage an SUV gets. In 2008, it is still going strong, but does have a little water leak. : )
    
    I had my 1988 Honda Accord for 10 years until I gave it to my brother in 2000.  He had it another 4 years before it died.  My husband has a 2003 Honda Civic Hybrid he LOVES and it gets nearly 50 mpg.  We also buy other things used...like our dining room set.
    
23. We don't buy CDs or DVDs anymore - we download most of our music  - we get 25 songs free every month with our Comcast cable internet service.  The super high speed internet pays for itself between the free music and all the research we do on it to save money.
    
24. We avoid processed foods like microwave popcorn, we use the bulk kind and have a West Bend Stir Crazy popcorn popper.which is actually a lot of fun to use!  We also make our own sugar free ice cream with just fruit and milk using the Vitamix blender we invested in. Cutting out sugar and gluten has saved a lot of money in addition to improving our health dramatically.
    
25. We use a digital camera for photos and ONLY print out a very select few!

Whew...that was fun!   So what are your top tips?  Would love to hear any additions you might have!    : ) 

Happy Thanksgiving!    I'll be in Virginia visiting family till Sunday!

See you next week! 

 

1. We live in a smaller house than we can afford, and do our own gardening, home repairs and painting. This year, we redid our front garden to expand it and use only plants that don't require watering, and that are perennial.  This is going to save us a lot of money on annuals! Plus it's going to save a lot of time spent on mowing. The new tree will also give us more shade in the summer and save on energy.  I have posted a video clip of the project in the Neat and Simple Living Cafe. 
   Find more videos like this on Neat and Simple Living Cafe
    
   
2. Pay bills online with a free checking & online account from Wachovia which also pays interest on our balances.
   
3. We still have our home equity loan balance on a 0% credit card. Haven't paid interest for the 3 years since we renovated the entire front and backyard of our home which has enabled us to pay it off much faster. I set up reminders in my GOOGLE CALENDAR to tell me when the 0% rate is up and then we move it to another 0% interest account. We have paid most of it, and used it to invest in a new roof. But it's still all 0%.
   
4. We never use an ATM or any other banking service that charges fees.
   
5. We changed all our lightbulbs to compact flourescent bulbs including our front porch and outdoor lights. Of course we got them in bulk on sale! We still have not had to replace any of these bulbs.  They really last!
   
6. We use a single Amazon.com Rewards Credit Card and get $25 rewards every month or two. We put all daily living purchases on it and pay it in full every month. We use the reward certificates for birthday gifts that we can simply enclose in a birthday card. In 2008, we earned over 500$ for using our card.
    
7. We use a Miles One Rewards credit card for all business purchases and get free miles for traveling. In 2008, we got Alan's ticket to go with me to the NSGCD Conference for free.
   
8. Don't go to movie theaters anymore - we have cable & wait for movies to come out on cable.  We use Tivo to record movies we really want to see.
   
9. We only eat in restaurants or get takeout maybe once a month or even 2 months. We cook at home every day.
   
10. We only run the dishwasher and washing machine when it's full.
    
11. Buy water by the case -  on sale. Only drink water, coffee or tea...no sodas, etc.  We don't drink alcohol at all any more.  NOTE: We are looking for a water filtration system and no longer using plastic bottles.  We hope to soon be able to find water packaged in those biodegradable corn-based plastic bottles.
    
12. We moved our car insurance to Geico last year and saved $1500 per year.  Northern NJ has nearly the highest insurance rates in the country. We couldn't believe we saved this much.  And our insurance rates have actually gone down every year!  Probably because my car just keeps getting older.  We also have a huge collision deductible which also keeps rates down.
    
13. I cut my husband's hair myself.
     
14. I keep my own hair long and trim the front of my hair myself so I only have to go to the hairdresser 2-3 times a year.
    
15. I color my own hair.
    
16. I mostly only wear lipstick and blush.  Only use full makeup for special occasions.  :)
    
17. Only wear a watch and my wedding rings as jewelry.  Jewelry on my neck, wrists or ears causes me a lot of discomfort and annoyance anyway.
    
18. Do my own pedicures and go out for a pedicure maybe once a year as a treat for a special occasion.
    
19. Do my own manicures...and I don't use nail polish on my fingernails - it saves a lot of time too!!  : )
    
20. We rarely throw any food anyway. We have a system for storing leftovers to make sure we use them them. We always put leftovers in a designated section of the top shelf in the fridge next to the milk so we can't forget about them. We use leftovers the next day for lunch or snacks or as a side dish with dinner.
     
21. We have a small Cuisinart counter top combo toaster, broiler and convection oven and use that for heating & baking small portions instead of turning on the oven. 
22. We keep our cars. I've only bought one brand new car in my life! Cars only depreciate so I never saw the point in losing a few thousand dollars as soon as you drive it off the lot.  But I did finally splurge on my 40th birthday and got myself a 2000 Sebring Convertible which I will keep as long it is still safe to drive!  I love it!  It is actually very practical as we can open the top and haul just about anything an SUV can.  Even more!  Plus it gets about 27 MPG.  Not bad when you consider how much mileage an SUV gets. In 2008, it is still going strong, but does have a little water leak. : )
    
    I had my 1988 Honda Accord for 10 years until I gave it to my brother in 2000.  He had it another 4 years before it died.  My husband has a 2003 Honda Civic Hybrid he LOVES and it gets nearly 50 mpg.  We also buy other things used...like our dining room set.
    
23. We don't buy CDs or DVDs anymore - we download most of our music  - we get 25 songs free every month with our Comcast cable internet service.  The super high speed internet pays for itself between the free music and all the research we do on it to save money.
    
24. We avoid processed foods like microwave popcorn, we use the bulk kind and have a West Bend Stir Crazy popcorn popper.which is actually a lot of fun to use!  We also make our own sugar free ice cream with just fruit and milk using the Vitamix blender we invested in. Cutting out sugar and gluten has saved a lot of money in addition to improving our health dramatically.
    
25. We use a digital camera for photos and ONLY print out a very select few!

Whew...that was fun!   So what are your top tips?  Would love to hear any additions you might have!    : ) 

Happy Thanksgiving!    I'll be in Virginia visiting family till Sunday!

See you next week! 

 

Organize Your Financial Papers To Make Tax Time Less Stressful - Part 2

See Part 1 Here:

Organize Your Financial Papers To Make Tax Time Less Stressful - Part 1

___________________________________________________________________

STEP 4 -Decide if you Need to Establish Sub-Categories

If you use a tax preparer, just separating INCOME, EXPENSES, and STATEMENTS may be enough. Ask them how they want the documents submitted.

If you are doing your own taxes, you only need sub-category folders for those categories that have a lot of paperwork.  If you have a lot of tax deductible expenses, I highly recommend using some kind of financial record keeping software to keep a running total for you throughout the year.

If you need sub-categories for INCOME OR EXPENSES, I recommend using a financial filing system with categories that reflect the categories you had entries in on your tax return last year.

1. Review last year's return and note which expense and income categories were used.
2. Use those sub-categories as the basis for creating a MASTER FILE LIST to guide you in creating a file structure.

For example, if you deduct expenses related to rental properties you own, and you have a lot of expense receipts, create a folder called Rental Property Expense receipts.

A sample MASTER FILE LIST structure may look like this.

• INCOME

o Salary & Wages (Include all your W-2s and /or 1099s here)

o Commission

o Interest & Dividends (1099s and Year end statements only, you don't need the whole years worth of documents to prepare your return.)

o Rental Income

• EXPENSES

o Donations

o Property Taxes

o Mortgage Interest

o Medical

o Childcare

o Job-related Moving

STEP 4 - Choose a Final Home for Your Papers

Once you have it all sorted out, you can see how much paperwork you have and choose an appropriately-sized container. With fewer than 12 or 13 categories, an accordion file could be a perfect solution for organizing your tax - related paperwork. Keep it in a handy location so that as you receive tax documents, you can immediately file them. In doesn't matter where, as long as it is near where you process mail and pay bills, easy to access, easy to use and easy to put away.

STEP 5 -Submit / Prepare Return

By mid - February, all your 1099s should be received and organized. All you have to do now is take them to your tax preparer to do the rest! Or, if you prepare your own return, consider using an web-based or software system such as Turbotax to simplify the job. It stores your past returns and pre-populates this year's return. I find that with Turbotax, I get my refund much faster and as a bonus, It's Deductible is included free. Last year I got over $1000 back just because I kept track of my donations and used It's Deductible to determine the value of the donated items. The values they give are IRS approved and actually more than I would have guessed. So for $1000 it was worth the half hour it took me to keep track of and enter the items into It's Deductible. How else would I get paid $2000 per hour?

STEP 6 -Get Ready for Next Year - Archive Your Paperwork

Instead of creating a whole new system for next year, empty the system you created this year, put all your documents in a single envelope or folder labeled Tax Documents - (YEAR). Create a separate folder for your final Tax Return as well, and archive them in a safe, out-of-the-way place. You will keep the tax return forever, but after 3 - 10 years, you can shred the backup. here are only a few documents you should keep forever and those should filed separately - never put them with your backup. For example, paperwork related to the purchase or sale of Real Estate should be kept forever.

STEP 7 - Celebrate and Relax!

Now you can celebrate and congratulate yourself for a job well done! When spring rolls around, take your refund and do something fun as a reward for not waiting till the last minute!

NOTE: The tips in this article work for most people, but if you have a unique tax situation or are overwhelmed trying to decide what will work best for your organizing needs, consult a financial organizing professional to help you set up a simple, efficient, easy-to-maintain system and ensure a stress-free tax season!

____________________________________________________________________

© 2008 Ariane Benefit, M.S. Ed, Organizing Coach,

RELATED

• Organizing Tax & Financial Papers Digitally
• See my New & Improved A-Store!
• Check out my book on how to get your entire office including papers organized!  The"Neat & Simple Guide to Organizing Your Office" 

Organize Your Financial Papers To Make Tax Time Less Stressful - Part 1

It's that time again!

The barrage of catalogs in your mailbox is turning into a flurry of year-end tax statements. If you dread tax time and usually spend your spring stressing over getting taxes done on time, these tips are for you! The best time to prepare for tax time is the year before, but if you didn't do it last year, start now! With these simple tips, you'll get your taxes done EARLY and be ready to enjoy spring! And once you have your system in place, it will be even easier next year!

Set an Early Deadline To Submit Paperwork! - The first step to becoming the master of your own financial well-being and reducing tax stress is to FORGET ABOUT April 15! Make YOUR Tax deadline the end of February or Mid-March and start getting your paperwork organized NOW.

If you use a tax preparer, call right now and schedule an appointment for as soon as possible. If you do your own taxes and have difficulty setting a deadline, consider getting a friend, family member, or coach to hold you accountable to meet your deadlines. Once you have a deadline, it's time to organize your paperwork.

STEP 1 - Gather Financial Papers

If the paperwork you need to complete your tax return is scattered, gather all the papers you need into a single box, basket or other container. If they are already in folders or other containers, gather the file folders into a single file container and move on to step 2.

STEP 2 - Sort

Sort your papers into broad categories such as INCOME, EXPENSES, and STATEMENTS. You can subdivide STATEMENTS into BANKING, CREDIT CARDS, INVESTMENTS, RETIREMENT, but if your papers are all in a jumble, using 3 major categories at first makes the job faster and simpler and requires far fewer containers. You can always micro-sort and break down the categories later if needed. But, honestly, most people never go back to the past years records so why bother? My rule of thumb is to not over-organize things you don't use regularly. Keep it SIMPLE. Unless you deduct expenses on your tax return, you don't really need to keep your credit card statements anyway.

STEP 3 - Eliminate

Eliminate any unneeded papers as you go. Keep only receipts that prove your taxable income and deductible expenses.

Eliminate receipts that are NOT tax-deductible if they are ALSO for items that are:

• NOT insurable
• NOT under warranty
• NOT income to you

For example, you don't need to keep electric bills unless you claim a home office deduction.

GET THE NEAT & SIMPLE GUIDE TO DOCUMENT RETENTION

Learn what to keep and for how long CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE
It is a "must have" tool for anyone looking to keep less paper
and feel more confident about letting go of paper that is
cluttering up your space. Includes tips for Shredding,
Identity Protection, Managing Passwords and much more!

To determine exactly what papers you personally need to keep and what you can let go of, ask your tax advisor.

SHREDDING: Be sure to shred any documents that contain information that could be used to steal your identity such as: social security numbers, credit card numbers, bank account numbers, etc. You do not have to shred paper solely because it has your address on it. Your address can be found anywhere and everywhere anyway!

_________________________________

PART 2 is coming on Wednesday!

_____________________________

NOTE: The tips in this article work for most people, but if you have a unique tax situation or are overwhelmed trying to decide what will work best for your organizing needs, consult a financial organizing professional to help you set up a simple, efficient, easy-to-maintain system and ensure a stress-free tax season!

____________________________________________________________________

© 2008 Ariane Benefit, M.S. Ed, Financial Organizing Coach

RELATED

• Organizing Tax & Financial Papers Digitally
• See my New & Improved A-Store!
• Check out my book on how to get your entire office including papers organized!  The"Neat & Simple Guide to Organizing Your Office" 

Organizing Financial and Tax Return Information Digitally

It's that time of year again when everyone is looking for better ways to manage financial papers and information. So here's the latest updates on the tools I've found to be the easiest and fastest ways to organize financial data for tax time.  In fact, this year was SO easy for me that I had all my financial data loaded into Turbotax by Jan. 15, and all we are waiting for is my husband's W-2  I'm going to be done as soon as we get that! It feels so good to not have to worry about getting taxes done.  I can enjoy my spring!

Can you believe I used to be one of those people who waited till the week of April 15 and then would be running to the post office to get it postmarked before midnite?  Seriously.  I used to despise doing taxes!  But taking my Big Girl pill, and getting organized, really helped me not only conquer my loathing of financial matters like budgeting and taxes, I became a MASTER of it. 

Once I got started it became addictive.  It's so empowering to conquer things you are afraid of and thought you could never figure out.  (You can read more about my financial story and how I got out of $25,000 in debt here) You can also read about how I worked as a financial organizing coach with an ADD client to get her papers and financial life in order in this article where I was interviewed by the Orlando Sentinel about what an Organizing Coach does.

And now, on to the tools that make my financial organizing so much easier! 

p.s. Leave a comment below if you have any specific financial organizing questions you would like me to write about here! 

___________________________________

NEAT RECEIPTS

I got the new NeatReceipts Scanalizer in 2006. It  worked FABULOUSLY!!!!  My husband and I hooked it up and got it working in about 15 minutes.  Then we started scanning.  Here's how it went.

At first it had a little trouble recognizing about 40% of the receipts but, IT LEARNED!  Soon it was recognizing and accurately inputting 80 - 90% of them.

The only thing we had to do with some receipts was adjust the total and enter the category - which is extremely easy to do.  It was worth the effort because when you finish you get to press a button and generate a report that has all your business expenses sorted AND subtotaled for you!

In about 1 hour we had our process streamlined and 6 months receipts scanned. (about 100 receipts) 

Within another hour I had all the totals I needed to send in my estimated tax payment for 4th Quarter...AND I was ready to file my tax return for the year. 

In 2 hours, I was able to input my whole years worth of expenses!  This year I kept up with it once a month or so and so it took me no time at all.   

You can also enter expenses with no receipts. We manually entered expenses for which our only receipts were checks or entries on my business credit card statement such as:

• Payments to our web host
• Payment to subcontractors
• PayPal expenses    

You can enter documents into the Neat Receipts software on your computer using any scanner you have.  The software is what you really buy NeatReceipts for. For example, we wanted to  scan our credit card statements.  That worked but it was actually easier to use our flatbed scanner for that.

It's set up very similar to the Excel spreadsheet I created years ago to enter all my income and expenses for my Schedule C, but it's more reliable because you can't accidentally delete a formula. And it would take many many hours to have Excel generate the beautifully laid out and easy to read reports you get with Neat Receipts.You can export the results to Quicken, QuickBooks, MS Money which I now  also use.

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QUICKBOOKS SIMPLE START EDITION 2008

I got started with QuickBooks Simple Start Edition 2007 a year ago and I'm thrilled with it!  I have upgraded to 2008 and there aren't really any major changes.

To complete my Schedule C in Turbotax all I had to do was print my Profit & Loss Standard Report  and everything was in the exact right category for the 1040 Schedule C.  Of course, that's because I set it up that way.  Read my review of QuickBooks Simple Start Version here.

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TURBOTAX BUSINESS & HOME

I've been using Turbotax for about 8 years now.  Ever since my tax preparer's rates went up to $600 to do both my Schedule C and personal returns.  I LOVE IT!!!  It has two tracks.  One track walks you through and interviews you.  You answer the questions, and before you know it you are done.  Once you really get the hang of it, you can also go in through the "Expert" track and just fill out the parts you know you need to complete using what is kind of like an electronic form.  If you have a fairly simple return, you can save a lot of money over using a tax preparer.  It has saved me thousands of dollars.

___________________________________

FUJITSU SCANSNAP

The Fujitsu ScanSnap is next on my agenda to get all my paper scanned and reduce the amount of file space I need.  Check out the Fujitsu ScanSnap in my Neat & Simple Amazon A-Store with over 22 positive Reviews!!!  I also posted a review of the Fujitsu Scansnap by Tracy Axcell, another professional organizer here. 

RELATED

See my recommendations on how to handle paper receipts here.

Check out my book on how to get your entire office including papers organized!  The"Neat & Simple Guide to Organizing Your Office" 
Good Luck With Your Taxes!

Leave a comment below if you have any specific financial organizing questions you would like me to write about here! 

Free Tools for Organizing Your Finances & Bill Paying

One of the popular services I offer is Financial Organizing. As part of the service I provide a neat little spreadsheet I developed that I call the Neat Living Money Master.  It's almost perfect enough to offer to the public but not yet.  I'm putting in lots of instructions and trying to make it as user friendly as possible before I put it out there. In the meantime, I found this great post over at the ever awesome Zen Habits blog with links a wide array of FREE tools for organizing your finances. 

I use Quickbooks Simple Start (see my review of this here), Excel, PayPal, Credit Cards & online banking.  I mention Credit Cards because we put ALL personal expenses on one card and business on another and track them regularly online.   And we pay them in full every month.  We have a monthly credit card spending limit and that works great for us.   Easy too!  We also juggle 0% credit card offers which have helped us pay off half of our home improvement loan in the last 3 years without paying any interest at all.  We've saved nearly $4000 since the interest was well over $100 per month.  All that money went to reduce the principal balance instead!

Related Neat Living Posts:

• How I got out of $25,000 in debt 
• 25 Ways I Save Money
• All Financial Organizing Posts

My Favorite Frugal Living Blog:  Frugal for Life

What tools & strategies do you use to keep your spending under control? 

New Credit Card Scam Alert - Never give your PIN to someone who calls you!

Received this in an email and checked it out.  It's not a hoax.  Unfortunately it's very real so be careful!  It's not really about organizing, but I consider this a "Public Service Message"   : )   

__________________________

The scam works like this: Person calls you and says,

"This is (name), and I'm calling from the Security and Fraud Department at VISA. My Badge number is 12460. Your card has been flagged for an unusual purchase pattern, and I'm calling to verify. This would be on your VISA card which was issued by (name of bank). Did you purchase an Anti-Telemarketing Device for $497.99 from a Marketing company based in Arizona ?"

When you say "No", the caller continues with,

"Then we will be issuing a credit to your account. This is a company we have been watching and the charges range from $297 to $497, just under the $500 purchase pattern that flags most cards. Before your next statement, the credit will be sent to (gives you your address), is that correct?"

You say "yes". The caller continues -

"I will be starting a Fraud investigation. If you have any questions, you should call the 1- 800 number listed on the back of your card (1-800-VISA) and ask for Security. You will need to refer to this Control Number. The caller then gives you a 6 digit number. "Do you need me to read it again?"

Here's the IMPORTANT part on how the scam works. The caller then says,

"I need to verify you are in possession of your card". He'll ask you to "turn your card over and look for some numbers".

There are 7 numbers; the first 4 are part of your card number, the next 3 are the security Numbers' that verify you are the possessor of the card. These are the numbers you sometimes use to make Internet purchases to prove you have the card. The caller will ask you to read the 3 numbers to him. [These are the PIN numbers you need to make purchases]

After you tell the caller the 3 numbers, he'll say, "That is correct, I just needed to verify that the card has not been lost or stolen, and that you still have your card. Do you have any other questions?"

After you say No, the caller then thanks you and states, "Don't hesitate to call back if you do", and hangs up.

You actually say very little during the call, and they never ask for or tell you the Card number. But after we were called on Wednesday, we called back within 20 minutes to ask a question. Are we glad we did! The REAL VISA Security Department told us it was a scam and in the last 15 minutes a new purchase of $497.99 w as charged to our card.

Long story - short - we made a real fraud report and closed the VISA account. VISA is reissuing us a new number.

What the scammers want is the 3-digit PIN number on the back of the card. Don't give it to them. Instead, tell them you'll call VISA or Master card directly for verification of their conversation.

The real VISA told us that they will never ask for anything on the card as they already know the information since they issued the card! If you give the scammers your 3 Digit PIN Number, you think you're receiving a credit. However, by the time you get your statement you'll see charges for purchases you didn't make, and by then it's almost too late and/or more difficult to actually file a fraud report.

What makes this more remarkable is that on Thursday, I got a call from a "Jason Richardson of Master Card" with a word-for-word repeat of the VISA scam. This time I didn't let him finish. I hung up! We filed a police report, as instructed by VISA. The police said they are taking several of these reports daily!

______________________________

Don't let this happen to you!  : )

REVIEW: QuickBooks Simple Start Edition 2007 - Including Tips on How to Set Up Your Chart of Accounts

UPDATED 3/19 - Added to end of post

QUICK TIP 1:  How to Pay Yourself and Still Be Able to Balance Your Checking Account and Have the Money Show Up as Income on Your Profit and Loss Reports

QUICK TIP 2:  How to Enter Credit Card Expenses and Payments so that They Don't Zero Out and Make it Seem as if Did Not Have Expenses
__________________________

REVIEW: QuickBooks Simple Start Edition 2007

I've always resisted using QuickBooks Financial Software because it seemed like overkill for my needs.  It has a lot of "extra" features like inventory, shipping label printing, employee and payroll tracking, business loans and fixed assets that a professional running a business solo with and a few contract assistants has no need for. But recently I discovered the QuickBooks Simple Start Edition 2007. 

Why I Switched From Excel

QuickBooks Simple Start Edition 2007 provides just what I need.  A simple accounting package that is just right for a self-employed individual who just needs to track income and expenses for their accountant or who does their own taxes.  Plus it's under $100.   It has just the right features to convince me to make the switch from using my own custom Excel spreadsheet to manage my business finances. I'm so glad I did because now I have many expanded reports and features.  For example, I can very easily:

• Keep track of client transactions and easily record details of what I did on each project - using the item and invoice function this is much easier than it was with an Excel spreadsheet.

• Record income and expenses into appropriate Schedule C categories (which I fully customized to my business needs).  This makes it really easy to prepare my own taxes.  (I did this using the Chart of Accounts and Sub-Accounts)  I can also get reports for any date range and any category showing a summary of all income and expense transactions.

Side Bar - Review of TurboTax Online for doing your own taxes

I used Turbotax Online this year...but next year I will try the desktop version - TurboTax Federal + State Home and Business 2006 Win/Mac or perhaps switch to H&R Block Taxcut 2006 Premium Federal + State + Efile.  They both get excellent reviews from many sources. 

I've used Turbox Online several years now and was very happy with it, but this year, I was very disappointed.  It was very slow (and I have enhanced hi-speed cable modem service!) They've also taken away a lot of the online help and constantly try to sell you a live tax advisor.)

More neat things QuickBooks Simple Start Edition 2007 lets me do...

Send Electronic Receipts to Clients via Email with a Single Click - I enter transactions into an invoice or "sales receipt" (which I have completely customized with my logo) and then with a single click it automatically generates a PDF Receipt and emails it to my client! I no longer have to take time to write out receipts while I'm at the client site. And they no longer have a paper version of the receipt floating around the house.  Less paper clutter!

Balance my Business Checking account - The Reconcile feature (under Reports / Accountant Reports) is soooo much easier to do than reconciling manually!  I just go in and check off that each item I've entered into Quick Books is on my statement and it does all the math for me.

Get up to the minute "Profit and Loss" reports - This helps me know at a glance how my business is doing and what my actual "take home" income is.  It also:

• Makes it really easy to pay estimated taxes on time.
• Allows me to see income summaries for each of my lines of business, website development, coaching, teaching, business consulting, etc.

See which of my organizing services are most popular via the "Total Sales by Item" Report - By creating "Items" for each of my professional organizing services, it lets me see which of my organizing services are most popular. I not only can see the number of items, I can also see the total hours I spend by type of service.  This was achieved by setting up "items" such as: Organizing - Kitchen, Organizing - Garage and changing the quantity field to hours.

Easy to Use Visual Interface & FREE Trial

The home page screen has everything you need to do right there.   You can use the icons in the main window to navigate or use the text links in the left column. (shown, click to see the full size) You can also download a free trial from Intuit to really get the look and feel of how it works.

Good Built in Help and Support

Although it's VERY easy to use, and the built-in tutorials are excellent.  I don't want to mislead you into thinking it was super easy to set up.  You do need to be familiar with basic accounting and with the Schedule C to set this up by yourself.  If I had not had lots of accounting & financial management training when I worked for Arthur Andersen (the auditing and accounting firm which sadly barely exists now since the Enron Scandal) I'm pretty sure I could not have done this on my own.  It took quite a bit of tweaking and creative manipulating to set up and get it to do everything I wanted.  But it was worth it!

Excellent FREE Live Support

If you do not have accounting background, don't despair, you can still use QuickBooks Simple Start.  It comes with 90 days of FREE live support. I called in to verify that my "creative" accounting approaches to my dilemmas were the correct solutions. The person who helped me was extremely knowledgeable and helpful. He was patient and answered all of my questions during a half hour call. His answers confirmed that I had done the right things plus he gave me a couple alternatives. (Whew!) But it might have saved me time if I'd called in immediately instead of figuring it out via trial and error.  : )

________________________________

QUICK TIP 1:  How to Pay Yourself and Still Be Able to Balance Your Checking Account and Have the Money Show Up as Income on Your Profit and Loss Reports

This is such a common need for self-employed people, I was really surprised they didn't have any built in help for this question.  Here's my solution.

The Problem. The problem was that when I recorded payments to myself in my QuickBooks business checking account register, I could only categorize it as an expense.  When I did that, it no longer showed up as income on my Profit and Loss Report. It also messed up my total expenses and tax accounting.

The Solution. What I did was create a fictional bank account called "Payments to Myself". Now when I write a check from my business checking account to myself, in QuickBooks I record the transaction as a "Transfer of Funds" from my business checking to my "Payments" account.  This allows me to be able to balance my business checking account by deducting the payments, but also still have an account that shows the money as income, not an expense.   

_____________________________

QUICK TIP 2:  How to Enter Credit Card Expenses and Payments so that They Don't Zero Out and Make it Seem as if Did Not Have Expenses

This is another common need for self-employed people, since most of us use credit cards and pay the bill with our business checking account. I was really surprised at this answer.

The Problem. The problem was that after I set up a register for each credit card, I began recording expenses and payments in the account - this causes my expenses to zero out!  They no longer showed up in my Profit and Loss Report!  But because I paid the credit card with my business checking, I had to record the payment somewhere or my checking account would not balance. (To further complicate things, I have two business credit card accounts. 

• One credit card gives me Amazon Rewards.  It also allows me to auto-pay the balance on the due date.  But I can only do that my personal checking account because that account has overdraft protection - unfortunately I can't put overdraft protection on the business checking account. I love being able to do this!
• My other business credit card gives me airline miles. I pay it with my business checking account. 

The Solution.  I pay the Amazon card with my personal account, so for that one, I simply don't record any payments! 

For the Miles account, I had to create another fictional bank account in my Chart of Accounts called "Credit Card Payments". Now when I write a check from my business checking account to pay the credit card, in QuickBooks I record the transaction as a "Transfer of Funds" from my business checking to my "Credit Card Payments" account. 

This allows me to balance my business checking account by deducting the credit card payments, and the expenses still show up as expenses on the Profit and Loss (P&L) Reports.  So, the tradeoff is that I can't actually balance the Credit Card register - I only record expenses and returned items there.  But that's okay.  I pay the balance in full every month so it doesn't affect anything.  It's more important to me that I make my checking account balance and get an accurate P&L report so I can pay my estimated taxes.   

____________________________________

If you use QuickBooks or are thinking about it, I hope these tips help you take charge of your own financial organizing!

Related posts:

• Neat Receipts Scanalizer Review

UPDATED 3/19 - Added to end of post

QUICK TIP 1:  How to Pay Yourself and Still Be Able to Balance Your Checking Account and Have the Money Show Up as Income on Your Profit and Loss Reports

QUICK TIP 2:  How to Enter Credit Card Expenses and Payments so that They Don't Zero Out and Make it Seem as if Did Not Have Expenses
__________________________

REVIEW: QuickBooks Simple Start Edition 2007

I've always resisted using QuickBooks Financial Software because it seemed like overkill for my needs.  It has a lot of "extra" features like inventory, shipping label printing, employee and payroll tracking, business loans and fixed assets that a professional running a business solo with and a few contract assistants has no need for. But recently I discovered the QuickBooks Simple Start Edition 2007. 

Why I Switched From Excel

QuickBooks Simple Start Edition 2007 provides just what I need.  A simple accounting package that is just right for a self-employed individual who just needs to track income and expenses for their accountant or who does their own taxes.  Plus it's under $100.   It has just the right features to convince me to make the switch from using my own custom Excel spreadsheet to manage my business finances. I'm so glad I did because now I have many expanded reports and features.  For example, I can very easily:

• Keep track of client transactions and easily record details of what I did on each project - using the item and invoice function this is much easier than it was with an Excel spreadsheet.

• Record income and expenses into appropriate Schedule C categories (which I fully customized to my business needs).  This makes it really easy to prepare my own taxes.  (I did this using the Chart of Accounts and Sub-Accounts)  I can also get reports for any date range and any category showing a summary of all income and expense transactions.

Side Bar - Review of TurboTax Online for doing your own taxes

I used Turbotax Online this year...but next year I will try the desktop version - TurboTax Federal + State Home and Business 2006 Win/Mac or perhaps switch to H&R Block Taxcut 2006 Premium Federal + State + Efile.  They both get excellent reviews from many sources. 

I've used Turbox Online several years now and was very happy with it, but this year, I was very disappointed.  It was very slow (and I have enhanced hi-speed cable modem service!) They've also taken away a lot of the online help and constantly try to sell you a live tax advisor.)

More neat things QuickBooks Simple Start Edition 2007 lets me do...

Send Electronic Receipts to Clients via Email with a Single Click - I enter transactions into an invoice or "sales receipt" (which I have completely customized with my logo) and then with a single click it automatically generates a PDF Receipt and emails it to my client! I no longer have to take time to write out receipts while I'm at the client site. And they no longer have a paper version of the receipt floating around the house.  Less paper clutter!

Balance my Business Checking account - The Reconcile feature (under Reports / Accountant Reports) is soooo much easier to do than reconciling manually!  I just go in and check off that each item I've entered into Quick Books is on my statement and it does all the math for me.

Get up to the minute "Profit and Loss" reports - This helps me know at a glance how my business is doing and what my actual "take home" income is.  It also:

• Makes it really easy to pay estimated taxes on time.
• Allows me to see income summaries for each of my lines of business, website development, coaching, teaching, business consulting, etc.

See which of my organizing services are most popular via the "Total Sales by Item" Report - By creating "Items" for each of my professional organizing services, it lets me see which of my organizing services are most popular. I not only can see the number of items, I can also see the total hours I spend by type of service.  This was achieved by setting up "items" such as: Organizing - Kitchen, Organizing - Garage and changing the quantity field to hours.

Easy to Use Visual Interface & FREE Trial

The home page screen has everything you need to do right there.   You can use the icons in the main window to navigate or use the text links in the left column. (shown, click to see the full size) You can also download a free trial from Intuit to really get the look and feel of how it works.

Good Built in Help and Support

Although it's VERY easy to use, and the built-in tutorials are excellent.  I don't want to mislead you into thinking it was super easy to set up.  You do need to be familiar with basic accounting and with the Schedule C to set this up by yourself.  If I had not had lots of accounting & financial management training when I worked for Arthur Andersen (the auditing and accounting firm which sadly barely exists now since the Enron Scandal) I'm pretty sure I could not have done this on my own.  It took quite a bit of tweaking and creative manipulating to set up and get it to do everything I wanted.  But it was worth it!

Excellent FREE Live Support

If you do not have accounting background, don't despair, you can still use QuickBooks Simple Start.  It comes with 90 days of FREE live support. I called in to verify that my "creative" accounting approaches to my dilemmas were the correct solutions. The person who helped me was extremely knowledgeable and helpful. He was patient and answered all of my questions during a half hour call. His answers confirmed that I had done the right things plus he gave me a couple alternatives. (Whew!) But it might have saved me time if I'd called in immediately instead of figuring it out via trial and error.  : )

________________________________

QUICK TIP 1:  How to Pay Yourself and Still Be Able to Balance Your Checking Account and Have the Money Show Up as Income on Your Profit and Loss Reports

This is such a common need for self-employed people, I was really surprised they didn't have any built in help for this question.  Here's my solution.

The Problem. The problem was that when I recorded payments to myself in my QuickBooks business checking account register, I could only categorize it as an expense.  When I did that, it no longer showed up as income on my Profit and Loss Report. It also messed up my total expenses and tax accounting.

The Solution. What I did was create a fictional bank account called "Payments to Myself". Now when I write a check from my business checking account to myself, in QuickBooks I record the transaction as a "Transfer of Funds" from my business checking to my "Payments" account.  This allows me to be able to balance my business checking account by deducting the payments, but also still have an account that shows the money as income, not an expense.   

_____________________________

QUICK TIP 2:  How to Enter Credit Card Expenses and Payments so that They Don't Zero Out and Make it Seem as if Did Not Have Expenses

This is another common need for self-employed people, since most of us use credit cards and pay the bill with our business checking account. I was really surprised at this answer.

The Problem. The problem was that after I set up a register for each credit card, I began recording expenses and payments in the account - this causes my expenses to zero out!  They no longer showed up in my Profit and Loss Report!  But because I paid the credit card with my business checking, I had to record the payment somewhere or my checking account would not balance. (To further complicate things, I have two business credit card accounts. 

• One credit card gives me Amazon Rewards.  It also allows me to auto-pay the balance on the due date.  But I can only do that my personal checking account because that account has overdraft protection - unfortunately I can't put overdraft protection on the business checking account. I love being able to do this!
• My other business credit card gives me airline miles. I pay it with my business checking account. 

The Solution.  I pay the Amazon card with my personal account, so for that one, I simply don't record any payments! 

For the Miles account, I had to create another fictional bank account in my Chart of Accounts called "Credit Card Payments". Now when I write a check from my business checking account to pay the credit card, in QuickBooks I record the transaction as a "Transfer of Funds" from my business checking to my "Credit Card Payments" account. 

This allows me to balance my business checking account by deducting the credit card payments, and the expenses still show up as expenses on the Profit and Loss (P&L) Reports.  So, the tradeoff is that I can't actually balance the Credit Card register - I only record expenses and returned items there.  But that's okay.  I pay the balance in full every month so it doesn't affect anything.  It's more important to me that I make my checking account balance and get an accurate P&L report so I can pay my estimated taxes.   

____________________________________

If you use QuickBooks or are thinking about it, I hope these tips help you take charge of your own financial organizing!

Related posts:

• Neat Receipts Scanalizer Review

NeatReceipts Scanalizer Problem Resolution With Windows

UPDATE February 2008  see my article about organizing financial records and information, scanning systems, and doing your taxes using tax software.

See my Recommended Neat & Simple Financial Organizing Products

HOW WE RESOLVED OUR ISSUES WITH NEAT RECEIPTS

I spoke to NeatReceipts today 12/7/06.  Our problem was due to a rare Windows issue!  We tried again with help from their tech support. I'll let you know how it goes!  p.s. Their service seems to be excellent!  We just have to get another one...since we already returned our previous one.

_________________________________

I tried the NeatReceipts Scanalizer system and sad to say, I was very disappointed. I had very high hopes for being able to rid my clients (and myself) of the need to keep business receipts.

Alan & I spent a day working with it and tried every kind of receipt we have including Staples, Target, Home Depot, Linens & Things, Office Depot & more. We even tried Supermarket receipts! Not a single receipt scanned in and populated the Scanalizer fields. Every entry on the receipt had to be entered by hand. Even the name of the Store. It recognized nothing. All it did was scan it in like any graphical scanner would do. To me the power of scanning is in the OCR capability - (recognizing the text and entering it as text for you into their database).

I think it's a better investment to go with a more powerful scanner.  Haven't found the right one yet...would love to hear if anyone out there has found a powerful quality OCR scanner that easily integrates with a database, is reasonably portable and costs under $500.

What if Your Spouse Has Lost or Misplaced Important Tax Papers due to Chronic Disorganization? Will the IRS go easy on you?

Here is a question from a reader that I wanted to share with you because I'm pretty there are lots of people struggling with this issue.

Ariane,

My wife has the CHD. At this point, my biggest concern is the IRS. We have been unable to file returns although we pay the taxes, for some years. I cannot find where she has put our information and repeated requests have been met with I'll take care of it. I GUESS my question is  around how often the IRS sees this now and if it's a real problem they recognize? As sort of a medical issue the functioning spouse has to work around in order to get the tax situation fixed.

TNX for the site.

Best,

JIM

25 Ways I Save Money

Dawn over at Frugal for Life has put out a call to share ways to save money.  I couldn't resist this one,  so here are the top 25 ways we save money!  Thanks for the great idea Dawn! 

1. We live in a smaller house than we can afford, and do our own home repairs and painting.  Though we weren't thinking about it at the time, living in a smaller house gave me the freedom to quit my corporate consulting work and start my Neat & Simple Living professional organizing business.
   
2. Pay bills online with a free checking & online account from Wachovia which also pays interest on our balances.
   
3. We moved our home equity loan balance to a 0% credit card. Haven't paid interest for the 3 years since we renovated the entire front and backyard of our home which has enabled us to pay it off much faster. I set up reminders in Outlook to tell me when the 0% rate is up and then we move it to another 0% interest account. It will all be paid off in 2008.
   
4. We never use an ATM or any other banking service that charges fees.
   
5. We changed all our lightbulbs to compact flourescent bulbs including our front porch and outdoor lights. Of course we got them in bulk on sale!
   
6. We organized our shopping routines to use coupons! My favorite coupon organizer is Mrs. A's coupon organizer - I save around $20 - $25 every week since I got it.  It's very unique in that it lets you see all your coupons at a glance. My clients who use it love it too.
   Update 10/10/06 Mrs. A's saw this post and is now offering Neat & Simple Living readers 33% off on this award winning coupon organizer!
   
   
7. We use an Amazon.com Rewards Credit Card and get $25 rewards every month or two. We put all daily living purchases on it and pay it in full every month. We use the reward certificates for birthday gifts that we can simply enclose in a birthday card.
    
8. We use a Miles One Rewards credit card for all business purchases and get free miles for traveling. We've gotten 2 tickets free that way!
   
9. Don't go to movie theaters anymore - we have cable & wait for movies to come out on cable.  We use Tivo to record movies we really want to see.
   
10. We only eat in restaurants or get takeout maybe once a month or even 2 months. We cook at home every day.
    
11. We only run the dishwasher and washing machine when it's full.
    
12. Buy water by the case -  on sale. Only drink water and coffee or tea...no sodas, etc.  Only drink wine on special occasions.   NOTE: We are planning on getting a water filtration system and no longer using plastic bottles.  We hope to soon be able to find water packaged in those biodegradable corn-based plastic bottles.
    
13. We moved our car insurance to Geico last year and saved $1500 per year.  Northern NJ has nearly the highest insurance rates in the country. We couldn't believe we saved this much.  And our insurance rates have actually gone down every year!  Probably because my car just keeps getting older.  We also have a huge collision deductible which also keeps rates down.
    
14. I cut my husband's hair myself. And I keep my hair long so I only have to go to the hairdresser 2-3 times a year. Also color my own hair and trim the front of my hair myself.
    
15. I mostly only wear lipstick and blush.  Only use full makeup the first time I meet a client for the first time!  :)
    
16. Only wear a watch and my wedding rings as jewelry.  Jewelry on my neck, wrists or ears causes me a lot of discomfort anyway.
    
17. We saved a lot of money on our wedding rings with just simple bands.  We put our money into the down payment on our house!
    
18. Do my own pedicures and go out for a pedicure maybe once a year as a treat for a special occasion.
    
19. Do my own manicures...and I don't use nail polish on my fingernails - it saves a lot of time too!!  : )
    
20. We rarely throw any food anyway. Have a system for storing leftovers and USING them! We have a sin tray in the fridge on the top shelf and always put leftovers there and then use them the next day or 2 for lunch or snacks or as a side dish with dinner.
     
21. We have a small Cuisinart counter top combo toaster, broiler and convection oven and use that for heating & baking small portions instead of firing us the stove.
     
22. I've only bought one brand new car in my life! Cars only depreciate so I never saw the point in losing a few thousand dollars as soon as you drive it off the lot.  But I did finally splurge on my 40th birthday and got myself a 2000 Sebring Convertible which I will keep as long it is still safe to drive!  I love it!  It is actually very practical as we can open the top and haul just about anything an SUV can.  Even more!  : )
    
    I had my Honda Accord for 10 years until I gave it to my brother who had it another 4 years before it died.  My husband has a 2003 Honda Civic Hybrid he LOVES and it gets nearly 50 mpg.  We also buy other things used...like our dining room set.
    
23. We rarely buy CDs or DVDs anymore - we download most of our music  - we get 25 songs free every month with our Comcast cable internet service.  The super high speed internet pays for itself between the free music and all the research we do on it to save money.
    
24. We avoid processed foods like microwave popcorn, we use the bulk kind and have a West Bend Stir Crazy popcorn popper.which is actually a lot of fun to use!  We also make our own sugar free ice cream with just fruit and milk using the Vitamix blender we invested in. Cutting out sugar and gluten has saved a lot of money in addition to improving our health dramatically.
    
25. We use a digital camera for photos and ONLY print out a very select few!

Whew...that was fun!   So what are your top tips?  Would love to hear any additions you might have!   hmmm...Wonder what a list of the top 25 ways we waste money would look like!  : ) 

Follow Dawn's Journey to Fixing Her Credit Report! She shares & teaches all!

Dawn's Steps to Order Credit Reports and Monitor Your Credit Score

Dawn over at www.FrugalforLife.com is actually going to take you through her steps as she fixes her Credit Report! 

I've been through this process. It was not pleasant!  But it was definitely worthwhile. I closed a lot of really old accounts that I thought were already closed. Plus I found multiples of accounts and weird addresses making it look like I had a ridiculous amount of credit available to me.  It was like over $500,000 - that makes you a bad credit risk, even if you don't have any balances on the accounts. 

When I closed all those old and bogus accounts, my fico score went way up - over 720!  If I hadn't done this years ago, we might not have been able to buy our house! 

If you have been wondering how to go about this, join Dawn as she goes through the process.  Here is an excerpt:

First item of business is getting my credit score. Personally, I only like to go through www.Myfico.com to get all three as they seem to have more history behind them and seem to be more standardized. Using a score from one of the credit agencies isn’t always a good idea as many times they are off from the fico, and the fico is the more preferred way to check your score by banks and others.

After buying my score, which comes with a report on all three agencies, I quickly go over anything that may stand out as incorrect. But in order to dispute an item, I will need the credit report from the agency itself.

Next step is to ...  read Dawn's full story

Good Luck Dawn!

Tips for filing receipts & creating a Tickler File!

Receipts are a pain in the neck for so many people.  I get asked all the time what to do with them.  If you have to keep a lot of receipts such as for a small business, Hanging Expanding Files are a great way to keep them under control. 

 

I got a RED one so it stands out in my desk file drawer which is to my right. 

The beauty of this product is that it hangs easily anywhere you can hang a Pendaflex folder - in a file drawer, a file box or even in an archival file container.  AND it has no lid to restrict your access.  You can just drop the receipts in.

After recording business expenses in my business log, all I have to do is open my financial file drawer and drop the receipt in the appropriate section of the file.  I love it!

It has 12 sections so you can file by category or by month.   I prefer categories myself. 

Some of the categories I use are:

• "Large Home Purchases" for stuff like new furniture, large home repairs etc. 
• "Temporary" for groceries and other small non-tax-deductible purchases.  I only keep these receipts until I know they have appeared on my credit card and/or I know I won't be returning anything on the receipt. Everything month or 2 I toss  the old receipts
• "Cars" for you guessed it, car repairs!
• "Donations" 

For my Business I use the Schedule C categories as my guide:

• "Office Expenses"
• "Books, Education & Training"
• "Travel"
• "Computers / Electronics"
• and others that I need to complete my Schedule C at the end of the year.

At the end of the year, I take that year's business receipts and slip them into page protector pockets to file with my completed tax forms in my tax archive file cabinet which is in my attic.  (The only receipts I keep handy are for larger purchases like computers that I may need to refer to for warranties. )

Household Receipts

Most household receipts don't need to be kept for any more than the possible return period, usually 90 days.  I recommend filing them by month in the hanging file and every month go through the receipt files 4 months ago and recycle any that would not be needed for insurance or warranty purposes. 

Or you can use a Home Reference Binder with a tabbed vinyl pocket just for Receipts and go through it regularly to eliminate the old ones.  See my website page on filing & binder supplies I recommend.

TICKLER FILE

The expanding hanging file is also great to use as a tickler file.  Just set up one pocket for each month and file things such as invitations, directions, greeting cards you need to send that month, health insurance claims you need to send in, and event tickets. 

If you file medical insurance claims regularly, this can be a great time saver.  Just put a blank submittal form (if you need one) in each month's (or every other month's) pocket along with preaddressed & stamped envelopes to make the job easier. 

As you get them, drop the forms you get from the doctor in the tickler and then at the end of the month, send off the claims.

Protect Yourself from Personal Fraud, Credit Card Fraud, and Identity Theft

If you have concerns about Identity Theft this lens by Kimberly Dawn Wells features lots of tips, ideas, and resource links on How to protect your bank account, credit cards and more on her lens Protect Yourself from Personal Fraud, Credit Card Fraud, and Identity Theft on Squidoo.

Here a few of my favorite tips from Kimberly Dawn Wells (followed by a few tips from me):

KIMBERLY's TIPS

• Read your bank statements closely for anything that you don't recognize, and look into it immediately. Don't forget ATM withdrawls and miscellaneous memos.
• Use secure ATM locations. Watch for people lurking nearby or extraneous electronics attached to the ATM interface. If the machine takes your card (as opposed to just letting you swipe it) make sure you have it when you walk away.
• Avoid letting businesses debit your bank account instead of a credit or debit card. If something goes wrong, a credit or debit card is so much easier to change than your bank account number.

CREDIT CARDS

• Cancel credit cards you don't use often.
• Only use your credit card online at websites you trust. If you have doubts, request to make a payment by mail or purchase from another company.
• Annual Credit Report

This is the official site where you must go to request your free credit report from each of the three major credit reporting agencies. You may request it once yearly, it is free, and it is well worth it!

• TransUnion
  This is one of the three major credit reporting bureaus that you need to be familiar with.
  Experian
  This is another of the three major credit reporting bureaus that you need to be familiar with.
  Equifax
  This is the third of the three major credit reporting bureaus that you need to be familiar with.

_____________________

ARIANE'S TIPS FOR PROTECTING YOUR IDENTITY AND FINANCIAL DATA!

1. Always use the same card for all online purchases. That way it if there is a problem, you only have to cancel one card.
2. If you have multiple cards, only carry one with you.
3. Make a copy of all the contents of your wallet, and update it regularly. (Try programming a recurring reminder into your calendar or any electronic reminder tool you use.  I use Outlook for all my reminders.) If it's stolen, you'll able to immediately alert all the relevant parties in case of potential identify theft.
4. Don't carry your social security card in your wallet.
5. Keep track of all your cards using a binder with business card or trading card page holders.  That way you can see all your cards at a glance and know if any are missing.  You can also make notes about your cards in the binder such as what the interest rate is, etc. TIP: Don't label the binder as credit cards - give it a code name and keep it in a secure, locked place.
6. If you must write down your passwords, never write down the real word!!! Establish a code system.  For example, if you use the word "password" write down p*d.  or any kind of code system like that you can remember.  If you use variations of the same word, vary the code for each.  Another type of code system would be, if you use your sister's name, write her birthday - only you will know it's really her name.

Hope you find these helpful!  Feel free to comment below with your favorite tips!

The Ultimate Bartering Scheme - One Red Paper Clip for a HOUSE!!!

As Media Guru Marshall McLuhan predicted, getting attention in the age of media isn't easy. You have to come up ever more extreme and outrageous schemes.  One of the latest schemes I read recently is another of those that makes me wish I'd thought of it!  But my outrageous gene is just not extreme enough!  Anyway, you gotta love the ingenuity behind starting with a single red paperclip and after 14 very clever trades and one year - ending up with a house! 

 

Bartering and trading is one of the oldest and most effective strategies for success and this is a great example of how to make it work!  His story is hilarious and informative.

Bartering is a great way to live more simply and frugally and even as a strategy for growing yoru business. There is absolutely nothing illegal or unethical about bartering.

So how can you make bartering work for you?

If you are interested in how to use bartering legally and effectively in your business, or to enhance your simple and frugal living strategy, check out these resources.

IRS RULES AND INSTRUCTIONS http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/article/0,,id=113437,00.html

WIKIPEDIA
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bartering

BARTERING EXCHANGES - Most of the USA Fortune 500 companies use barter to increase their market share and improve productivity. There are about 500 barter exchanges in North America and Latin America, and several hundred more throughout the rest of the world. Here are listed links to hundreds of the Web sites of the many barter exchanges which have developed internationally.
http://www.gigafree.com/barter.html

ENTREPRENEUR MAGAZINE - Bartering in Business
Barter is back in style and spanning the globe. Here's what you need to know to become the master of your exchange.
http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/0,4621,321937,00.html

ABOUT.COM on the Rewards of Small Business Bartering and how to do it WISELY.

"Whether you are starting or growing a small business bartering can aid in preserving cash to help get your venture launched or expand. Bartering is a must have success tactic for operating your small business. Bartering can be defined as the exchange of goods or services for other goods or services. It is a transaction where no money changes hands. Bartering is estimated to exchange 8.25 billion a year in trade for 2004, according to the International Reciprocal Trade Association."

5 Things You Need To Know About Business Barter

1. Money Pit: Beware of troubled companies on a quick downward spiral to bankruptcy. If your barter partner is in financial trouble and seeks bankruptcy, you may never receive your share of the barter agreement.

2. Time and Money Equivalent: Attach a time or money value to the barter. For a win-win situation to exist in a barter agreement both parties involved need to sit down and compare the exchange of goods and services in a quantitative fashion.

3. Tax Issues: Bartering does not offer a tax loophole to avoid taxation. According to the IRS tax website, "Income from bartering is taxable in the year in which you receive the goods or services. Generally, you report this income on Schedule C, Profit or Loss from Business Form 1040."

4. Business Barter Relationship: Any barter relation should be examined against the value added to your small business. A barter of 200 lbs of animal feed is going to be useless to a management consulting firm; but 3 months of free magazine advertising can greatly improve cash flow and aid your profits. If your services are not in high demand by your barter target, consider a barter exchange group.

5. Barter Exchanges: Hundreds of barter exchange groups operate in America, offering an efficient channel to barter for small business. Barter exchanges allow companies to have access to more goods and services in a quicker fashion. For instance, a graphic design firm may exchange its services with a pet food company for trade credits. The pet food company in turn can exchange its trade credits for another member`s service, such as tax preparation.

READ MORE AT:
http://sbinformation.about.com/cs/smallbizlearning/a/barter.htm

All the best,

Clearing Clutter - Part 3 - Why Clutter isn't ONLY your Fault

WHY CLUTTER ISN'T ONLY YOUR FAULT

In many ways, it's not your fault you have a lot of clutter.  You'd have to spend a lot of time researching to really understand how the corrupt corporate marketers of the world use marketing and psychology principles to manipulate your basic human drives and get you to aquire the stuff they are selling.  And you almost have to be as devious as they are to believe the lengths they go to to deliberately reach out to your kids.  It's hard to imagine people would use kids on purpose to get you to buy tons of stuff to keep them from nagging you.  (Yes, that is an actual explicit strategy marketers use.  They call it the NAG FACTOR")

And you'd have to be a super human to resist the social pressures that cause us all to accumulate stuff far beyond our real needs. I became a professional organizer partly because I wanted to be part of the backlash against the culture of out of control addictions to acquisition and debt that caused me to grow up in an extremely cluttered home and get into big trouble with debt early in my career.

How I Got Out of $25,000 in Debt

This is my story of overcoming debt, simplifying and letting go of clutter.

I also got my first credit card in 1978.  This was when they first started to be accepted by America.  It was so easy to spend and there was no one to teach you how to deal with credit cards.  I ended up in the late 80's having to fight my way back from over $25,000 in crippling credit card debt. That was a real lot of money back then.  Back then, interest rates were 18% and up. There were no 0% interest offers.  My interest charges alone were over $700 per month.

The way I finally learned to manage and control debt was when I worked for Arthur Andersen. As a project manager in an accounting firm, I learned all about budgeting and finance.  It was a revelation.  I took that knowledge home and created a budget spreadsheet in Excel that finally helped me manage my own money.  Instead of filing bankruptcy, I sold nearly everything I owned and moved in with a roomate for a few years.  But between that and the discipline of a budget, I finally worked my way out of debt.  The experience not only scared me, it helped realize I could let go of stuff and live with a lot less.  I learned to always live well below my means and keep money in the bank or mutual funds. I still to this day refuse to carry a balance and live fairly frugally and simply.

But not everyone gets to go work for an Accounting firm and learn what I learned.  That's what I love about being an organizer!  I get to help people take back control of their lives and their homes.  To help them learn to recycle and donate stuff they don't need.  To learn how to shop strategically instead of impulsively.  I get to be part of the resistance to the culture of "stuff" and part of the movement toward creating sustainable more spiritually fulfilling lifestyles.  My dream would be to work myself right out of a job! 

Not everyone can afford professional organizing services but most everyone can afford a book!  : )  So here are my offerings to save you time weeding through books to find the truly inspirational and great books that help you understand where clutter comes from on a cultural level and why clutter isn't just your fault.  It's not just something wrong with you. Our culture and business practices have serious flaws that have led us to led to an epidemic of clutter and waste that is simply unsustainable. These books don't just whine about the way things are but also offer suggestions and ideas on how to get back on track and make things better.

Scott Simon: Affluenza: The All-Consuming Epidemic

"We are a nation that shouts at a microwave oven to hurry up." If you can relate to this quote, you may already have Affluenza.  The definition of affluenza, is "a painful, contagious, socially-transmitted condition of overload, debt, anxiety and waste resulting from the dogged pursuit of more." It's like a virus that feeds on our desire to be more, have more, and have life be as easy and convenient as possible.

It feeds on our desire for novelty.  We love new beautiful things!  So we buy, buy, buy.  We can't just leave beautiful things in the store when they are so cheap and easy to take home, right? We stop thinking about what it will really take from us to own the thing, not to mention dispose of it down the line.

Affluenza is not only crowding our homes, it's threatening to destroy our environment.  We simply can't continue to live an economic system that profits from promoting the ultimately unsustainable lifestyle centered around the aquisition of things.  This book explains the symptoms of affluenza, how it became an epidemic, and what we can do about it.  According to the authors,

• The average American spends more than $21,000 per year on consumer goods
• Our average rate of saving has fallen from about 10 percent of our income in 1980 to zero in 2000
• Our credit card indebtedness tripled in the 1990s, more people are filing for bankruptcy each year than graduate from college. 
• We spend more for trash bags than 90 of the world's 210 countries spend for all their consumer good needs.

This books explains the historical, political, and socioeconomic reasons that affluenza has taken such strong root in our society, and offers practical ideas for change. They provide examples of people who have already opted for simpler living.

For more great resources, ideas, & example, check out these free blogs by amazing women who are also driven to help others live a more enjoyable life free of the bonds of clutter.

Frugal For Life

It's not about your stuff!

Juliet B. Schor: The Overspent American: Why We Want What We Don't Need

By the author of 'The Overworked American' and 'Born to Buy', this book delves deeper into the marketing, brand consciousness, and breakdown of neighborhoods, and many other factors that have led us to a society based on consumerism. She also describes the backlash Simplicity movement, in which people focus on living and enjoying life rather than working at jobs they hate to support a lifestyle of spending and acquisition.

If you want to understand the factors that influence you constantly so that you can choose your life rather than be unconsciously moved to compulsive and impulsive shopping and spending, this book will shock and surprise you and then ultimately empower you. 

Joel Bakan: The Corporation : The Pathological Pursuit of Profit and Power

I love this book.  And the documentary of the same title is extraordinary. As I've said many times now, clutter is a direct result of out-of-control, impulse spending. Much of this spending is spurred on through extremely manipulative marketing designed to make us want things we don't need.  But why are corporate marketers so aggressive about this? - purely to make a profit for their coroorations. Social ethics and moral responsibility are so often NOT part of a corporation's identity.  Their morals only exist where we have legislated them.

They don't want us to think before we buy anything. Do they really care if they are destroying the environment?  I'm not advocating that everyone become a radical.  Corporations have done a lot of good in the world.  But the bigger they grow, and the more they market to children using amazingly devious tactics, and the more we start seeing schools and public art centers being named after corporate sponsors (e.g., the Garden State Arts Center is now the PNC Bank Arts Center), and the more corporations like Coke and McDonalds are fighting tooth and nail with school districts to have the right to take over school cafeterias, the more we have to start wondering: just how far will their desire to manipulate us go?  what will stop them?  What will the limits be?   

This documentary explores the development of the corporation, it's marketing tactics, it's social and environmental impact in the most chilling way of all.  Using real video segments of interviews with CEO's, top marketers, and even top business professors.  It's utterly amazing and enlightening the things they have to say. 

They examine how corporations influence world wide politics, schools, our health and our food supply.  I wish everyone could see this movie or read this book.  I can't remember when I've been as deeply affected by a movie as this. 

And now, it's time for me to get back to work!  If you got this far, thanks for reading this. If you've read any of these books, I'd love for you to add your thoughts! 

All the best,

IRS Audits to Increase for Small Business

Here's ominous news I found at The Self Employment Blog for Small Business Owners: IRS Audits Increase for Small Business.

Karyn Greenstreet says:
"According to a recent article on Inc.com, the IRS has been given additional funding for enforcement. This means that small businesses will likely feel the effect of increased scrutiny and audits. You can read the article here:

http://www.inc.com/criticalnews/articles/200512/audits.html

Now more than ever, it's important to keep accurate records of all your financial transactions as it relates to your self-employment and small business. I know it's a daunting task for many, and many put off entering all the revenue and expense numbers into a ledger (paper or electronic). It's a case of divide-and-conquer: do it weekly and the stacks of paper will never get overwhelming."

This means that now more than ever, you need to make sure you are keeping appropriate records, filing them properly, and archiving the right stuff in long term storage.  I have created a 3 page tool that lists all types of paperwork and how long everything should be kept.  It includes Filing tips and IRS tips.  To get it, sign up for my newsletter.  For more filing tips, check out http://blog.neatandsimple.com/blog/2005/12/tips_for_creati.html