Consider this your guide to a fun and free Valentine’s Day. The following suggestions use the items you already have around the home to make gifts for your spouse and children. All that is needed is a few simple supplies and a bit of creativity. Who says you need to spend money on Valentine’s Day?

Here are some ideas that will make everyone around you feel loved:

• Candlelit Dinner. Make your significant other’s favorite meal. Follow it up with a delicious dessert created from a recipe that you found on AllRecipes.com. Light some candles. If you don’t have any lying around, create your own easy-to-make lantern using a small vessel like an oyster shell or saucer, olive oil, and a shoelace or piece of twine. You could also make one out of a lidded candy tin or glass canning jar. Here are a few tutorials that you will find helpful.
• Candy Kiss Roses. Do you have a jar full of candy kisses available? What about colored plastic wrap or tissue paper? If you answered “yes,” you can easily make roses for your loved one for a fraction of the cost of fresh flowers. Beautiful and edible, these roses look great and taste even better. Best of all, they won’t cost you anything extra because you already have the supplies for them in your home! Crafts Unleashed offers a simple tutorial at http://www.craftsunleashed.com/index.php/seasonal/crafting-candy-kiss-roses/.
• Handmade Cards. Gather up some old magazines, a pair of scissors, some paper, and a glue stick and create one-of-a-kind cards with special meaning. Create each card with its recipient in mind. You can also use these Vintage Valentine’s Day cards and make them your own or create your own Message in a Bottle.
• A Photo Montage. Arrange a heart shaped photo display on a wall for your spouse or children. Pay special attention to color. You want it to look as visually appealing as possible. It’s also best if you use double sided tape or mount the photos to posterboard. Martha Stewart has great tips on photo montages. You can read her suggestions by visiting her site.

A memorable Valentine’s Day is within your capabilities and you’ll have far less dead flowers, stuffed animals, and empty chocolate boxes to contend with! On behalf of Generation X Finance, we hope your holiday is both frugal and memorable!

To access you tax refund information, you will need some information from the Form 1040, 1040A or 1040EZ you just filed. This includes your Social Security number, filing status and the exact amount of the refund. Your Social Security number is located in the upper-right corner on the first page of all 1040 forms. Your filing status is one of the boxes labeled 1 through 5 that you checked on page one of all 1040 forms. The refund amount is located on Line 74a for Form 1040, Line 43a for Form 1040A and Line 11a for Form 1040EZ.

Go to the IRS Where’s My Refund? website. Enter your Social Security number and the refund amount in the appropriate boxes and fill in the bubble next to your filing status. All the information you enter must match what the IRS has in its records, so double check all the numbers you enter to ensure there are no mistakes. If you need help identifying the requested information on your tax return, click the “shown on your tax return” link in each section for details about where to find it. Click “Submit” and you refund status will appear.

You can also check your tax refund status over the phone by calling the IRS at 800-829-1954. Provide your Social Security number, filing status and the amount of the refund to hear an automated message regarding your tax refund.

If the information you provide online or over the phone does not match what is in the IRS database, you will get a message requesting you to fix any mistakes or contact the IRS for further assistance. If you are sure the information you entered is right, wait 24 hours and try again. If you still cannot check your tax refund status, contact the IRS at the number it provides on its website.

When Your Tax Refund Will Be Mailed or Deposited

The IRS has taken some of the guesswork out of planning for when your tax refund will be mailed or deposited into your checking account. They have provided a chart, as seen below, that can assist you in determining when to expect your money. One thing to note is the cutoff time for a return to be accepted (the leftmost column) is 11 am eastern time on the day it was accepted. If it is accepted after 11 am it would be counted as accepted the following day in terms of meeting the mailing and deposit deadlines.

When you eFile your return you’ll know for sure exactly when your tax return was accepted because you will receive an email confirmation. If you mailed in your return you won’t know exactly when the IRS received and accepted it, so you’ll probably want to use their refund lookup tool mentioned above.

Finally, it’s probably worth reminding you that you still need to get your taxes filed before the tax deadline to avoid penalties. If it doesn’t look like you’ll be able to meet the deadline, then you should look into filing a tax extension.

In fact, I’m willing to bet you’ve thought about starting a business at some point. We’ve all had those flashes of inspiration and thought we might be on to something. Then reality sets in and we realize that starting a business usually takes a lot of time, money, and energy to get off the ground. Even then, we are reminded constantly by friends and family that most businesses fail within their first few years. So, after careful consideration most people put their business idea up on the shelf and go about their daily lives.

It’s true that there is a lot of risk that goes into starting a business. The statistics don’t lie. Waking up one morning and deciding to quit your job to go start a business carries a lot of risk, especially if you have a family that relies on your income.  This is how most people envision starting a business. Drop everything, dump the job, and put 110 percent into the new venture and hope it succeeds. Fortunately, not all businesses require this all-or-nothing approach and much of this risk can be minimized by easing into a business that stems from an existing hobby.

Why Hobbies Can Make a Great Business

Why do you have a hobby? Obviously, it’s because it’s something you enjoy. And what kind of businesses do most people start? That’s right, something surrounding what they enjoy. Think about it. If somebody loves to cook are they going to wake up one morning and decide to start an accounting business? Is somebody who enjoys sewing or knitting going to create a home-based web design business? Probably not.

This is why so many small businesses start with a hobby. If somebody is already doing something they love in their free time it isn’t uncommon to think about what it would be like to make money doing what you love. When you combine the love for an activity with the ambition to make some money along the way, a business is born. So, take a moment to think about some of your hobbies. Have you ever dreamed of a lifestyle where you did that every day and made a living? Granted, not all hobbies are suitable business ventures, but many can be. And if they can’t sustain a full-time income they may at least provide a second stream of income, which is always a good thing.

My Own Hobby Turned Business

Here’s a little secret. This website, and in turn my present career, all stemmed from a little hobby. Ever since high school I’ve dabbled on the web. I had no specific training or education when it comes to creating websites, but over time I built a number of sites, mostly for fun. From online message boards to personal sites, I simply enjoyed creating something out of nothing and seeing if other people would stop by to visit. None of this was done to make money, and in almost all instances no money was made and I had no real intentions of getting into this arena as an actual business.

The same could be said back in 2006 when this site came about. I had a comfortable job in the financial services industry consulting retirement plan participants, so I had no intentions of setting out to start an online business. In fact, I didn’t even know what a blog was back then. I just assumed it was something teenagers had so they could complain about how bad their day at school was. I didn’t know anything about WordPress or that there were sites out there actually making money at this. All I knew was that I enjoyed building and experimenting with websites, so with my background in personal finance and investing I figured it would be interesting to try something along those lines. So I did.

For at least the next year the site was still little more than a hobby. It was just something to tinker around with after work, learn more about creating websites, and read other personal finance blogs to see how they do it. This site didn’t make a dime, and I didn’t expect it to. Eventually, I learned about some ways to make money via ads, so I signed up for an Adsense account and put some ads up on the site. Nothing happened. I thought if I built it, they would come, and they would click on ads. Hardly. It took six months to earn my first $100 and even receive a payment. Not quite a thriving business by any means.

Again, this didn’t matter. I created the site as a way to escape the 9 to 5, not to turn it into a full-time  business. The thing is, after you follow a bunch of other sites and learn more about creating websites, you realize that many people are doing it as a business. After reading some inspirational stories about others who have made the transition from hobby to business I began thinking about what I could do to possibly transition my site from a casual hobby into something that could put a little money in my pocket. And so my focus shifted from wasting an hour or two each night playing with the website to taking a hard look at how I could begin treating it a little more like a business.

Long story short, the beauty of turning a hobby into a business like this is that there is little risk starting out. I didn’t have to suddenly quit my job just to register a domain and put up a website. I didn’t have to get a business loan to finance the venture. I simply took something I was already doing in my free time for fun anyway and over time began to focus that energy so the hobby evolves into a business. Who knew that after a few years I’d be completely self-employed and working from the comfort of my home?

Identifying Your Hobby

So, what do you like to do? Maybe you’re into photography, arts and crafts, writing, gardening, or art? No matter what your hobby is, there is potential there. Of course not all hobbies are created equal and some may have a more natural market than others, but there’s no stopping you from taking almost anything and finding a business opportunity.

Next, consider whether you’d be providing a product or a service. If you actually make something and think you could sell it to others, you’ve got a product. If you’re giving somebody your time or doing something for them, that’s a service. But don’t let that black and white definition stop you from thinking outside the box. For example, let’s say you love taking photographs. Most people think of the photography business as lending your time and expertise to take nice photos of somebody or something, which they can then in turn get prints of. But the opportunities are almost endless. Instead of that traditional photography business model, you could take photos of local landmarks or landscapes, get them printed and framed, and then simply sell the prints online, in local shops, or arts and craft shows. Or maybe you enjoy teaching others so you begin offering your own local photography class or local photo tour. As you can see, one simple hobby can have many business possibilities. It all comes down to what you enjoy doing.

Treating Your Hobby Like a Business

When you’re just starting out and haven’t even sold anything yet you probably haven’t even thought about the aspects of running a business, and that’s fine. If you test the waters by selling a scarf to your mom or set up a blog for the first time you don’t really need any special business items in place. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be thinking about the business even before it becomes a business.

When it comes to setting up your business you have three primary options:

1. Sole Proprietor – This is the most common and easiest business structure. Basically, you are your business. In the eyes of the government and IRS the money you make is yours, and will be taxed as income. There are no forms to file to become a sole proprietor, and if you simply begin making money selling something or providing a service, this is what your business will be. Keep in mind that you still may need to check with your city or county to see if a business license is required. In addition, if you’d like to create a business name to operate under you’ll usually want to check with your county clerk and file a DBA (Doing Business As). Business licenses and DBAs are typically just a nominal fee. Finally, since you are your business, you are personal liable for everything related to your business.
2. Limited Liability Company – The next step up is a Limited Liability Company, or LLC. The LLC is similar to a sole proprietorship in that the income generated is generally just treated as personal income and taxed accordingly. The real benefit to an LLC is provides some additional liability protection because it is a business entity. Each state has different laws and requirements surrounding LLCs so you will need to check with your state to determine how to set one up. Typically, there will be an initial application fee and then minimal ongoing annual reporting and renewal requirements.
3. Corporations – Finally, you have corporations. A corporation is a separate legal entity and affords the most liability protection if managed properly. Corporations come in two flavors: S-Corp and C-Corp. In the S-Corp the income is passed down to the individual and taxed as personal income. A C-Corp is instead treated as a separate taxable entity and must file its own corporate tax return. Corporations have the most stringent filing requirements and are usually not suitable for most individual small businesses.

After determining how your business will be structured it’s time to think about banking. One of the best things you can do is to separate your business and personal finances. In fact, if questions were ever to arise regarding your business activities and taxes, the IRS will almost certainly expect to see your finances separated. Not only does keeping business and personal money separate make your life easier, but it will help you ensure you get all of the tax breaks available to you.

So, shop around and see what banks have to offer in terms of business accounts. To make it simple you may just want to go to the bank where you already do business, but they may not have the best business accounts and there could be better options. At the very least you’ll want a business checking account. With this account you will be able to deposit funds from payments and write checks or use a debit card to make business purchases. At some point you may also want to consider a business credit card so you can get the added purchase protection and maybe even start collecting rewards or cash back.

While running a small business isn’t incredibly difficult, you may want to brush up on the basics of business law. Unless you have a fairly complex business situation, you probably don’t need an attorney, but having a few contacts at your disposal is always welcome.

Business Taxes

Some of the benefits of owning your own business are tax breaks. In most cases, expenses directly related to running your business are tax deductible. For example, if you were to begin selling your scarves online and wanted to build your own website to showcase your products and take orders you’d be able to deduct the cost of the domain name, web hosting fees, and design fees. If you go to the local craft show every weekend and set up a booth you’d be able to deduct not only the cost of the booth, but even the travel expenses to get back and forth from the event.

In addition to the obvious expenses involved with running the business there are additional deductions such as the home office deduction if you work out of the house. There are some restrictions on the home office deduction and you may want to consult an accountant when you file your taxes, but the potential is there for a significant tax break if you qualify.

When it comes to paying taxes, things are a little different if you’re used to working for an employer. In most cases when you work for someone else you receive a paycheck and then taxes are deducted automatically. When you make money on your own this isn’t the case. Instead, you’re receiving a gross payment and then it’s up to you to pay the necessary taxes. One of the biggest mistakes many new business owners make is forgetting about the need to pay tax on the income along the way. What happens is tax time rolls around and after crunching the numbers they realize they have a huge tax bill due since they haven’t paid any tax on all that business income. If money wasn’t set aside for taxes it could really put you in a difficult position.

This is where paying estimated quarterly taxes come in. When you have a regular stream of self-employment income coming in you will usually need to begin making estimated quarterly tax payments. This applies to both federal and state taxes. If you still have a job that withholds taxes you’re in luck because you can simply change your withholding amount to cover the extra taxes due. If you don’t have a job that withholds taxes, or you’ll make too much with your business to make that a viable option, then it’s time to set up those estimated tax payments. To learn more about these estimated tax payments be sure to see IRS Form 1040-ES.

Promoting Your Business

You may have the best product or service in the world, but you’ll never make any money if nobody knows about it. This is one aspect of having a business that many people are unfamiliar with. This may be the first time you’ve had to think about marketing or advertising and it can seem like a daunting task, but it doesn’t have to be.

Start with an online presence. It doesn’t matter if you’re only serving local customers or you’re trying to sell to anyone, anywhere. Having an online presence is a requirement these days. It could be as simple as a single webpage that showcases your business, products or services, location, and contact information. Everybody uses online search these days so you at least need the basics. In addition to a basic website you can obviously do much more such as create a Facebook page, use Twitter, list your business on directories or yellow pages, and even post on Craigslist. Ultimately, you want people to be able to find you online.

As important as being online is, having a local presence can be just as important if you sell your product or service locally. This means spending a little money to get some business cards made. Face-to-face encounters can be important and having something to give the person so they can remember you in the future can make all the difference in the world. In addition to business cards you may want to look at local advertising. Check with the local papers, bulletin boards, or even approach existing businesses to see if you can work together.

Putting It All Together

Turning your hobby into a legitimate business isn’t difficult, but you can certainly set yourself up for success if you take the time to plan ahead and do things properly. The beauty of a hobby turned business is that you don’t have to jump in head-first and risk losing it all if your idea isn’t successful. You can test the waters and take some time determining if the idea has any potential.

Worst case scenario is that you find out that the business doesn’t have as much potential as you thought, or that maybe you don’t enjoy the business side of things, so you go back to just doing it as a hobby. The best case scenario is that over time your little hobby has proved to be a profitable venture and may even provide you the opportunity to quit your regular job and focus on the business full-time.

Whatever the outcome it will most certainly be an amazing journey and great learning experience. You will learn new skills and meet new people along the way, and you never know when this may come in handy in the future.

Have you ever tried, successfully or not, to turn a hobby into a business? Be sure to share your comments below.

One man, Mark Boyle, decided to conduct a yearlong experiment living without money. In his book, The Moneyless Man, he states, “I don’t see myself as a hugely spiritual person in the traditional sense. I try to practice what I call ‘applied spirituality’, in which I apply my beliefs in the physical world, rather than them being something abstract I talk about but rarely practice. The less discrepancy there is between the head, the heart, and the hands, the closer you are, I believe, to living honestly. To me, the spiritual and physical are two sides of the same coin.”

Mark’s strong beliefs about the world around him and desire to live a simpler lifestyle led him to conduct an experiment where working for and using money was strictly forbidden. He was able to acquire the things he needed by foraging, dumpster diving, and skillsharing. Although his modest dwelling wasn’t furnished with the latest flatscreen TV or gaming system, he did have access to a laptop computer and solar panel which he used to record his day-to-day experiences. This allowed him to share his experience with the world.

He notes just how long it takes to wash and dry clothes in the winter, to travel across Ireland by hitchhiking, and warming his modest dwelling using a rocket stove. He speaks highly about the people he encountered throughout his journey and the ways that they made an impression on him. Although Mark did without money, he certainly was rich in so many other ways. That’s what made me want to read his book in the first place. His head and his heart were in the right place throughout his year of moneyless living. There’s a lot to be learned from his experience, that’s for sure.

A year is a long time to do without money. Yet, millions of people live on less than the equivalent of one US dollar a day. Mark sums up the lessons in the last chapter of his book. Here are a few that I can appreciate:

• Don’t underestimate others. There are far more supportive people in the world than you can imagine.
• Communal-sufficiency is better than self-sufficiency. Small numbers of people who work interdependently are ideal because they have more to offer one another.
• You have to be prepared. Although Mark believed that things like carpentry and vegetable-growing were essential, he soon learned that “physical fitness, self-discipline, genuine care and respect for the planet and the species that live on it, and the ability to give and share, are the ‘primary skills’ for this way of living.”
• Community is security, money isn’t. Giving freely with no expectations of receiving strengthens faith.
• Money isn’t everything. Living without money allows you to take advantage of local goods and materials, makes you more aware of your community’s needs, and gives you a deeper appreciation for the things you do have.

If you’re overemployed or underemployed or unemployed, there is a lot you can learn from The Moneyless Man Mark Boyle. You can pick up a copy of his book on Amazon or better yet, see if your local library has it for you to borrow. Chances are, you’ll be like me and disappointed every time you have to set your copy down without finishing it.

Financial Advantages of Making a Down Payment

While it is easy to see the historical 20% down payment as a major impediment to acquiring a new home, there are significant advantages to having this money when you buy your house. In addition to having an instant equity stake in one’s home, there are certain cost savings that are associated with the 20% level. Most lenders require Private Mortgage Insurance (PMI) for borrowers who have less than 20% equity in their homes. This is an additional level of insurance coverage that provides the lender with some protection in the case of a default. The charges for the premiums, however, are passed on directly to the borrower. If a borrower makes a 20% down payment, this charge is avoided. Additionally, even if the borrower is unable to hit the 20% mark right from the outset, getting to this of equity in the home can still yield the same savings.

The other significant cost savings that occurs when a home buyer makes a down payment is a dramatic reduction in the amount of interest paid over the life of the loan. Despite the fact that rates have remained low, the interest one must pay on each additional dollar that is borrowed adds up over the life of a typical thirty year mortgage. Over the course of a thirty year mortgage you may pay just as much in interest as you did for the house.

Here is a quick example. Let’s say you find a house that you like and really want to buy it to take advantage of low mortgage rates. The house is going for $175,000. Unfortunately, you don’t have $35,000 set aside for a traditional 20 percent down payment, but you find a lender that can work out a mortgage with just 2 percent down, or $3,500. It sounds great, but guess what? That loan would end up costing you about $120,000 in interest. But that’s not all. It would take roughly 11 years to get to the point where you have enough equity to eliminate PMI. If you assume about $150 a month for PMI on a loan of this amount, that ends up costing you nearly $20,000. Total cost to buy this home without the standard down payment: $140,000.

Let’s take the same house, same mortgage rate, and instead put the full 20 percent down. In this case you’ll only pay about $100,000 in interest over the life of the loan. In addition, you avoid PMI which saves another $20,000. All said and done you save $40,000 by coming to the table with a 20 percent down payment.

Is That Really a Savings?

I know what some of you are thinking. Why save up and dump $35,000 into a down payment today when you could basically finance that over the life of the loan? We haven’t discussed monthly payments yet. The terms of the loan in the first example would put the principal plus interest payment at around $820. Then when you tack on PMI your total monthly payment clocks in at about $970. With the full down payment and avoiding PMI, the monthly payment is just $670. A difference of $300 a month. That’s a nice boost to your cash flow and could go a long way toward making IRA contributions, adding to a college fund, or whatever the case may be.

Even so, people will crunch the numbers and play the “what if” game. What if I used the down payment funds to invest in something that earned more than what the mortgage was costing, what if I was able to get a piggyback loan to avoid PMI, what if…? There are a dozen possibilities, but that’s not the real reason behind striving for a large down payment.

It’s all about equity. Here’s the thing. Most people don’t live in their homes for the life of the mortgage. In fact, only about half of all homeowners stay in a particular home for more than 10 years. Because of the way mortgages work it takes a long time before you start to see the equity build up when making regular payments. So people who need to sell in the first half of the mortgage often end up with little equity without that down payment. And remember, even if you do have a little equity, there are costs to buying and selling a home. Things like real estate broker commissions and concessions to buyers can cut into your “profit” by tens of thousands of dollars, meaning you could end up walking away from the sale with almost nothing in your pocket. Or in the worst case scenario, you end up having to shell out money to get out of the house.

Sources of Funds

Saving to make the down payment on a new home can often be a daunting task given how much money it might take to reach a comfortable down payment. While personal savings is the most common source of down payment funds, there are other options that can be considered. Furthermore, properly managing that savings can make a real difference in shortening the time required to reach the needed amount.

There are several government agencies that provide help to first-time and low income home buyers. These include the Federal Housing Administration, the Veteran’s Administration and state housing authorities. Each of these offers different programs that are designed to assist individuals in meeting down payment requirements and securing home loans. Before committing to any particular method, it is worth checking with each of these departments to ascertain if a program is available that may be utilized.

An alternate source of funds that may be used for the down payment on a home loan is one’s retirement account. Under provisions of certain retirement plans, it may be possible to borrow from these accounts or make penalty-free distributions in order to purchase a new home. For example, some 401k plans offer a 401k loan for a home purchase, up to $50,000. In addition, IRAs have a provision where you can withdraw up to $10,000, without penalty, for the purchase of a home.

Keep in mind that tapping into retirement funds may not be the best way to go about coming up with the down payment. After all, you’re just robbing Peter to pay Paul. But you at least want to know what options are available to you.

Maximizing Your Savings

Under the current financial landscape, there are limited options to maximize savings while keeping risk low. Savings accounts these days are obviously safe, but with that safety comes limited interest. Here are some current high-yield savings options. Another option may be CDs. If you’re specifically saving for a down payment on a house that will be a year or two down the road, then CDs may be a better option in order to earn a little more interest. Finally, if you don’t mind a slight element of risk and your home purchase is at least a few years out, you could invest conservatively in bonds or a bond fund.

No matter how you slice it, coming up with that down payment is an important aspect of buying a home. You will save money, build equity, and provide yourself with a little flexibility. Since coming up with a significant down payment usually doesn’t happen overnight it is equally important to begin planning for that future home purchase early and put your money to work the best you can.

If you truly want to be financially fit, you’ll pay careful attention to the advice given here. Although the five money saving habits I have listed here are fairly easy to adapt to, they do require effort if you want to see them through. That means you need to have some staunch determination if you want to alter your financial situation in 2012. Here are a few ideas to get you started:

1. Pay yourself first. That’s right! How do you expect to save when you have nothing left over from your paycheck? Automatically draft payments into your savings account each pay period and you’ll be surprised how little you miss the money that’s being taken out. Treat yourself just like you would any other creditor and force yourself to pay the bill to yourself on time. This little trick can help you save a pretty penny each year. Stop wasting time and sign up for an Ally savings account. It just takes a few minutes and you can easily set up automatic and recurring deposits.
2. Find an alternate means of acquiring things. Before you shell out a bunch of money to purchase something, really think about your options. Is it something that will eventually go on sale? Can you pick it up at a garage sale or thrift store? Is it something you can make yourself? Can you do without it altogether? So many purchases are made impulsively. Stop and take a moment to evaluate an item’s necessity in your household. If you find yourself wondering for a second if it is needed, don’t buy it!
3. Create at least one stream of passive income for yourself. Monetize your blog. Pay for your groceries by becoming a secret shopper. Write an article for a magazine once every couple of months. Do whatever it takes to earn some extra cash. It may not be enough to pay all of your bills but it can help in the event of an emergency or whenever you want to take a special trip with your family.
4. Join a bartering or swapping website. Clothing, books, movies, and skills can all be swapped online and in your community. Rather than pay for these items, why not trade something you have for them instead? Websites like Freecycle, thredUp, and SwapTree are great for this reason. You don’t have to do without but you also don’t have to spend money every time your kids outgrow something or you grow tired of your book or movie collection.
5. Remember that less is more. It’s hard to enjoy the things that you acquire if you have to work all the time to pay for them. Buy less and enjoy more time with your family members and friends. It may be hard to adopt a simpler lifestyle at first but with some practice, you’ll be on your way to enjoying the world around you more.

The calendar may have flipped to the new year, which means most tax tricks, tips, and deductions have closed the book on last year’s taxes, but that isn’t the case for your IRAs. Individual Retirement Accounts are unique in that they give you up until when you file your taxes on or before the April 16th tax deadline. That means you have a full three and a half extra months in the new year to catch up on an entire year of Roth IRA or Traditional IRA contributions if you choose to.

This is good news for many people because it’s easy to forget to miss a contribution during the year and the first instinct is to expect that once the calendar year is up you’re out of luck. There also may be situations where the new year means a new job, a pay raise, or bonus that could be applied to a contribution and catch up on what you missed out on. Whatever the situation, you have over three months to do something good for your retirement nest egg, and if you contribute to a Traditional IRA, lower your tax burden.

Get a Late Tax Break

As mentioned above, if you have a Traditional IRA account those contributions generally count as a tax deduction. If you’re like me and typically get your taxes done early you’ll be able to see your possible tax liability before you officially file, and before the deadline. If you notice you’ll be on the hook for a few hundred, or even a few thousand dollars you can use the time before filing to make a Traditional IRA contribution to offset part or all of that liability. That is of course assuming you haven’t already maxed out your IRA for the tax year. But consider this: if you’re at the 25 percent tax rate and haven’t contributed anything to your Traditional IRA yet, a quick $5,000 contribution before April 15th (April 16th in 2012) you’re basically cutting $1,250 from your tax burden. Of course the tax break is nice, but you’re doing something even more important by putting more money aside for retirement and giving it more time to grow.

Spread Out the Contributions

Say you’ve found yourself in the new year and want to make up the IRA contributions you missed, but you don’t have a large chunk of cash available to do so. Don’t worry. Nothing says you have to make that prior contribution all at once. In most years you’ll have around 15 weeks from January 1st through the tax deadline. So think about it in small chunks. If you want to max out the IRA contributions you have 15 weeks in the new year to contribute $5,000. That means you could achieve that by just contributing $333 per week until the deadline. If you did make some contributions last year and just want to put in enough to reach the limit, just take what you have left to contribute and divide it by the number of weeks left before the tax deadline. Then you can make small weekly contributions or double the weekly amount and set up direct deposit or create an automatic contribution that coincides with your bi-weekly paycheck.

Whatever you do, don’t stop making those contributions once the tax deadline passes. Now is the time to adjust your weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly contributions so that you can max out your current year’s contributions. It’s a lot easier to contribute slowly throughout the year than play catch up every January through April. After the April tax deadline you’ll generally have 37 weeks, give or take a week, to make current year IRA contributions. So, take $5,000 and divide it by 37 and now you only have to contribute $135 per week to hit the maximum limit, or $270 every two weeks if you’d rather contribute directly from each paycheck. This is obviously far more manageable than trying to cram it all into a few short months. And here’s the best part. Once you do this and make your maximum contribution within the calendar year you can start fresh next year and have a full 52 weeks to spread the contributions out across. That is less than $100 a week, or less than $200 from each bi-weekly paycheck. Suddenly, saving for retirement has never seemed to easy.

Getting Started

If you haven’t opened an IRA yet, Roth or Traditional, you can still open one this year and make prior year contributions. If you’re contributing money electronically the brokerage will ask which year you’d like to make the contribution for. If you’re depositing via paper check you will want to make sure you write on the check which year the contribution is for, or use a special deposit form provided by the broker that allows you to specify. Otherwise they may assume that any money coming in after January 1st is for current year contributions.

If you’re looking for a good cheap place to get started with your IRA I’d recommend either Zecco, Scottrade, or TradeKing. Accounts at either of these providers allow you to invest in stocks, bonds, mutual funds, index funds, ETFs, and almost anything else. And commissions are about as cheap as they get in the business. And remember, you’re never stuck with a single company. You’re always free to do an IRA rollover or transfer the funds to any other brokerage or fund company in the future. The most important thing is to get an account open and put that money to work before the deadline passes.

Experience Matters

Those with real-world work experience in their field will have a significant edge over those without such experience. If you have done any work in your field while in school, either through an internship, summer job, or work-study program, this will be a great asset. Companies have to make smart decisions when hiring new talent, so coming in with even a little experience will help you edge out other candidates who may not have the experience. When polishing up your resume, you’ll certainly want to highlight any work experience.

But what if you’re graduating this year and you don’t have any experience? You need to sell yourself. This is when it pays to have your interview skills honed in and projecting confidence can help you land that job. For most people, the only way to get really good at interviewing is to practice. Practice with your spouse, friend, or roommate until the process feels natural. Certainly, a real interview for a real job will never quite be the same, but the less you have to think about what you’re saying in the interview will go a long way in calming your nerves.

Start Early and Plan Ahead

Even if your friends and classmates haven’t begun searching for jobs yet, don’t delay. You’ll want to begin looking for opportunities as soon as possible. Not only will this give you a head-start, but it may provide flexibility. Getting an early start will put you in the position of being able to turn down jobs without the potential you’re looking for and holding out for a job with more promise.

Look for a company that promotes from within and has the structure to provide opportunities for career advances to talented and hard-working employees. How will you know if a job is right for you? Before you start looking for jobs, think through all the things that are important to you and make a checklist. Some things to consider:

• What is more important: pay, or a flexible schedule?
• Are good benefits more important than higher pay?
• Would you give up some perks in order to work in the city or are the suburbs more appealing even at a lower salary?

To fully compare different job offers, you really have to look at the whole package. If you plan on needing benefits, consider what those benefits actually cost or could save you money on. If you’re looking at two different offers, the base pay is important, but if the lower paying job has a retirement plan match or better health benefits, it could be a case where the lower paying job could actually end up providing the greatest total compensation.

Networking

Networking is one of the most powerful methods of finding a great job. Make a list of your contacts and how they might be able to help you. Talk to people who are working in the field you’re interested in and in the companies you’d like to work for. Don’t limit yourself to newspaper help wanted ads or online job postings. This is where it can be a good idea to begin building a LinkedIn profile so that you can begin to network with others in your field. There are also a lot of recruiters and HR personnel who use the service to find talent.

The best jobs usually go to those who start looking a little earlier, a little longer, and a little harder. Take advantage of any contacts you have in the field you’re hoping to work in, as recommendations are usually going to carry a little more weight than a a blind resume.

Additional tips:

• Take advantage of your college’s career center.
• Attend job fairs on campus.
• Participate in on-campus interviews set up by local companies looking for staff.
• Before going to an interview, research the company as thoroughly as possible so you can speak intelligently about the company’s business and its goals and how your skills and experience can help advance the company’s agenda.
• Use all the job-hunting strategies available to you. Don’t limit yourself to one or two methods of job hunting.
• Remember that your resume is your ambassador. A messy, unprofessional resume, or one with typos in it will give a bad impression to your potential employer. Take the time and effort to prepare a professional-looking resume that succinctly highlights your strengths and experiences and will make a good impression on those who read it.
• Once you’ve landed the interview, be sure to follow up afterwards with a brief, neatly written note expressing your interest in the job and demonstrating your understanding of what the company is looking for in the ideal candidate.
• Once you have the job, give it your best efforts, even if it’s not your ideal job. Your work ethic and work habits will follow you around from one job to the next. Make sure the news is all good.

I made the transition from full-time office employee to full-time freelancer and you can too. It takes some patience and determination to realign your lifestyle to fit your values but it is possible. Choose a career that can be done from the comfort of your own home office or take the plunge and ask your current employer if you can telecommute.

Examples of Work From Home Opportunities

Here are a few of the jobs you can do from home:

• Freelance Writer
• Freelance Editor
• Freelance Graphic Designer
• Party Planner
• Virtual Assistant
• Sales Representative
• Online Tutor
• Transcription and Translation Jobs
• Direct Selling

Finding Work That Pays

When it comes to finding work from home opportunities that actually pay, you must first consider the source. Does it list an hourly rate or state that you will be strictly working on commission? Does the position require special equipment? How often does it pay?

Once you’ve gotten those questions answers, it pays to investigate the company further. Read a few reviews of the business on the net. If possible, see what the Better Business Bureau has to say about the company. How high of rating does it have? Are there complaints about the business?

Knowing if an opportunity is legit or not can save you heartache in the long run. You should never have to pay to apply for the company or access its databases. For example, many posters on Craiglist advertise freelance writing jobs and ask you to click on a link. The website you are taken to requires credit card payment to access the information contained on it. Whatever you do, steer clear of these types of “opportunities”. You could go broke within a short amount of time by paying for monthly memberships to sites like these.

Places to Find Work From Home Opportunities

Here are a few of the places you can find legit work from home opportunities:

• Craigslist
• Indeed.com
• ChaCha.com
• About.com
• VIPDesk

Not all that glitters is gold but there are a lot of legitimate sources of income to be found on the net. If you’re looking for an opportunity that gives you freedom over your schedule, more time to spend with your family members, and friends or a feeling of gratification that doesn’t require an extra grande coffee, a long commute, and a brand new outfit, working from home may be just what you are looking for in terms of part-time or full-time income.

These prepaid debit cards are notoriously marketed toward those on the lower end of the economic spectrum because these people often can’t open or maintain accounts at a traditional bank for a variety of reasons. Without a bank, and therefore a checking account and debit card, these prepaid cards can be used to store money in lieu of a bank and also be used for making purchases, obtaining cash at an ATM, and so on. But like everything, this doesn’t come without a cost. The company offering these products need to make money somehow, so it usually means charging fees.

Well, this is where things get interesting. Suze has long been a champion of getting out of debt, being smart with your money, and avoiding excessive fees. Unfortunately, she wants you to use her card that comes stacked with fees. Let me run through a few of them.

• $3.00 to purchase the card
• $3.00 per month just to have the card (first month’s fee is waived)
• $2.00 for ATM withdrawals (generally) plus ATM fees
• $1.00 for a balance inquiry
• $2.00 to speak to customer service (you get one free call per month)
• $2.00 for paper statement

Ok, so there are a few of the fees most users would find themselves subject to, although there are others. You can see all the fees here. Now, one might argue that these fees are better than what some other prepaid debit cards charge, and that is generally the case. But these products as a whole are not consumer-friendly by any stretch of the imagination. I mean is this a debit card or am I going to jail? I only get one free phone call for crying out loud!

The thing to keep in mind here is that the typical person using a card like this is not going to be loading it up with thousands of dollars. Because the amounts will generally be lower, these fees can add up and put a dent in the balance. Here’s an example:

Let’s assume somebody buys this card and loads it up with $250 from their paycheck to have some spending money. They will get charged $3.00 to obtain the card. Then you can figure the person will probably go to the ATM for cash maybe once a week. If they don’t have direct deposit set up or it’s done on a non-Allpoint machine it will be a $2.00 fee for each withdrawal, so that’s another $8.00. Don’t forget to add the $2-3 fee the ATM operator will charge as well. Doing the math, in the first month doing nothing more than obtaining the card and making a few withdrawals this person would be charged upwards of $20 in fees. If the balance remained around $250 for the month they are essentially being charged 8% in fees.  Is it better than a high-interest credit card? Sure. But when you’re talking about a segment of the population that might be only keeping a couple hundred dollars on the card, just regular use and a few withdrawals every month could basically mean they are being charged 10% to use their own money, and could amount to a few hundred dollars a year in fees.

Beyond the Fees

The fees are obviously what many people will focus on, but there is more to it than that. Suze is marketing this card as a revolutionary new way to build credit. One feature is that you get unlimited access to your credit report. The problem is it’s only through TransUnion and it doesn’t include the almighty credit or FICO score that she talks about ad nauseum because of her association with it. Besides, you can already get free credit reports each year from all three of the credit bureaus, so this “feature” isn’t much of a benefit for most people. But the real kicker is that some claims are being made that this card can help you build credit by reporting your spending to TransUnion. The problem is when you read the fine print in the terms:

The information we share with TransUnion concerning your Approved Card account will not appear in your credit report.

When asked about this, a company spokesperson said:

The Approved Card from Suze Orman is trying to transform the way the credit bureaus view Americans’ spending habits. This is an experiment and we won’t know for 18 to 24 months whether people will be able to get credit for responsibly handling their money.

This is interesting. So basically Suze Orman is running an experiment on real people and their money? She’s promising consumers that this debit card is different because they are sharing some information with TransUnion, yet there’s no guarantee it will really work. And even if it would somehow change the way credit reporting is done we won’t know for two years. Now I’m no expert in this area, but it seems like putting the cart before the horse. Rather than experiment with real people, largely those already in a less than stellar financial situation, I’d like to see an agreement in place with the credit bureaus about how they will use the data before just hoping it will make a difference.

From the Approved Card’s website:

As part of this project we are sharing your Approved Card purchase, payment and other transaction information with TransUnion so that they can help us understand the correlation between that information and the information that is currently included in most consumer credit reports. The transaction data we are providing to TransUnion is not attributed or identifiable to you or any other Approved Cardholder.

As you can see, all the data about your spending is completely anonymous. So even if this project did in fact pave the way to new credit reporting standards, none of your spending history tied to this card would ever have an impact on your personal credit because the data they received was not attributed or identifiable to you.

The bottom line is if you’re looking for a way to build a credit history because you don’t otherwise have access to lines of credit you’re much better off going with a secured credit card instead. These work almost exactly the same as this and other prepaid debit cards, and as long as you put money on the card anyone can get one.

Suze Turns on Bloggers

The card itself as outlined above isn’t necessarily good, nor is it incredibly bad. It’s just an odd financial product that has a limited market and makes a few dubious assumptions. The issue some reporters and financial bloggers have taken up is that this card is being put out there by Suze Orman, who has long provided financial advice for the middle class, helped people get out of debt, and make better choices with their money. Obviously, hawking a prepaid debit card stacked with fees, targeting people without a lot of money, and suggesting it may help build credit like never before, has irked a few people and they questioned her motives on blogs and on twitter.

This is where things get ugly. Suze has resorted to name calling. Two personal finance bloggers, PT Money and Briana, have taken the brunt of her insults. You can read many tweets there, but these are the two that sort of stood out:

Many others began jumping in on that discussion last night and it devolved into a bunch of “you’re wrong!” tweets along with links to any article that spoke favorably of the Approved card. Of course, Suze made sure to point out that those articles were written by “legit” reporters, so clearly she doesn’t have any respect for people covering finance unless they work at a major media outlet.

Either way, I found last night’s twitter discussion very uncouth, even for Suze. She is known for her no-nonsense attitude on her show, but what happened here was over the top. She has done a good job of turning some fans off. Think she will come to the 2012 Financial Blogger Conference? Or maybe the Approved Card will be a sponsor. That would be interesting. Of course, we aren’t legit and I’m sure she wouldn’t want to be caught dead being around a few hundred nobodies.

So, what do you think? Either about the card or Suze’s reaction to disagreeing bloggers?