Wikipedia vs Wikileaks

During tax prep time, a client was aghast that her husband had given money to Wikipedia since that was the organization that leaked confidential information.

These two organizations are not the same thing.  From Wikipedia:

WikiLeaks is not affiliated with Wikipedia or the Wikimedia Foundation.

WikiLeaks is an international self-described not-for-profit organisation that publishes submissions of private, secret, and classified media from anonymous news sources, news leaks, and whistleblowers.

I think that as often as we all use Wikipedia, we should support The Wikimedia Foundation.

Wikimedia Foundation Fundraises to Keep Wikipedia Going: Accounting Today.

The Best Pizza?

Midway through an article in the CPA  Practice Advisor  on the best websites for tax season is a fun discussion:

Domino’s Pizza (www.dominospizza.com). You can pretend that you don’t order pizzas during tax season, but no one will believe you. That’s why Dominos made this list. Technically, most pizza lovers give Papa John’s a higher rating for taste, but that chain’s website and online ordering systems are a disaster. Pizza Hut is a close contender, with an excellent online order system and great pizzas. But the difference that puts Dominos at the top of our list is the “Pizza Tracker” feature that allows you to know within minutes when your pizza will be delivered. That, combined with economy and selection, put this at the top of the delivery list if not the flavor list.

More Pizza:

Sausage Maker’s Trade Secret Was Not a Capital Gain

 

Green Bean Casserole

According to the report, the foods include a 16-pound turkey, a gallon of milk, a 30-ounce can of pumpkin pie mix, a half pint of whipped cream, 14 oz. of cubed stuffing, a pound of green beans, 12 rolls, three pounds of sweet potatoes, 12 ounces of fresh cranberries, 2 pie shells, a 1-pound relish tray (carrots and celery) and various other ingredients.

Read more: The Ten Foods Making Thanksgiving Much More Expensive – 24/7 Wall St. http://247wallst.com/2011/11/10/the-eleven-foods-making-thanksgiving-more-expensive-this-year/#ixzz1di2XbAao

 

How about Mama Stamberg’s  cranberry relish?

 

Who Owes the Sales Tax?

Senators Introduce Online Sales Tax Bill with Bipartisan Support.

The sales tax collected in Texas is in fact a sales and use tax.  When consumers purchase items online and no sales tax is paid, the purchaser is supposed to remit the tax to the state.  Form 01-156 Texas Use Tax Return  should be filed with a payment on or before the 20th day following the period  (month or year) during which items subject to use tax are brought into Texas.  For example, if you purchase a Kindle from Amazon.com, no sales tax is collected.  Your responsibility is to remit the tax.

Why do some online vendors collect sales tax and other’s don’t?

A fancy word for the reason is nexus.  Nexus is a connection and in the sales tax world, that means if a company has a connection to Texas, usually a physical connection, that company is required to collect sales tax.  Amazon.com closed a Dallas distribution center to avoid collecting sales tax  on sales delivered in Texas.

This ability to disregard sales tax on sales creates an advantage for online stores over Main Street stores.  The legislation introduced, referenced above, by a bipartisan group of 10 senators attempts to level that field.  Amazon does support the legislation.

 

Super committee: Let Bush tax cuts expire and your work will be done – CSMonitor.com

Super committee: Let Bush tax cuts expire and your work will be done – CSMonitor.com.

President Obama extended the Bush tax cuts through December 2012.  These tax cuts are costing the Treasury $11.6 million dollars PER HOUR.  The alternative view is that tax dollars are taxpayer dollars, not government dollars, and we need to cut spending.

However:

A record number of Americans — 49.1 million — are poor, based on a new census measure that for the first time takes into account rising medical costs and other expenses.

The numbers released Monday are part of a first-ever supplemental poverty measure aimed at providing a fuller picture of poverty. Although considered experimental, they promise to stir fresh debate over Social Security, Medicare and programs to help the poor as a congressional supercommittee nears a Nov. 23 deadline to make more than $1 trillion in cuts to the federal budget.  (Washington Post)

Bombs, Bridges and Jobs – NYTimes.com

 

Bombs, Bridges and Jobs – NYTimes.com.- Paul Krugman

First things first: Military spending does create jobs when the economy is depressed. Indeed, much of the evidence that Keynesian economics works comes from tracking the effects of past military buildups. Some liberals dislike this conclusion, but economics isn’t a morality play: spending on things you don’t like is still spending, and more spending would create more jobs.

But why would anyone prefer spending on destruction to spending on construction, prefer building weapons to building bridges?

John Maynard Keynes himself offered a partial answer 75 years ago, when he noted a curious “preference for wholly ‘wasteful’ forms of loan expenditure rather than for partly wasteful forms, which, because they are not wholly wasteful, tend to be judged on strict ‘business’ principles.” Indeed. Spend money on some useful goal, like the promotion of new energy sources, and people start screaming, “Solyndra! Waste!” Spend money on a weapons system we don’t need, and those voices are silent, because nobody expects F-22s to be a good business proposition.

To deal with this preference, Keynes whimsically suggested burying bottles full of cash in disused mines and letting the private sector dig them back up. In the same vein, I recently suggested that a fake threat of alien invasion, requiring vast anti-alien spending, might be just the thing to get the economy moving again.

What, me budget?

Yes, you.   We all should.  Some expressions:  failure to plan is planning to fail or without a goal, wherever you end up is your goal.

My favorite budget guidelines have always been Larry Burketts, Money Matters , financial planning guidebooks.  In the referenced tribute to Larry, his philosophy of money is reflected:

One of the central principles Larry taught is that we don’t really own things; we are simply stewards and managers of what God has entrusted to us.

There are many budget preparation guidelines, but I’ve always liked the ones provided by what is now Crown Financial Ministries.  Here is a link to Crown’s Suggested Percentage Guidelines for a Family of 4 (High Housing Cost Areas) (since I live in Austin!).  There are also guidelines for singles, single parent, couples, etc.

Important to note is that these budget guidelines start with gross income so that a tithe comes off of gross.  No funny business about giving on net or gross.  I’ve heard other financial planners say that wherever you give your money, if you can’t live on 90% of your income, you have a problem.

The next reduction is for taxes.  If you are an employee, you can use the amount withheld for taxes from your paycheck.  Be careful not to have too much income tax withheld.  It’s better to pay a $1 than to let Uncle keep your money for up to 16 months!  If you are self-employed, you can look at the total tax paid on your prior year return.  Taxpayers think that they are saving money, but in fact, saving a little money each month in a savings account generates more savings than the “income tax withheld” savings account.  The tendency is to spend that tax refund impulsively rather than putting it into savings for planned spending.

After the reductions for both giving and taxes, then you compute your budget percentages.  Your budget is based on your spendable income.

As you complete your budget, remember that many employees have additional reductions in their pay that need to be considered as you budget:  health insurance premiums, 401(K) contributions,  day care tuition, etc.

I started a 30-Day Diary to really check in with how I spend money on a daily basis.  My dad (the first Newby CPA) used to keep a notebook in which he recorded all cash expenditures for the day.  What discipline!  Join me in the goal of tracking out of pocket expenditures (so to speak!) for 30 days.  Let me know how you do.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Inspirational Financial Quotes

From a great blog called:  Pick the Brain.

“Worry, like a rocking chair will give you something to do, but it won’t get you anywhere.” – Vance Havner

Most of us are guilty of worrying about money, and whilst it might be justified in some circumstances, the actual worrying won’t solve any problems – and worse still, it can be bad for your physical and mental health.

 

Another rule that I have:  Be kind to yourself.  It’s hard to get out of debt faster than you got into debt.