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Posted
Aug 17 2009, 02:27 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
 Is this an idea whose time has come? A new bill in the U.S. House would allow pet owners to deduct up to $3,500 for "qualified pet-care expenses" for household pets, including vet bills.
Would the so-called HAPPY (Humanity and Pets Partnered Through the Years) Act give pet owners a break they deserve? Would it encourage more people to adopt abandoned or neglected pets? Would we finally be able to list some dependents on our income tax return? (Others have attempted -- unsuccessfully -- to use their pets as deductions.)
Bing: New tax deductions
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Posted
Oct 21 2008, 01:32 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Do you feel warm and fuzzy -- and more generous -- when your waiter draws a smiley face on your check? Do you feel a bond when your server engages you in chitchat? According to Richard at Student Scrooge, these are devices waiters employ to pump up the tip.
When he researched them, Richard said, "I had a whole series of flashbacks to all of these moments at the end of a meal where I undoubtedly was influenced by some of these strategies. Is tipping some sort of game of psychological warfare?"
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Posted
Jun 23 2008, 04:17 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Irreverent, hilarious, provocative and profane -- all were qualities of the great George Carlin, who died Sunday from heart failure. But who knew that Carlin was also a good source of financial advice?
What else would you expect from the comedian who so well understood our fascination with materialism, as demonstrated by his "A Place for My Stuff"? ("Bouncing Back" at Bouncing Back from Bankruptcy, one of many Carlin fans who mourned his passing online, provides a link to the "stuff" routine. Considering it's Carlin, the language is only slightly off-color.)
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Posted
Sep 25 2008, 11:47 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
The Internet is afire with a grand proposal. Instead of bailing out AIG to the tune of $85 billion, why not divide the money among all 200 million or so U.S. adults? That gives $425,000 to every woman and man, the widely circulated e-mail says, or $297,500 after taxes. Wow. This idea has gotten a lot of traction online, particularly as Congress is now considering a $700 billion bailout or rescue or whatever for America's financial institutions. "Sounds like a plan," exclaimed Cathy at Cathy's Blog -- For Me For Once, one of many bloggers who've passed the $85 billion "We Deserve It Dividend" proposal on. There's only one small problem with this plan.
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Posted
Feb 08 2008, 08:05 AM
by
Donna Freedman
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
If President Bush wants us to spend that tax rebate, he needs to call it a tax "bonus." Or so wrote behavioral scientist Nicholas Epley in a recent New York Times guest column.
"A rebate, psychologically speaking, is the return of a loss of one's own money ... so it is unlikely to be seen as extra spending money," wrote Epley, a professor at the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business.
In one experiment at Harvard, he and some colleagues gave out $50 checks. Half the study participants were told it was a "rebate," while the other half got a "bonus." A week later, the bonus recipients had outspent the rebate crowd by more than 50 percent.
Can simple word choices really make that much difference? Sure they can. The word "budget" makes some people's jaws clench. Somehow the phrase "spending plan" sounds a lot better.
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Posted
May 29 2008, 11:51 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
If you've already received your economic-stimulus check from Uncle Sam, you can share what you did with it by posting at a Web site called -- ta-da -- How I Spent My Stimulus. You can even post a photo that illustrates how you used it. For example, we saw photos of casinos, whiskey bottles and cut-up credit cards. Scrolling through the site, we noticed that lots of folks spent their tax-rebate money to treat themselves -- hopefully stimulating the economy in the process. Some saved it, some used it to cover higher living expenses, and some gave it away. Some posts are listed under a category called "weird."
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Posted
Feb 19 2009, 03:37 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
If you've been drowning your economic sorrows in a pint of ale, that could get more expensive. Beer is being eyed for additional taxation in a number of states facing budget shortfalls.
In Oregon, legislators have proposed raising the beer tax from the current $2.60 per barrel to $49.61, a jump of about 1,800%. Lawmakers say that amounts to 15 cents more per 12-ounce glass. The beer industry says the price jump would more likely be $1.50. The tax hasn't been raised in more than 30 years.
Don't panic yet, you folks in microbrew paradise. An editorial in The Oregonian says, "Excuse our cynicism, but we've sat through this particular barroom discussion enough times to know that it is leading nowhere" (and also notes that state funding for alcohol and drug treatment has been severely cut).
Here's what's going on in some other states:
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Posted
Feb 14 2008, 10:35 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Lots of readers have told us they're confused about how the tax rebate will work, so we'll try to shed a little light on the matter.
The rebates -- tax blogger Kay Bell dubbed them "prebates" -- are an advance on a tax credit you would have gotten when you filed your 2008 tax return. You're just getting it a year early, says Bell, of Don't Mess With Taxes. The amount will be based on your 2007 tax return and range from $300 to $600 per adult, up to $1,200 for married couples who file jointly, and $300 per child under 17 years of age.
You're eligible if you have at least $3,000 in qualifying income. To see a government document for details about how much you can expect to get, click here.
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Posted
Oct 03 2008, 02:46 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Doesn't this sound like something from David Letterman -- "Top 10 tax sweeteners in the bailout bill"? But this is no joke. It's a partial list of the pork included in the $700 billion Wall Street bailout Congress approved today. The list was prepared by the nonpartisan budget watchdog Taxpayers for Common Sense. This explains why the once-brief bailout plan expanded to 451 pages. Senators added about $150 billion in tax breaks to overcome resistance to the bill. It worked, but it's prompted howls of complaint. "I believe there was even a tax cut for poodles who earn money in dog shows," wrote Jazz Shaw at The Moderate Voice. (That was a joke.) Who benefits from all of these tax breaks? Here are a few examples:
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Posted
Jan 07 2008, 09:09 AM
by
Donna Freedman
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Some readers thought the headline on "Earn $50 an hour: Change your own car battery" was misleading. Their basic gripe was semantic: "You're not earning the money, you're saving it." That's not how I see it. When you do a project, the money stays in your pocket instead of landing in someone else's. You are paying yourself. You are earning money. But when I thought it, I realized that the headline is misleading -- just not for the reason those readers thought.
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