Money Walks

Here are some tips to help you get a nice jump start on your next project and avoiding those last minute deadlines.

• Create a to-do-list. It doesn’t matter if its on a notebook or on your computer. You want to record everything you need to do. This way, taking the time to log your entries makes you want to carry them out a little more.
• When creating your list, you want to give your task a priority. You can do this by listing the more important tasks at the top or you can
• You want to refer to your list as much as possible. The more you see it, the more you’re gonna be thinking about.
• This is important, reward yourself. After you have accomplished a task, take the time to reward yourself. The reward doesn’t have to be super expensive, a trip to Starbucks if fine.
• Don’t beat yourself up. You are not the only one who has a hard time trying to get started on various projects and tasks.
• Let others know about your goals and plans. This way, you are somewhat committed to your goals and you will not only have to face yourself, but to others as well.
• Promise yourself ten minutes a day. When you think ten minutes, its not much but you’ll be surprised how much work you can get done in that time. In most cases, you will end up passing 30 minutes and you will have made some progress.

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From Wiki, “Whether in the form of the consumer attempting to defraud the telephone company, the telephone company attempting to defraud the consumer, or a third party attempting to defraud either of them, fraud has been a part of the telephone system almost from the beginning.” Wikipedia has a nice section on phone fraud that you should check out. They break it down into fraud against users and fraud against phone companies. Very informative and very important stuff.

The thing is, many entrepreneurs think that they are too small to worry about fighting phone fraud but the truth is that they are the ones who gets caught in the fire. It’s better to be careful and watch out for these things because when it happens to you, its gonna seriously cost you.

Make sure that you’re aware of how it works:

• Using default passwords programmed by the manufacturer is not a good idea. “Phone Hackers” can easily break into unused voice mail boxes and rack up thousands of dollars in toll charges. You want to make sure that all phone extensions are password protected, whether it’s in use or not.
• Be careful when using long distance prepaid calling cards. There are thieves known as “shoulder surfers” who observe callers as they punch in their card account numbers in public and can steal your valuable minutes.
• The best way to protect your business from phone fraud is to analyze your bills as soon as they arrive. You want to check for unusual calling patterns and be on alert to calls to the 809 area code in the Caribbeans.

It’s always better to be on the safer side then to get scammed and have to deal with a big loss.

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Remember that you cannot deduct expenses that are for personal purposes, but you can deduct travel expenses that are the ordinary and necessary expenses of traveling away from home for your business or job.You may also deduct travel expenses, including meals and lodging, you had in looking for a new job in your present trade or business. You may not deduct these expenses if you had them while looking for work in a new trade or business or while looking for work for the first time. If you are unemployed and there is a substantial break between the time of your past work and your looking for new work, you may not deduct these expenses, even if the new work is in the same trade or business as your previous work.

With that being said, here are some tips to maximize tax deductions for travel:

• Do not prorate travel costs of getting to and from your business destination.
• Allocate travel expenses between business and non-business. Prorate your business and non-business expenses to identify the business expenses that are tax-deductible.
• Deduct costs associated with travel outside the United States. If you did not want to spend your entire time on business, you can still deduct the entire cost of your travel outside the United States.
• Deduct travel expenses for another individual. Yes, you can deduct the travel expenses for another individual who travels with you as long as its a business trip and he/she is an employee of your business.
• Deduct the cost of travel associated with your attending a business convention. You can deduct your travel expenses when you attend a convention as long as you can show that your attendance benefits your business.
• Deduct up to $2,000 each year for attending cruise ship conventions that are directly related to your business. As long as you meet the following conditions: The ship must be registered in the US, All ports must be in the US, You must submit two supporting statements with your tax return, and you must spend at least 51 percent of your time attending the seminar.
• Qualify a day as a business day. You can do this if your primary activity was business. A good rule of thumb is that your business activity be at least four hours in length during normal working hours.

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Personal credit Reports include personal information, employment information, payment history, a list of creditors, any bankruptcies you may have or lawsuits.

Since credit reports are what many employers are using now days as a way to gauge one’s personal habits and tendencies, it’s a good idea to check your credit report once a year just to make sure that your report is indeed correct. It’s very important to make sure that your credit report is not only correct but also you want to show that your credit history is consistent and promising.

Here are some general credit report tips.

Some credit report payment history tips:

• Pay your bills on time. Delinquent payments and collections can have a major negative impact on your overall score.
• If you have missed some payments, get current and stay current. Be consistent. The longer you pay your bills on time, the better your credit report.
• Be aware that paying off a collection account will not remove it from your credit report. It will stay on your report for seven years.
• If you are having trouble makings ends meet, consult your credit counselor. This will not improve your report immediately, but if you can begin to manage your credit and pay on time, your report will eventually get better as time progress.

Some positives and negatives that will affect your credit score.

Positives:

• Steady/consistent employment
• Active credit use of few accounts.
• Remember, credit to debt ratio is very important.
• Do not request for new credit cards.

Negatives:

• Late payments
• Missing Payments
• inconsistent employment.
• Multiple credit card accounts
• Small finance loans
• Bankruptcies and Foreclosures

Many people assume that because they have never missed a payment that they have good credit. They are a few minor things that the average person overlooks that could be costing them points. These are all minor things that can be easily and effective taken care of if you know what to look for.

Check out your credit report and see for your self.

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I have a friend who has been keeping his receipts for as long as I can remember. I guess you can say that he’s a receipt freak. He keeps them to enter into his money tracking system to keep track of his budget.

This is all very understandable and some what commendable for being so organized but I asked him, “why not just use your debt card like I do and keep track of your spending that way”. He replied ” because I like paper and I like to organize them!”

Apparently, he keep them filed away in a very organized folder on a monthly basis. I was amazed.

What did I learn? I guess there are people who just likes to keep their receipts and hold on to them.

So for all you receipt lovers out there, here are some tips I want to share with you on proper receipts handling skills:

1. Establish a simple routine for dealing with your receipts as soon as it comes into your hands and stay consistent. You can for example leave a space in your wallet or purse just for receipts and every time you purchase something. When you get back home, immediately put the receipts into an organized folder. This way, you don’t have to think about where you put your receipt and don’t have to waste time looking for them.
2. As soon as you receive your receipt, look for missing or faded information and fill in that spot immediately. There’s nothing more frustrating then trying to read the receipts’ date or price long after the fact when you’ve finally gotten around to putting into your data entry.
3. For those of you who likes to fold your receipts, fold it so that the printed side is uppermost. This way, it will be easier to find the receipt if you ever have to look for it. When you fold a receipt so that the printed side is hidden, all receipts look alike and you’ll have to unfold them all to find what you’re looking for.
4. Don’t let the data entry pile up. It’s a good habit to schedule a time every week to do the necessary data entry and make sure to stick to that schedule. If you don’t, you’ll find your self just putting it off and your piles of receipts will become even more ugly.

I hope these tips can help you out some way or another. Keeping track of your receipts is really nice and handy, but the trick is to being able to keep them organized. Good luck, I think I’ll stay with the online statements

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In today’s society, it is really easy for employees to sue their employers and whats worse is that many employers do not realize until after they are sued that a lawsuit could have been prevented. Although “good intentions” goes a long way, they are in many cases not enough when it comes to a lawsuit.

So the key is to combine good intentions with the necessary legal/management skills and you will experience increased productivity, happier employees and a thriving workplace. Follow these 5 tips for protecting yourself from employee lawsuits:

1. Hire carefully. You should look for people with strong work ethics and avoid hiring those who feel life owes them something.
2. Keep good records on employee mistakes, even when they’re not firing offenses. Document your own actions and the reasons behind your employment decisions.
3. Consider buying an employment practices liability insurance (EPLI).
4. Do not discriminate in hiring, or permit sexual harassment.
5. Have strong employment policies. Communicate them clearly to employees and enforce them.

Also, you want to listen very carefully and patiently to what the employee has to say, especially when dealing with any complaints that they may have. Last thing you want to do is to argue with them. Just simply say that you are sorry for not coming to an agreement. It’s better to let down your pride for a minute than to lose your business.

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