Entertainment can be a big chunk of your monthly expenses. Cut the cost of fun with these five tips.
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Entertainment can be a big chunk of your monthly expenses. Cut the cost of fun with these five tips.
Have more ideas or tips you'd like to share with our readers? Just click the comment link below and tell us about them. We'd love to hear from you.
If you benefited from the U.S. Homebuyers Tax Credit in 2009, and now want to apply it to your tax forms prior to April 15, here’s a handy step-by-step guide in doing so — easily and accurately.
The primary takeaway from homebuyers who qualify for the tax credit is this: it is a tax credit and not a tax deduction. In other words, if you complete your taxes and you are due for a $1,000 tax refund and an $8,000 homebuyer tax credit, you’ll get a $9,000 refund. Also, you don’t have to repay the tax credit, unless you sell your home within three years of the purchase date.
To qualify for the tax credit, you need a binding home purchase contract by April 30th — but you do have until June 30th to close on that sale. If you’re a current member of the military, the government is granting you an additional year to claim the tax credit, to June 30, 2011.
Tax-wise, you’ll have to file your tax return on paper to claim the credit. The Internal Revenue Service requires additional documentation, thus making an online filing extremely difficult for the IRS to handle. You can still use tax preparation software from one of the popular tax providers, but you’re still going to have to print your tax return out and send it in to the IRS.
Start by downloading IRS Revised Form 5405 (get it here). Follow the instructions to make sure you qualify for the credit then figure out the amount of your credit.
Dig out Form HUD-1 Settlement Statement (it should be part of your home buying documentation, but you can get a new one here). If you can’t find a HUD-1 form, a certificate of occupancy will be accepted by the IRS.
Include copies of all home purchase contracts, including signatures and names of all parties, the price of the home, the address and the contract date.
Include your Form 1040. Write your bottom line on Form 5405 on the appropriate line on your income tax return. On the 2009 Form 1040 return it’s line 67. One caveat: You can’t claim the homebuyer’s credit with Form 1040EZ.
Once you file all your tax paperwork, it should take about six weeks to receive the actual new home tax credit.
With Spring upon us, and now that Daylight Savings Time is here for most of the country, it is time for home sellers to start thinking about the spring housing market. One of the best ways to prepare for putting your home on the market, even if it doesn’t feel like spring yet where you are, is by an early spring cleaning.
The best place to start spring cleaning in any room is at the top. With a cloth or a microfiber mop, dry dust the walls and pay particular attention to the corners of the room where cobwebs tend to collect. Depending on the type of wall covering or paint, you can also damp wipe the walls to help remove any sort of cooking residue or fingerprints from the walls. Pay particular attention to the corners around doorways and the vicinity around switches; these areas tend to get the dirtiest. If plain water won’t remove smudges, use a mild vinegar solution instead.
Take care of your windows next. Check the washing instructions on any fabric drapes and wash or dry clean them as required. Dust your window blinds carefully so they don’t get bent. Wash the inside and outside of your windows to let the spring sunshine in. You may want to wait on doing this until after all the Spring pollen has cleared in your area. One of the best ways to clean glass is with a spray bottle of vinegar and newspaper to wipe it down. The outside of windows might require a ladder or a window washer’s squeegee to get high enough. In some areas it’s also possible to hire a company to come and clean your outside windows.
If you have carpet or rugs you have a few options. Area rugs can be sent out to have cleaned and wall to wall carpeting can be steam cleaned if it’s really dirty; but if your carpets or rugs are just a little stale you can sprinkle a liberal amount of baking soda over them, let them sit for a few hours or overnight and then vacuum it up. This will pull any smells out of them and leave them fresh and clean smelling.
There are probably more areas of your home you can think of that might need a good cleaning when the bright spring sunshine peeks in your windows, but these steps will give you a good place to start. Another benefit to giving your home a good cleaning before you put it on the market is that you can see where repairs might need to be made or painting might need to be done to help perk up your home.
Happy cleaning!
If you've got a timeshare, there may come a time when you want to sell it quickly. Here's how.
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