Tax School Update

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Calculating Financial Figures Video
photo credit: Rentvine.com

I have officially finished tax school and will be starting work as a tax preparer in the next couple of weeks.  The first week of tax school was focused on learning some basic tax topics and I found it to mostly be a waste of time.  Especially since I wasn’t getting paid.  Other tax schools charge you to attend so I guess going for free was a good deal.  There wasn’t anything covered in the first week of school you couldn’t have learned from a Pub 17 and 1040 instruction book. Still  about half the class apparently found it too difficult and dropped out.  Of course,  I have been doing my own and other family member’s taxes for years and had several tax classes in law school so I should know at least the basics of taxes.

The second week was a little better since it involved learning the computer software and it was paid.  I’m a little uncomfortable with the products and fees.  They seem rather high to me but I guess they are in line with other tax companies.  I’d never pay that much to get my taxes done but I do know a lot of people aren’t capable (or at least don’t think they are capable) of preparing their own taxes and consider the tax preparation fees reasonable in relation to the big refund they receive.  Getting a big refund isn’t smart from a personal finance perspective but I suppose the clientele see it as a good deal.

I’m considering starting my own tax preparation business.  The  experienced preparers don’t seem to have much more, if any, tax knowledge than I do. I’ve done a little research and it doesn’t look like it would be too difficult to start.  I’ve already got a PTIN, I’d just need to get an EFIN and the proper tax software.  The hard part would be getting customers.  Since I need to concentrate on studying for the bar the next couple of months I might wait until next year before starting my own business.  I’ll make up my mind in the next couple of weeks.

December Expenses – $1443.16

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Here is a breakdown of my expenses for December.

Household

$755.86

Entertainment

$127.53

Transportation

 $243.23

Food

$51.69
Medical/Dental

$57.44

Utilities

$102.41
Debt $95

Total

$1443.16

My expenses for December were up a little but that mainly was because of Christmas.  My food total only includes meals I eat out by myself, that is why it is low.  Transportation was up a little because I paid my personal property tax and drove more.  I need to buy tires this month so my transportation expense will probably be high again.  My household expenses should be down significantly and everything else should be about the same.  January expenses should not be much more than my $1000 goal.

November Investment Income – $95.71

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I’m really behind on getting my posts out. This should have been posted in early December but I’m posting it now. I’ll try to get posts up quicker and more often this month.

My November investment income declined slightly to $95.71 from $96.04 the month before. Until I am able to make further contributions to my investment portfolio any gains or losses will be due to market fluctuations. I’m hoping I’ll be able to add some money in the next few months.

This is not my actual investment income. To get this figure I first add up my retirement savings, emergency fund, and any other money I consider permanent savings. What the total of my savings would earn at 6% interest for a month is my monthly investment income. My goal is to get this amount to $1000 a month. If I have $1000 in monthly passive investment income I will be able to retire early. You can see what my actual investment income for the month was by looking at my monthly income report and adding the interest and dividend amounts.

2011 Goals

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I once again didn’t meet my goals in December. Part of the reason is because I was busy at my job and doing mystery shops so I don’t feel too bad about not getting them done. I’m not going to set any goals for January since I will be busy with my job and studying for the bar. I suppose you could call passing the bar a goal but I’m somewhat ambivalent about it.

I’m not setting any goals for 2011 at this time either. A couple of things I would like to accomplish this year are losing weight and writing a book. Until I come up with a specific plan for achieving those though they will remain wishes rather than goals. Another wish is that both my wife and I will make enough self-employment income to support ourselves, pay off debts, and build up our savings. These wishes are achievable and I will make them goals later this year.

Online Income Report – November 2010

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This was supposed to go up last night but my hosting was down again last night. If anyone knows of a good online tutorial on transferring a WordPress blog to a new host please tell me. Anyway, here is a breakdown of my online income for November 2010.

Google Adsense – $325.91

Affiliate Income – $260

Text Link Ads – $44.53

Direct Ads – $33.23

Total – $663.67

My streak of $1000 online income months came to an end in November.  Making $600 wasn’t bad though since I haven’t been putting a lot of work into my blogs.  I already know my income will be back over $1000 for December since much of my affiliate income is paid the month after I make it.  The affiliate offer that was making most of my money is no longer producing but I have some smaller affiliate offers that are working.  I just need to post more often and experiment with different affiliate offers to keep my affiliate income up.  I also have been a lot pickier about accepting ads.  I’m establishing a set ad policy and ad rates and will be responding to the multiple advertising inquiries I have waiting in my inbox.  I should just break five figures in online income for the year.  Next year I want to be solidly in the five figures for profit.  I’ll establish more specific goals during the year.  This will be my best year for online income and I’m pleased with it but there is still plenty of room for improvement.