Thinking about taxes prior to April

A big fan of NPR, today I was listening to a podcast on "Ways to Cut Your Tax Bill Before 2011 Ends."

The one thing I took away from this was maxing out on your 401k. 

NPR reports that in 2011, the maximum that you can contribute is $16,500, or up to $20,000 for those 50 and older. Under some other tax plans, it can be lower to about 20 percent of your income or $20,000, whichever is higher. 

I currently do not have a 401k account. When I first started at my place of employment, I found no incentive for starting one and questioned the difference between it and a savings account. After going to a meeting, I was slightly intrigued. The fact that the money is taken out prior to taxes on your checks was enough to pique my interest. 

Recently, it was announced at my job that a portion would be matched for each dollar you saved. 

Needless to say, I'm in the works of setting up a 401k and slightly kicking myself for not setting it up before. 

When tight spending turns to copper pennies

We all have bills to pay.

Recently, I've accrued so many bills, it's hard to keep track. There is the electric bill, the monthly rent bill, the Sallie Mae loan payment, the AES loan payment and of course the credit card payment. Recently, I've taken on two other bills: a new mattress payment and a medical bill. They all have different due dates, however the majority seem to fall into one week. And when you tally up the money due for all those bills it most certainly does NOT equal the weekly work check I receive.

Whether it be simply not having the money in my account or absentmindedly forgetting when something is due, I find myself "living on pennies." As a way to keep myself on track and provide some insight and suggestions to others in similar financial crises, I decided to start this blog.

Sometimes it'll be about my follies and other times my success at managing money, but rest assure, with this tight economy, everyone will be able to relate.