Archive for August, 2008
College Money 101
We’re not talking about getting money to go to college, we’re talking about teaching kids young adults how to make good financial choices when they get there. I am sure I am not the only one who got her first credit card, and into her first credit crunch, in college; nor am I likely to be the last.
Finance professionals are trying to help students avoid the typical money crunch BEFORE it happens. Check out a few of these resources we found on the web & share them with the college students in your life.
Illinois CPA Society Student Tips
Get Rich Slowly’s 27 Money Tips for College Students
This one is really in-depth and a great article, whether your student is a freshman or in grad school.
Saving With Me’s 11 Money Tips for College Students
This one could also be titled, “Why didn’t I figure this out sooner?!” and has a great, youthful voice from a recent grad that might appeal more to kids than the average stuffy finance guy’s tips.
Education Portal’s Money Saving Tips for College Students on a Budget
Wanna Talk Back to the IRS?
Now’s your chance!
The IRS released draft versions of several new tax forms last week and invited the public to comment on them. This isn’t the first time, either. The changes in the form drafts released this week were made to reflect comments made by the public when the initial drafts were posted for public comment in August 2007.
Read the rest of the accountingweb article here.
Or get it straight from the horse’s mouth here.
But if you have something to say, speak up quick! Public comments on the form drafts need to be directed to Judith.A.McNamara@irs.gov and must be sent by the 25th of August (8/25/08).
Bargain Hunting for Dummies
Hunting for the lowest price is not always a good idea. Don’t get me wrong, everyone loves a bargain, and had the bargain hunter in the article below succeeded, well, it would have been horrible. But he didn’t. So instead it is just disturbing and frankly, funny-sad that anyone would be (a) this vindictive and malicious & (b) this stupid.
Never bargain hunt for a hitman to take out your IRS auditor!
Learning About Higher Learning Funding Options
According to a recent accountingweb article, many families are unaware of the many options available for funding higher education.
People are stumbling over the differences between grants and loans, secured vs. unsecured loans, and tax issues that accompany work-study programs, among other things.
While we are years away from worrying about college here at OffAssist, it never hurts to learn how it works, right?
Back-to-School Budget Blues
The Virginia Society of Certified Public Accountants has a lot of great, free financial advice on their website. Recently they ran an article that is timely for most of us, how to shop for back-to-school without busting the budget. Check it out here.
One of their tips is to shop on your state’s tax free weekend, if your home state has one. Not sure? Check out this handy list of state sales tax holidays we tracked down.