Beating Broke

Personal Finance from the Broke Perspective

Beating Broke Rules: Dedication

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You can’t turn a corner, enter a bookstore, listen to radio, read a blog, or watch sports without hearing the word dedication several times.  We all talk about dedication in one shape or another.  And in truth, many of us still lack it.

Beating Broke Rule: Get Dedicated

Get dedicated to your goals.  Get dedicated to your new life being free from debt.  Get dedicated to saving for your retirement.  Get dedicated to saving for a house.  A new car.  A ring.  Just get dedicated.

Dedication to your goals is the only thing that will ensure that you can fulfill them.  If you aren’t dedicated to them, you won’t follow through.  If you aren’t dedicated, you won’t meet your goals.  Without dedication, you will fail.

Make the choice today.  Dedicate yourself to your goals and work every day to fulfill them.  Take a step now to reach your goals.  You’ll reach them before you know it.

Beating Broke is on Twitter

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As I made mention of earlier, I’ve been playing around on twitter for a little while.  I’ve mainly been using my personal account, but thought that it was about time for Beating Broke to get some representation there.

So, you can now follow Beating Broke on Twitter.  The user name is @beatingbroke and, while I have it set up (I think) to update with the posts I do here, I also plan on adding other updates as well.  I’m hoping to stoke the conversation a little.

Stimulus Bill Tax Credit, Isn’t.

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With the passage of the huge “stimulus” bill a couple weeks ago, one of the things that has been talked quite a bit about by both the media and the President is the reduction in the taxes that are taken out of our paychecks.  Some $13 or so dollars on average will be left in our paychecks each week for us to spend, spend, spend.  Isn’t that great?  (can you taste the sarcasm?)

What they aren’t telling you is that it isn’t really a reduction.  Sure, they’ll be taking less out of each paycheck.  But they didn’t reduce the tax bracket rates any.  All they’ve done is reduce the percentage of your wages that will be withheld from your paycheck.  You’ll still owe the same amount on your taxes at the end of the year.

Here’s how it will work.  If you got a return this year, and are planning on getting one next year, it will be reduced by the extra taxes that didn’t get taken out of your check.  $13 less withholding dollars means $13 (or more) less refund.  Where it could really hurt people is where the person is already expecting to send a check with their tax forms.  Their check will have to be much bigger because of all this.

Now, to avoid all of this, you could instruct your payroll department to take that $13/week out anyways.  You could adjust your withholding on your W-4 so that more is taken out.  Or you could take that $13/month and stuff it away in a shoebox so you’ll still have it to pay Uncle Sam with come next April 15.

Any way you shake it, it comes down to a publicity stunt to make all the other needless spending in the bill look better.  It’s the proverbial spoonful of sugar to make a whole lot of pork go down.