Before You Pay Your Taxes with a Credit Card, Crunch Some Numbers.

April 15th is fast approaching and you know what that means--it's time to pay your taxes.  If you owe the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) money for the 2014 tax year, you may be thinking, let me put it on my credit card.  After all, it's convenient, and you'll get miles (or points or cash back). What a deal!  You pay your taxes, and you can put the miles towards that GoPro mount you've been wanting since last summer!

Before you whip out the plastic, you should crunch some numbers.  You can pay the IRS using a credit card via one of their payment processors, but you'll be slapped with a "convenience fee" ranging from 1.87% to 2.35% of the amount you charge on your card.  If you e-file and use the integrated credit card option, you'll still end up paying a fee.  These "convenience fees" range from 2.35% to 3.93%.

So let's say you owe the federal government $4,500. You have the Delta SkyMiles Credit Card and earn 1 mile per dollar spent.  You've done your research and know that the GoPro mount you want costs 4,500 miles.  You don't want to pay anymore than you have to, so you use the payment processor with the smallest convenience fee--1.87%.  Perfect!  Pay your taxes with plastic, get your GoPro mount to film your surf sessions this summer!

Not so fast.  You won't be paying $4,500, you'll be paying $4,500 plus an $84.15 "convenience fee" (4,500*0.0187).  Is that GoPro mount worth $84.15?  Nope.  You can buy it directly from GoPro's website for $19.99 and get free shipping!

Unless your credit card offers you a cash back percentage that is higher than the convenience fee, stick to the old-fashioned personal check.

It's that time of the year again...FAFSA TIME!!

You probably remember filling out your FAFSA during your senior year of high school.  Did you know you have to fill it out every year if you want to continue receiving financial aid?  The FAFSA for the next school year always becomes available on January 1st.  Since some aid is given on a first come, first served basis, it's important to fill it out as soon as you can.  Haven't completed your taxes yet?  Just estimate your income based on last year's tax returns.  You can use the IRS data retrieval later to update the form.  And yes, you still must include your parents' income.  One year on a college campus doesn't make you an independent student in the eyes of the government, no matter how many loads of laundry you've managed to do on your own.

Check out the government's student aid website for more information.

Home on College Break? Pick up some side gigs to pad that IRA!

Yay, you're out on break!  No schoolwork for about a month!  What are you going to do with all that time?

Catch up with old friends over lunch or dinner?
Go sledding at Elm Bank?
Head up to Sunday River for College Week with some old and new friends?
Head someplace sunny and warm with the family?
Work?

Ok, I know what you're thinking, those first four options sound like great ideas, but the fifth one?  Not so much.

While I think you should be spending the majority of your free time during your college break resting and recharging from a hectic first semester, there's nothing wrong with picking up a side gig to help pad your IRA!

Pick up some shifts at your old place of work!  If you worked in retail in the past, talk to your boss about picking up a few shifts during this busy time of the year.

Babysit!  There are lots of parents out there who could use a few hours of free time.  Spread the word among family and friends that you're around and available to help out.

Tutor!  Did you get straight A's in math during high school?  Do you enjoy helping others learn difficult mathematic concepts?  Then spread the word that you're back from school and available to prep students for their midterms.

The 2014 total contribution limit for all of your IRAs is $5,500.* If you were able to max that out already, great!  If not, I recommend putting a portion of your extra college break earnings towards it.  Remember, every dollar makes a difference.

*If you have both a Roth IRA and Traditional IRA, you can contribute a total of $5,500 between both accounts.  For example, you could contribute $4,000 to your Roth and $1,500 to your traditional.  You also cannot contribute more than your taxable earnings for the year.  So if you only made $4,040 during your summer lifeguarding on the cape, and did not have any income from any other jobs, you can only contribute $4,040.

How will you spend your extra hour?

Daylight Saving Time ends this weekend.  That's right, on Sunday at 2:00AM we "fall back" to Eastern Standard Time.  So I ask you, how will you spend your extra hour?

Will you spend it sleeping?  Doing more homework?  On Facebook?

Though there are numerous ways you could spend that extra hour, I invite you to do what I'm doing and spend that time with loved ones.  Too often in today's technology-infused go-go-go society, we forget what's important.  We substitute actual face-time with virtual means of communication like texting and messenger. We scroll through our Facebook newsfeed for the latest updates from our friends and family instead of catching up over coffee or lunch.  I know I've rationalized spending virtual time with friends instead of physical time by telling myself that it was better than not spending time at all.  I just felt like there weren't enough hours in the day.

Well, the end of Daylight Saving Time has given me that extra time this weekend and I'm going to seize this opportunity.  It'll be so much fun to see my friend's new baby in person...instead of in a photo on Instagram.

How to vote using an absentee ballot

Ever since you registered to vote you've been dying to actually, well, VOTE.  Depending upon when you registered, this coming November may be your first chance to do so.  You're wicked excited and can't wait to head to the polls in just under a month.  But wait... your excitement begins to fade as you realize that [insert name of college town here] is really far away from your hometown.  Or maybe it's not, but even if you attend school rather close to your hometown, that still means you need to somehow get a ride to the polls--and you don't have a car...

Have no fear, the absentee ballot is here!

Don't know what an absentee ballot is? Below I will answer some questions about voting absentee in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Who can vote absentee?
(taken from the Secretary of the Commonwealth's website)

Massachusetts allows voters to vote by absentee ballot if they:

• will be absent from your city or town on election day, and/or

• have a physical disability that prevents your voting at the polling place, and/or

• cannot vote at the polls due to religious beliefs.

How do I vote absentee?

First you must request an absentee ballot by filling out the Absentee Ballot Application and mailing the application to your city or town hall.  There are mailing instructions on the application.

If filling out forms is not your thing, you can have a family member request your absentee ballot by filling out the Absentee Ballot Application by a Family Member.  

Once you have sent your application in, you will receive your absentee ballot in the mail along with instructions for how to fill it out and mail it in.  You can even track your ballot once it has been mailed to see if it has been received yet.

When is my absentee ballot "due" in order to be counted?

Your absentee ballot must be received by the time the polls close on election day. 



Still have questions?  Take a look at the Secretary of the Commonwealth's website for more FAQs and information.

Make Homework a "Class"

You get your schedule and you realize that on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays you have only three classes, and on Tuesdays and Thursdays you have only  two!  This is awesome!  You have classes for roughly three hours each day!  Check you later seven hour-a-day high school!

As you ease into the school year, you spend your time between classes hanging out with your friends on the quad, taking leisurely lunches, and attending activities of all the new clubs you just joined.  Then, one Thursday night, your friends ask you if you want to head to the local pizza joint.  "Of course," you say... until you realize that you haven't even started the problem set for your calc class that's due at 8:00AM tomorrow.  Looks like you'll have to pass this time.

You wish you didn't have to pass and begin wondering if there was a way to get your homework done and still have time to hang out with your friends.  The structure you had in high school with studies during the school day and a parent or guardian at home checking in on you about your homework are gone, and it's been difficult to manage your time.

Have no fear!  There's a solution:  make homework a "class."

Let's say that on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays you have classes at 9:00AM, 10:00AM, and 2:00PM.  Now let's say you add a fourth class to that day at 4:00PM called "Homework."  When 4:00PM comes around, find a quiet space where you can work on any assignments.  It may be your dorm room, the study hall on your floor, the library, or any other place where you will be able to get stuff done.

Homework is different in college because many of your assignments will be more long term: problem sets due once a week, papers due every few weeks.  Take the block of time you have set aside and say to yourself,  "I'm going to work on this problem set for an hour or two," or, "I'm going to work on this paper for an hour," or, "I'm going to study for this test for two hours."  Try not to work for more than two hours at a time because you may start to lose focus.  If you have a long period of time during which you can do work, like a Saturday or Sunday, be sure to take breaks every hour or two so that you can refocus.  

So make homework a class, and then go join your friends at the Pizza Shack! 

Pick classes that interest you!

Wahoo!!  You're in college!  Now you get to decide which classes to take!  Instead of "Junior English" you may have choices like Creative Writing, Shakespeare, and... wait... Introduction to Screenwriting!?  Sweet!  Maybe you can make your dream of winning an Oscar a reality!

As you scroll through the list of courses offered, you stumble upon completely new departments.  Anthropology.  Philosophy.  Linguistics.  It's like an academic candy store!  With so many choices, what should you take?

The answer is simple: take what interests you.

College is your chance to learn, to grow, and to discover who you are and what you want to do with the rest of your life.  Depending on the program which you are enrolled in at your college or university, you may not have to declare your major until the second semester of your sophomore year.  If that's the case for you, start exploring.  Is there a topic about which you've always wanted to learn more?  Take a course in it.  You may discover a hidden love for computer coding, or law, or environmental studies.  That love may lead to a major and that major may lead to a fulfilling career.

So enter the academic candy store... and try as many things as you can.