Budgeting

More of us are starting to consider our use of energy around the home and want to reduce it. Whether you want to cut the amount of energy you use in order to live a more eco-friendly life, or just to lower your utility bills, then try some of these simple ways to cut down the amount of energy you use. 

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Turn Off Your Appliances

All those appliances designed to make our lives easier, like the washing machine, dryer, or dishwasher, use a lot of power to use. If you’re trying to reduce your energy use, you should try to cut back on using them as much as possible. 

You can start very easily by washing the dishes by hand instead of loading up the dishwasher. You can always save the dishwasher for occasions when you’ve had lots of people for dinner and have a lot more things to wash than usual. 

Instead of always drying clothes in the tumble dryer, hang your washing outside on a line wherever the weather is dry enough, or inside on a clothes horse if you have enough room for one. 

It’s cheaper to run appliances during off-peak hours. These hours are usually during the night. Check with your electricity company, and if you do need to run something like the washing machine or the dishwasher, put it on at night. Some of these appliances have timers built-in, or you can use a timer switch at the socket to switch it on when the power is cheaper to use. 

Consider Alternative Power

Could you add some ways to use alternative power in your home? Solar power is the most popular, and the easiest option for producing energy for homes. You can learn more about solar power at www.choosesolar.com to decide if this could be a possibility for your home. 

Fitting solar panels is a bigger change, but there are often grants available to offset the cost of fitting them in order to encourage people to produce at least some of their own power. See if a grant like this is available in your area. After the panels have been in place for a while, they will pay for themselves too with what they save you on your utility bills. 

Save Water

Reduce your water bill by reducing the amount of water that you use around the house. Taking showers uses less water than taking a bath, but only if you don’t stand under there for hours at a time. Try to keep your showers as short as you can, and encourage the rest of the family to do the same. For washing the dishes, use a washing-up bowl instead of filling the sink with water. A bowl needs less water to fill, and that small saving can really add up over time. 

If you have a garden that needs a lot of watering, don’t run the hose or fill the watering can directly from the tap. Instead of using even more water, reuse water that you’ve already used for something else. This is sometimes called gray water. Gray water could be rainwater that you have caught and saved in a waterbutt, or water saved from washing the dishes or from cooking. Used water is perfectly okay for watering your plants, and will mean you can use a lot less water. 

Turn Down The Thermostat

Nobody wants a cold house but cranking up the heating can drive up your bills. Instead, turn down the thermostat. Even dropping it one degree lower can lower the amount of energy you use, and your bill, without changing the temperature in a way that you can notice. You’ll still be warm enough but will have a lower bill. 

To cut back further on how much heating you need, you should make sure you have an adequate attic insulation and double-glazing to stop the heat from escaping out of the house. Check the walls for any cracks or gas and get them repaired to stop heat getting out of those. 

Some small changes around the house can add up to make a lot of difference to the amount of energy and water that you use. By making these changes to the way you use power at home, you can reduce your utility bills and make your home a little greener at the same time. Start with a few changes, and build up to more over time as you learn what works for you. 

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2020 was a year of the unexpected, and 2021 is shaping up to be an equally crazy time. The coronavirus pandemic has changed so much about our society, including the ways in which we work, travel, spend money, and communicate with each other. Many people have suffered throughout the past twelve months, and the hill is not quite climbed yet; nevertheless, we are starting to emerge from this crazy time, with vaccinations on the way and a light at the end of the tunnel.

While nobody can predict what 2021 will bring for us, one thing is for sure: the world won’t be going back to normal anytime soon. When it comes to traveling, we are all having to take extra precautions to ensure we aren’t spreading, or contracting, the coronavirus.

You might be thinking: what does this have to do with buying a car? You’re going to find out!

A Safer Way To Travel During A Pandemic

If you love traveling, you might be feeling daunted at the idea of getting on a plane or train in the current circumstances. We all love getting away for a break, but for some people, the concept of being on a crowded plane is nauseating to say the least. We are all hyper-aware of what we can pass to one another, and it is definitely putting people off buying plane or train tickets right now.

With a car, you can safely travel from A to B without having to worry about the virus. Plus, driving is far more environmentally friendly than taking air travel, meaning you are making a positive contribution to sustainability by doing so! You could take a road trip across the country instead of flying – that way, you get to see the sights too. 

Cars Are Becoming More Sustainable Than Ever

You might have avoided owning a car in the past, purely due to the fact that it isn’t good for the environment. While this is a fair enough reason, the truth is, cars are becoming more and more sustainable and eco-friendly. In fact, driving a hybrid car or an electric car is a very environmentally friendly way of getting around, making it easier to stay eco-friendly as you travel.

There Are Great Financing Options Available

Some people have been unable to afford a car in the past, due to inaccessible or inflated financing costs. However, you can buy a brand new car in 2021 with interest-free financing, making it easier to afford the car you really want. 

Financing your car allows you to pay monthly rather than all at once. This means that if you find your dream car, such as the 2021 Sonata for sale, you can pay in installments, allowing you to plan financially for the next few years in a simple way!

Final Thoughts

If you have previously avoided buying a car before 2021, you might be starting to rethink things. Driving a car is safer during the pandemic, and can be done affordably and sustainably this year and beyond!

Buying a gift for someone you love should be exciting. It shouldn’t feel like a chore. However, when money is tight, it can often feel that way. There is no need to fret, though, as we have put together this guide to give you a helping hand. Read on to discover more about some of the different things you can do to reduce your spending on gifts without reducing the quality of the presents you give to others. There are plenty of different ways you can make savings, it is purely about taking advantage of them.

Make the most of discount codes and coupons

There is only one place to begin when it comes to making savings on gifts, and this is by taking advantage of the different discount codes and coupons that are available today. Whenever you purchase something online, do a quick search to see if there are any savings available. Most of the time, you will be able to come across some sort of coupon. There are even browser add-ons that will automatically apply coupons for you so that you do not have to go through the hassle of manually searching for them yourself. 

Send flowers to people you love

Another way to save money is by sending flowers. If you send flowers to someone, you do not have to worry about wrapping the gift yourself and then posting it to the destination. Instead, the local florist will take care of everything for you. Plus, you can sometimes add a card and even some chocolates to the order as well. It is a convenient and cost-effective way to surprise someone you love.

Plan all of your purchases

Another way to make sure you do not run out of money when it comes to gift buying is by planning your purchases. Get yourself a trusted calendar and mark out all of the people you are going to be buying for throughout the year. You can then assign every gift a budget. This will enable you to figure out how much you are going to spend on gifts throughout the year so that you can budget effectively. One thing you can do is assign a portion of your monthly budget to gifts. For example, you could put $20 or $30 from your wage packet away every month into a pot for gift buying. 

Don’t feel like you have to buy gifts

Finally, if you do not have any money and you cannot afford to buy someone a gift, don’t feel obliged. We’re sure your loved one wouldn’t want you to get yourself in financial trouble for the sake of a birthday present!

So there you have it: some of the different approaches that you can use in order to reduce the amount of money you spend on gifts. From using discount codes to planning your purchases, there are plenty of different options these days. It is all about having a little bit of forethought; this will go a very long way.

If you want to spend more on a birthday present for a loved one, thinking about retirement, or planning a once-in-a-lifetime holiday, you are probably wondering how you can find the money to make such a dream a reality. If you already have a well-paying job, it might not just be a question of working harder but thinking smarter and saving on everyday purchases. Here are five common bills that you can make savings on. 

Electricity 

Check your electricity bill regularly to ensure that you are not wasting more electricity than you need to. Install a smart meter that can keep abreast of how much energy you use and even automatically turn off parts of the house when they are not being used. You can also upgrade your appliances at places like powerpointelectrics.co.uk, so you will use less energy, saving more money in the long run. 

Cable 

Many Americans spend a ridiculous amount of money on cable services, averaging $1,200 a year. With today’s streaming services dominance, significant savings can be made by switching to these modern options, which can cost under $200 for a similar suite of great programming options. If you want to save even more money, and you don’t mind living with the main channels, you can ditch the at-cost extras altogether.

Health Insurance

According to CNBC, the average cost of healthcare is around $321 a month. After taxes, rent, or mortgage payments, that can represent a rather large chunk of your income. We would recommend trying to renegotiate your healthcare plan, something that may seem rather daunting at first but can often change after a quick call or email. You also may find that federal or state plans can cover part of your healthcare costs; do your research and see if you can get some help. 

General Spending

To track what you are spending when you are going to the shops, we would recommend downloading a banking app that links to your card and lets you know your monthly outgoings. By tracking your spending, you will get a better hold of what you are using your money for, cutting down on non-essential purchases and saving more money each month. This same spending can then be automatically put in a savings account with interest payments, meaning your money grows with almost minimal effort. 

Transportation 

It is likely that transportation costs, especially if you are commuting daily to your workplace, are eating up a fair amount of your income. Is it possible to get a cheaper car or a better transportation deal? Do your research and find out if you can save more money each month this way. Additionally, if it is possible, perhaps you can swap your car or monthly railcard in for a bicycle. Not only does cycling keep you fit, both physically and mentally, it is several times cheaper compared to almost any other transport option, with virtually no ongoing costs bar the first initial purchase.

We all know what a timesheet is – it’s a way for employees to track their hours. However, the way we do business has changed enormously, and as you might expect, timesheets have adapted a great deal to meet new demands. If your business’s time-tracking software hasn’t evolved in recent years, then it might be holding you back and making life more difficult for everyone. So, what should you be looking for from a timesheet, and how should people be filling them in?

More Than Just Tracking Time

In the past, employees would just fill in a piece of paper, and the HR team would check it against their records. However, today, we have a much more mobile workforce, and tracking hours isn’t quite so simple. 

Naturally, timesheets have had to move online and offer added capabilities. Today, timesheets can offer added capabilities such as work cycles, and detailed insights into performance, making them an important tool. 

By making this software an important part of every-day business operations, it makes tracking a much more automatic process. 

Remote Workers 

Businesses have become much more flexible, and many employees are now based out of the office. This would make it much more difficult to track people’s hours, but software from places such as peoplexcd.com make this much easier for businesses. By setting up automated alerts and allowing employees to keep track of things like paid leave, you make it much simpler for people to track and view their hours. 

The other thing to remember is security. It’s something we’re accustomed to hearing about in the modern world, but cyber-security is a big issue, and you need to be able to provide your employees with a safe way to log their hours, no matter where they are. 

They’ve Got to be Simple

You want your employees and contractors to spend their time doing the things they’re good at, not filling in a timesheet. Of course, keeping track of hours is important, but if people are spending their hours filling out the sheet, then it’s not productive. Modern timesheets aim to make keeping track of hours as simple as possible, and this is vitally important. 

If you make it difficult to fill out timesheets, then compliance will drop. You’ve got to make sure accuracy is maintained, but it’s got to be a simple process. 

Software Matters

Technology in business is always improving, and in many cases, it’s making our lives much easier. A big part of this is the improvement in software, and a prime example of this is in HR. 

Good software brings many aspects of HR together, making life easier for everyone. Timesheet software is no different, and it’s something that can benefit your business, your HR team, and your employees. The right software gives people a central place where they can log in and quickly get important information, and this is exactly what you need in the modern-day. 

The right software will make your process more efficient and ensure greater accuracy.

If you live in the United States, you know that the arrival of winter signifies that not only is winter all but over but that we are all officially knee-deep into tax season.

The only time of year when reality tv consumption is replaced by the incessant clicking of calculator keys. Where the guilt-ridden chore of writing out Santa’s naughty list pails in comparison to the receipt-retiring foolishness of reliving the previous year’s financial misdeeds one spreadsheet at a time. A time when your least favorite sentence is adjusted withholdings.

Now you may ask, why the horror and fury? In America, our bravado prevents us from legitimately fearing very little. With one exception. The angriest of housewives, the meanest of mistresses, the sorceress of the side-eye, the Internal Revenue Service.

Even for us influencers, bloggers, podcasters, and YouTubers, there’s no exception. As independent contractors, we’re always made an example of this tax season. This means: You’ve got to pay the Pieper!

But before I get ahead of myself, let me state this: While I am a former attorney, my specialization was not tax law. I’m also not an accountant and so you should always consult an accounting professional if you are unsure about your tax filings. Especially if this is your first fiscal year working as an influencer or if you haven’t been paying taxes on your earned online income or sales tax filing.

Whether you are making a little or a lot, you should treat blogging, podcasting, influence work, agency placement, and YouTube creation like a small business that will be taken seriously by the IRS, if not by you. If you made at least $600 from your posts, media channels, or videos this past year, you should receive a 1099 form. A form is transmitted to both of you as an influencer and cc’ed to the IRS.

Be prepared to offer the IRS more than fairytales and glitter dust when filing your taxes.

With that said, I am pretty savvy when it comes to personal finance and have studied tax law independently for many years. With this knowledge in mind, I write this post.

Filing taxes may seem like a daunting tax, but getting your tax records in order to properly file, is a simple process.

First, all of the information you need to make informed decisions are available from the IRS website, and more importantly, not forgetting to claim sole-proprietor status on your taxes. This will allow you to subtract things related to your business.

This is by far the simplest and most overlooked part of the whole process. Even if you have formed an LLC, you can still claim sole proprietorship and get the added benefit of protecting your personal assets. You may also benefit in the future, by paying for your taxes quarterly to prevent issues that come with excessive bulk preparations during tax season.

Second, there’s also a silver lining. As an influencer, there are a wide variety of things you can deduct from your taxes. Which is awesome. Because let’s face it, we should all be taking advantage of every tax break you can get.

Remember, influencing is a business and all business entities accrue business expenses. Many of which are tax write-offs. But not everything is a business expense. So what can you claim?

The blanket term from the IRS is that you can deduct: Any ordinary, necessary, and reasonable expense that helps you earn business income.

A simple way to determine if you’re making a good claim is to give it the laugh test. If you can put it on your forms with a straight face, without thinking you going to jail or purgatory, its safe to assume you could claim it on your taxes.

But do be careful not to overlook any potential deductions. According to Forbes, the IRS believes that a full 20% of eligible Americans miss out on tax breaks worth up to $6,318.00 each year!

While you won’t be able to claim any of the products you have purchased for haul videos, toys for your children you have reviewed, or your OOTD on Instagram, there are many expenses you can claim, including:

Equipment Depreciation: for cameras and editing computers. You can deduct 20% off of equipment each year for 5 years and since 2012 there has been a law made that allows for claiming 50% depreciation on the first year of owning the equipment.

Advertising: Services like Promoted Videos on YouTube to advertise your content and gain viewers and the cost of prizes from contests and giveaways as they are very closely related to advertising can be claimed.

Home Office Usage: If you have a space in your home, or shared external space, dedicated to YouTube, podcasting, or blogging, even if it’s a hobby, you may be eligible for a pretty sizable deduction. But these spaces must be used, for the sole purpose of business 2 or more days per week, for the entire year, to qualify as a deduction for the IRS.

Cell Phone Usage: If you have a cell phone dedicated to your YouTube channel or blog that you regularly use your phone for networking or managing videos and comments it could qualify for a deduction as well.

Professional Advice: Did you seek any help in getting your channel off the ground? Perhaps sought website critique or professional review? Any experts whom you pay to help guide you in making sound business decisions are taxable deductions.

Gas mileage: Driving to airports, driving to pick up supplies, or even driving to do a collab. It’s all about the business. Save every receipt and write off those miles!

Conference Fees: Conference attendance is are tax-deductible. Not only the cost to attend the conference itself, but just about any expense related to it from food, hotel room, cab rides, airfare and even the business cards you hand out.

Video Editing Software: Are you still using Windows Movie Maker? Consider upgrading to something better and write it off on your taxes. Software used for your business is tax-deductible.

Data Storage: Do you use external drives or a cloud-based storage service? All of these things could be tax-deductible.

Home Telephone Line: Like with cell service, if this line is primarily used for your business, claim it on your taxes. But if the line is used for general home use is not tax-deductible.

Clothes: If you primarily work from home, your pajamas and yoga pants are not tax-deductible. Uniform or specific clothing used for producing videos can be deducted on your taxes.

Photo Props: According to federal tax code Section 162, buying or leasing props, used to film or video record work is a tax deduction.

Personal Expenses: If something is more of personal responsibility than a business one, you’re going to get red flagged. If its used more than 80% for business, include it.

Trips: Was a trip taken for the sole purpose of conducting business? Include those recorded expenses on your return.

Work-related art: Using stock photography? That’s deductible!

Photo Lenses: Deducatble!

Printers: Does your all-in-one printer need upgrading? You can deduct that expense if the printer is primarily used for business. Included pitched review items!

Lighting Equipment: Deducatble!

Scanners: Scanners used for the sole purpose of conducting business, deductible!

Laminators: Laminators used solely for business, not the home or homeschooling is deductible. Unless you run a homeschooling YouTube channel!

Stencil Makers: Do you have an ETSY shop or show stencil making on your media outlets? That’s a deduction.

Trade show fees: Attending trade shows? Keep those receipts as they may be tax-deductible.

Days out of work for reviews: Keep your receipts, as those costs may be tax-deductible. And if blogging isn’t your main gig, they also serve as time-qualifying evidence.

Professional Web Design Costs: If you’re like me and use a web designer to create any aspect of your bog, that’s a tax dedication in your favor.

Work-Related Books: Maintain a collection of up-to-date work-related books on business or finance? They may be tax-deductible but are subject to depreciation.

Research fees: If you accrue fees to research niche-specific topics on your site or use services such as TubeBuddy for YouTube creator research analysis, those fees are tax deductible.

LLC Costs: If you have incorporated your business as a limited liability corporation, the legal and service fees associated with this process may be tax-deductible.

Postage: Postage costs, such as mailing giveaway prizes to recipients or snail mail pitch companies, can be deducted from your taxes.

Educational classes: Accredited course-work, such as obtaining a field-related degree will be a tax deduction for you. Both federally and state.

Subscriptions for research and data management sites: Research fees, for niche-specific work, can be deducted from your taxes.

Software licensing fees: Licensing Fees, for subscriptions such as Adobe Suite, can be deducted from your taxes.

Custom chargers: If you have had to purchase a specific charger for a business-related device, the costs accrued are tax-deductible.

Tax software: Business-edition only tax preparation software is a tax deduction!

Trademark and copyright fees: Fees associated with creating trademarks, copyrighting, watermarking, and branding your work is tax deductible

Newsletter Service Fees: Fees associated with premiere subsection-based newsletter delivery services are a tax deduction each year.

Live App Fees: Fees to purchase a subscription to use apps that promote your brand being live online via Facebook or YouTube, such as Be Live Tv, is deductible.

Video Conferencing Fees: Fees associated with video conferencing, such as Skype, are tax-deductible only for business meetings! Not to call Grandma in the old country or to catch-up with friends in the motherland!

Virtual Assitant Courses: Courses taken in the act of preparing to become certified to be your own virtual assistant, or to assist others, is a tax-dedication.

Paralegal fees: Courses taken in the act of preparing to become certified to be your own paralegal, or to assist others, is a tax-dedication.

Business lunches and meetings: Meals that accrue expensive during business meetings are tax deductions.

Self-storage fees for business equipment: Business-related equipment that requires storage or maintenance can be tax deducted.

Bank Security Box Fees: Fees associated with the storage of legal paperwork in bank security boxes can be deducted from your taxes each year.

Notary Fees: Fees associated with notarizing legal business-pertaining documents can be deducted from your taxes.

Antivirus software: software used to protect the security of your site may be a deduction for you come tax time!

Long distance bills: Long distance bills accrued for business purposes only can be deducted from your taxes.

Work-related car repairs: Car repairs accrued for vehicles that are relegated to work-only vehicles can be deducted from your taxes.

Losses due to theft: Losses due to business-expense related costs may deductible from your taxes.

Website hosting fees: Web hosting fees, for sites such as Bluehost, might be a tax deduction for you.

Domain costs: Costs associated with domain fees for your blog may be deducted from your taxes each year.

Redirect Fees: Fees associated with redirecting blogs from a wordpress.com to a wordpress.org account may be a tax deduction for you.

Freelance photography fees: The fees associated with the commission of freelance photography or its use may be a tax deduction for you this year.

Archival Fees: Fees associated with archiving your site’s original photography or written transcription services can be deducted from your site.

Business cards: The fees associated with creating cards can be deducted from your site. Keep this in mind before your next conference!

Letterhead: The fees associated with creating logos for business letterhead can be deducted from your business.

Stationary: Stationery products used in correspondence from your business or LLC can be deducted from your taxes.

Promotional Swag: Swag or merch costs for products used to promote your site or channel can be deducted from your taxes.

Computer upgrades: The costs of upgrading a business-only laptop, pc, or tablet can be deducted from your taxes.

Hotel expenses: Lodging costs associated with travel for blogging, including cruises and conferences, can be deducted from your taxes.

Hotel costs for review trips: Review trips that accrue hotel costs can be deducted from your taxes. Minus taxes on your stay, of course!

P.O. Box fees: Business-related Post Office box fees can be deducted from your taxes.

Prizes for hosted giveaways: Costs associated with the purchase of giveaways on your media channels can be deducted from your taxes.

Up to 20% of your internet bills: Up to 20% of your high-speed internet and Wi-Fi costs each year can be claimed on your taxes.

Microphones: The fees associated with the purchase of professional sound equipment, including microphones, for broadcasting and podcasting, can be deducted from your taxes.

Sound Mixers: Podcasting sound mixer and recorder costs can be deducted from your taxes.

Sound Filters: Filters and muffs used in podcasting and video voice-overs can be deducted from your taxes.

Podcast Editing and Uploading Service Fees: The service fees for using sites for editing, uploading, or storing your podcasts can be deducted from your taxes.

The Podcast and YouTube Hosting Fees: Fees associated with the website hosting costs for your podcast or YouTube thumbnail services can be deducted from your taxes

Podcast Advertising Fees: Fees accrued as the result of advertising your podcast can be deducted from your taxes.

Podcast and YouTube Intro/Outro Fees: Fees associated with creating intros and outros for your podcast and YouTube channel can be deducted from your taxes.

YouTube Endslate Fees: Fees resulting from the professional creation or purchased kit to commission a YouTube end slate product can be deducted from your taxes.

Vlogmas, Vlogtober, and Vloguary Fees: Fees associated with monthly vlogging celebrations on YouTube can be deducted from your taxes.

Furniture Leasing Fees: Fees accrued because of leasing office furniture can be deducted from your taxes.

Paint: Paint used in the commission of an office dwelling or projects used on business channels can be deducted from your taxes.

Recipe Plug-Ins: Professional cooking or recipe plug-in fees for your blog can be deducted from your taxes.

Antivirus Plug-Ins: Antivirus plug-in costs for your blog can be deducted from your taxes.

Framework Upgrades: Upgrading the framework of your site to a new hosting platform, including the Genesis platform, can be deducted from your taxes.

Makeup, Nail, and Haircare Products: Products used on you alone, in the creation of campaign photography for your online business, can be deducted from your taxes. Haul and subscription products are not tax deductible.

Headshots: Costs associated with having professionally created headshots for your blog, channels, book tours, or social accounts may be deducted from your taxes.

Portfolio Creation: Costs associated with having professionally created portfolio kits, such as being a savings or foodie blogger, may be deducted from your taxes.

Media Kit Creation: Costs associated with having professionally created media kits or media kit template purchase fees may be deducted from your taxes.

Filter Apps: Apps that provide filters for your business-only social media accounts, Facebook Groups, sidebar images, or fan pages may be a tax deduction for you.

Music Licensing Fees: Fees associated with purchasing the licensing to use music in your YouTube videos may be a tax deduction for you.

App Editing Software: Apps used to edit Youtube thumbnails may be a potential tax deduction for you.

Union Fees: Fees associated with belonging to a union, such as the Communication Workers of America, is a tax dedication.

Healthcare Costs: You may be able to a sizeable rebate on fees associated with your privately purchase health care as an independent contractor.

Auditing services: Services purchased as audit-ready servicing in post-tax season times, can be a potential tax-deduction to you.

Paper shredding fees: Fees associated with the proper disposal of business-related paperwork, such as to a business supply store, can be deducted from your taxes.

Binding Fees: Fees associated with binding reports, books, or coursework related to your business can be deducted from your business or ETSY shop.

Teaching Expenses: Expenses related to teaching original coursework as part of your business marketing strategy can be deducted from your taxes.

Manuscript Fees: Fees associated with having an original manuscript professionally proffered and typed is a potential tax deduction.

Self-Publishing Fees: Fees associated with self-publishing book are tax deductible.

Stenography Fees: Fees associated with stenography for your business may be a tax deduction for you.

App Creation Fees: Thinking of creating an app for your blog? That may be a tax deduction for you the year it debuts!

Professional Organization Fees: Fees associated with having a professional organizer overhaul a work-related-only space, can be deducted from your taxes.

Planners: The costs of a single, non-hobbyist planner, including shipping, used to plan business-related events only, can be deducted from your taxes.

Gift Guide Fees: Fees associated with producing gift guides are tax deductible.

Printable Fees: Fees associated with creating free or for-profit printables for your site, including email subscription freebies products, are tax deductible.

Writing instruments: Writing pens, calligraphy pens, and stylus pens used only for business are tax deductible.

After-Post Reports: Costs accrued from reports submitted to campaign leaders including stats pertaining to sponsored campaigns can be deducted from your taxes.

Scheduled Posting Costs: Fees associated with social media posting and tribe-building sites, such as Tailwind, may be tax deductible for you.

Agent and Public Relation Fees: Fees associated with paid agent fees accrued during the promotion of your business may be tax deductible for you.

So, folks, those are 101 potential tax deductions you may qualify for as a blogger, podcaster, live broadcaster, YouTuber, or digital entrepreneur.

While many will qualify for numerous deductions on the before-mentioned list, do keep this piece of information in mind: The most important piece of advice I could give you is to track everything you do related to your YouTube, blog, or Podcast business.

If in doubt as to how to file your taxes properly and on time, hire a CPA at the end of the year and have them review all of those details you’ve kept track of to see what does and what does not qualify as a business expense. It will not only help you reduce your risk of being audited.

Should you get audited, being prepared will help you be able to calmly present all of the information needed to move forward accordingly.

Be sure to share, save, and pin this post for quick referencing during tax season! Now I want to ask, what is your favorite tax deduction as a blogger, YouTuber, or podcaster? I’d love to hear about it below!

When you find yourself involved in an accident, whether car accidents with sustained injuries, workplace injuries or medical malpractice, chances are that you might have to negotiate a settlement with an insurance company. It can be daunting and stressful, especially while dealing with the aftermath of your accident. However, about 95% of accident cases end up being settled out of court. While this success rate is impressive, what happens if your offer is not good enough? If you feel that you have been given a low settlement offer, here are a few actionable steps to ensure that you get what you deserve.

1. Do not lash out

One of the most important things you can do is remain polite and calm when you have been given a low settlement offer even if you know you are deliberately being taken advantage of. It might be tempting to lash out at the insurance claims adjuster, but that might be to your detriment. Your anger could make you seem like an unreliable witness, and that could jeopardize the negotiation. What you can do instead is to stay calm while rejecting the offer. If you have not done so, it would be best to hire a car accident lawyer to help you go through the process on your behalf. 

2. Be prepared to present facts

One of the most crucial things to do when you find yourself involved in an accident is to document everything as soon as possible. That includes jotting down relevant information such as medical costs and taking pictures, especially any injuries you sustained. The more evidence you gather, the stronger your damage claims will be. With sufficient documents and paperwork to back your request for a higher settlement, the insurance company will find it challenging to offer low compensation. 

3. Ask several questions

When you are hit with a low offer, you can respond by asking the claims adjuster questions. You can ask about their reasoning behind the low settlement offer or why they evaluated your case the way they did. Their responses might help you make a more informed counteroffer. For example, find out if you were given a low offer based on insufficient documentation of your injuries. You can provide them with updated medical records to increase the bid provided you have that documentation.

4. Settle in court

This should be your last option and must only be used when all negotiations and mediations fail. That is because sending your settlement claim to trial can be time-consuming and even more expensive for you. Nonetheless, you are entitled to settle in court if you believe it would yield the best results for you. Ensure that you have all the correct documents and the right legal backing when deciding to try the case. Many law firms like Whittel & Melton promise their clients ‘no fee or costs unless we win’ services to guarantee that you are more successful at trial. 

When you are in settlement negotiations, remember always to reject the first offer. You must also ensure that you do not allow any insurance company to force you into accepting an offer. Look out for common bad faith insurance tactics and learn how to respond to them accordingly. For the best results, hire an attorney to help you through the process.