In our October newsletter "FINANCIALLY PREPARING FOR THE HOLIDAYS", we spoke about strategic ways that could assist you in getting geared up for holiday spending within your household budget. Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals are done and consumers didn't hold back this year. 247 million people went shopping during the 4-day weekend of Black Friday (up 9.3% from 2011 shoppers) and they spent on average $423 for a total Black Friday spending of $59.1 billion (up 12.8% from 2011). If you missed the blockbuster deals, don't worry, retailers want more of your hard earned dollars, so prepare yourself and consider the following:

• Make your list of monthly expenses and see if you can cut some cost throughout the list that will allow you to put cash aside for the holidays
• Consider working overtime, finding a part-time gig in conjunction of selling fairly used items that you have no need for
• For items that you consider expensive, don't rush to place them on layaway instead wait for a good sale to take place (be sure to sign up for email reminders from the retailers carrying these expensive items)

How to Prepare for 2012 Tax Season

We're now approximately 3 weeks away from the end of the year and the current month is a great time to prepare for the 2012 tax season. Those who prepare early will benefit from a smoother tax preparation process, less mistakes when submitting materials since you've had time to vet through it all as well as beating the RUSH of millions submitting their tax returns during peak periods (mid- February to early March).

For the 2012 tax season, please note the following changes on the Federal level:

Click Here to See Tables Below Larger 

Let's start with the INDIVIDUAL taxpayer first. Email your tax preparer with any questions that you've pondered about but just haven't got around to asking. Gather all the necessary receipts and info needed for credits (i.e. daycare payments and the EIN or Social Security of the provider).  

• You'll need proof of certain expenses such as job hunting, if you were actively searching for a job this year, you can deduct the cost of travel, continuing education expenses and resume preparation (printing at FedEx Kinko's or library).
• Give, give, give (don't give it all away, save some to pay the bills), if you plan to itemized deductions than be sure to tally up what you've given thus far to charities as well as anything else for the reminder of the year.
• Do you have some extra cash left over from Black Friday and Cyber Monday? Consider making an extra mortgage payment in order to deduct a little more in interest than expected, be sure the mortgage company receives the additional payment by December 31st.
• Grab your 2011 Federal and State tax returns and be sure to store it along with your other documents for 2012 in a folder.
• As you begin to receive various year-end tax statements (W-2's, 1099's, etc.), immediately place them in your tax folder and forget about it until it's time to file

If you're a Sole Proprietor or Small Business here's a list of things you should consider doing to prepare for 2012 tax season:

• Get Organize. Sort through all your statements (bank and credit card statements), find records of invoices and receipts you receive. Print hard copies of it all and place in a folder
• Sort through checks paid to contractors throughout the year thus far, if you realize you've paid more than $600 this year than make a notation of in the folder to fill out a 1099 form for that contractor
• Be aware of Form 1099-K. If you process credit and debit cards as well as third-party network payments such as PayPal, Amazon.com and Google it will be reported to merchants and the IRS. If the small business has fewer than 200 transactions' totaling less than $20,000 than this does not apply. 

During the month of October, we had the opportunity to provide our expertise on financial matters involving small business and individuals. Click the images below to read them and be sure to click the Facebook, Twitter and Google Plus button to share with your friends and family.