As Promised, The Next Big Giveaway: 100 Custom Postcards from UPrinting

We promised another giveaway today, and here it is. Our awesome sponsor UPrinting is offering two lucky TAiMH readers 100 free custom postcards (with free UPS shipping to the US, of course). Make them for yourself or someone else. Use them to promote your blog, special event, or business. Get creative and use them for invitations, thank-you cards, moving announcements, or whatever your little heart desires. These are really fantastic cards: 4 x 6, full-color on both sides on a sturdy 14-point glossy cardstock.

Ready to enter?
All you have to do is leave a comment on this post telling us how you might use the free postcards if you win.

Really want the cards? For additional entries, you can do any or all of the following and leave a comment here telling us you've done it:

1. Blog about this giveaway and link to this post and UPrinting.com.
   
2. Tweet this: Win 100 free custom postcards for invitations, biz promo, etc + free shipping! Enter at TAiMH: http://bit.ly/2LqVfV #giveaway
   
3. Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and/or MySpace. (1 entry each)

Giveaway ends at noon on Thursday, October 29th, so get your entries in quick!

We'll announce the winner on the blog and a coupon code will be sent to the winner’s registered email on November 6, 2009, so if your blogger profile doesn't display your email address, be sure to leave it in your comment.

Good luck!

Don't forget to enter our other current giveaway from UPrinting, for an awesome 24 x 36" vinyl banner with grommets ($62 value plus free UPS Ground shipping).


Thank you to UPrinting for providing us here at TAiMH with our own set of 100 free postcards. We love them.

We're Giving Away 250 FREE Business Cards

What? Another Giveaway?
That's right. More free stuff for you.

This time our lovely sponsor, UPrinting is offering 1 lucky TAiMH reader 250 free business cards (with free UPS shipping to the US, of course). Make them for yourself or someone else. Use them to promote your blog, special event, business, or even your favorite charity. Tired of scribbling your number or e-mail when you meet interesting new people? Here's your chance to get some hip, look-at-me calling cards.

Ready to enter?
All you have to do is leave a comment on this post telling us how you might use the free business cards if you win.

Really want the cards? For additional entries, you can do any or all of the following and leave a comment telling us you've done it:

1. Blog about this giveaway and link to this post and UPrinting.com.
   
2. Tweet this: Win 250 free business cards of your choice (many options to choose from) + free shipping! Enter at TAiMH: http://bit.ly/16PmfD #giveaway
   
3. Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and/or MySpace. (1 entry each)

Giveaway ends Wednesday, October 21st at midnight, so get your entries in quick!

We'll announce the winner on the blog and email him or her by Friday, October 23rd, so if your blogger profile doesn't display your email address, be sure to leave it in your comment.

Good luck!

Don't forget to enter our other current giveaways, for a free 1-of-a-kind TiredofBeingPoor.net T-shirt and a 24 x 36" vinyl banner with grommets ($62 value plus free UPS Ground shipping) from UPrinting.com.


Thank you to UPrinting for providing us here at TAiMH with our own set of 250 free business cards. We love them.

Adventures in Cake, Installment One

I don’t know about you, but I’m tired of being poor. There are two ways to fix that, the one we spend most of our time on here at TAiMH is how to save, find deals, and just generally spend less money. The other side of that coin is making more money. If you, like me, have found yourself in a situation where a new, better-paying job is not on the horizon and the chances of a raise are almost nonexistent, increasing your income seems impossible.

Second jobs can be a life saver; they can also be a life sucker. Minimum wage for ten to twenty hours a week can ruin your social life even as it barely helps you squeak by. What’s a nearly broke person to do? This one decided to start a small business.

The second step after deciding that I was up for the small business challenge was determining what goods or services I could provide to my community, be it actual or virtual. The most important aspect of this decision was whether or not I felt I could make a profit. If I’m not going to make a profit, it’s just another hobby. So I looked at my life, what kinds of things did I do for free that other people get paid for? In my case it was baking. I make cakes and bring them to my office or to parties; just about anywhere I go I take a cake, or cupcakes, or brownies, or cheesecakes. . . . Other people get paid to bake, why shouldn’t I? This wasn’t too much of a stretch for me--my mother baked cakes out of our home for my entire childhood. And yes, it was a wonderland.

After figuring out what I wanted to do, I needed to come up with the numbers to prove to myself that it could really work. Lucky for me I already have quite a few of the supplies that I need, so that helps reduce my initial costs. The less it takes to start making money, the lower your risk.

Check back soon for more Adventures in Cake and we’ll see how far down the road to business ownership I've traveled.

Update: Thanks to Financial Highway for including this post in The Carnival of Twenty-Something Finance.

Tax Hacks, Part 3: Self-Employment Taxes

If you are self-employed, whether you have another job or not, you have to pay Self-Employment (SE) taxes by filing Schedule SE with your 1040. SE taxes include social security and Medicare tax, just like those paid by everyone else, but you're responsible for "withholding" them yourself. (For tax purposes, you are only self-employed if your net earnings (profit) from your self-employment are $400 or more per year.)

For the purposes of this post, we're going to focus on sole proprietorships, businesses owned and run by only one person. As a sole proprietor, you can choose to figure and set aside taxes for every "paycheck" or payment you receive for your services. These are your estimated taxes, and they must be paid quarterly. Yes, that's right. If you wait until the end of the year without making quarterly IRS payments, you could get slapped with a sizable tax penalty. If withholding tax from each "paycheck" isn't practical (e.g. you receive many small payments rather than lump sums), you can simply calculate your taxes on your quarterly earnings.

Sole proprietors also need to file Schedule C, Profit or Loss from Business, which is part of Form 1040. Alternatively, you can file Schedule C-EZ if all the following are true:

• your expenses are not greater than $5,000
• you have no employees
• you have no inventory
• you are not using depreciation or deducting the cost of your home

In order to be able to file taxes properly (and get the most $ back), a sole proprietor needs to keep immaculate records and hold onto them for at least four years. (The IRS has this thing called burden of proof. . . .)

New Ventures
If you're newly self-sufficient, i.e. have been self-employed for less than a whole tax year, you'll be operating on a short tax year the first time you file. You can find more info on short period tax returns and other topics relevant to new business owners on the IRS's page on Starting a Business.


More Resources:
Publications and Forms for the Self-Employed
Self-Employed Individuals Tax Center
Business or Hobby? Answer Has Implications for Deductions

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• Paying for the Self Employment Tax (self-employed-cash-flow-management.suite101.com)
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