Make your first donation of 08 count for tax year 07

Its 2008  right now but you just woke up and realized you donated $10 online instead of the $1,000 you wanted to give away in order to maximize your tax benefit.  Damn those fuzzy navels!  You can still fix this, first take a Tylenol and drink some water.  Now rummage through your purse or briefcase and pull out your checkbook.  Its that rectangle looking sheaf with many papers inside.  Write out your check and date it 12/31/07.  If you drop this in the mail on Wednesday morning you can still count your donation as calender year 2007 at most charities.

Most charities will leave the “book” open for a week or so as those straggling 07 checks come in.  The charity I work for and many others will process these checks dated 12/31/07 and received in the new year as an 2007 check including issuing a tax receipt for 2007.  This sort of processing doesn’t last long so drop that check in the mail today!

Photo – mrbill

Life Advice from George Lucas

It is always interesting to hear advice from those who have “made it” in the world if only to pick up a nugget of practical information that you can piece together to form your own success. Amanda from Young and Broke had the opportunity to hear George Lucas speak at an Economic Club of Chicago Dinner Meeting recently and enjoyed a presentation as well as gained some insight into Lucas’ drive and how he left the path carved out before him to create a great business.

Well, according to Lucas, by simply following his passion. His father wanted him to go into the family business, but he knew it wasn’t for him. He enrolled at USC in the school of cinematography, and never looked back. At multiple points in his career he has put up his own money to finance his projects, despite the huge risk that posed and potential to bankrupt him. Why? Because it was never about the money for him. He felt he had to do these certain things – had to pursue them because he was so passionate about the work. Obviously, the risk paid off.

What I take away from this is that sometimes you need to be the one to take the risk and invest in yourself. Being successful doesn’t come from always asking others to believe in you and invest in your ideas and plans, it takes initiative and drive.

Career Wisdom from George Lucas – Young and Broke 

Don’t Fall For Fake Check Scams

I understand that we are all tempted by the possibility to get rich quick or to get something for nothing but please, DO NOT cash a check and wire some of the money to someone else.  Recently a collection of banks, creditors, associations and the USPS have banded together for an awesome PSA campaign about check scams.  The campaign revolves around fakechecks.org where there are a collection of videos, quizes and information regarding check scams.

I found fakechecks.org through a commercial during primetimeTV a few weeks ago, it is embedded below.

I think this campaign is very worthwhile endeavor.  I wish the various banks and creditors behind this would get together and work to educate consumers about credit in general.  I think everyone could use more information about the risks of credit and clearer rules and fee structures wouldn’t hurt either.

How To Have Fewer Student Loans!

Ramit from I will Teach You to be Rich, shares an email he recently sent to a friend detailing tips and hints for getting scholarships. The advice is great and for those of you getting your children prepped for school or the high school junior/senior wondering how to pay for an education. For those of you already paying back education loans this will likely inspire a, “doh. Why didn’t I think of that?” moment. Have no fear because your advice is coming shortly.

Ramit writes:

Don’t bother with Fastweb.com. It’s online so there are 2358234 billion people using it, and nobody wins anything from it. Also, don’t ever pay to enter a scholarship.

What I found were a few keys to getting scholarships: Nobody applies, so you have a good chance if you just apply; write a really good essay and have lots of people proofread it (I’m happy to help if you want); know that you can control how good your recommendations are by giving them material and making it easier for them; and interviewing well (more on that once you get the interviews, which I’m sure you will).

Ramit’s best advice is to apply for all the relevant scholarships because even the small dollar ones add up. He recommends many useful resources as well as a game plan for getting started. Getting started Ramit argues is the most important aspect and I agree. In school I applied to 5 or 6 scholarships and walked away with two. If I could go back I would have multiplied that number by 10 to greatly decrease the amount of money I borrowed.

Do you have any scholarship advice? If you could go back to your high school junior self, what would you tell yourself?