Articles by Madison


Will a Government Shutdown Delay Your Tax Refund?

Posted by Madison on April 6, 2011

What happens if there is a government shutdown at the same time you file your tax return? It’s something we might find out this weekend, since there is a possibility of a government shutdown Friday night. Update: The government has officially shut down as of October 1, 2013. We will continue to monitor the impacts […]

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Tuition Deduction Versus Tuition Tax Credits

Posted by Madison on April 5, 2011

The tuition tax credits are popular right now, and I’m going to assume that many of you who are in college, or have kids in college are familiar with taking the tax credit. However, it’s the less popular tuition and fees deduction that needs some more attention from most people. College Tuition Tax Options When […]

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Chase Sapphire $100 Sign Up Bonus

Posted by Madison on April 1, 2011

Chase is back with a sign bonus for the Chase Sapphire card! I’m excited that the credit cards are increasing sign up bonuses to try to get our business again, since it means more free money for all of us. How to Get Your Sign Up Bonus Open a new Chase Sapphire card. Spend $500 […]

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The First Picture of Our New Vacation Home

Posted by Madison on March 31, 2011

A reader, Philip, wanted to know: “Will we see pictures of your new vacation home?” Of course Philip! We’re so excited now that our offer was accepted and can’t wait for everyone to see the new place: What do you think? I did say it was a foreclosure, right? Happy Early April Fools’ Day! I […]

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It’s time for the 2nd quarter 2011 cash rewards credit cards bonuses. Since many credit cards now offer cash back on a rotating quarterly schedule, we have to reorganize each quarter; I’ll remind you which ones we should be using! Today is the day to switch out the old 1st Quarter 5% Rewards and maximize […]

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Exploring Vacation Home Tax Rules

Posted by Madison on March 29, 2011

Now that everything is moving quickly on our new vacation home rental, it’s time to talk tax! There are three high level categories for vacation home tax rules based on how often your rent your home and how often use it personally. Rent a Little When You: Rent Your Home 14 Days or Less If […]

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Our Offer Was Accepted!

Posted by Madison on March 26, 2011

After making our final offer on a vacation home, we got great news: our offer was accepted! We’re planning to head back down in a couple weeks for the closing. In the mean time, I’m working on getting everything set up for our new vacation home business using many of the suggestions I researched last […]

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Making an Offer on a Vacation Home

Posted by Madison on March 24, 2011

We’re back from our Vacation Home Shopping Trip! And I can’t thank you, my wonderful readers, enough! I took with me all of the data points that readers shared tips for making lowball offers. We finally found a vacation home, that will also double as a rental when we aren’t using it. But it’s not […]

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TurboTax Free Premier Tax Filing

Posted by Madison on March 18, 2011

TurboTax is hooking up readers with free federal tax filing today. It’s our Free Money Friday deal this week! TurboTax gave me three free activation codes for the TurboTax Premier online version, so I’m giving them away to readers. How to Get Free TurboTax Codes Leave a comment below by Friday March 25, 9 am […]

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Vacation Home Shopping Trip

Posted by Madison on March 17, 2011

We’re leaving for vacation today. Well, actually we’re on a shopping trip, shopping for a vacation home specifically. My inlaws checked out the resort first, and it passed their initial test. So we’re on our way down to check out the property for ourselves. After readers shared tips for making lowball offers I feel confident […]

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