Tips to Turn Your Tax Rebate into Remodeling Bliss
(ARA) - After a long, economically challenged year, many homeowners can look forward to one bright spot on the New Year horizon: the expectation of a tax refund to help fund much-needed home fix-ups.
It’s hard not to want a fashionable, newly remodeled home, especially if your cabinets are cluttered and crumbling from years of use, and the bathroom is so out of date you’re embarrassed to have company visit. Now is a good time to do a little advance planning for remodeling to ensure every hard-earned dollar is used wisely.
One way to stay on budget is to take the advice of the National Kitchen and Bath Association and prepare a top 10 list of must-have items. Look around your kitchen and bathroom and decide what needs to be replaced and what can be added later. If you can’t afford an entire kitchen remodel right now, perhaps you can update a kitchen island in a contrasting cabinet style, add a bathroom storage cabinet, put in new countertops or refresh paint and flooring.
Make Every Inch Count
To get all you can out of your budget, squeeze as much as possible out of your space. Many cabinetry designs offer built-in storage and organization features — even in spaces just a few inches wide. A 3-Inch Base Filler Pullout, for example, is a vertical cabinet that features adjustable shelves with chrome rail sides and a full extension guide. This clever cabinet provides added storage in space you didn’t even know you had.
Scope Out Design Trends
Remodeling on a budget doesn’t mean you have to forgo fashion. A little research now will ensure you’re up-to-date on the newest design trends, so look through decorating magazines and watch TV remodeling shows. And, since home design often follows fashion design, look through fashion publications to check out colors you might want to incorporate into your home. For example, in all areas of decor, the popular blues that remind us of sky and water from last summer remain prominent, even in the kitchen, according to the Color Marketing Group.
Complement Your Personal Style
Once you have an idea for the general design themes you’re after, you’ll find that many stylish cabinetry products are available at affordable prices. For example, if you’re drawn to simple, clean lines, cabinets in the Teagan door style from Aristokraft can help you put a classic spin on contemporary style. Designed to complement a traditional home or a city-style loft, this economical, stock-cabinetry door style offers a blank canvas for those who want to personalize their kitchen. The Teagan’s uncomplicated design embraces a variety of finishes and colors to emphasize both elegant and bolder styling that endures over time, even if you make other design changes later.
Stock cabinetry also allows you to create a custom look without paying a custom price. Style seekers have endless options to personalize cabinetry to create a one-of-a-kind look for kitchens and baths, whether it’s choosing unique hardware, adding embellishments such as crown moulding, or incorporating fashionable wood finishes in delicious colors like Java Glaze or Harvest Glaze.
Go Online to Visualize
Try checking out remodeling products online before you go to a store or showroom. In 2007, 19.4 percent of U.S. shoppers researched home improvement items online before purchasing them in a store, according to a report by eMarketer.
Aristokraft cabinetry, for example, offers easy to use planning tools on www.aristokraft.com to help you prioritize your kitchen needs based on budget, space and your design vision. You can “browse” an online room gallery of completed bathrooms and kitchens in different styles, finishes and types of wood. Then, you can see how your cabinets will look in your space using an online visualization tool, and print out a plan to keep track of your selections.
When you have some design styles and trends in mind and an idea of how you plan to go about your remodeling project, it’s time to visit cabinetry showrooms. Seeing products and construction quality in person can help you finalize your decisions. Share your ideas with the showroom’s design staff and ask them to develop a plan that meets your objectives and your budget. As an educated shopper, you’re more likely to get the most from your remodeling dollar.
Courtesy of ARAcontent
Tags: tax rebate, Taxes
Tax Season is almost here, and each year, more Americans choose to file their taxes online due to convenience, faster turn around on refunds and more accurate returns. In fact, the Internal Revenue Service reported that more than 86 million taxpayers filed taxes online during the 2008 tax-filing season, a 12 percent increase from the previous year.
While e-filing continues to grow in popularity and hard copy returns become a thing of the past, Americans still send and receive a large quantity of confidential information on paper documents. W-2 forms, old pay stubs and investment information — all can leave you vulnerable to identity theft.
Last year alone, identity theft impacted nearly 8.1 million Americans, amounting to $45 billion in monetary losses according to Javelin Strategy and Research.
“Identity thieves are out in full force during tax season,” says Jay Foley, executive director of the Identity Theft Resource Center. “Confidential tax information is all they need to steal someone’s identity and rack up thousands of dollars in fraudulent charges. Consumers need to be careful with their papers and take the necessary precautions to protect against the crime.”
To ensure you don’t fall victim to identity theft, make sure you properly store and destroy sensitive information you no longer need. Shredding is the single most effective way to get rid of this confidential paperwork.
When destroying tax records, it’s best to use a shredder that has cross-cut capabilities, like Fellowes PS-79Ci, which ensures documents are nearly impossible for thieves to piece back together. The PS-79Ci also features Fellowes’ Jam Proof technology that calculates the amount of paper being fed into the machine and stops a paper jam before it occurs.
“During tax season, shredding sensitive paperwork is a vital step to protecting private information from identity thieves that are on the look out for unsuspecting victims,” says Nancy Heaton, senior global marketing manager at Fellowes Inc., the leading shredder manufacturer. “Shredding will not only protect against identity theft, but will help keep you more organized during this already hectic time of year.”
In addition to shredding, there are several tips people should consider this tax season to ensure their private information doesn’t end up in the wrong hands.
Filing Taxes Online:
* Choose a tax filing service you are familiar with. The IRS doesn’t offer software or direct filing, but it provides a list of approved companies at www.irs.gov/efile.
* Make sure personal computers are protected with updated firewall and secure software systems, which contain antivirus and anti-spyware programs.
* If you are storing important tax-related documents on your computer, change your passwords frequently between December and April.
* Ensure that every Web site you are using during tax filing is encrypted to protect personal information when transmitted.
* Shred any backup documents once you’ve filed your taxes online.
Filing Taxes By Mail:
* Regularly check the mailbox for W-2 forms and other documents containing sensitive information that arrive by mail. If you don’t receive these documents by Feb. 15, contact the IRS for assistance at (800) 829-1040 as missing forms may be an indication that an identity thief went through your mail.
* Send completed tax returns from a locked mailbox or the post office. If mailing from home, do not put the mailbox flag up. This only alerts identity thieves that there may be an outgoing check in the mail.
* Make sure tax forms, backup documents and enclosed checks are not visible from the outside. Try wrapping your forms in an extra sheet of paper to disguise the contents of the envelope.
* Keep tax paperwork and other documents in a safe and accessible place, such as a fireproof box in your home.
* Use a service such as LifeLock to help with identity protection and identity theft prevention.
For additional identity theft prevention tips and information on how long to keep financial records, visit www.fellowes.com or check with your tax professional.
Courtesy of ARAcontent
Tags: identity protection, identity theft and taxes, identity theft prevention, identity theft protection, indentity theft, irs, lifelock, Taxes