I often read and enjoy your articles. I wish I had the same capability but everything has to be preapproved as you are aware.

I guess there’s a problem in the way the industry pays. To save their talents, why not producers pay the actors less the tax deductions? Just the same as company employees.

And there are always willing accountants to work with celebrities.

Regards,
Belinda

Thanks

Thank you for an excellent post! Good things to know!

That being said, I would suggest anybody who qualifies takes full advantage– because, once the powers that be realize there is another place they can get some additional tax funds from…this deduction may just go away.

I recently started our own vegetable garden. They’re easy and can be low maintenance/cost. We’ll have our first harvest of veggies in about 3 weeks.

This will make it they arrived on the scene the guaranteed charge card and never lengthy next came the prepaid debit card. Prepaid an atm card are released by almost every charge card company for example MasterCard, Visa and American Express. Having a …

You missed “THE Burger” from Holeman and Finch…which is leaps and bounds ahead of Flip (and I like Flip a lot). Everything else is a pretty solid choice, though.

That is exactly the spirit we need to keep getting better. You are right, you can’t win. You can only go to work hard every day and help make the lives around you better:)

If we focus on what we can control and influence, we are all likely to get ahead!

Thanks,

Ted

My wife and I just got something from the IRS stating that we owe a few dollars for something. It was a stretch if you ask me but it’s the Good Ole Gov.

You get media attention and its like having 90 press releases done for you all at one go. And it is targted audience too.

jon
http://www.forecastfortomorrow.com

Isn’t that scary —- if you and I were on CNBC 5 nights a week, we’d have a strong following as well.

Ted

It did make me wonder this. If the advice she gave over the past 10 to 15 years was so good, how could so many of the people following her be so broke that they would need a pre paid debit card? Guess, you are right . . . it’s all about the money for her.

Ted

Tipping is required in the US because states allow restaurants to lower minimum wage for tipped employees to $2.13/hr. This rate has not changed in the 10+ years I’ve been in food service. It grossly undervalues the employee and puts the responsibility of the guest to pay their wage. It is ridiculous that companies can do that – but in foreign countries the prices are inflated in order for the companies to pay their staff a wage that will allow them to make a living without tips. If tipping wasn’t customary in the US then your bill would automatically be higher, whether it be a service charge or just inflated food costs. It’s a push and pull and I honestly can’t say what I’d prefer – I make more money in tips than a restaurant could probably afford hourly – but I do hate needing the charity of others in order to pay my mortgage and keep my lights on.

I’ve got over a decade of experience so I fancy myself as a waiter who should average 20% as I pride myself on giving stellar service. Sure, sometimes I miss and have my off days, but more than not I go above and beyond what normal people would expect when they pay 20%. However the days I’m off I get less than that (at times nothing) yet the days I give the best service of my life the number rarely goes above 20%. Guests often overlook rewarding great service but never forget to punish poor service, even if it’s minimal or not the servers fault. I think when discussing the guilt regarding what tip you left it’s important to point out that as much as you lower the tip for bad service you should equal be rewarding good service.

Lastly – you should never feel compelled to tip, even if it’s added to your bill. I struggle over it as a restaurant employee because I feel I should OVER tip because I understand or want good karma. While I won’t leave without some tip I don’t leave a normal tip if the service isn’t good. I’m infinitely patient and understanding so it takes a lot for me to lower a tip, but at the same rate you have to blow me away to get a significant amount more. In the case of tip being added to your check – if you disagree with the amount politely ask for the manager and explain to him that you didn’t feel the server deserved a tip of that amount. Any manager/restaurant worth their salt will remove the tip to show their appreciation of your patronage and assure a return visit – and this also allows them to discuss the situation with the server and hopefully coach them in to a better employee that will then be better for it (or help the restaurant as a whole and get rid of someone who is sub-par).

I feel like I’ve heard every side of the tipping argument and have sympathies all around – but it’s a government sanctioned practice. If you don’t like tipping you have two choices – don’t tip or harshly judge when tipping and the server suffers (and nothing changes), or work to change the standard through your local representatives for a fairer pay scale for tipped employees. I know which will happen as it takes far too much effort to change something like this and it would affect the bottom line of large and small companies who would fight against it, but I like to dream that some day it might be a little better for everyone involved – guest and server.

Keep up the good work!
- Joe

As an American, I have previously lived in poverty for years myself (as defined by the federal poverty levels) and in this blessed country, even the poor have access to food stamps and emergency medical care. It would not have been possible for me to die of hunger. In short, even though I had no home, no assets, no anything… I still was rich when compared to a good chunk of the world’s population.

For this reason, I find it hard to donate to basic need charities here in the U.S. since there are others elsewhere who have it so much worse. And I’m in defensible position where I can fairly and accurately have that bias, since I have been a poor American myself for multiple years. These days I give at least 10% of my pre-tax annual income to internationally focused non-profits for this reason.

In short, unemployment and poverty in America is not fun (I know!). However, it’s still living in the lap of luxury, on a relative basis. Furthermore, the difference you can make – dollar by dollar – with an efficient int’l focused charity is much more, compared to if it was spent within this borders. $5 here can buy 1 meal for some, $5 in Ethiopia can feed a person for 21 meals or 7 full days. That being said, my primary passion is addressing the root of the problem (i.e. creating clean water supplies, etc) so those in poverty in these countries can eventually become self sufficient.

Andrea Luoni
RateCraft

Im of to commuting and walking now, well, at least I get to have a form of exercise in walking :-)

Before she even got out the full explained idea of XBOX vs Party, XBOX was chosen! Yes, we bought it on sale ($300) with a $75 gift card used for party munchies (and other household goods) so, It’s as close to a 1978 style party as you can have today!