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Author Archives: Kristina Tahnyak

Avatar photo About Kristina Tahnyak

Tahnya is a Certified Financial Planner and former Investment Advisor turned marketing and communications professional She holds a degree from Concordia University, is debt free and currently works in the field of digital marketing.

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Tax Tips for Freelancers

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tax tips, tax advice, taxes

(This is a guest contribution from Lauren Bowling @ L Bee and the Money Tree) 

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Having a “side hustle” is the best thing ever. It gets even better if you get to conduct said side hustle from the comfort and privacy of your own home, as many bloggers and creative freelancers get to do. Having the extra income was a god-send this year as I purchased my first home, began renovating it, and needed to start saving for a wedding. However, my side hustle also caused a lot of headaches for me this year, since I wasn’t always sure of what I was doing when it came to setting things up for tax season.

The In’s and Out’s of Side Hustle Income

Last year, I made a total of $1500 for the three months I operated my blog for cash. This year I made close to $15k. Not a huge deal since I was operating as a sole proprietorship, but when I bought my house, I LLCed my writing endeavors as a means to protect my assets. Not that I think anyone is going to sue me over my writing projects, but you get the idea.

Getting an LLC from the state of Georgia (where I live) wasn’t a big deal. It cost me around $100 and I filed online. Since I operate the LLC as a single owner, I still file my taxes the way I would as a sole proprietor on my personal income tax return, but I have the extra protection for my assets.

Well that worked out well!

Four Tax Tips for Side Hustlers

  1. Keep obnoxiously detailed records—This was my only saving grace this year as I kept receipts (both paper and digital) and kept them in one easy-to-locate place all year long. Set up a separate folder in your inbox for those electronic business receipts like via paypal or when you pay a merchant online.  I have one for my expenses and one for my invoices when they were paid. Then keep a P+L log in Excel on your computer. It doesn’t have to be overly detailed, but it is easier to start one at the beginning of the year than to go back and spend time compiling one at the end of the year.

  1. Get a formal accounting system—If you are operating a simple side hustle: where you are the only one working and your overhead expenses are relatively low, it can be tempting to not pay a monthly expense for a formal accounting system. Still, the money is well worth it, as you get to have all of your business accounting in one place, which can make it much easier come tax time.

  1. Have a separate savings account—This will come in handy when you are saving for those quarterly taxes. I have a friend who keeps her 15% in her Paypal account. Or you can get really fancy and set up a business account with a bank and keep your tax savings completely separate from your personal savings. I recommend this approach, but then again, I have very little restraint.

  1. When in doubt, hire a professional— Starting a business and buying a home in one year is a lot, and I didn’t want to leave it to chance and do something wrong that I would regret later. I asked around and ended up hiring my parent’s accountant to do my taxes for me this year. Having that personal “in” has allowed me to pick his brain on a lot of things, for which I have been grateful.  It may cost you some money, but accountants are experts, which means they can save you money in the long run too.

Lauren Bowling is the blogger and editor behind L Bee and the Money Tree, a personal finance site that explores the link between finances, lifestyle and self-esteem. She works full time as a marketing professional in Atlanta, and in her spare time as a freelance writer whose work and financial advice has been featured on Yahoo! Finance, Money Talks News, AOL’s Daily Finance, and Credit.com

Photo by LendingMemo.com

Making friends in your 30s?

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making friends, friendship, midlife

Good morning Dinks.  We are at that time in our lives where we are trying to find our place in the world with friends, family, money and work.  As young, enthusiastic employees we are always looking for the next big thing – at least I am.  But what happens when you leave your comfort zone to start over, how do you adjust? I am not one of those people who has had the same group of friends since I was a teenager.  Actually I only have one friend from my childhood who I still keep in contact with.  I am also not a person who really likes to be around other people all the time.  I have a couple of friends who I hang out with on a regular basis, but in general I don’t have a lot of acquaintances who I spend time with having drinks after work. Who are your friends? I always liked it this way because I was so busy with my day job and my freelance work that I could barely find time to spend with the friends I already have.  But as I start to work less and enjoy my life more, I am finding that I have a lot of free time on my hands with nothing to do.  Yes of course I live with my boyfriend Nick but it’s the NFL playoffs, so we aren’t seeing too much of each other on the weekends right now.  The truth is that sometimes being alone is lonely. If you are in your 30s, 40s or 50s can you honestly say that you want to make new friends? If so, how do you do it?  Many young adults find their friends through work, but in all honestly that doesn’t interest me at all.  I don’t want to hang out with people who are just going to complain about their jobs all day, because that’s depressing and I am trying to make positive changes in my life.  I also find that when we make friends at work we have a hard time branching out to other subjects and I don’t want to spend my nights and weekends talking about work. Are your friends like you? We tend to hang out with people who share our interests, so without sounding totally self centered I definitely want my friends to be just like me – when it comes to money, education and culture.  This means that I want to be friends with someone who is responsible, who is preferably in a relationship, who likes to travel and has an open mind and of course who can afford to do so.  Is that too much to ask? Last week I went to my friend’s birthday party and to my pleasant surprise sitting across from me at the dinner table was another young finance professional who shared my dislike for children and my passion for being outside.  We exchanged phone numbers and went for a walk together yesterday.  I don’t think that we will be lifelong friends, but it’s nice to have a new person in my circle of contacts.

Do you tend to hang out with the same friends or are you looking to make new ones?

Photo by JDHancock

Weekly roundup: Travel, Rich People and Enough Money

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Happy Friday Dinks. I have some good news to share…actually I have a lot of good news to share. I know we are less than 20 days into the New Year, but so far 2014 has been a great.

I found some money on the street, I am getting along with my family, and my health problems have been minimal and…I got a new job.  That’s right, one year after making the switch from financial planning to corporate communications I am once again moving on up.  As of February 3 I will be a full time community manager.  The investment company that I work for is entering into the world of social media and thanks to my blogging skills I will be in charge of all social media.

This is a huge challenge and I am very excited.  I will most likely be reaching out to some bloggers over the next few weeks – so please be nice.

Enjoy these posts from our personal finance friends:

Rockstar Finance – How Do You Know When You Have Enough?

Budgets Are Sexy – How I Travel the World for Pennies

Money Rebound – Who Are the Richest People in History?

Get Rich Slowly – 7 Money-saving strategies that can cost you more

Wise Bread – 7 Financial Moves You Must Make in 2014

Photo by ThomasLeuthard

Scaling back on work to find personal happiness

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personal happiness, finding personal happiness, cutting back work

Good morning Dinks.  We are well into the New Year and let me ask you, how has 2014 been for you so far?  As you know I have been through a rough few years with the market crash, the sudden loss of my best friend and the complete destruction of my family as a unit.

In 2013 I finally started feeling normal again after almost five years of not finding my place in the world.  I am looking forward to 2014 because as I plant my feet on the ground and find both personal and emotional stability I am going start having fun and really, truly enjoying life… every single day.

My friend Shannon over at Frugal Beautiful  recently wrote a post about wanting to save $20k this year for her wedding.  Shannon’s life has also changed drastically over the last couple of years and she too is now finding comfort in life with a new job and a new fiancé.  Of course Shannon has to make some sacrifices to meet her goal, but she is determined to hit her money mark of saving $20k in 2014.giving up

Shannon decided to close her social media company and scale back on her freelance gigs.  I was definitely surprised to read this news because anyone who knows Shannon or reads Frugal Beautiful knows that she is a hustler.  However, I was very happy to read about her giving up on her freelance gigs because I have the same goal in 2014.

This year I want to work less because the 1 a.m. nights to meet freelance deadlines and the mornings of getting up at 7 a.m. for my day job just aren’t working for me anymore.  I know that my goal is a bit selfish and (it’s also not as glamorous as Shannon’s reason of becoming a wife) maybe it just means I’m lazy but this year I need to start working smarter, not harder.

What’ I’ll be giving up

Usually working less means having less money, but I’m hoping that isn’t true – because that sounds crazy for personal finance blogger, right?  I will still be out there in the creative world hustling my services, but to a target audience; not just to anyone and everyone who will listen.  Being involved in several communities and saying yes to absolutely everything and anything that comes my way is making me extremely tired and I don’t want to live my life tired any more.   Four years ago I jumped into freelance work without any goals, but with the right business plan hopefully working less doesn’t mean making less money.

What I’ll be gaining       

In a nutshell, I’ll be gaining more me time.  Instead of spending my nights thinking, planning and writing I can focus on spending time with my boyfriend and finding new things to do in life.  That hasn’t happened yet, mostly it just seems that I have a lot of down time – and that’s scary because I am left with all my own thoughts and demons to deal with.  When I’m busy working I don’t have time to deal with the less than perfect issues in my life, but now I will.  Although it may not be pleasant at first, it will hopefully be worth it in the long run.

Photo by mythicseabass

A perfect money world

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money world, finances, money

Good morning Dinks.  I have a lot to say today because there is something happening in our financial world and I’m just not sure how I feel about it.  Let me ask you a question, how much money do you have on you right now, in your pockets, in your wallet and in your home? Now think about a world without the option of having cash.  Would you be happier?

As a former bank employee I can’t imagine a world without cash, because as they say (and by they I mean the Wu Tang Clan) cash rules everything around me.  I don’t admittedly carry a lot of cash on me at any given time, but I think that I would like to have the option…I think.  Actually I’m not sure if that’s true.

I think that I would be happy to live in a world without cash if everyone lived the same way.  It would be tough to commit to a world without money if we didn’t have the full commitment from everyone and everything from taxi cabs.  I would also be on board for a world without actually physical cash if our world was just as efficient without it.  Although I’m not sure how that would work.

Let’s consider the options, shall we…

The New Bitcoin Virtual Money.  I am not totally sold on this concept yet because with debit cards, PayPal and electronic transfers I feel that money can already be virtual if we want it to be. The question to ask is do people really want to live in a world with virtual money.  I would love to hear what you think about it.  Have you started using Bitcoin? If so, do you love it or hate it?

The Good Ol’ Barter System.  I am personally all about the barter system.  I think it’s a great monetary system without having to worry about actual money.  I know that some people don’t believe in the barter system because they want to know the actual market value of their items, but that’s not what the barter system is all about.  I don’t necessarily think every single trade has to be worth the same value as the exchange because that’s not what the barter system is about; it’s about people exchanging an item that they don’t want for an item they do want.

Strictly Cash Only.  The thought of having to pay cash for absolutely everything in life from coffee and bubble gum to rent and groceries really scares me.  I don’t like carrying cash in my wallet because if you carry cash you can lose it.  I found $5 on the street yesterday and although I did pick it up, I would be really upset if I lost any money, even $5.  Whenever I do pay for something with cash and the cashier gives me change I always double count it to make sure that I’m not being scrimped on my own money.  When I carry cash I live in constant fear that I am going to lose it or it will be taken from me, so I try to avoid it at all costs.

Photo by RobYoung

Going rogue during the holidays

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holidays, enjoying the holidays, holiday celebration

Happy New Year Dinks.  Did you survive the holidays with your brain and your budget intact? I know that the holidays can be a stressful time – both emotionally and financially and stress can definitely take a toll on your relationship.  But the great thing about being a Dink is that you can rely on your spouse for moral and financial support.

What do the holidays mean for you?

For some people the holidays are an exciting time filled with gifts, dinners, family and friends.  But what if the holidays are more stressful than they are fun?  If you are like me then your parents are divorced and the holidays include running from multiple dinners and parties while trying to be on time so that I don’t hurt anyone’s feelings.  My parents have been divorced for many years but they still take it as a personal vengeance if I spend more than five extra minutes with the other side of the family because “it cut’s into their time.”

My boyfriend Nick and I both live far away from our families and this year we decided to avoid the hectic holidays.  This year we just stayed home and spent a quiet few days indoors with good food, good music and a lot of Netflix.   I am not going to lie, this was one of the best holidays that I have had in a long time.  I do love my family but I can definitely live without the stress of the holidays.  I’m 33 and it’s time I start my own traditions, so that’s exactly what I did.

Starting our own Christmas traditions

Staying home for the holidays saved me a lot of time and travel costs.  It takes literally an entire day to travel to my hometown from where I live now and although I sleep for most of the train ride, it’s eight hours that I could be doing something else.  After Christmas morning with gifts and a really great breakfast, this year I spent Christmas Day in my pyjamas watching movies on Netflix while my boyfriend Nick watched five NBA basketball games.

Every year when Nick throws himself into a ball of NBA holiday cheer I always tell him “those NBA players could be home with their families, if you weren’t watching the game.”  Every single year Nick responds with the exact same response “Getting a pair of NBA tickets as a gift is the best Christmas present ever.”  Although I am not a sports fan, I have to admit he may have a point.  All the kids at the games looked so happy and filled with joy.

Not apologizing for my choice to stay home

Of course not going home and doing what I want comes with repercussions.  My family, actually my mother, was not happy that I didn’t come home for the holidays and as bad as this may sound I really don’t care.  I had happy holidays and I am not sorry for that.  I spent five awesome days with my boyfriend relaxing and taking a much needed break from my life and it was totally great.  It was actually the perfect way to start the New Year…focusing on my personal health and my relationship.

Photo by DrunkenMonkey

Weekly roundup: Mortgages, Charities and New Cars

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Good morning Dinks and Happy Friday. We have a whole bunch of great posts for you today that are filled with New Year’s resolutions such as paying off your mortgage, buying a new car and giving to charity.

What is your New Year’s goal?

I find that two weeks is usually the amount of time it takes people to adjust to something and decide if they are going to stick with it – so are you sticking to your New Year’s resolutions?

Goals are one of my favourite things because I like having something to look forward to.  I plan my year in January because I like to know what’s coming.  Sometimes I pick up smaller goals throughout the year as I have new ideas or discover new things (usually vacations), but for the most part I know where I’m going and what I’m working towards at the beginning of each year.

See how our personal finance friends are setting goals for the New Year:

Enemy of Debt  – My New Decade Resolution: Paying Off My Mortgage Early

Budgets are Sexy – All The Money I’ve Earned (and Spent) In My Lifetime

Gen Y Planning – The Dramatic Adventure of My New Car Purchase

Broke Millennial – Charitable Giving on a Tight Budget

Young Adult Money – 5 Do It Yourself Goals for Homeowners in the New Year

Photo by AmandaHatfield

Make magic happen this year

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goals, goal setting, new year's resolution, new beginnings

Good morning Dinks.  Last week I told you about my goals for 2014.  This year I want to work less, travel more and focus on my personal happiness.  So that’s what I’m going to do, but before I start I need a plan.  And you know me…I love to plan.

That’s why I love the New Year, because it always starts with a plan.  During the holidays I fill up my wall calendar and my paper agenda (Oh yeah that’s right I’m old school) with dates, goals and targets.  This year I even added in a little extra me time with two massages and one spa day throughout the year.  Having personal goals gives me something to look forward to; something to work towards and that keeps me motivated.

New Year, New Beginning

This time of the year many people want to start over…they want a do-over on their life from last year and that’s OK.  As adults we learn from our mistakes and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with wanting to be a bigger and better version of yourself.

Lots of people set goals but don’t achieve them.  I don’t think it’s because people set goals that are out of reach, I think people don’t achieve their goals because they don’t have a plan.  For some people goals are dreams, they are magic thoughts that people hope to have.  But goals don’t have to be dreams.  The truth is that goals can be achieved by anyone.  So how can you make the magic of your dreams happen? With a plan.

That’s where I come in.  I love making plans and I will tell you how I work towards my personal goals.  I use the same attack plan for all my goals from career and money to health and weight loss.  And trust me when I say…it’s not complicated.  But a plan is only successful if you stick with it, and that’s the truth.

Achieve your goals in 2014 with 3 simple steps:

1. Start small, but think big.  I don’t know about you, but having huge goals doesn’t motivate me because it’s hard to track the progress and they always seem out of reach.  I like to set smaller goals that I can easily achieve in the short term.  Instead of trying to lose 30 pounds in the next six months, why not focus on losing one pound in the next week.  Having smaller, short term goals helps keep me motivated  and working towards the bigger goal.

2. Don’t look back, focus on the future. So often people like to dwell on their mistakes of the past.  I have made my share of mistakes over the last 33 years of my life, and I am not saying that we should forget our past.  But we should look towards the future and take pride in the fact that we are trying to change our life around.  So what if you accumulated thousands of dollars of debt – you did it and it’s done.  Now you have to make a plan to pay it off.  Think into the future, think about your life being debt free.

3. Stop talking and get it done.  This is the most important part of your new plan.  Stop talking about it and start doing something about it.  Setting a plan, being organized and having goals are great – but they don’t mean anything if you don’t get them done.  Actually you will just feel worse about yourself at the end of the year when you look back and realize you didn’t achieve any of your goals.  So avoid the self loathing by achieving your goals this year.

Photo by SierraTierra

The biggest money mistake I ever made was spending for others

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money mistake, bad decision, bad money decision, finances

Good morning Dinks.  As you know I am all about becoming a better me.  I am always trying to improve my career by going back to school and taking night classes and trying to live healthy by watching what I eat and spending as much time outdoors as I can.  I am the first to admit my flaws because it gives me a chance to change.  You know what they say, you can’t make improvements until you admit there is a problem.

Spending for others is a big money mistake

I like improving myself not because it makes me more likable to other people, but because it helps me become a better me and that helps my personal happiness.  I am always working towards growing as a person because it helps my mental state and although that is a totally selfish reason I don’t really care.  After all we are all a little bit selfish, aren’t we?

One of the major aspects of my life that I have improved over the years is my financial situation.  I got into debt because I was trying to keep up with the Jones’ aka my friends and in my 20s I didn’t know any better.  I didn’t know that I shouldn’t care what other people think; so I did anything and everything to be liked, which I thought would make me happy.  I spent my afternoons shopping  with friends and my evenings eating out with whoever was free because I thought that being popular equaled being happy.  But the truth is that I was just filling a void.

Spending is a band-aid for a bigger problem

When I realized that I was way over my head I sat back and started to think, really think about why I was spending the money.  The truth – as shallow as it may sound – is that I thought it would make people like me.  I wanted to have a cute apartment that was always filled with candles and smelt good because I wanted it to be a place for people to hang out.   I wanted to make reservations at the trendiest restaurant because I wanted to be the life of the party and I wanted to have nice clothes because I always wanted to be the girl who everyone wanted to hang out with.  I came to realise several years and several thousands of dollars later that this was a huge mistake, bigger than I knew at the time.

My money, not your money

Now at 33 and debt free I focus my spending on me.  I use my money to do things that honestly make me happy and I usually do them alone.  I spend my money travelling  to new places and trying new experiences.  It gives me a break from my normal routine life and it lets me enjoy my money on experiences rather than material stuff.  Now that I am older and wiser – at least financially – I came to realize that having nice clothes and the perfect apartment really don’t matter.  Although I still get secretly jealous when I see the girl in the office who is always dressed like she just walked out of a fashion magazine.

Photo by lendingmemo

Do you have a backup plan for life?

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retirement, planning for retirement, retire, back-up plan

Good morning Dinks.  Have you ever planned for something and then things didn’t go exactly as planned? My hometown of London, Ontario was recently hit with some devastating news that will affect the lives of more than 600 people and their families.

You may have heard in the news that the cereal giant Kellogg’s is closing one of their Canadian factories.  As you may remember my Dad works for Kellogg’s, or at least he did until he retired five years ago.  This news does not directly affect my family, but it does affect many of the people in my life aka my Dad’s friends who have watched me grow up.  The decision for Kellogg’s to close its doors after more than 30 years in operation at this particular location has mass implications for not only their workers, but also for their pensions and their futures.

Trying to re-enter the workforce in midlife

As with many workplaces Kellogg’s has a very diverse workforce demographic from young to old employees and many of them have spent the majority of their adult life working for Kellogg’s.  Let me ask you this – if you are 50 years old and suddenly find yourself without a job, what do you do? It will most likely be very hard to find another job if you have worked at the same place for most of your life and have a limited skill set because the workplace today is not what it was 20 years ago.  Let me ask you another question – if you are 40 years old and have a mortgage payment with two kids in college and you just lost your job, what do you do? I am only 33 years old and childless, but I am assuming the initial thought has to be sheer and utter panic.

Retirement planning without a pension

There has been no information passed on to employees except that the factory will be completely closed by the end of 2014.  What would you do if your retirement income source was suddenly cut off? Maybe employees will receive a payout package, but the odds of the lump sum amount of money lasting forever is very unlikely.  Not only will newly unemployed workers find themselves without continuous pension savings, they may actually have to dip into their savings in order to survive.  Retirement may no longer be a financial goal for those who don’t know where their next paycheck is coming from.

Planning for the future without a real plan

After the initial shock wears off out-of-work employees have to jump into survival mode in order to keep a roof over their heads and food in their bellies – and those are just the necessities.  What happens to your other monthly debts like credit card and line of credit payments?  When life throws you a money curve ball you have to make a new plan, but in this case life threw a complete strike out. Money sources are completely cut off and I can’t say for sure but this small town doesn’t have 600 new jobs to support the lifestyle that these middle class workers have come to know and love.  Of course I wish I could help my fellow Londoners plan the next stage of their lives, but I wouldn’t even know where to begin.

So I’m reaching out to Dinks for advice.  If you lost your job tomorrow, what would be your next move?

Photo by peapodlabs

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