Frugal Finance

Hello everyone. I know I haven’t posted in who knows how long. I have no excuse beyond just having no time or motivation for anything in my life. But, now, I’ve gotten it all together again, I’ve shaped up, and I’ve decided to go ahead with this blog. However, I’ve decided to go in a direction that’s more comfortable for me. I would like to make this a more personal blog and less of a technical blog. I hope you will all continue to enjoy my postings.

I like being a dependent. Why?

1. My dad gets a deduction when he does his taxes.

2. I get a fat return at tax time because I get all the money that was withheld from my paycheck back.

Now, that I have a degree and am working full-time and taking classes part-time, I was wondering what my tax status was.

After some research, I learned that in order to be a dependent, I had to fulfill the following requirements:

1. I had to be under the age of 18 OR under the age of 24 if I’ve been a full-time student for more than 5 months of the year.

2. The person claiming me as a dependent must have paid for more than 50% of my living expenses.

3. I must have lived with the person claiming as a dependent for more than 50% of the time.

**note: only one person at a time can claim you as a dependent or the IRS will get pissed at you.

Considering that I’m still livng at home and (yes, I admit it) pretty much mooching off my parents in terms of rent and food, all I have to do is be a full-time student for more than 5 months of the year.

Considering that I graduated in the middle of June, that pretty much counts for my 5 months right there. I’m also going to take more classes each semester in order to attain full-time status as a student at least until I’m 24.

This means that I get a fat return at the end of the year but a LOT less sleep since that’ll push me into being a full-time student as well as working full-time. But, it’s worth it for the few years before I turn 24. Besides, I’m young so I should be able to work through it for a few years before tapering off as I get older.

I will be go on a family trip to the East Coast for the next 11 days so I will not be updating.  Please check out my previous posts.  When I get back, get ready for some fun posts!

Hi everyone, sorry for the lack of posts lately.  I’ve just gotten back from a trip to Palm Springs with my family.  It was a nice time of sun and fun!

Hi, I’ve decided to start this journal to document all the financial ups and downs of a new graduate going forth to a really unknown future.  I hope you enjoy reading it and maybe taking away some life experiences from it.