Searching for a job can be a frustrating and time-consuming experience – and worse yet, it can be extremely expensive. But if you’re tax-savvy, you may be able to recoup some of your job search expenses in the form of tax deductions. Follow the rules regarding what you can write off, and save all documentation related to every write-off you take. And don’t make the mistake of overlooking the deductions you’re due – ultimately, it can add up to a great amount, and every bit you save may go a long way in helping you get through a rough patch.

Eligible Job Search Expenses

1. Expenses Within Your Field

Job search deductions apply only if you’re seeking an occupation within your field. For example, you wouldn’t be able to go from a job in finance to one in education and write off those job search expenses. But if you need to take a part-time job to support yourself while you look for a job in your field, you can take deductions related to the part-time job search.

Unfortunately, if it’s your first time looking for a job, you’re out of luck. You can only claim job search deductions after you’ve been employed.

2. Resume Preparation
The costs to prepare your resume are deductible expenses. For example:

3. Phone Calls
The cost of speaking to a potential employer over the phone is deductible. If you spend 45 minutes speaking with an HR representative, Uncle Sam can reimburse you for a portion of the cost, whether you get the job or not.

4. Employment and Outplacement Agency Fees
If you decide to utilize the services of an employment agency, it is considered a job-seeking service and is tax-deductible. However, be cautious: If your employer pays you back for employment agency fees, then you have to claim that on your taxes as part of your adjusted gross income (AGI), and it is no longer tax-deductible. However, if your employer does not reimburse you, those expenses are yours to claim.

5. Gas/Mileage
This is particularly important if you must travel a substantial amount for interviews. A friend of mine drove from Mississippi to Louisiana (a round trip of approximately 200 miles) to interview for a position. He did not land the job; however, he was able to deduct the mileage for those trips.

In 2013, the standard mileage rate is 56.5 cents per mile for business-related purposes. For my friend, that equaled $113 in deductions. Even if you’re not traveling very far per trip, keep a log of how much you’re driving to interviews, job fairs, or employment-related training seminars. You may be surprised at how much the mileage adds up.

6. Other Traveling Expenses
Let’s say you’re a video game developer who lives in New York, and you book a flight to California to attend the Game Developer’s Conference where you hope to get a lead on a job. Since your reason for travel is primarily to look for a job, you can write off airfare and lodging expenses. Just be sure that the amount of time you spend looking for a job is more than the time you spend on leisure, or the trip may not be deductible.

7. Moving Costs
If you live in an area that doesn’t offer substantial paying jobs in your field, you may find it necessary to move to a region with more opportunities. According to the IRS, you can deduct moving costs, provided that your new workplace is at least 50 miles farther from your old home than your old job location was from your old home. You also must work for at least 39 weeks during the first year following your move if you’re an employee. If you’re self-employed, you must work that amount, as well as a total of 78 weeks during the first two years.

So what can you deduct? You can claim 24 cents to the mile for moving purposes in a car. You can also deduct plane tickets and lodging expenses, and the cost of packing and shipping items to your new home, plus up to 30 days of storing them. Furthermore, costs incurred for shipping a car and pets to your new home are also deductible. Just be sure to begin looking for a job immediately after you move if you don’t already have one.

One goal that we all have in common is that we all want to make more money and improve our personal finance. However, only a small percentage of us actually achieve the financial freedom we long for. We all want to have enough money so that we never have to worry about money again. The only question is, “are you going to do it or not?”

The good news is that there are more people achieving financial freedom faster today than ever before. There are currently almost four million millionaires, most of them self-made, first generation. Through proper financial planning and making it a goal to improve your personal finance, you can become one of them too.

Here is a seven point formula that you can use to make more money, improve your personal finance, and achieve financial freedom in the years ahead. I have taught this proven formula to countless people in my seminars and I have never had anyone tell me that it didn’t work and that it did not help them make more money. All over the country, I run into people who improved their personal finance and are now earning many thousands of dollars more each year as a result of applying this formula and consistently improving their financial planning.

This formula for financial freedom is based on the fact that it is possible for you to increase your productivity, performance and output by one half of one percent per week. This one half percent improvement can be achieved by something as simple as setting better priorities each day. If you can improve your productivity, performance and output by one half of one percent per week, and you can do this for four weeks in a row, you will be two percent more productive than you were when you began. Here they are:

1. The Golden Hour

Get up every morning two hours before you have to be at work, or at your first appointment, and invest the first hour in yourself. This is called the “Golden Hour.” And the first hour of the morning is the rudder of the day. It sets the tone for everything that happens afterward.

If you read one hour each morning, that will translate into about one book per week. This will translate into about 50 books per year, or 500 books over the next ten years. The very act of reading one hour every single day will enable you to increase your productivity, performance and output by one half percent per week consistently. It will give you your thousand percent increase over ten years.

2. Rewrite Your Major Goals for Financial Freedom

Rewrite and review your goals every day and think of how you could accomplish them. This will take you between five and ten minutes. The very act of writing and rewriting your goals, and thinking about them each morning before you start off, will increase your productivity, performance and output by half a percent per week, two percent per month, 26% per year.

3. Plan Every Day in Advance

Step number three is for you to plan every day in advance. The best time to do this is the night before. The very act of planning each day, each week, each month, in advance will make you far sharper and more precise at everything you do. You will find yourself with better focus and a greater sense of self-control and personal power when you work from a list. Your efficiency will jump 25% the first day.

4. The Principle of Concentration

Concentrate single mindedly, every hour of every day, on the most valuable use of your time. The principle of concentration is absolutely essential to achieve financial freedom. Virtually everything you do in terms of goal setting and financial planning is aimed at enabling you to determine the one or two things that you should concentrate on more than anything else.

Your ability to develop the habit of concentration will do more to assure your personal finance success than perhaps any other skill or habit you can acquire.

5. Listen to Audio Programs to Make More Money

Listen to audio programs in your car. The average person spends 500 to 1000 hours per year behind the wheel. By turning your car into a university on wheels, you can become one of the most knowledgeable and most skilled people in your profession.

I have spoken to thousands of people who have learned how to make more money by listening to audio programs continuously as they drove around. The very act of listening to audio programs, all by itself, can give you an increase of one half percent per week and more over time.

6. Magic Questions

Ask yourself the two “Magic Questions” after every meeting and every event of importance in your life. The first question is, “What did I do right?” And the second question is, “What would I do differently, next time?”

By reviewing your performance immediately after every meeting, sales call, and presentation, you will become better and better, faster than you can imagine.

The answers to both of these questions are positive. By reviewing what you did right and what you would do differently next time, you program into your mind a predisposition to be even better the next time out. If you take a few minutes and write down everything you did right and everything you would do differently immediately after a call or presentation, you can double and triple the speed at which you learn and grow and improve in your work.

7. Learn to Appreciate

The final point is to treat everyone you meet like a million dollar customer. Treat every single person, at home and at work, as if they were the most important person in the world. Since everybody believes that he or she is the most important person in the world, when you treat them as if they were, they appreciate your recognition and acknowledgment more than you can imagine.

By setting financial freedom and personal finance accumulation as your goals, and then by implementing proper financial planning on the one hand to get better and better at what you do while on the other hand saving more and more of what you earn, you will become financially independent, if not a self-made millionaire in the years ahead.

I hope you enjoyed this article on how to improve your personal finance and achieve financial freedom! If you have any other personal finance tips that have helped you make more money over the years, please share and comment below!

Want to improve your finances in 2016? One of the best things you can do is to get a trusted financial professional on your side.

Finding good financial help will go a long way toward helping you reach whatever goals you establish – such as planning for retirement, starting a business or paying for a college education.

In fact, women who use a financial professional are more than twice as likely as those who do not to consider themselves on track or ahead of schedule in planning for retirement, according to a 2014-2015 study on women and money from Prudential Financial.

Financial help can range from an accountant who shows you how to minimize taxes to an investment expert who guides you through the intricacies of investing in stocks or bonds. Selecting an investment professional will require some effort, but nothing extraordinary. You just have to be willing to ask good questions, trust your instincts, and do a bit of homework.

Get Referrals from Those You Trust

Begin by asking relatives and friends for the names of professional advisers they’ve worked with and would feel comfortable recommending. Your goal is to find someone experienced who can help you reach the next level financially. It should be a person whose client base is somewhat similar to you.

For example, if you’re making a modest salary and have a job in corporate America, you don’t want to hire someone whose clients are primarily millionaire entrepreneurs.

Do In-Person Interviews

Take the time to interview at least three individuals in person. Inquire about each person’s career experience, educational background, and investment philosophy. Don’t be afraid to bring up the issue of compensation either. A trustworthy adviser will answer your questions honestly without side-stepping the issue.

You need to know whether he or she will be paid a commission, a flat fee, or an hourly rate. Also, ask whether an adviser can provide you with a list of satisfied clients you can contact. You can find a fee-only financial planner at http://NAPFA.org, the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors.

Conduct a Background Check

Your final step in the selection process is to check out each individual through federal authorities and state regulators. A good place to start is with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, also known as FINRA.

FINRA has a database called the Central Registration Depository, or CRD. It contains information about all licensed brokers, such as where they’ve worked for the past 10 years, whether the person’s license or registration is up-to-date, and whether the individual has been subjected to regulatory sanctions for financial misdeeds.

You can reach FINRA at 800-289-9999 or at http://www.finra.org.

FINRA’s records, however, don’t always report everything pertinent about stockbrokers. So be sure to also contact your state securities regulator – via the North American Securities Administrators Association, or NASAA – for any information they may have at http://nasaa.org.

For instance, advisers are required to fill out a document called Form ADV. It contains two parts, including information about a broker’s services, fees and strategies. Ask any adviser you interview for Part 1 and Part 2 of his or her ADV form.

And if you’re worried that “checking up” on a broker might offend the person, put your worries to rest. You are legally entitled to this information. Plus, brokers and advisers aren’t told that someone has requested a CRD report about them when you get info through FINRA or when you look up an adviser in the SEC Investment Adviser Public Disclosure Database, http://adviserinfo.sec.gov.

Remember: having good financial help could mean the difference between reaching your financial goals or falling short of those objectives. So don’t wait or procrastinate to take this crucial step.

Your financial future may depend on it.

One of the thrills of being an entrepreneur — one that also goes along with jobs that pay commissions and bonuses — is the feeling that the sky is the limit on your potential earnings. But sometimes, it can feel like the income sky is falling.

Although the flexibility and lifestyle balance can be great day-to-day benefits, it’s easy to get disoriented by the highs, lows and general unpredictability of what one’s income will look like month-to-month.

Which is why, if your income is volatile for any reason — whether you’re an entrepreneur, in sales or just don’t have a steady paycheck — you, more than the average worker, need to streamline your finances and set yourself up for success. Here’s how:

1. Know your cash flow. Having a variable income makes it even more important to have a detailed and clear understanding of what’s coming in, where it’s coming from, what’s going out, where it’s going to, and when it all is happening. Use an online tracker such as Mint.com and ensure you’re tracking debit, credit and cash expenses.

2. Categorize. Maintaining a detailed budget will help you to categorize and prioritize for those lean months when you may not have room for the “wants” in your life. Ultimately, you want to ensure you can cover the expenses that are imperative, and with proper planning you should be able to. Categorize your spending to identify select areas that you may be able to cut back on if needed. Typically items such as dining out, entertainment, travel, personal shopping, and other day-to-day “wants” can be trimmed if necessary.

3. Be flexible. The roller coaster ride that is your income could translate into a variable lifestyle as well, with your having funds to splurge on extras one month and then needing to cut back to the bare necessities the next. Be flexible and prioritize your spending to ensure you’re paying yourself first before jumping into allocating extras towards fun or discretionary expenses. Ensure your budget Includes savings for personal goals, retirement and emergency cushions and then work in any other extras.

4. Add an extra layer of protection. Everyone needs an emergency fund of three to six months of expenses set aside. But those on a varying income should consider starting with a household expense fund to prevent the drastic swings in lifestyle that can come with the income. During some more lucrative months, set aside three to six months of household expenses to supplement you during the slow months. This will allow you to turn your savings into a paycheck of sorts to funnel in funds needed.

5. Plan for your future. If you’re employed, maximize use of your employer benefit programs and retirement plans. Ensure you’re not leaving any money on the table and at a minimum contribute enough to take advantage of any company provided matches. If you’re self-employed, look into the many retirement plan options for entrepreneurs such as the SEP Individual Retirement Account, a Solo 401(k) or a Simple IRA.

6. Automate. Although your income can vary, calculate a conservative average and use this number to set a monthly savings goal. Schedule bi-weekly or monthly dates to review your spending and income and track where there’s room for improvement.

 

When most of us think of spring-cleaning, we think about dusting and sweeping and polishing. But there are other areas besides your home that could use a good annual cleanout, like your finances. Here are six things you should do this spring to make sure your money management strategy is as neat and orderly as your house will soon be.

1. Remove Unnecessary Expenses

Are you paying for more cable channels than you really need? Do you still have a gym membership when you haven’t gone in months? Take a look at your annual and monthly expenses and slash anything that’s no longer serving you.

2. Come Up With a Debt Payment Plan

If you have any outstanding debt, it’s time to come up with an aggressive debt payment plan.

The “snowball” method is a popular strategy that works for many people. It involves throwing any extra money you have (like that cash you saved by slashing expenses in the previous section) toward paying down the account with the smallest balance, regardless of interest rate. Once that one’s taken care of, you move down the list to the account with the next-smallest balance, until eventually everything has been paid off.

The idea behind this method is that crossing debts off your list will give you the psychological victory of “winning,” which keeps you motivated. Debt is a burden that seriously limits your ability to make the most of your money. Make this the year you finally eliminate it.

3. Review Your Insurance Coverage

Chances are you’ve had some changes in your life since you first signed up for your various insurance policies. Review these annually to make sure you’re still getting the coverage you need.

Call up your insurance agents for your home/renter’s insurance, auto insurance and life insurance to discuss your current needs and find out if any plans or features have been added recently that you may qualify for. It may take a little time on the phone, but it’s worth it when you have the peace of mind of knowing you’re adequately covered in case of emergency.

4. Check Your Credit Score

Your credit report is one of the most important pieces of your financial life. The difference between applying for a loan with great credit versus applying for a loan with bad credit can yield a difference of tens of thousands of dollars over a 30-year mortgage.

You’re entitled to request a free credit report each year from each of the three major credit reporting agencies: Experian, Equifax and TransUnion. Head to annualcreditreport.com to get yours.

Scan your report carefully to make sure nothing looks off. If you see a late payment you don’t recognize, a balance that doesn’t match your records or any other discrepancies, contact the reporting agency immediately to open up a dispute.

5. Shop Around for Better Rates

We often shop around for the best deal when we sign up for a new service, but once it’s become a monthly line in our budget, we tend to pay it and forget about it. Take this time to re-evaluate your regular expenses and see where you can save some money.

Examine things like your cellphone bill and cable bill and do some research to find out if there are any new plans or promotions you qualify for. Call up customer service and negotiate — they’re often willing to make a few concessions to keep a longstanding customer, whether it’s giving you a discounted rate or some premium features for free. Don’t forget to arm yourself with the prices competitors are offering; threatening to switch providers can go a long way in making a your provider willing to work with you.

6. Revisit Your Budget

Our needs change over time, so your budget should be flexible enough to change with them. Revisiting your budget at least once a year ensures that it still works for you. Your budget will only be successful if it’s in line with your current life and priorities.

Review your budget’s performance over the past few months to see if there are any areas you can cut, any areas you need to increase or any new categories that should be added. If you’re struggling to keep up with your budget, try adopting the anti-budget: pull your savings from the top first, spend the rest without constraint.

 

Most of us, at one point or another, have blown our budgets.

We have a bad month, or we let ourselves run a little wild, and we wind up spending more money than we originally intended. (Sometimes much more.)

But if you find yourself running into this situation on a regular basis, it’s time to figure out what’s going wrong. Chances are you’ve fallen into one (or more) of these six common budget traps.

Here’s how to identify your mistakes, and how to set them right.

1. Your Budget is Too Strict

If you see your budget as an overbearing parent who won’t allow you to do anything nice, it’s no wonder you have trouble sticking to it.

Yes, a budget is meant to put some limits on your spending, but that doesn’t mean it should keep you from having any fun at all.

Build in some treats for yourself, even if they’re modest. You may not be able to afford to eat out at a posh restaurant every weekend, but maybe you can get takeout food on the occasional Friday night.

Perhaps you can’t spend $150 at the hair salon, but you can swing $30 at a nail salon. Maybe you decide you’ll skip the bars for a month, in order to save enough money to get a new snowboard.

Give yourself a break every now and then (within reason), and you’ll find it much easier to be disciplined on the whole.

2. It’s Not Realistic

Setting goals is great –- but don’t shoot for something that’s not within your grasp. Reducing your grocery bill to $150 per month (for a single person) is realistic; reducing it to $25 per month is not.

Make sure your budget allows for all the reasonable expenses you can expect to incur throughout the month.

Be realistic about how much money you’ll comfortably need for non-negotiable expenses like groceries, heat and health care. You can make up the difference in other areas that are more discretionary, such as clothing and cable TV, but you need to be honest about what types of costs you’re working with.

3. You’ve Left Off Irregular Expenses

You’ve remembered to budget for your monthly bills, but what about bills that are due quarterly or annually, such as your water bill, car registration renewal, holiday travel, summer camp fees, dentist co-pays,or birthday gifts for your children?

4. Impulse Purchases

This is by far the easiest way to set your budget off-course — and it isn’t limited solely to shopping sprees. You can also commit an impulse purchase by grocery shopping without a list, giving into promotions that tempt you to buy things you don’t need, and failing to compare prices or shop around for the best bargain.

The problem with impulse purchases is that they’re easy to rationalize. We find ways to convince ourselves that we either “need” an item, or that we’re “saving money” by purchasing this item.

Oreo cookies and Coca-Cola (KO) are luxuries, not necessities, even if they broadly fall under the category of “groceries.” By redefining “necessity,” you can avoid the rationalization that allows you to make an impulse purchase. Don’t trick yourself into thinking that it’s okay to make these impulse purchases at the store, under the guise that you’re just spending on your “needs.”

Similarly, you’re not “saving” money by purchasing a discounted item. If you score a 50 percent discount on an item that you otherwise wouldn’t have purchased, you haven’t “saved” a dime. (Glass half-empty, I know.)

Redefine “saving” to mean money that’s still in your wallet – not the discount that we get by purchasing clearance items on impulse.

5. You Aren’t Prepared for Emergencies

Another big way people blow their budgets is by failing to plan for the unexpected. You may not be able to predict when you’ll get sick or your car will start making odd noises, but you can anticipate that something unexpected is bound to happen sooner or later — and you can set some money aside so you’re prepared for it.

Aim to build up an emergency savings fund of three to six months’ worth of your income. Hopefully you’ll never have to touch it, but if something unfortunate does befall you, you’ll be able to handle it without incurring a financial hit.

6. It’s Too Difficult

If you absolutely hate budgeting, you won’t be likely to stick with it for long. Make sure you’re using a system that feels user-friendly and is easy for you to understand.

If you hate dealing with numbers, use budgeting software that does the math for you. If you can never keep track of your receipts, use a program that connects with your credit and debit cards and tracks your purchases automatically. Play to your strengths and work around your weaknesses and you’ll find it much easier to stay on track.

As expected, handling these kind of life transitions can bring on anxiety and stress for anyone. Below are four steps to handling the financial change.

1. Communicate

Not too many people are a fan of change. Although exciting and full of possibility, it can still be stressful. The first and best thing you can do for you finances during this time is communicate. Setting up monthly money dates is a great place to start. Whether it’s talking to your spouse, a trusted family member or friend, addressing the issues and feelings at hand can help to alleviate the anxiety that comes with transition.

It’s important to take time to craft your own opinion on topics and then come together for a conversation. Some key questions to ask when contemplating decisions and change are:

Why is this important to you?

Would you prioritize “A” or “B” first? Why do you feel that way?

What do you think makes the most sense for me/us financially?

If we were to work toward “A” or “B” first, at what point would you feel secure in refocusing on the next goal?

2. Prioritize

When contemplating multiple goals, determine which is the most important and/or makes the most sense to tackle first.

For many, there are goals of debt pay down, saving for the future, upgrading the family car, taking that big vacation and more. Selecting one or two items to conquer first will set you up to meet the remaining goals successfully.

3. Get a Head Start

The early bird gets the worm for a reason. The amount of planning you do will likely assist with the amount of success you have in tackling your goals. If you’re looking to make a career change, start by researching the positions you’re interested in and rerun your household budget to coincide with any changes in income you expect. What areas will you have to adjust or cut back? If you want to make a move, look not only at the houses in your ideal area, but also the cost of items such as food, gas and utilities.

Ask as many questions as needed until you feel comfortable with the information you have and the moves you’re making. Putting the time in to prepare and do research early for any kind of financial transition you’re making will keep stress levels lower and prevent you from scrambling.

4. Have a Plan

It’s true that your plan may not work out as you see fit, but having something in place will give you a starting point.

2015 may not be the year you wipe out your consumer debt in full, but it can be the year that you make a large dent. It can also be the year that you save that first $1,000 into your emergency fund in case your car breaks down or that you set up a Roth IRA or begin to contribute at least the minimum to your company 401(k) to take advantage of your employer match. Saying you want to meet your goals is one thing, but having a strategy in place with numbers attached is another. When you bring the numbers into the picture, not only can you measure progress, but you can also have a clear point to adjust from when you’re faced with life’s transitions. Having clarity around income, savings, spending, and goals will help to soften the impact that any unforeseen wrenches can throw into your financial plan.

 

“Money doesn’t buy happiness and it doesn’t guarantee happiness, but it impacts your happiness in a huge way,” says Donna Skeels Cygan, a certified financial planner, owner of Sage Future Financial in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and author of “The Joy of Financial Security.”

To write her book, Cygan spent six years researching psychological studies, economics, neuroscience and international studies on the impact of poverty.

“I became fascinated by the idea that while 50 percent of our happiness is controlled by genetics and 10 percent is environmentally controlled by things like whether you grew up in poverty or in a big town or a small town, 40 percent of our happiness is completely within our personal control,” she says.

She believes that taking small, sustainable steps such as these toward financial security is the best way to feel more in control of your money and your happiness.

1. Spend Your Money on Experiences, Not Things

“Researchers have found that when you buy a new car you get short-term, temporary happiness, but if you focus on strengthening your relationships with your friends and family and shared experiences, you’ll have greater long-term happiness,” says Cygan. She recommends spending money to take a friend to lunch, attend a concert, visit a museum or even travel — if your budget can accommodate it.

“One of the best things you can do is to organize a family reunion and to splurge to bring the family together,” she says. “Often the older generation will have the means to pay for the younger generation, and the reward is greater happiness for everyone.”

2. Spend Your Money to Improve Your Health

Cygan says your physical health should be a high priority, so she says it’s smart to spend money on, say, a cooking class so you learn to eat healthier food and then spend less on eating out. Depending on your budget, she suggests hiring a personal trainer or signing up for fitness classes.

3. Simplify Your Life and Your Finances.

Cygan cites “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up” by Marie Kondo as inspiration for her suggestion that decluttering your home and your office and spending less money on things like shoes and clothes can be beneficial to your bank account as well as to your mental health.

“When you look at your home and find it cluttered with things you’ve bought, it can be a wakeup call to spend your money on saving and investing for financial security instead of things,” she says. “It can help you push back on the idea of ‘keeping up with the Joneses’ and recognize that living within your means is an important value to share with your family.”

Cygan says simplifying your finances is equally important. “There’s no reason to have 13 bank accounts or to have scattered retirement accounts from several jobs. It’s best to consolidate everything so you truly know what you have and can take an organized approach to your finances.”

4. Change Your Routine

Cygan says that stepping off the treadmill of work and errands to go someplace for a day trip or to try a new volunteer activity can bring emotional and financial benefits. “Trying something new can pay off in the long run because you’ve opened yourself to new experiences that can enrich your life and perhaps even enhance your career in an unexpected way. Even if you have to spend a little money to indulge yourself, that can be a good thing.”

5. Be Generous

Cygan says that whether you volunteer your time or write a check, being generous to those who are less fortunate can bring you greater happiness than spending money on yourself. “A reward center in your brain lights up when you’re doing something for someone else.”

6. Pay Attention to Your Life, Your Friends, Your Money

Cygan says a lot of money gets wasted when people buy things or sign up for services and then forget about them. “Everyone is so busy, but if we stop to pay attention to how much we’re spending on unnecessary things and focus more on things that make us happy such as being with friends or nurturing our creativity, we’ll be financially better off and more content.”