Neutralize your tax hit with these ideas
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PORTLAND, Ore. – The fiscal cliff deal Congress passed Tuesday did not include extending the two-percent payroll tax cut.
How does that translate to your paycheck? If you earn $50,000 a year, you'll lose a thousand dollars more to Uncle Sam.
But there are ways you can save that amount of money in a year's time.
Visa did a study and found people spend more than a thousand dollars a year on "mystery" items – they don't know where their money is going.
So just tracking your spending can be a good way to start knowing how to save it. Meanwhile, there are a few changes you can make that add up to that $1,000 difference in your paycheck.
Saving money can be as simple as washing your clothes – that is if you use only cold water. All that churning and turning in the machine doesn't use much power but heating up the water does.
Portland's Bureau of Planning and Sustainability agrees with a PGE blog post, saying you can save up to $180 a year by avoiding the heat.
Speaking of clothes: Do you shop online? Whether it's shopping or gift giving, look for websites that ship for free. Use Nordstrom or Piperlime and you won't pay extra for returns either. At once or twice a month, you could save about $120 a year.
You can also save $240 a year by losing your landline phone. If you've already hung up the at-home phone, consider your cellphone plan. Chances are you're paying for more minutes than you need.
As for your cable, Portland State University senior instructor and personal finance expert Brenda Eichelberger says it's as simple as calling the company.
"You have to call and ask, they're not going to say, 'Hey, you're spending too much money, do you want to spend less?" she said. "By combining some things, we saved about 100 dollars a month."
If nothing else, get rid of those premium movie channels. Three of them cost you about $40 a month or $480 a year.
That's all it takes to save more than a thousand dollars this new year. But there's more. Eichelberger says mortgage rates are lower than they've been in decades so take advantage of them.
"The mortgage rate, I just looked it up, was 3.41 percent average in Oregon right now," she said. "So if you have a rate you're paying that's higher than that, you might want to look at refinancing."
One of her students recently saved $400 a month or $4,800 a year.
Another idea to save money is to buy a gift card for yourself – like a $20 Starbucks card to use for the month instead of spending mindlessly.
With the fiscal cliff bill and the start of the new year, experts agree now is a good time to take a look at your finances anyway.
Unbelievable that you are telling the people how to cut back when it should be our Government. These are all suggestions that all responsible Americans already do... budget. I watched your broadcast and felt you were totally off the mark. We all should be in a uproar for the items NOT cut back on by our Government. We will continue to pay for their errors. Rob Peter (or the responsible people) to pay Paul (the Government that is too big, the entitlements and all the Pork Projects in this new bill). Wake Up... tell it like it is!!! We know the lesson you were sharing... but it's obvious that the USA is becoming more and more socialized and like Europe. And look where it's gotten them. We were the power, we were the envy, we were the strength, I think now we are being laughed at. What fools.
The Social Security break for two years was one of the more ingorant "cuts" they have ever given. You know that fund is dying as it is so why not have people put less into it for a couple of years. How about this. Kill that SS Tax all together and let people plan for their own futures rather than the government having to do so.
@Portlander29 Philosophically I think that is what should be done. Kill Social Security, but then reality sets in. When you look at the participation in voluntary plans, and even with automatic enrollment in 401K you realize how dismal the outlook would be under that scenario. Currently 43% of workers have less than $10,000 in retirement savings. Itâs pathetic. People in general are too stupid to plan for their retirement, hence the need for a safety net. If we as a nation donât plan ahead for the dumb people, weâll just end up paying later down the road when they are unable to work. So we can stick it to them now with a tax, or let them stick it to us later. When the philosophical runs into the walls of reality, something has to give. I have to give up on my dream of ending the tax we pay into social security, because the vast majority in this nation just aren't responsible enough to plan for tomorrow.
 @JTesla  @Portlander29 Sadly you are right out of about 10 friends myself and another engineer who both understand the math and compounding started saving into 401k at max rates in day one out of college. However most others did not start thinking much about it until in late 30's or early 40's which is really to late to get a full retirement at normal income levels.
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What pisses me off his having so much of my income taken in taxes so government people can retire at 55 while I will have to work to well over 60 because with the current market there is no way I am going to have the required 2.5 million or so to retire on in 3 more years.
Obama's famous quote, "We can't cut our way to prosperity". We have to Mr. President, the well is dry, and adding more taxes is not the answer. Unemployment is high so less are contributing; we have more on public assistance today than we ever have. We must cut our way to prosperity!
 @MadMax64 "We must cut our way to prosperity!"Â
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That's what UK Prime Minister David Cameron said when he took power a few years ago. The UK was just pulling out of a deep recession. They made the cuts and... they got another recession. If we do the same thing, we'll get the same results.
We if the English can't make it work than I guess no one can. maybe we should just lay down and die.
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So MaxQuinn are you advocating for tax increases?
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Just trying to establish your mental capacity.
 @FreedomRocks  @MadMax64 If by raising Greece, you mean we can''t become a country that doesn't collect taxes from rich people, hands out civil service jobs as political patronage, uses a currency over which it has no control - then no, we don't want that.Â
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If you are talking about people rioting in the street, then keep in mind that they are rioting against austerity. The average Greek feels that the rich and powerful in Greece and Europe got the benefits out of the boom and the average folks got the cuts.
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The UK is a better comparison. It has its own currency and a capable government (as far governments can be capable). It dove into austerity and got another recession in exchange - and this offers no benefits for the current generation or subsequent generations.
 @Max Quinn  @MadMax64 Ya but the simple fact is we can't continue to spend 2x what we take in for very long before we become Greece and our children will hate us until our death for robbing from them so we can continue the good life.
 @MadMax64 All I did was look for an example of your idea (cut to prosperity) being applied in the real world.
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The UK is an example. So is Ireland. In fact, Ireland jumped into austerity in 2009 to acclaim from the business world that doing so would instill confidence and spur growth. It didn't.
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Germany, as the strongest economy in the Eurozone, has demanded austerity from other members. Why? Because doing so would  instill confidence and spur growth. Except, it hasn't.
This is another step toward socialism. Â More will come until the government has total control. Â Cuba for instance is going in the opposite direction. Â Who would ever have guessed we would be seeing this. Â This is the ultimate insult to all the men ans women who have fought for our freedom. Â Out of control government spending is responsible for our tax increases.
@Leinenkugle's You obviously haven't been paying attention. You paid this tax rate for over 20 years, so how is going back to it an insult, or socialism? Please do some research into what socialism is, it isn't what you think it is.
JTesla, mandatory health care and tax increases on the riches 2% are another step towards socialism. Come out of the ether before criticizing others.
You're right it's Marxism that we're turning this country towards.
@MadMax64 Although I would rather no taxes be raised, and I would have favored the raising of taxes on everyone instead of targeting one group, the raise that was made is still not socialism. We are almost to the point where that term has been used so incorrectly for so long that it has lost its meaning. With that said, this article is directed toward the end of the temporary payroll tax cut. The fact that the cut wasn't renewed is not socialism, it is no more socialism than when the first Bush was President with the same tax rate.
You can save more than $120 a year by not shopping at nordstroms and paying for expensive clothes. If you are worried about $1,000, nordstroms isn't your store to shop at anyways.
I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for giving me ideas of things I could sacrifice, so I feel being robbed, less. Hey, if you short yourself a square of toilet paper every time you crap, you'll have an extra three dollars month. The possibilities are unlimited. Eventually you'll be able to contribute 75% of your income.
 Even better, use one side, set it aside, and use the other side the next time!
 @SR ~  Ewww..!   :-)
@Lips But you will have to use more water (hot, of course) and soap than normal if you use less paper! Still a bunch of crap.
Yeah and we just got slammed with this.
http://www.tomshardware.com/news/Obama-Wiretapping-warrantless-FISA-Amendments-Act,20067.html#xtor=RSS-998
Welcome to your phones being wire tapped.
 @lee986321 except we didn't just get slammed with it.  it got extended, by BOTH parties.  you should have cried a river over this back in 2008
 @lee986321 At least Ron Wyden is fighting it.
So , all this was smoke an mirrors to side swipe us in other areas?
Golly Gee VISA recommendations make no reference to NOT using credit cards? What a surprise?
Stop giving out foreign aid like candy, stop these endless wars, legalize and tax marijuana. That would be a good start.
Why should citizens take a hit when the government won't stop spending money like it's going out of style?
 @randomdude I saw the other day what we are giving out as foreign aid and it is a staggering amount. Most of the countries that we give it to hate us anyway!Â
@deejm2112 I hear you, but we need to save 1% about 36 times. In order to do that some sacred cows need to be put down.
 @JTesla  @rozeguy I don't disagree but if you save 1% 10 times it starts to add up.
 @Leinenkugle's  @rozeguy  @randomdude Israel gets zero financial aid. We only help Israel with military contracts with US manufacturers (basically right back into our pockets). Strange that with all the countries that actually do get free economic aid (Egypt, Pakistan, Jordan, etc) you named one that is actually our ally and gets almost nothing.
@mikeyb123 Even if there isn't an official "budget" passed by Congress, they still receive and spend money. So it's a budget even if it is a joke. Of all the spending done by the federal government, people seem to be focused on griping about 1%. I'll say this in advance, spare me the "every little bit counts" argument, because that 1% is the only little bit that anyone seems to be able to come up with.
 @JTesla  @rozeguy Do we have a budget?
@rozeguy That "staggering amount" is around 1% of the US budget. If you are staggered by 1%, don't look at the other 99%.
 @rozeguy  @randomdude Israel for instance gets our largest amounts of aide.  This equals Jewish votes at election time.
The best way to save would have been to not have reelected that clown as president. Guess we missed that opportunity....
 @rozeguy you certainly have that right.  He was mentored by our biggest crooks in Chicago.
 @rozeguy As much as I hate that O guy, it really comes down to the idiots we sent to Congress and not the President.  The prez can put forth ideas but the members of Congress are the actual ones who pass the spending bills.  The prez can only sign, not sign, or veto but he can't pass the legislation.
 @ab  @rozeguy Well, he does get to nominate judges and few other positions in government who share his philosophy on 'spreading the wealth', so it snowballs. All the tax breaks to wind energy and solar energy 'grants' and preventing pipeline from Canada - all that adds up to more than $1000/year.
 @ab  @rozeguy Has he actually put forth an idea for less spending since he was first elected 4 years ago? I don't think so he has done the exact opposite many many times though...
 @ab  @rozeguy you can thank states like MN that would vote for a Franken AND a Bachmann.  that's a recipe for progress, good or bad, if there was one.
 @ab That is true. However....I hate to pass up a chance to take a shot at him!
 @ab Verbally of course