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Newsletter No. 17 November 2007

New Subsection

We have introduced a new subsection this month. The title is 'Letters from Africa' and it is in our scams section.

Have a read; it will assist you in avoiding being scammed yourself.

Have a no spending day

One rule in being successful at growing your wealth is spending less than you earn. Makes a lot of sense however for many it is much harder to put into practice. The key is to be money conscious in being aware of everything you spend. A great way to work on this is to have a no spending day.

Not once are you allowed to take out your wallet, purse or credit card. It may be harder than you think and provide a reality check of how much you do spend during a day. This is not just a delay spending till tomorrow day, or spend more the day before ie buy 2 cokes and put one in the fridge for tomorrow. It is what it says in it?s simplest form. Be creative and plan your no spending day.

These ideas may help:

Make your lunch at home and take it to work

Take a thermos or use the office coffee instead of going out for a cappuccino

Go to the library and borrow a book or two instead of buying them. While there, have a look at what else it offers. Many offer DVD?s, magazines etc

On the weekends, go for a bike ride, walk through a park, play cards or a board game.

Go on be creative.

Have a no spending day once a week and gain control of your spending.

Teenagers applying for a Tax File Number

About a year ago, I was working on an income tax return for a young man who had been working full time for about 6 months straight after leaving school. The problem we had, was that he didn?t have a tax file number. His employer had asked him for his T.F.N. however he hadn?t gotten around to getting one. His mum decided to take action and contacted the tax office who advised her what needed to be done. Six months later we still hadn?t got anywhere. The original application was lost, a visit to the tax office didn?t manage to speed up the process and his mother is still waiting on the tax office to provide a tax file number for her son.

Now all this could have been avoided quite simply. Almost all private and secondary schools offer a service where tax file numbers can be applied through the schools to the tax office. The advantage is proof of identification is handled by the school who forward the application to the tax office with the tax file number usually returned within 28 days. This is a fantastic service and I think all teenagers once they have turned 15 should apply for a tax file number through their school even if they have no immediate plans to start working. That way when they do start their first job, they provide their tax file number immediately making it easier for their new employer to pay them correctly.

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