Tax Time

If you know what's good for ya, and you receive Financial Aid to go to school, you're going to get up and do your taxes right now.

I did my taxes this past Wednesday. It was pretty quick and painless. (And I'm not getting paid to say this or anything but Jackson-Hewitt has a pretty good student discount on filing taxes.)

All you have to do is make sure you have all your W-2's and school documents if you pay anything out of pocket. According to my tax guy, that's a big mistake a lot of students make. If you pay any part of your tuition out-of-pocket, bring it up during your tax filing! It's probably a good idea to google "college student tax filing" to see if you get any special deductables. C'mon. A little prep work can go a long way (especially if it means a bigger return.) Remember, this is your own money you're getting back. Why not try to get as much as you deserve?

Right now, I'm updating parts of my FAFSA online. That's another helpful hint, FAFSA online saves the info you put in last year to make filling it out this year a lot faster. All you have to do is update your income info, update scholarship info and anything else that's changed financial between this year and last year. All you need is your PIN and your 1040 (and maybe your parents' tax info if you're still living at home.)

Don't wait for your Advisor and Financial Aid Counselor hunt you down to file this stuff out. It's fast, it's simple, and it's a great way to get rid of that giant "finance for school" weight off your shoulders.