The Professional Expert

Taxes - Do I need to file?

Disclaimer: This is entry not intended to offer official tax advice. Please see www.irs.gov or contact a certified tax professional with any questions or for specific instructions. 

It is that time of year again, tax time.  If you have money coming back, I assume you did them in January and already have the refund in the bank.

If you expect to owe, you will probably be one of the masses working on your taxes in the next few weeks.  Either way, you will need to have your tax forms completed and sent to the IRS either electronically or through the mail, postmarked by midnight April 15.

Not sure if you need to file?

If you are not claimed as a dependant by someone else (parents, etc.) the following applies to you.

If you are claimed as a dependant, and made more than $5,300 you also need to file.

More information can be found at www.wwwebtax.com
 
Be aware, for this year only (tax year 2007), if your income is over $3,000, you may want to file an income tax even if you do not meet the above income requirements in order to receive a rebate or Economic Stimulus Payment. For more information, see

Economic Stimulus Payment.  

Lawn Mower Tune-up

If you would like to do your own lawn mower tune-up, it should take 2 hours to do. You can also do all but sharpening the blade and take it to the garden center to have that done.

Spark Plug

The spark plug has some letters on it that indicate what type it is.  You can take it out and bring it to your local big-box home improvement/garden center. They will have spark plugs there. Just find one with the same number as yours.  Don’t go crazy when you tighten it or you can strip out the threads, which will ruin the motor, just tighten it firmly.

Oil

Your owner’s manual will specify what type of oil to use. If you don’t have the owner’s manual, they also have oil labeled by the motor manufacturer (Briggs & Stratton, Tecumseh, or Honda) at the store. You can just use that.  You will need to drain the old oil out and dispose of it.  Most auto parts stores will take used oil.

Rope

Check the rope on the pull handle for worn out sections. You don’t want it to break while you are trying to start it. Depending on how handy you are, you might want to replace it yourself.  To do so, you will need to take the top of the engine cover off (3-4 bolts) to get at the starter rope.  There are many different configurations of this, so I can not go into detail. You should be able to see where the knot in the end of the rope is, so you can cut it off to remove the old one and then slip the new one thru it.  Don’t let the spring unwind while you are doing this.

Blade

If you have a grinder, or know someone who does, you can sharpen your blade.  It is important to make sure it is still balanced when you are done.  The easiest way to check is to hang it on a nail and see if it sets level. Just grind a little bit more off the heavy side.
Happy Mowing!

Spring Yard Maintenance

If you live where it freezes outside, you can turn your outside faucets back on. Flush them out for a few seconds to get the bugs out. Then you are ready to hook up the hoses. 

You will want to check out the hoses for cracking at the ends and any other damage that you missed last fall when you put them up for the winter.  Look for washers inside the connection when you hook them to the faucet, if it is missing or hard and brittle you should replace it.  Your local home improvement store has them in the lawn and garden section with all of the hose nozzles and sprinklers.

This is also a good time to do your lawn mower maintenance.  There are shops that your garden center can recommend which will do a “tune up” for $100 or so.  They will change the spark plug, sharpen the blade, replace the oil, and check the general condition of the mower.  If you do any of this stuff on your car, you can do it on your mower. We will cover how to do that tomorrow.

You can also get out your other lawn tools, such as the edger and weed whacker. Check them over, start them up, and let them run for a few minutes.  If you can’t get them started, you can get them fixed before you need them – this way they are ready when you need them.

Now head out into the yard. Check for any damage that happened over the winter, broken branches, damaged gutters and downspouts.

If you are going to, this is the time to apply “pre-emergent” weed preventers to your lawn.  These prevent seeds from sprouting, so be careful where you apply it.  These products do a pretty good job of reducing the number of weeds in your lawn.  Be sure to follow the manufacturer’s directions carefully and only use the amount specified, as the excess will end up in the local water supply.  Do not use this stuff if you are going to over-seed.

What is over-seeding?  In some climates (check with your garden center) you will want to over-seed, which is planting additional grass seed over the existing grass.  This will thicken up the lawn, fill in thin spots.  There are directions on the package for how heavily to spread the seed.

Tomorrow we’ll cover that lawn mower tune-up…

Outside Home Maintenance

Now that the weather has turned nice, let’s head outside. 

First, you will want to take a look at the air conditioner unit. Have the bushes grown up around it?  You will want to trim them back 6-12” from the sides of the unit so they don’t block airflow. 

Take a look at the fins on the a/c unit, too.  If there is a lot of crud built up there, you can rinse them off with a stream from the hose. Also get any leaves out of there.

If you didn’t have you’re a/c serviced in the fall, go ahead and make an appointment for someone to come out and check out/clean out the unit so it is ready for air conditioning season.

If you have storm windows, you can replace them with screens. If you didn’t clean the screens in the fall, go ahead and clean them now.

While you are accessing the windows, bring out the cleaning supplies and give them a quick cleaning.

Also check to see if they open smoothly.  If they stick, you can rub a little beeswax (or any candle) on it to provide a lubricant. 

Check for peeling paint or dry rot. While you are there, you can fix it before it gets too hot outside. A dry rot filler kit from the local home improvement store contains a stabilizer, which keeps the rot from spreading and putty that will fill in the hole.  Apply per the instructions on the package. Then paint it with exterior grade paint.  It is a good idea to paint the whole surface, not just the repair. That way it will match. The surrounding area probably needed paint anyway.

Tomorrow we’ll stay outside, but we will look at the yard…

Spring Cleaning!

The purpose of spring cleaning is to get rid of all the grime that has accumulated all winter because everything was so closed up. I don’t think everything stays as closed up as it did in the “olden” days, but it is still a good idea to give your home a through cleaning every once in a while…

Here are some areas that may get missed during the general upkeep, so this would be a good time to give them some attention.

Dusting

Ceiling
Corners of the walls
Artwork and photographs
Ceiling fan
On top of everything

Cleaning

 Dirty spots on the wall
 Air vents
 Doors
 Doorknobs
 Switch Plates
 Light fixtures
 Draperies, curtains, and blinds according to instructions
 Coils of the refrigerator (vacuum them)
 Refrigerator drain pan
 Inside of refrigerator
 Oven
 Dryer hose (vacuum)
 Lawn Furniture

Packing winter clothes away for the summer

Make sure all clothes are clean. Stains can set or actually damage the fabric after several months of storage.

Use plastic storage containers since critters don’t like plastic as much as cardboard.

If you want to use something that will repel the insects, go for the cedar blocks instead of mothballs. Mothballs are full of deadly chemicals and smell nasty. Cedar blocks are just wood and smell pretty good.

Pack items loosely to allow the air to circulate.

Store the clothes in a cool, dark, dry, clean place.

Clearing the Clutter

Spring is a great time for yard sales. While you are giving the place an extra sprucing up, decide whether things need to be kept, sold, given away, or trashed.

You can also get rid of paper clutter. Go through the magazines, coupons, and the filing cabinet (or the “to be filed” pile!). Decide what you can keep and what can go.

Don’t forget the garage!

Well, that is enough for today.  Tomorrow, we’ll head outside…