FitSugar

Fee on Soft Drinks: Cool or Not?

FitSugar — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 03:30:00 PST

One of the healthiest cities for women, San Francisco, is looking to take healthy to a whole new level.

Gavin Newsom, the mayor of San Francisco, has proposed charging big stores a fee when they sell any soft drinks with high-fructose corn syrup. The fee is still to be determined however, if the bill were approved, money generated from the fee would go toward a city program that emphasizes exercise, diet and other preventative health measures. So what do you think . . .

Source

Speak Up: Do You Agree With "Fat Tax"?

FitSugar — Fri, 13 Jul 2007 11:45:00 PDT

There has been much discussion over a so called "Fat Tax" - a tax on salty, sugary and fatty foods in Britain. A Fat Tax could save thousands of lives each year, but it's going to cost you as a consumer. The proposed Fat Tax would raise average weekly household bills by 4.6 percent -- Yikes! (This reminds me of the cigarette taxes that were imposed a few years ago.)

Personally, I think it makes sense that we should pay less for healthy (and organic) foods and more for unhealthy foods, which seems to be the exact opposite of what happens now. Raw organic almonds are how much a pound these days? So what's your opinion? Would paying more for foods high in fat and sugar discourage you from buying them? Or do you feel it is a violation of your rights? Speak up and let me know in the comments section below.

9 Popular Tax Breaks You Can No Longer Count on in 2012

Kiplinger — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 00:15:00 PST

We're thrilled to present this smart Kiplinger story here on Savvy!

You’ll face a higher tax bill next spring if Congress doesn’t act to revive a series of tax breaks that expired Dec. 31, 2011. Among the breaks that Congress didn’t extend in all the Sturm und Drang over the payroll tax holiday are:

Alternative minimum tax patch

The AMT is a parallel tax system created more than 40 years ago to prevent excessive use of tax breaks by the very wealthy, ensuring they pay at least some tax. Taxpayers whose income exceeds the AMT exemption – in 2011, $48,450 for individuals and $74,450 for married couples filing jointly - must calculate both regular tax and AMT liability and pay the larger of the two amounts. But exemption levels have, at least tentatively, dropped to $33,750 for individuals and $45,000 for married couples filing jointly in 2012, which will expose 31 million taxpayers to the higher AMT this year, according to Tax Policy Center estimates.

Higher mass transportation benefit

This one's of particular interest to strap-hangers, van-riders, and other users of public transit. A 2009 federal stimulus provision raised the maximum an employee could receive for transit, tax-free, from $120 to $230. That matched the tax-free limit for parking. With the expiration of this break, the maximum for 2012 dropped to $125. Employees who’ve asked to have an amount higher than that withheld from their paycheck to cover their total commuting costs will see their net pay come down, as the difference is now taxed.

Read on for more.

The Most-Overlooked Tax Deductions

Kiplinger — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 16:50:44 PST

We're thrilled to present this smart Kiplinger story here on Savvy!

Every year, the IRS dutifully reports the most common blunders that taxpayers make on their returns. And every year, at or near the top of the “oops” list is forgetting to enter their Social Security number at the top of the tax form - or making a mistake when entering those nine digits.

But think about it for a minute: Do you think that’s the most common mistake . . . or simply the easiest to notice?

One thing we know for sure is that the opportunity to make mistakes is almost unlimited, and missed deductions can be the most costly. About 45 million of us itemize on our 1040s - claiming more than $1 trillion worth of deductions. That’s right: $1,000,000,000,000, a number rarely spoken out loud until Congress started tying itself up in knots trying to deal with the budget deficit and national debt.

Another 92 million taxpayers claim about $700 billion worth using standard deductions - and some of you who take the easy way out probably shortchange yourselves. (If you turned 65 in 2011, remember that you now deserve a bigger standard deduction than the younger folks.)

Yes, friends, tax time is a dangerous time. It’s all too easy to miss a trick and pay too much. Years ago, the fellow who ran the IRS at the time told Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine that he figured millions of taxpayers overpay their taxes every year by overlooking just one of the money-savers listed below

Tax Hangover: The Cure For Next Year

LearnVest — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 00:15:19 PDT

We're thrilled to present this smart LearnVest story here on Savvy!

Tax season officially end[ed Monday] at midnight. Care to join us for a celebratory cocktail? OK, maybe you’re still planning to run to the post office tonight (if so, check out our last-minute tips). But if your return is already filed, grab that martini and treat yourself to a massage. No matter how many times we do it, tax season is always, well, taxing. And immediately after filing, we do everything we can to forget about taxes…at least until next April.

But we started to wonder–if preparation and planning are some of the best tools in conquering your personal finances, can this approach help with taxes, so they’re not a new scramble every year?

The answer is yes. We asked Cindy Goldstein, a certified public accountant and tax attorney in New York, for ways to make next year’s tax time less stressful and less expensive with things you can start doing now. Well, okay…tomorrow.

You Couldn’t Find Your Paperwork

Either you wasted time rifling through papers, or you dumped them on your accountant and she charged you accordingly. “The more organized a client is, the better fee I can offer them,” says Goldstein, “because then I can just do my job instead of sifting through their receipts.”

This is what you need to save.

Speedy Recovery: 10 Things to Do to Ease DOMS

Anna Monette Roberts — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 03:07:51 PDT

After an intense cardio workout or weight-training session, you might feel extreme exhaustion, muscle soreness, and nausea. This hit-by-a-truck feeling that you often wake up with the day after working out is called DOMS, which stands for delayed onset muscle soreness. Luckily, there are many preventative measures you can take to avoid it. Here's a quick list of 10 steps you should always take before, during, and after going to the gym.

Drink a cup or two of caffeinated tea or coffee before working out to increase muscular strength and endurance and reduce the chance of soreness.
Eat a preworkout snack that is low fat and high carb with some protein.
Take the time to warm up and cool down so you do not stress and overtax your muscles and heart.
Do not stop and start moving while exercising; instead, keep steadily moving so fresh blood will be sent to repair your taxed muscles.

For more tips to ease your case of DOMS keep reading.

Food Freebies and Deals For Tax Day and Beyond

Susannah Chen — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 04:41:45 PDT

Federal and state income tax deadline - the season's most dreaded day - is almost here, and this year, it's doesn't fall on the date April 15, thanks to a Washington, DC holiday. Whether you got a big fat paycheck or have to pay Uncle Sam a little extra this time around, the one sure bet to look forward to is a bevy of bargains on food and drink (and many of them available on both Friday and Monday). Want to get your deal on? Check out Springtime's top restaurant tax relief.

Source: Flickr User hapinachu

DVD Review: Jeanette Jenkins Blast the Belly Fat

FitSugar — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 14:25:30 PST

Waking up before the sun rises to pop in a fitness DVD takes a certain amount of willpower. But when you're working out with a Jeanette Jenkins video you'll feel buoyed by her energy. This morning I got my sweat on with her Blast the Belly Fat ($20) DVD. Jeanette's super-positive energy is infectious, and her cuing is great. This gal doesn’t employ the typical LA tough-guy trainer posturing. Jeanette leads you through the work with a genuine smile.

The hour-long-plus DVD provides a very athletic workout; three circuits, all around 15 minutes each, follow a solid eight-minute warmup. The workout ends with 10 minutes of Pilates-based ab exercises and a solid stretching sequence. Since many of the exercises feel like agility drills from basketball or soccer practice, it helps to channel your inner jock. There's definitely some high-impact cardio moves in each of the circuits, with full-body moves and ab-specific exercises thrown into the mix. Your heart stays pumping while you lunge, squat, and jump.

This workout require two sets of hand weights between three and 10 pounds and an exercise ball. Jeanette uses a wide variety of plank moves on the ball to challenge your middle while taxing your arms and legs too. I like those multitasking moves, but they definitely maxed out the space in my tiny living room. Jeanette also rarely offers modifications for beginners in this workout, making it feel like an intermediate workout. I like the challenge of the workout and will definitely add it to my DVD rotation. I like the mix of moves, and working my core is always a plus. You can pick up a copy of the workout on Jeanette's website Hollywoodtrainer.com.

Exercise No Good For Weight Loss?

FitSugar — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 14:30:17 PDT

A couple of years ago the Cardio Free Diet introduced popular culture to the concept that exercise and weight loss were incompatible. Recently we learned that exercise doesn't boost fat-burning. Now Time magazine's new cover story investigates the seemingly detrimental relationship even further. A thumbnail sketch of the article: exercise makes you hungry, so you eat more and don't lose weight.

Should you give up the treadmill forever? Learn more.