Comments on: How a Credit Card Makes Freelancers Bawl

By: Hate Bookkeeping? Why You Should Learn to Love It | Freelance Writing Jobs

Fri, 03 Oct 2008 09:00:28 +0000

[...] surprise tax bill… do you really have to pay that much?? Wait, hang on – where’d that credit card bill come from? Floating along without keeping track of what’s coming in and going out – and [...]

By: jimma

jimma — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 19:03:25 +0000

If credit cards are the greatest source of bad debt, auto loans are a close second. You are upside down on the loan the second you drive off the dealership’s lot and it’s downhill from there. Too many people shrug off a car payment as a necessary evil.

By: RobinMarie

RobinMarie — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 18:12:47 +0000

@Jodee (and everyone else who commented)

Thanks. The thought of being audited scares the crap out of me, not because I think I have an actual reason to worry, but because numbers scare the crap out of me. Numbers + me = really bad news.

By: Phil

Phil — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 13:41:55 +0000

You need two have two cards, no doubt. Keeps finances clean for IRS. Additionally, using a card helps gain about 20 days extra time to pay, enabling some payments to come in. If you’re accepting payments in 30 days, but paying business-related expenses immediately, you can literally go broke from business expansion (it’s happened to many companies much larger than any of us).

By: Links: 2008-09-19 | Meryl.net

Links: 2008-09-19 | Meryl.net — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 12:19:07 +0000

[...] How a Credit Card Makes Freelancers Bawl… by me. I had fun with it… wish I could come up with more stuff like this. [...]

By: Mariella

Mariella — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 11:43:32 +0000

I only have one credit card that I use for both personal and business purchases. Believe it or not, it’s been a lot, lot easier for me. Having more than one would inspire me to actually go out there and buy something just so both cards are being used. Seeing as I already have everything I do need for the business side of things for the next year or so, I don’t think I’ll have a problem managing my finances afterwards. Also, I remember every single thing I spent money on–really. How funny is it that I can never remember what I did an hour before but I could recall, in detail, what I bought, when, and for how much?

By: Amy Derby

Amy Derby — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 22:22:13 +0000

Hi Meryl! What a nice surprise to find you here.

I use a separate account for business so I don’t have to cry and so my accountant won’t have to smack me. He threatened to do that to me the first year I went to him with a stack of unopened statements that had everything all together.

Between dyslexia, OCD and ADD, I definitely need to keep things separate. Lesson learned, the hard way.

Great, funny post.

By: Dionne Obeso

Dionne Obeso — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 19:52:18 +0000

Pretty much every penny of my income goes to our bills, so I don’t have a separate account for it. I also don’t have a business credit card. Every time I purchase anything for work, I keep the receipt and stash it in my files. I also keep copies of every check I get. Is this a bad way to do it?

By: Roxie

Roxie — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 17:02:27 +0000

@ Sonya and also just a tip for everyone, if you don’t already know – Suze Orman is the money guru, and if you want to keep your finances straight, I’d follow her advice and flip through her books regularly. She says “Women & Money” is her best book, but the “Road to Wealth” series is also good, and my personal favorite (Sonya, I’d recc. this one, since you’re building credit, want to later purchase a home, etc.), “The Money Book for the Young, Fabulous, & Broke.” It offers THE need-to-know advice on every major purchase in life for the YF&B – which many of us are at some point in life – as well as credit card advice, information on the all-important fico-score, student loan debt, good debt vs. bad debt, and more. When you are YF&B or OF&B, that book is fantastic. And for credit-card info, she’s just the best.

My mother owns a business, and there is this ONE book that covers everything – Tax Strategies for Business Professionals by Sandy Botkin. It’s amazing the deductions you can take, that book just opened my eyes, SERIOUSLY.

Just sharing resources. Enjoy .

By: Jodee

Jodee — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 16:41:42 +0000

@ James: We were audited a few years ago, actually. It’s a bit like having someone poking through your underwear drawer. I have had the conversation where I’ve had to explain that I bought new bras through the mail and that is what the cheque written to XYZ Company is for, so I got a good chuckle at the reference to shopping at Victoria’s Secret in this post.