Nearly doubling from $9 billion to $16 billion in recent years, the California deficit is making many officials uneasy, including Governor Jerry Brown, who is pushing a ballot measure that would raise taxes to help offset what many are calling California’s budget crisis. Brown warns that if the tax increase is not passed, it may mean that important social programs, such as education, will need to be cut dramatically, at great detriment to the state and its citizens.

Under the proposal that Brown has endorsed, taxes would be raised slightly for a limited window of time, during which he hopes the increased state revenue will reverse the trend of growing debt, although he says that this measure alone will not reverse or entirely fix the state’s financial woes. Under the plan, sales tax will rise from 7.25% to 7.5% and individuals making more than $250,000 (or households making over $500,00) can expect their income tax to go up by about 3 percent. These changes will be implemented for less than 10 years under the currently proposed measure.

Lawmakers on the other side of the aisle appose the Democrat-backed initiative, saying it will slow the state’s economic recovery and proposing that cuts are a more viable and realistic solution to the budget crisis.

The initial set of poll numbers suggest that the ballot initiative will pass with wide public support, thought the final vote is not guaranteed and it remains to be seen what solution will fall into place for California as politicians and the public work together to move the deficit, and economy, back in the right direction.

In recent days, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has both pushed and backed off on a plan that would limit the fees imposed on credit card holders by credit car companies.

The limit under discussion would change the way existing fees are limited. Under current law, credit card companies are only allowed to charge fees totaling less than 25% of a cardholder’s credit limit in the first year the account is open, but this limit does not include feeds issued up front when the card is opened, but before it has been used.

The policy suggested by the Bureau would have included these costs in the total fees in order to protect consumers further by keeping their total fees—including those up front costs—under twenty five perfect of the card’s limit. However, after pressure from the card companies and conservative politicians, the agency has backed off, in a move it acknowledges will hurt consumers and empower credit card companies to continue taking advantage of what many consider to be a “loophole” in the protection provision.

Credit card fee limits are amongst other considerations by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in recent months, with other efforts being concentrated on the mortgage industry and debt collection agencies. The Bureau was created after the debt crisis revealed the failure of the government and corporations to take necessary steps to inform and protect consumers with regard to policies and fees.

It’s tax season! Have you paid your taxes yet? If you haven’t, there’s a little good news: the deadline this year is pushed back until Tuesday the 18^th of April, a little later than usual. What does this mean for taxpayers? Just a little more time to avoid the penalties and fees associated with late payment and double check their paperwork to make sure that they have included all of the appropriate deductions and other information.

Some, including Republican candidate Mitt Romney, will file for extensions in last minute efforts to get their tax season paperwork in line. For high-earners like Romney, fees for incorrect information and withholding information are higher and filing can be an even more delicate process.

For the rest of us, the most important element of our taxes is often getting all of our deductions on paper. Deductions limit the amount you are obligated to pay and for some taxpayers, reverse the tax-paying process. Students and others can add deductions to other tax incentives and often end up with net earnings from their taxes rather than ending up in the red by the end of April.

What’s the biggest mistake you can make? Experts say rushing through your taxes and missing opportunities to save can hurt you. Treating yourself as an average taxpayer may be quick, but it may not always be entirely true, and you’re the one who ends up paying for it if you’re a lower or middle class earner.

Write offs for home improvements, education related expenses, savings and retirement deposits and charitable donations are among the many deductions you can claim on your taxes. A professional tax review service or at home software program can help by prompting you to remember specific write offs you may have forgotten, but ultimately it’s up to you to document and report these deductions. Don’t miss any or you’ll pay more than you are required to.

Apartment living can be simple and affordable—a great housing solution for many people of all ages and lifestyles. I think it’s safe to say that living in an apartment is more affordable than owning, and the benefits of apartment life extend beyond the financial savings—there’s no lawn to mow, your landlord is responsible for repairs, and living in a smaller space can simplify your lifestyle significantly.

If you’re considering a switch to apartment living, it’s worth taking the time to consider the total cost of living so you can choose the right unit and building for your needs.

How do the living expenses of apartment life break down?

Rent

This is the obvious one—of course you’ll have to pay rent to live in an apartment, and this expense can range anywhere from a couple hundred a month to thousands, depending on the neighborhood, poshness of the building, and size of your apartment. This, though, is one of the most upfront costs, and is usually included in the literature the landlord or real estate agent gives you when you first tour or consider a unit.

Water

Sewer and Water are sometimes included in rent, and other times you will need to pay for them yourself. Depending on the part of the country you live in and what your water usage is like, this will generally cost about $30-$40 per person each month.

Electric and Gas

These utilities can add up if they’re not included in the cost of rent. Consider whether the stove, oven, water heater and unit’s heating system are gas or electric and calculate the costs accordingly. If possible, contact previous tenants and ask them what these costs are like, because they can be difficult to guess in advance.

Trash and Recycling

Find out if the building or city supplies dumpsters or if you are responsible for paying a trash collection fee of some sort. If you are interested in recycling, ask about the accessibility to recycling collection or drop-off bins.

Renter’s Insurance

Many landlords will require you to carry renter’s insurance, and even if they don’t, it’s a good idea to buy it. It’s usually affordable and will cover a wide variety of costs if you run into burglary, unit damage, or other financially stressful issues with your unit.

Internet and Cable

Some apartments include internet and/or cable in the cost of rent, others only provide hookups and let you choose to enable service and foot the bill if you want to. Even if rent doesn’t include these costs, they’re optional, so only count them if you will really use them.

Want to save some money and increase your capital all at once? Saving doesn’t have to be hard, and there are several ways to accomplish your savings goals with just a little effort.

The most difficult part of saving is actually accruing the money you will save. There are always pressing financial needs in any lifestyle, and the hardest part of setting aside money is having money but not spending it. This challenge is compounded by the fact that those of us with the biggest need to save money and grow the value of our assets are also the ones with arguable the most pressingly immediate financial burdens. But this is the first step and you can’t save anything without it.

Make a plan to set the money aside in advance. For example, commit to putting away 2% of your next five paychecks, and then actually do it. Don’t wait until you have “extra” cash in your account—this may never happen, and you may overextend yourself if you haven’t planned your savings into your budget.

Next, decide where to put the money that you’re saving. Popular choices are high-interest savings accounts or CD accounts. More seasoned investors may think about investment accounts or other stock market options, but for a basic savings account, you may want to choose an investment type with less risk.

Decide how long you’ll put the money away for and what it will be dedicated to once you take it. This may just be the decision to use the money as “rainy day” savings, but it’s important to decide that in advance so you won’t “accidentally” spend your hard saved money on the wrong thing once you take it out of the account.

It’s something we’ve all heard of, but many people aren’t sure exactly what it means. What is a credit union, how does it operate, and why is it worth considering as a financial institution?

Start here: Credit unions are just like the banks you’re familiar with, with some exceptions. The differences, however, are what defines a credit union and makes it unique. Credit unions are:

Member Owned
Perhaps the most defining feature of a credit union is that it is owned and democratically controlled by members—anyone who has any financial tie to the institution. Regardless of the amount of money they have “in” the Credit Union, all members get an equal vote when it comes to administrative decisions and board appointments.

Not-For-Profit
The legal view of a credit union is that it is a non-profit bank. Indeed, credit unions provide most of the services your local bank provides, albeit under different terminology. They have checking accounts (“share draft accounts”), savings accounts (“share accounts”), CD accounts (“share term certificates”), credit cards and online access to financial information. But, rather than using invested money and interest to pay executives and build a corporate entity, they cut costs to their members by running as a non-profit organization.

Invested in Members
Most credit unions view themselves as more than a bank in that they are invested in the community and provide more personal service to members. While credit unions differ in the type of services they provide, many branch out into financial counseling and the democratic nature of decision-making allows for the organization to be more responsive to members’ needs.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is hoping to add debt collectors and credit bureaus to the list of financial entities that they are allowed to monitor and supervise in-person.

Debt collection agencies and credit bureaus will join the ranks of payday lenders, mortgage financers and student loan lending companies if the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is able to gain purview over them. The agency is also responsible for overseeing the financial ethics of large American-based corporations and bank practices.

The justification for adding debt collectors to the entities overseen is that consumers aren’t given their choice of debt collection agency when they find themselves in a financial bind—a situation that opens the door to potentially abusive or unfair practices toward consumers on the part of the collection agencies. The Bureau seeks to oversee the practices of debt collectors to ensure a fair debt collection process that is in accordance with federal laws and regulations.

Although banks have received direct, in-person oversight for decades, this will be the first time the debt-collection industry will face similar accountability from the federal government.

You may have heard that Alpacas make a great investment because of their high annual yields of fiber and the lucrative income it can provide. But did you also know that the tax code makes offers huge benefits to Alpaca owners?

Investing in Alpacas has many advantages

Whether you’re an individual with the ability to raise an Alpaca for fiber on a small farm or breed alpacas to shear or sell on a larger area of land, the tax code is full of deductions that will make investing in an Alpaca even more profitable than many other forms of investment.

Section 179 of the tax code allows for taxpayers to begin claiming deductions for some capital assets, the things purchased as investments toward profits, as soon as they are purchased. Alpacas are among the limited number of purchased investments that are included in this section. These are benefits that you will not be eligible to receive if you put money toward a traditional investment opportunity, like buying stock or a CD.

If you own an Alpaca for over a year, it is subject to capital gains tax, like most other investments. Capital gains are profits from an investment that has been resold. Your initial livestock will be subject to this provision if you sell them, as will any offspring from your livestock.

At the end of the day, Alpacas are a form of investment that offer significant and unique tax deductions that will start benefitting you as an investor right away. As long as you keep them, you won’t need to pay capital gains taxes, so Alpacas an be a great long-term investment opportunity. Or, if you choose to sell them, take the profit and pay the capital gains taxes on the sale, you still come out ahead—you will have accumulated enough tax benefits between the time of purchase and the sale to compensate for paying livestock capital gains taxes on your Alpacas.

America rounded out 2010 with $800 billion in credit card debt, and this year we came pretty close—holding a whopping $798 billion in debt at the end of 2011. Where did Americans spend all that money? It’s become clear as analysts look at the unexpectedly high Black Friday and holiday sales that holiday shoppers stretched their budgets just a little too thing this season, spending over $52 billion in credit card sales during Black Friday weekend alone and surged by $20.4 billion in November.

Although these numbers seem high, the data for December has not yet been released. Considering the strong sales season retailers had, it will come as no surprise when December credit card debt looks similarly grim.

What’s making people feel so free to put purchases onto credit cards? Curtis Arnold of CardRatings.com told Time Magazine that one major factor is promotions form credit card companies that offer 0% APR for a limited time, temping consumers into using charge because there’s less immediate risk of penalty. However, he warns, when these promotional rates start to expire, it’s going to be a rude surprise for card holders who will quickly see interest charges adding up and their credit score going down.

Over the years, I’ve talked to many people who have just given up on budgeting for any number of reasons. Some of them claim it’s too complicated, others have had a bad experience with a particular budgeting system and for many, it’s just the dread of being limited in how you spend your money that scares them away from setting a budget and sticking to it.

The real trick is budgeting realistically. I think this is what trips people up more often than anything else.

What does it mean to budget realistically? To set goals for yourself that are attainable and sustainable. Sure, you’d save a lot of money if you only spent $100 on groceries every month and only bought one tank of gas—that looks great on paper. But it is practical? Depending on your lifestyle, probably not. In my experience, the best ways to actually budget in a usable way are:

1. Leave room for the “other” stuff
   Sometimes an unexpected expense comes up—or just dinner with an old friend at a restaurant across town. Whatever it may be, it’s good to leave a little bit of your monthly budget un-assigned so you can have a little wiggle room. This will prevent you from feeling “trapped” by your budget and will reduce your risk of going over budget.
2. Make your budget flexible
   You spent less on gas this month than usual? Great! Move that extra money over to your grocery budget because you’ll be having family over for dinner next week. Money you don’t spend doesn’t need to stay in a single category as long as it’s unspent. Use it where you need it. Adjust next month’s budget if it looks like the difference will be a long-term one.
3. Base your budget on you
   Don’t base the amount you budget on anything other than your own needs, wants and habits. Budgeting software and systems will try to tell you what you should spend, but you’re going to be better off if you take into account what you actually do. You usually spend $100 on eating out each month? That might be a place to save—but it’s going to be hard to completely change your lifestyle on demand. Back it down to $90 next month. See if you can stick to that. But don’t set your restaurant budget to $0 because someone said that’s what every budget has to look like.