Whew!

Well, that seminar thing was a complete bust.

2 ¹/₂ hours down there, 2 ¹/₂ hours to sit through the stupid thing, and 2 ¹/₂ hours back. By the time I got home last night, I was beat; my neck, back, and legs hurt, and I was so sleepy, I couldn't do anything. I crashed harder than I've crashed in months. It was at least good for that much - I'm back on my regular sleeping schedule. Plus, I can write the whole day off on my taxes next year.

Speaking of which, I qualify for several programs since I have literally been operating in the red for the past two years! I kept saying I was, but I really didn't know for sure - let's face it, I smoke a lot and I buy a lot of comics - but I did not realize just how much/how many things I could write-off as business expenses! Did you know you can write-off coffee!? Yes! And damn near everytime I go to a Dollar Store or the like, I buy a pack of pens or some notebook paper or something I can write-off - and if I go to the store specifically because I need such things (which has happened, on occasion), the miles I drive to the store are deductible, as well! And I went ahead and measured my home office and deducted that, as well.

Oh, and since I make money from a comic book blog, a significant portion of the comics I buy are deductible, as well! And a lot of those are industry magazines, so they are 100% deductible, along with Writer's Digest, and a few others.

Thing is, when your expenses equal or exceed your gross profits, you technically don't have to file taxes, but if you do, you can roll the amount you are in the red over to the next year and eventually get a refund for it! So even though I got the rebate thing this year, I didn't actually get a refund, but I started this "business" in 2006 and I can write-off beau-coup stuff I bought for years before - writing books, RPG books, computers and parts, Internet access, magazine subscriptions, software and books, all sorts of things - and then roll it all over to my 2008 return for a big, fat refund! I think - if I understand it correctly. Since the 2006 taxes are already late, and I don't technically have to file them because I am going to have a net profit of $0 anyway, I have plenty of time to read the 10 or so books they sent me on self-employment, depreciation, and all the rest, and figure it out.

But this seminar was about finding grants and loans for your business and home, etc., that you qualify for, according to targets and all this other stuff - all good information to have - and then they wanted you to join their cult. For the low, low, bargain-basement price of $1500. Oh! - but since we drove all that way and sat through their "free" 3-hour seminar (with free water!), we get in for the special price of $1000! Plus $30/month after the first six months. So I left.

But it's kind of exciting, being legit! Not only can I honestly tell people that I run my own business ("Thank goodness I don't have to put up with that noise - I work from home. Yeah, I run my own business. Yeah. You can touch me if you want. I said touch me, dammit!"), turns out I can afford a whole lot of things I couldn't before, simply because I can write it all off! Of course, again, I need to sit down and read all this literature to make certain that's right and in my best interest. Still, I knew a lot of what they said in that seminar yesterday, I just haven't put-forth much effort toward it in a few years and I am going to get back into it.

Anyway, plenty to get to today, so let's kick it all off with Marvel releases. We'll get to the rest throughout the day, as usual.

© C Harris Lynn, 2008