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What a wonderful financial weekend

October 3, 2011

I'm slowly settling back into my routine after a jam-packed weekend in suburban Chicago with hundreds of other personal finance bloggers.

Financialblogger125 Not to sound all NASCAR-y, but thanks to all the corporate sponsors who supported the inaugural gathering. Their underwriting helped all us financial types follow our own money advice and be able to afford to participate. Please check them out at the Financial Blogger Conference home page.

Thanks to all the great speakers. We all gave up a weekend to get together, but you guys and gals actually worked while the rest of us got to sit back and absorb your wisdom. We really, really appreciated it.

Very special thanks to PT Money who not only came up with the Financial Blogger Conference idea but actually made it happen. Wait, he didn't just make it happen: He nailed it!

He'll tell you had lots of help (and he did), but we all know that nothing happens without a leader's vision and inspiration and that's what Philip Taylor brought plenty of this weekend and well before. Kudos sir.

Plutus_Award_2011 Thanks to Flexo of Consumerism Commentary for also doing a ton of work on the Second Annual Plutus Awards. This year the awards, which are designed to celebrate the best in the financial blogging and products worlds, were part of the Financial Blogger Conference.

For the second year, the ol' blog was a finalist and I'm not being coy when I say it truly is an honor just to be considered by my peers and readers as worthy of recognition. I was truly surprised and very honored on Saturday night when Don't Mess With Taxes was announced as the Best Tax Blog. Yes, we got trophies!

Which brings me to my final thanks, to you, the readers. You're why I write the blog and your support by visiting the blog every day, not to mention by voting for me in the Plutus Awards, is truly humbling and gratifying.

So thank you, thank you, thank you.

My pledge to you, heeding the words of the Financial Blogger Conference speakers, is that I will do even better in getting you the tax info, alerts, insight, advice and occasional tax laughs that you want and deserve.

And on that note, it's back to work!

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The More Tax Posts tab at the top of this page will take you to, well, more tax posts. You also can search below for a tax topic. 

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TAX-SAVVY WAYS 
TO WRAP UP 2026

It’s over! With October’s extended filing deadline behind us, it is now time to focus on year-end moves to reduce your 2026 tax bill. 

You’ll find ways to do just that on the Tax Tips page (see the More Tax Posts drop-down menu at the top of the blog), as well as the separate tax tip pages for each month, notably October through December. If you’re on the Tax Tips page, you’ll find a monthly list at the end of this column. If you’re on another blog page, you can head straight to the October tips; at the bottom of that tips page you’ll find links to all the other 11 months’ collections of tax advice.

Not to spoil what you’ll find in that tax advice, but it does cover such things as tax deductions for charitable donations, investment moves that could reduce tax due, and ways to max out your tax-favored retirement savings. 

Finally, as the year winds down, things get hectic. There are lots of other things to occupy our time, like the much more fun upcoming holidays. But don’t lose sight of taxes, since timing is key. To be of use, most tax moves must be made by the end of the tax year. That’s Thursday, Dec. 31, which also is the last business day of the year. 

So that you don’t miss that final tax year deadline, also keep an eye on the countdown clock below. It will keep you on top of just how much time is left to make important, tax-saving moves. (Note: I’m in the Central Time Zone, so adjust accordingly for where you live.)

Credits/Deductions
Disasters
Family
Filing and Paying Taxes
Politics/Laws
Refunds
State Taxes
Tax Brackets/Inflation
Tax Tips
Comments
  • Revanche
    15 years ago Reply

    Congrats, Kay!
    Glad y’all had a great time, it was fun following along from afar watching all the #FINCON11 tweets 🙂

  • Glen Craig
    15 years ago Reply

    The Plutus award is well-deserved. Yours is a site that’s been at the vanguard of tax blogging for years.
    It was great to meet you and talk to you for a bit.

  • Janine L
    15 years ago Reply

    Congratulations on your win. I enjoy reading your blog daily.

  • Peter
    15 years ago Reply

    Congrats on your win, it was truly deserved as you are THE top tax blog in my reader. 🙂
    It was also great to meet you finally on that final day after you were tweeting in the last session about seeing the back of my head up front. Hopefully next time we’ll have more of a chance to chat!

  • Khaleef
    15 years ago Reply

    My wife and I had a wonderful time at the conference. It was great meeting you, since I am a HUGE fan of your writing!
    You definitely deserved that Plutus award.

  • steve@best saving money
    15 years ago Reply

    It is also ideal to meet at the far end of the day after the last session on Twitter to see from the beginning of my head. We hope the next time we will have more opportunities to talk!

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