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Lighting the first candle

November 14, 2006

One year ago today, I posted my first item on Don’t Mess With Taxes. Happy birthday blog!

Birthday_candle_no1_2_2
In my personal life I’ve long held that birthdays are just arbitrary demarcations of the random passage of time based on a capricious calendar. In other words, I’m older than I want to admit.

But since the blog is just a baby, I felt like I had to at least mention this milestone.

In the last 12 months, I’ve rambled on some tax and/or personal finance topic almost every day. In total, you’ll find 405 posts, more than 150 comments and a decent number of sites (most respectable) that link here.

I get enough page views to pull in some pocket money from the Google ads and a couple of folks have even ordered items from Amazon after clicking through one of those commercial links.

I have plans to expand and spruce up the site — add some features, revamp the look — as soon as the demands of "real" life take a tiny break!
Unfortunately, that might be later rather than sooner, since the 2006-07 tax season is about to hit high gear. Until then, I appreciate your patience as I periodically make minor tweaks.

Today, though, I want to celebrate having survived year one of blogging, first by thanking you all. I am grateful for your confidence in the site and I hope that now and then you find something that brightens your day and saves you a few bucks.

Most of all, I hope your continued visits mean you enjoy reading Don’t Mess With Taxes as much as I enjoy writing it.

Here’s to many more happy blogging returns!

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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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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.)

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