February 2009 Magazine

It seems that 2008 came and went with the blink of an eye - in all honesty I feel like it's suddenly 2009! With much talk of economic issues that affect us all; downsizing, lay off's and cut backs I can't possibly be the only one who is feeling a little out of sorts... and even more so because tax season is just around the corner - again! It feels as though we were just discussing RRSP's and tax savings a few weeks ago.

But no matter how fast time seems to fly or how much negative talk there might be there are ways of viewing life from a brighter perspective.

Take a moment to close your eyes and Imagine yourself in a peaceful place, that happy place that is so much fun to escape to. Spend a moment registering the great feeling you have when you think of this and then slowly open your eyes.... the feeling is still there! It lives in you and simply going to that emotion when things are challenging is one of the best things you can do for yourself, on an emotional level.

The next best thing you can do is determine how you can start moving forward in your day-to-day life so that you can stretch that feeling into minutes and then hours in each day.

Let's start removing the things that burden you and let's work towards creating a more peaceful way of life for you. Whether it's organizing your personal space, your professional space or getting your taxes together a little earlier this year the choice is simple and we help make the work easy.

I love Tax Time.... how about you?

It's that time of year to get the documents out of your filing cabinet, prep your tax information, and archive all of last years paper work. If you're not feeling 'that lovin' feeling' then we have created 5 simple steps to help you simplify this seemingly huge task which will make it feel much easier to start .... and far easier to finish.

1. Supplies:

Marker, Hanging folders, Sub folders (my suggestion is stick to one colour until your filing system is fully functional), Tabs and

Bankers Boxe(s).

2. Allocate the Time

Block off 2 hours in your calendar for annual transitioning. This is cleaning out last year's files and inserting this years. However, if this is your first time archiving allocate 3-4 hours for completion.

3. File Everything
Be sure that all your paper work is filed away in the appropriate folder(s) and kept organized. Remember! you may need to access it later on!

4. Keep Your Life Easy

Hanging File folders should have a clearly labelled Tab. Each Sub Folder should have the same file name, and year, written on it. This makes life easy and saves you tons of time at the end of each year because you can pull out the sub folder to review the documents inside. Come year end you simply pull out the sub folder and put in a new one with the same name and with the new year written on it.

5. Titles Made Easy

Common headings for personal and/or business expenses include: Auto, Dues and Subscriptions, Communications (land line, cellular, & internet ) Meals and Entertainment, Office Supplies, Professional Services, Tax Receipts, and Utilities. Just remember to keep like items grouped together; expenses then receivables, bank docs, contracts, GST, PST, etc.