Home renovation tax credit

This year, and this year only, there is a special credit available to people that are planning to perform some home renovations. Now, since we are at a point in time where you probably haven't got everything together for your 2008 return, I thought it would be a good opportunity to start planning for the 2009 tax year. I feel that this is a good time to maybe suggest what you do with your 2008 refund (if you get one), since you probably haven't received it yet.

There is a temporary credit available for eligible expenditures on home renovation projects. These projects must fall in the period of January 27, 2009 and February 1, 2010. Now is the time to start planning some painting, kitchen re-modelling, etc. There are numerous items that you may be thinking of, so you should take advantage now. This can lead to many benefits. First, you save on your taxes in 2009. Secondly, if you are thinking of selling your home in the near future, this should increase the value of your home. You may wish to discuss with your real estate agent what renovation projects will be most beneficial (or you can ask me).

The government has introduced this piece in the last budget as a stimulus item that will help our economy. It is up to you to take advantage of it. The credit is a one time deal, so be sure that you find out what information you need before proceeding. You may wish to find out which expenses are eligible, and which expenses are not.

More information can be found here.

Room for rent

I have a room for rent. $500 gets you everything you need. Cable and high-speed internet are included. The only catch is that the room is a little bit drafty, but I will buy you a space heater to ensure your comfort. The room is on the ground floor behind the kitchen. There are 3 guys currently living in the house.

Now, if I don't get to rent the room, I might consider some other options in the future. I'd like to make it an office at some point. I think the rooms is better served as an office than a bedroom. That being said, I like money and having two mortgages becomes a lot more affordable when someone is living in the room.

The only other option that I forsee is to create a bedroom in the basement. That way, the room will not be so drafty and that I will be able to collect some more rent money. In fact, I may consider doing some insulating work in the spring if I can muster up enough money.

2 new roomies

I've finally got a full house. Unfortunately, not in the Mary-Kate and Ashley Olson kind of way. All of the rooms in my house have been spoken for. I originally had wanted to have 2 girls move in so that the house has a better chance to remain clean, but I decided to go with a friend of a friend instead.

Both people moving in appear to be mature, and hopefully respectful to my property. I'm going month to month with them as I need to be sure that I will get along and not necessarily committed to them for a whole year. There is one guy and one girl moving in. The girl is moving in this week, while the guy, next month.

I could have had another girl move in, but there was some comfort issues. First, I was supposed to meet her one night to show her the house. After 30 minutes, I decided that I would leave the house and go to the gym because she hadn't shown up yet. Graham, my roommate, happend to be home when she finally showed up and showed her the house. Graham tried to engage in conversation with the girl and was unable to do so. She then emailed me to tell me that she would take the place. I wasn't comfortable with this so I asked my new roommates to accept the rooms quickly. I feel a lot better now.

With two more people moving in, this means another $1000 a month coming my way. This is huge in terms of speeding up the renovations. I'm very excited. I'll probably end up getting some new furniture first though. The seating arrangements in the living room are not quite where I want them to be.