Payday Loans Blog

If you are looking for something to do during St. Patrick's day and you are going to be in Boise Idaho you should stop by the St. Patrick's Day Block Party. 

The China Blue will be hosting the event and is one of Boise's biggest and best dance clubs.  The dj's at this club spin Top 40, hip-hop and dance music. 

Tomorrow the St. Patrick's Day Block Party will begin at 8:00pm.  China Blue is not the only dance club/bar that will be participating in this event.  Dirty Little Roddy's and Main  Street Bistro will also be participating. All three of these bars are smoke free.

All night long there will be green beer being served for only $2.  All other drinks will only be $3. 

There will be a lot of DJ's there as well.  DJ Zuz will be preforming on the main floor of the China Blue, DJ Shaky will be in the ElectroLounge at China Blue, DJ MJ will be spinning in Roddy's and DJ BJ will be at The Bistro.

Prizes and giveaways will be handed out all night.  If you want a table you should call ahead of time but you can just show up at the door and pay a $10 fee for an all access pass to the three bars. 

Instead of carrying cash around and worrying about losing it all night, stop by any Check City location tonight and get set up with our netSpend Prepaid Debit Cards. You will be able to pay for your drinks and celebrate St. Patrick's day worry free!

You only have about 17 days left to get your bills paid through the radio station 97.1 ZHT.  If you haven't heard about the special deal going on to get your bills paid, read on. Check City is currently partnered with the radio station 97.1 ZHT to help Utah customers in need pay their bills.  You must send in a copy of the bill you want paid to ZHT by postal mail, e-mail or fax and you will have the chance 5 times a day to get your bills paid.  Listen daily to 97.1 ZHT at 7:10 and 9:10am, and 1:10, 4:10 and 6:10pm for your name to be called as a winner. If you hear your name, you have only 30 minutes to call in and redeem your free bill pay.

Sending in your bills is easy, but please only use one of the following methods.

• Fax- (801)908-1561
• Mail/Drop Off- ZHT Studios/ Pay Your Bills c/o 971 ZHT 2801 S. Decker Lake Drive, Salt Lake City, UT 84119
• E-mail- Attach the bill and email it through http://www.971zht.com/main.html
• Phone Number- To Redeem- (801) 470/570/670-1971

This contest ends April 1, 2010 so hurry and send your bills in so that you can take advantage of the great opportunity to save yourself some money. There are a few Official Rules that need to be followed when submitting your bills.

1. You must be a ZHT VIP. You may join for free at ZHT.com.
2. Your account number must be completely blacked out and no original copies of the bills will be accepted.
3. You must be 18 years old to enter.
4. Prizes (payment) will not exceed $500.

Check City offers other great ways for you to save on your bills. With our Insurance Program you can save on all types of insurance, from RV to Life.  We also offer Mortgages to our Utah customers which you can read more about by visiting today's blog post about Demystifying your Mortgage. We have a number of other services to help you out no matter what your situation, visit Check City online or come into one of our Store Locations to learn how we can help you with your finances today.

There is a common misconception when filing taxes that could lead to confusion and frustration.  This commonly held misconception is that filing your taxes under a different status will decrese the taxes you owe and in some cases increase your return or tax credits.  In some cases, this may be the case, but in most it is a maybe at the most. There are special exceptions, as with every rule, but in general it is very difficult to get special tax cuts or refunds by simply changing your filing status.  Taxpayers in other countries often don't have this problem becuase other countries allow everyone to file with a single status.

Special breaks may apply to:

• Single parents
• Those supporting an elderly parent or relative

However if one of the following situations applies to you, you may want to follow the following suggestions:

• If you are in the process of a divorce, file jointly for as long as you possibly can

There are five separate filing statuses you can use when filing in the United States and each one has separate benefits. Number crunching may be needed in order to determine which status is best for you to file.

1. Single: Filers reap benefits of inconsistencies in rates and deductions. The single filer can get more than half of what couples get. Single filers can also deduct the same amount of capital losses, at up to $3,000, and charitable donations also favor the single filer.
2. Married- Filing Jointly: Married status by federal regulations should only be between a man and woman, but special state regulations in California allow some domestic partners to file a joint state return. Marital status is determined by December 31, so delaying your marriage until the beginning of the new year, can significantally decrease the amount of taxes you have to pay for the year.
3. Married- Filing Separate: Compared with filing jointly, this status may cause a net loss.  Instead of treating each married partner, as a single, separate filer in this case, the system treats the couple as a split file which not only divides the benefits, but the credits and deductions as well, causing most couples to lose money. Couples must also either both itemize deductions, or both take the standard when filing separately.
4. Qualifying Widower: A qualifying widower is for those who don't remarry after a spouse died within the two years previous to the year of the tax filing. The windower also must be supporting a child, stepchild or adopted child for the entire year. This taxpayer often gets the best treatment of all of the status filers.
5. Head of Household: Head of household filing status applies to singles who provide over half of someone else's support. This dependent is usually a child, elderly parent, or another elderly relative. The income allowed for this bracket is usually higher than for those filing singly or jointly. The dependent however, must live with the head of household for at least half of the year, unless the dependent is a child.

File separately if one of the following situations applies to you, as it could yield a lower net tax.

• If you or your partner has large medical expenses or
• If there is a large casualty loss on property that isn't jointly owned
• If you suspect your spouse of being a tax cheat

These are just a few suggestions to help you get the most out of your taxes and to understand which status you should file for 2009. Check City offers great discounts on Tax Services. You can download a Tax Preparation coupon that can save you up to 50% on your Tax Preparation Services for the 2009 year.  Our tax professionals have been working in the financial services industry for over 20 years and are ready to help you with all of your Tax Preparation issues.  Check City has great rates,  on all of our Tax Preparation Services and we can help you get the most out of your tax credits and refunds.

I recently just discovered for myself just how fun it is to be a dual state resident and only work and therefore pay in taxes during the year, in one of those states. I recently became a dual citizen of Utah and Indiana. I still have a permanent address in Indiana but my primary state of residency is Utah, and therefore even though I only worked in Utah during 2009 I still have to pay taxes for Indiana because it is the location of my permanent address. So, you may want to consider this when doing your taxes, or you may get hit for not paying your taxes of your resident state and get a little check up phone call from the IRS.

How does dual taxing work?

Well, when you are a non-working resident of a state. You are not paying any taxes from your income to that state in which you are a resident. So, when it comes time to pay your taxes you have to pay everything that would normally be coming out of your income taxes on a monthly basis, because you have not yet paid any taxes to that state. 

In addition you must also pay, if you owe any, federal and state income taxes for the state in which you did make all your money for the year. If you are lucky you might have worked in both states and then your taxes owed will be reduced in both states.

Wrapping your head around where our tax money goes is almost as difficult as figuring out what your required to pay or get back and why.  If your finding that Tax Preparation is a pain,  Lightning Tax Services from Check City offers you professional help at a reasonable price.  We have worked providing Tax Preparation Services for over 20 years and are here to help, making the process easy, as it should be. Visit one of our many Store Locations to get help with your taxes.  We can help you online as well, for more information visit our Tax Services Page today to get started. 

Are leprechauns invading your home? Are your children coming home begging to make a leprechaun trap to find out what they are really all about? Do they keep asking you when the leprechauns are coming and what will happen this year? In this blog I have included a link to some great ideas for making your own Leprechaun trap and some legends of the leprechauns so that you know exactly how they operate, making them easier to catch of course. 

The Legend of the Leprechaun:

Leprechauns are tricky little guys, and legend has it that they remain in their hide aways until the night before St. Patrick's Day, March 16th.  That night, they come out and dance and celebrate all night, for just one night, leaving mischeif and messes as they go.  Legends also say that if these leprechauns run across an empty treasure chest, they must fill it, but then they can hide it anywhere they want.  If the treasure is found on St. Patrick's Day then it can stay in our world, but if not, the leprechauns take it back with them and the treasure remains theirs. Even though these leprechauns are sneaking little creatures, you may be surprised to find that they often leave behind them a trail of green, so it may be easier to find the treasure than you think.  

You can help your children make a treasure chest from an old box or shoe box and then when they are fast asleep a night on the 16th, leave it in the moonlight and let the leprechauns fill it up.  They may leave false trails to the treasure in the morning though, so be extra careful to find the right one.  

Here is a link to the Familyfun.com website where you can find some tricky leprechaun catching ideas, sure to dazzle your kids and maybe even catch them a leprechaun or two. You could even make some goodies to go along with your trap so they are sure to be lured in, such as a pot of fools gold, in the form of yellow jello. They will eat it all up, and you may catch yourself a leprechaun. 

Do you have a pot of gold right now that you wish you could turn into green? Bring your unwanted scrap gold, silver and platinum items into one of our many Check City Locations and we will give you cash. With our new Gold Buying Program and Page of Frequently Asked Questions about buying gold, we have all the questions already answered for you.  And, because we deal locally we can give you more money for your gold.  Visit a Check City Location near your or send your unwanted precious metals items to us in our old Pack, which can be found on our Gold Buying Page at Check City Online to get your money today. 

Whether you have Irish roots or you just love the idea that the little green wearing men with fiery red hair and good luck charms really do exist, here are some great ideas for throwing an awesome St. Patrick's Day Party; right down to the green drinks. If parties aren't really your thing, try bringing back the child in you by helping your children believe in the little guys.  These are some great ways to get your children thinking about, exploring and eager to learn about the world around them.

Lets start with the party ideas:

1. Redecorate that Christmas wreath with clovers and greens to make it look like it belongs to St. Patrick himself.
2. Use a green runner down your table to create a green atmosphere.
3. Add green food coloring to whatever drink or other things you decide to serve. You can turn anything and everything from water, to punch (with a little extra work), to beer green.
4. For foods, you can make green frosting, add green to cupcake or cookie mixes; Go to town! You can even go a little farther and layer your cupcakes with different colors, creating a rainbow effect.
5. Yellow jello can create a pot of gold.
6. With a little work, green peppers can be shaped into shamrocks.
7. Just think green and the ideas will come.

Here are some fun ideas to surprise your children the morning of St. Patrick's Day.

1. This first trick is sure to dazzle not only your children, but their friends, and if you are lucky, maybe even your party guests.  You can use Fizzy tablets, also called True Color tablets in your faucets around the house to turn the water coming out of your faucet green.  Be careful not to buy easter egg dye tablets because they will stain. Using this little trick, you can turn the water in every faucet in your house green. (The end piece usually can be removed from the faucet allowing you to place the color tabs inside.)  There is also food coloring for the water cups, or toilet bowls if you'd like.
2. While you are at it, buy some extra food coloring and a few white carnations.  Add the green food coloring to the water they are in, and see what happens. (They should turn green.)
3. Help your child create a leprechaun trap, but make sure they know leprechaun's are sneaky and almost always get away.

Check City has a special offer for you if you are running a little low on green.  Bring in your gold from the end of the rainbow and we will trade that gold for some green.  With Check City's Gold Buying Program we can take all of that Gold left after years of leprechaun visits and turn it into cash for you.  Visit CheckCity.com or one of our many Conveniently Located Stores to start trading in your Gold today. We also take your Silver and Platinum items and because we deal locally, we are prepared to offer you twice as much as other Gold Buying Companies. Visit Check City today to get started.