SO…I don’t watch many Wes Anderson films, and I don’t use an American Express card. But it’s still a fun commercial to see.

Happy Friday!

Last night President Barack Obama offered his first State of the Union Address. One of the main issues addressed in the speech was employment. The jobs situation remains precarious, and the President wants to show that he is listening to the concerns of the people. As a result, it is little surprise that he offered some plans to encourage increased job creation, including a plan for tax breaks for companies willing to hire more workers.

In addition to addressing employment, the President also stressed the need to develop alternative energy technologies. He also talked of education reform, health care reform and financial regulatory reform. He also made sure to take responsibility for his mistakes, as well as point out that some things couldn’t be avoided, and that there is still a ways to go.

In the end, it will be interesting see whether any of his ideas can be put into play. While the President does have some influence over the direction of some policies, the bottom line is that actual legislation is in the hands of others.

I recently received this question from a reader:

What form do you use to file your mileage usage?

This is a good question. When you are filing for business expenses (such as driving your car for your home business) you actually keep track of your mileage and report it on your tax form as a business expense (for a sole proprietorship, it goes on Schedule C). There is a worksheet in your instruction booklet that helps you figure your mileage.

If you have mileage related to working for someone else for your job, you keep track of it and you put it on Form 2106, which includes all employee business expenses that you might pay throughout the year. However, it is important to note that these must be expenses that have not been reimbursed to you by your employer.

For charity mileage, medical mileage, job hunting, educational and moving expenses, there are places you can deduct these on your form 1040, and some of them are deducted on Schedule A when you itemize. Before you deduct any mileage, though, you want to make sure that you have accurate records, in case you are flagged for an audit. You want to make sure that all mileage was only for the use you state. No personal mileage deductions. A tax professional can help you sort through everything if you have more questions, since I am not a tax professional.

It’s a new year, and if you are like most people, you thinking of how to improve your budget for 2010. For someone with a home business, budgeting is especially important. This is because you may not have a steady income each month. Some months you may make more than other months. As a result, budgeting becomes especially important. Here is a simple process that can help you budget for the new year:

1. Look at your total earnings for last year. Divide that by 12 to get a monthly average.

2. Look at your total expenses for last year. Divide that by 12 to get a feel for your monthly obligations.

3. Create a monthly budget based on your income and expenses.

4. On months when you actually make more than your average income, put the money in a high yield savings accounts.

5. On months when you fall short of the average income, you can use what you have saved up to make up the difference.

This process is easily done when you have personal finance software, or bookkeeping software. You can create a report that breaks it all down for you, including allowing you to see categories (entertainment, eating out, etc.) where you can cut back if necessary. If you don’t have personal finance software, you should consider getting some in order to more easily track your cash flow.

There are a number of work from home scams floating around out there, from the “Google Jobs” scam to different networking marketing scams. While there are some legitimate marketing scams, including MLM, it is important to note that you still need to be careful. You want to be careful to avoid scams that could turn your home business dream into a nightmakre.

Online Home Business Idea recommends that you take the following steps to avoid work from home network marketing scams:

* Research the company to make sure that it is established, and has a track record of several years. Check with the BBB for complaints.

* Look at the products being promoted. Are they useful? Would you want to buy the products? Be wary of products that offer some sort of “miracle”, “cure”, or “amazing money making potential”.

* Check with others who have done this, probing them for how they make their money, and proof that they are earning well.

You can never be 100% sure that something will work out. But you do need to be careful. Do your homework, and if something doesn’t feel right, or if it seems too good to be true, stay away.

I loved this great E*Trade commercial featuring the baby reminding his buddy that the lottery doesn’t constitute a solid retirement plan.

Happy Friday!

One of the hardest things about working from home is the fact that there are so many distractions. And, of course, no matter where you work, your computer is an endless source of distractions. You can help cut down on distractions when working from home if you try to have a set time to work (preferably when the kids are at school or down for a nap), and by having a dedicated space for your home office.

But what can you do about distractions on your computer? Freelance Folder offers some insight into freelance writing tools that can help you increase your productivity, many of them by making adjustments to your screen so that you can only see what you are typing, or that limits you to accessing one application at a time.

1. WriteMonkey (Windows)
2. WriteRoom (Mac)
3. Dark Room (Windows)
4. Think (Mac)

You can also use something called RescueTime that tracks the type of web browsing that you do, logging your visits and helping you pinpoint the biggest time wasters. Then you can focus for a certain amount of time, while RescueTime blocks out the distracting sites.

These are interesting productivity tools, and they can help your reduce distractions and get more done.

The mess surrounding the heath care “reform” debate continues. Republicans received good news with the win in Massachusetts by Scott Brown, who will fill the Senate seat vacated by the late Edward Kennedy. This changes things up a bit, and may force some serious looking at the current reform bill that the Senate has put forward. It differs on some very key points from the bill passed by the House, so the two chambers are trying to reconcile the differences. One of the big differences is an excise tax on health insurance benefits.

Here is what the New York Times reports about a possible excise tax:

The excise tax, as written in the Senate version of the health care bill, would impose a 40 percent charge on the value of health benefits above $8,500 for individual policies and $23,000 for family policies, with higher thresholds for certain high-risk jobs, some retirees and certain telecommunications workers. There would also be a higher threshold in certain states with high health care costs.

For those who pay for their insurance as self-employed folks, this tax probably won’t have a big impact. If your home business is mostly a side business, though, and you get your insurance through another job, you might find yourself staring at an excise tax if your health insurance benefits are valuable enough.

When you have a home business, it can be very helpful to have a blog. This can serve as a way to draw traffic, and to help you build a loyal community. Easton at Visionary Blogging offers some helpful hints on improving your blog community:

1. Create something worthy of interest: Have good content, a good product or some other draw. You want your community to be interested in, well, becoming your blog community.

2. Get people to use your blog: Invite people to stop by. This includes asking friends to “fan” your home business blog’s page on Facebook, among other things.

3. Ask people to share: You can ask your followers and current community to share your blog with others.

4. Reward: There needs to be some sort of reward, from praise to freebies to some other sort of kudos, you need to let your blog community know that you appreciate them.

For a home business, it is important to get “out there” in cyberspace, reaching customers. And one of the best ways to do this is through search. When you think of search, though, chances are you come up with the big guys: Google and Yahoo. These outlets can be expensive, especially as you struggle to recover from the recent recession.

One way you can still take advantage of search advertising online is to go to alternative search engines like eZanga.com and advertise. You can save between 30% and 50% over Google and Yahoo in some cases. Here is what eZanga points out on its web site:

Our innovative and proprietary technologies push the limit of Meta search technology by retrieving search results from multiple search engines, we then re-rank and display the most relevant results without duplication. We also provide online advertisers with local, regional, and national advertising focused on generating high Return on Investment (ROI).

It’s an interesting option for the home business that is looking to keep up with online advertising, but doesn’t yet have the resources to pay the big bucks.

No, FCC, I am not being paid to shill for eZanga.com.