How to save some money on property taxes.

This may seem a little off message but one of the biggest problems we face when our lives change is financial. Most of us, whether retiring or changing jobs, experience a little less income every month, at least for a while. Therefore anything that can be done to save money should be.

 In Galveston County, Texas where I live we have a very enlightened and compassionate County Tax Assessor-Collector named Cheryl Johnson. Her job is to maximize revenues for the county but she is very realistic and is aware of the economic climate (and it's not warming.) Therefore for the last several years she has encouraged and helped residents to protest the value of their property. Here is her letter and the dates to attend these classes to learn how to effectively protest appraised values. You seldom find a tax collector with a heart so take advantage of this opportunity:

Cheryl E. Johnson, R.T.A.

Galveston County Tax Assessor/Collector

722 Moody Avenue

Galveston, TX 77553

409.766.2284· 409.766.2260

Avoid Costly Penalties for 2011 Taxes and Save the Dates to Lower the 2012 Tax Bill!

Following the tradition of the last seven years, the Galveston and League City branches of the Galveston County Tax Office (GCTO) will be open from 7 am to 6 pm, Tuesday, January 31^st, the last day to pay 2011 taxes without penalty and interest. The Santa Fe and Texas City Tax Office branches will be open normal operation hours of 8 am to 5 pm.

"It it not unusual for us to have four to five thousand property tax customers each day at the end of January joining the 27,000 vehicle registration renewal customers, " warned County Tax Assessor Collector Cheryl E. Johnson. As in the past, central office administrators and temporary staff support are being dispatched to all offices during the last two weeks of January to assist with the long lines.

Postmarks are critical when mailing property tax payments. To insure a postmark that will prevent tax penalties, obtain a postmark validation from your local Post Office. In addition to mailing your payment, GCTO accepts over-the-counter credit and debit cards along with online payment options (www.galcotax.com ). A $1 fee is charged for electronic check payment and 2.5% for credit card transactions. These charges are typically absorbed by local merchants but government offices may not pay these fees thus they are charged back to our customers. Those without internet access may remit payment using a credit card by calling Pay Connexion at 1-866-865-1433 (English) or 1-866-865-1435 (Spanish). Placing a payment in one of the Tax Office drop boxes located outside each building is also a good option. All payments left in the box January 31^st will be posted as timely payments February 1^st.

"If your taxes are too high, it is likely because you missed the opportunity to protest your value last year and, unless there is an error on your account, it is too late to change that now," stated Johnson. We do have a solution for 2012, however. Classes will be taught by Johnson throughout the County beginning in April on how to "Effectively Protest Your Appraised Value." Techniques--not tricks--are the key along with a thorough understanding of the process. Classes are free, begin at 6 pm and generally run just under two hours.

Date Location

4/9/12 Galveston County Courthouse, 722 Moody (21st St.), Commissioners Courtroom

4/18/12 Tiki Island Public Safety Bldg. (room over Fire Station), Tiki Drive, Tiki Island

4/23/12 Village on the Park, FM 528 near FM 518, Friendswood

4/30/12 Community Room, North County Annex, 174 Calder, League City

5/9/12 Jimmy Walker Community Center, 800 Harris Avenue, Kemah

5/14/12 Railroad Museum, 218 FM 517 W, Dickinson

5/16/12 Mid-County Annex, EF Lowry Expressway, Texas City

Find Satisfaction by Finding your Passion

If you could do one thing to transform your life, I would highly recommend it be to find something you’re passionate about, and do it for a living.

Now, this isn’t as easy as it sounds, but it’s well worth the effort. If you dread going to your job, or find yourself constantly lacking motivation, or find what you’re doing dull and repetitive, you need to start looking for a new job. Staying in your current job will not only continue to make you unhappy, but you are not realizing your full potential in life.

Imagine this instead: you get up early, jumping out of bed, excited to go to work. You might put in more hours than the average person, but it doesn’t seem difficult to you, because your work hours just zoom right by. You are often in that state of mind often referred to as “flow,” where you can lose track of the world and time, losing yourself in the task at hand. Work is not work as many people refer to it, but something that is fun and interesting and exciting. It’s not a “job” but a passion.

If you’ve got a job you dislike, or even hate, this will sound like a pipe dream to you. And if you never put in the effort to find what you’re passionate about, you’re right: such a thing will never be possible. But dare to dream, dare to imagine the possibilities, and dare to actually search for what you love, and it is not only a possibility, but a probability.

How can you find what you’re passionate about? Here are some suggestions:

• Is there something you already love doing? Do you have a hobby, or something you loved doing as a child, but never considered it as a possibility? Whether it’s reading comic books, collecting something, making something, creating or building, there is probably a way you could do it for a living. Open a comic book shop, or create a comic book site online. If there’s already something you love doing, you’re ahead of the game. Now you just need to research the possibilities of making money from it.
• What do you spend hours reading about? For myself, when I get passionate about something, I’ll read about it for hours on end. I’ll buy books and magazines. I’ll spend days on the Internet finding out more. There may be a few possibilities here for you … and all of them are possible career paths. Don’t close your mind to these topics. Look into them.
• Brainstorm. Nothing comes to mind right away? Well, get out a sheet of paper, and start writing down ideas. Anything that comes to mind, write it down. Look around your house, on your computer, on your bookshelf, for inspirations, and just write them down. There are no bad ideas at this stage. Write everything down, and evaluate them later.
• Ask around, and surf for possibilities. Ask other people for ideas. See what others have discovered as their passions. Look all over the Internet for ideas. The more possibilities you find, the more likely your chances of finding your true passion.
• Don’t quit your job just yet. If you find your calling, your passion, don’t just turn in your resignation tomorrow. It’s best to stay in your job while you’re researching the possibilities. If you can do your passion as a side job, and build up the income for a few months or a year, that’s even better. It gives you a chance to build up some savings (and if you’re going into business for yourself, you’ll need that cash reserve), while practicing the skills you need. See below for more.
• Give it a try first. It’s best to actually test your new idea before jumping into it as a career. Do it as a hobby or side job at first, so that you can see if it’s really your true calling. You may be passionate about it for a few days, but where the rubber meets the road is whether you’re passionate about it for at least a few months. If you pass this test, you have probably found it.
• Do as much research as possible. Know as much about your passion as possible. If this has been a passion for awhile, you may have already been doing this. At any rate, do even more research. Read every website possible on the topic, and buy the best books available. Find other people, either in your area or on the Internet, who do what you want to do for a living, and quiz them about the profession. How much do they make? What training and education did they need? What skills are necessary? How did they get their start? What recommendations do they have. Often you’ll find that people are more than willing to give advice.
• Practice, and practice, and practice some more. Don’t go into it with amateur skill level. If you want to make money — to be a professional — you need to have professional skills. Get very good at your future career and you will make money at it. Practice for hours on end. If it’s something you love, the practice should be something you want to do.
• Never quit trying. Can’t find your passion at first? Give up after a few days and you’re sure to fail. Keep trying, for months on end if necessary, and you’ll find it eventually. Thought you found your passion but you got tired of it? No problem! Start over again and find a new passion. There may be more than one passion in your lifetime, so explore all the possibilities. Found your passion but haven’t been successful making a living at it? Don’t give up. Keep trying, and try again, until you succeed. Success doesn’t come easy, so giving up early is a sure way to fail. Keep trying, and you’ll get there.

What I’ve outlined here is a lot of work … but it will be the best investment you’ve ever made. Follow your passion, and you will be truly happy and incredibly fulfilled. I wish you the wildest successes of your wildest dreams!

Leo Babauta is a writer, a marathoner, an early riser, a vegan, and a father of six. He blogs regularly about achieving goals through daily habits on Zen Habits, and covers such topics as productivity, GTD, simplifying, frugality, parenting, happiness, motivation, exercise, eating healthy and more.

"IT'S NEVER TOO LATE TO START SOMETHING GREAT."

For Success in the New Year, Resolve to set Goals

"In the absence of clearly defined goals, we become strangely loyal to performing daily acts of trivia." (Does the term email come to mind?)
Author Unknown

If you only make one New Years Resolution, make it to set personal goals and write them down. I don't know what is so magic about doing so but having personally done it and having not done it, I can attest that writing out your goals makes you more likely to achieve them. Your goals can and should include all the normal resolutions you would make but by writing them down, printing them out and taping them to your bathroom mirror to recite daily, you will be less likely to break those resolutions. There is some subconscious force that's generated to keep you pointing toward your desired ends.

What you are really trying to do is not just follow some list of resolutions that are annually made and broken, but to create a system that will enable and empower you to make permanent changes in your lifestyle. You don't want to lose 10 pounds only to gain it back or to stop smoking for a month, you want to make this an ongoing part of your new life.

How do you go about setting goals? It is really not difficult but for some reason people tend to avoid doing it, even when they know they should. So the first rule for setting goals is:

SET THEM - getting started writing goals for some people is like an exercie program. The first step is the most difficult, then it just coasts along. So as soon as you finish this newsletter and before you look at the rest of your email, find a pad and pen and start writing.

WHAT ARE YOUR GOALS? What do you want to accomplish in the next few weeks, few months or year. Do you have a health, weight or fitness goal. If it is not specific for the long term, at least create a short term objective. Lose 10 pounds by February 1. Start some kind of exercise program even if it is just walking around the block. If you have not exercised in a while, make it easy on yourself and just go for 10 minutes. Add a minute every other day until you reach 30 minutes which you will do with no strain by the end of the month.

READ THE GOALS ALOUD EACH DAY affirmations or sel-talk is another proven method for achieving success. Simply by repeating a statement each day and believing it, you will start accomplishing it in a short time.

To be most effective, your goals should be SPECIFIC - MEASURABLE - ACHIEVABLE - RELEVANT & have a TIME FACTOR, a period in which to achieve your goal.

Goal setting is a powerful way of motivating people, and of motivating yourself. The value of goal setting is so well recognized that entire management systems, like Management by Objectives, have goal setting basics incorporated within them.

In fact, goal setting theory is generally accepted as among the most valid and useful motivation theories in industrial and organizational psychology, human resource management, and organizational behavior.

Use clear, challenging goals, and commit yourself to achieving them. Provide feedback on goal performance. Take into consideration the complexity of the task. If you follow these simple rules, your goal setting process will be much more successful, and your overall performance will improve.

"IT'S NEVER TOO LATE TO START SOMETHING GREAT"

and goal setting is a great way to start something great.

                                                                                              Gene Rutt