For some tax tips that work in your favor, check out my latest blog post for the Turbotax blog. It’s called When Work Pays Twice – Schedule M and the Making Work Pay Credit. Read the article and make sure you don’t pay a dime more than you have to!

I love The Office.

You: I thought you didn’t watch much TV?

I don’t.  But I do watch The Office. I think the writing is hysterical.  One of my favorite scenes from the show was when Jim temporarily works out of the Stamford branch. To mess with Dwight’s precious little head, he begins sending faxes to Dwight, written on Dwight’s stationery, all the while claiming that the faxes were actually from Dwight – from the future. (Here’s the clip.)

Never one to let a purely entertainig moment lose its potential educational value, I wrote a post demonstrating how this “future self” concept could dramatically help with the motivation problem most pepole have with saving for something that they won’t benefit from into the distant future.

Check out Love thy left pocket, Dwight Schrute style.

In recognizing

1. that the basic principles of personal finance do not change,
2. that most people reading this blog are relatively new readers, and
3. that I have many other commitments that force me to pare back the time I spend on this blog,

I am going to begin highlighting some of my most important previous blog entries.

Today, I’ll refresh your memory as to how to win the lottery.  Hint: you don’t even need to buy a ticket.

Hi there.  I’ll be taking a few days away from blogging here to celebrate Thanksgiving.  In the meantime, check out my blog over at About.com, including an opportunity to vote and comment on a good Thanksgiving conversation-starter:

How much do you need to retire?

I am taking my youngest daughter to see her grandparents and great-grandparents today.

You: Sounds like fun.

Let’s hope so.

You: Why aren’t you optimistic? You love family.

Sure do, but my girl is only 19 months and she’s going to be on my lap for a few hours. If she’s good, I’m good. If she’s not good, I’m the guy with “the baby.”  I’ll have a lot of toys, Cheerios, etc.  Wish me luck.

You: And?

And so I’m scrambling to get out of here.  As such, I thought it would be a good time to refer you to a post from way back, back when there were less people reading my blog in a month then there will be people on my connecting flight later today.

You: Was it that bad?

No, it was just lonely.  Still, there was some pretty good stuff back then (at least I thought so), so I’m glad to share it again with those who have arrived since then.  With that, I present:

Why Debt Sucks – Top 3 Reasons

I’m looking forward to Independence Day.  Its meaning never escapes me.  Since I moved to New Hampshire a few years ago, I’ve gone to the same celebration every year where some dignitary, from our mayor to our governor, reads the Declaration of Independence aloud.  Some 233 years later, it’s still powerful and moving prose.

While the words contained within the Declaration of Independence are focused on the political issues of that era, our founding fathers’ motivations were at least partially financial. After all, “no taxation without representation” arguable had more to do with economics than with voting rights.

As a country, we’re certainly still politically independent from the England, but, as individuals, are we truly financially independent?  After you read the Declaration of Independence, read ING DIRECT’s 10-point Declaration of Financial Independence.  It’s a great sanity check of how far you’ve come (or not).

Here are my favorite parts of the latter Declaration:

1.  We will spend less than we earn.

There is nothing more fundamental to turning your financial life around than living within your means. It is the very core of your ability to save.

6.  We will know the cost of borrowing.

You can’t go through your financial life blindly.  No one will ever care about, let alone look out for, your best interest as much as you can and should.  So you better pay attention to the important details of your financial life.  Nowhere is this more critical than when you choose to borrow. And, yes, a loan is a choice. Its true cost is readily available – if you know how to ask.

9.  We will remember what matters.

Balance, people.  Stay in balance.  Spend time, not money. Enjoy free stuff.  Live your life. Count your blessings and you’ll soon be counting your savings.

If you’re so moved, consider signing the Declaration of Financial Independence.  Compared to John Hancock, you’re risking a lot less, yet your upside is nearly as great.

What do you think of the ING DIRECT Declaration? Which points move you? Any you would add?

BTW, my first guest post at ING DIRECT’s relatively new We The Savers blog posted today. Check it out.

It’s Friday, so it’s time for this week’s reader-submitted Q & A. If you’d like to submit a question, click here for more information or simply email a question.

You: When should I use frequent flyer miles vs. paying for an airline ticket?

-Steven R., Milford, CT

Straightforward Answer:  If you can get more than two cents per mile redeemed, put away the credit card.

More Detailed Explanation

As USA Today reports, frequent travelers redeem more miles as recession lingers. That probably surprises no one.  With less cash around, miles look like some pretty attractive currency. But it still begs the question of when it’s a good idea to cash those miles in.

It all comes down to the value of a mile.

You: Math?

Yup, but it isn’t tough math.  Just division.  Say you’re contemplating a trip from Boston to Miami.  Summertime fares to Miami are, not surprisingly, lower than they are in the winter.  Say you could find a decent itinerary for $250.  Since it would cost 25,000 miles to get a free round trip ticket between Boston and Miami, you’d be redeeming the miles for $0.01 each if you went that route.

On the other hand, say you have hopes to go to Europe and the fare to go to London from your city is $800. It will cost 40,000 miles for the same ticket.  In this case, your choice to redeem miles means you’ll be exchanging them for $0.02 per mile.

You: That’s twice the value as the first exchange.

It is, making the miles for Europe trip a comparably shrewd decision vs. burning them for the jaunt to Miami.

You: So you do it?

If I was going somewhere and I could redeem at two cents per mile, I’d probably do it. I definitely would not at one cent per mile.

You: Do you do this calculation every time?

Usually, but not always.  Sometimes it’s not relevant.

You: When would it not be relevant to figure out the mileage redemption rate?

The airlines often restrict frequent flyer redemptions around Thanksgiving.  Therefore, we book way in advance (we’ve already had our November 2009 flights booked for several weeks) and get the best rate we can.  There’s no sense in dwelling over how many miles the flight translates into because I can’t use them anyway.

However, in all other cases when I am flying for personal reasons, I compare the price of paying cash and redeeming miles.  Because of the economy, flight prices are relatively inexpensive, so even when I planned to redeem, I have not always done so.

You: Really?

Yes. Earlier this year my family flew to a vacation in Puerto Rico.  We had plenty of frequent points at a hotel chain to stay for free for the entire duration.  Furthermore, I had planned on using airline miles to get there.  As such, our only expenses were going to be meals and entertainment.  Given that the hotel had a “kids eat free” promotion and my two daughters eat like thoroughbreds, I nearly convinced myself it was going to be cheaper to live in the hotel than in New Hampshire.

When I went to double-check the cost of the flights I was about to purchase using miles, I saw that, by changing my itinerary from a Friday-to-Friday trip to a Thursday-to-Thursday version, each ticket could be had for well under $300.  But the redemption was 35,000 per ticket, less than a penny a mile.

You: A bad deal.

So I kept my mileage.

You: Makes sense.  What else is there to consider?

A few things:

You Don’t Earn Miles On Free Tickets

Don’t forget that when you redeem mileage, you forgo the amount you’d otherwise earn by flying.  With short flights, this doesn’t change the math too much.  On longer ones, it’s a consideration.

For me, this came up a few years back when I was a platinum elite flyer and earned 125% bonus of miles flown on paid tickets. When my wife and I flew from Newark to Honolulu, the plan was to use points.  However, we only used points for my wife’s ticket, who had no airline status as my beloved grad student.  Her airfare was about $550.  A free ticket, I recall, was about 30,000 miles.  Not quite two cents a mile, but close enough.

But on my ticket, I’d not only be giving up 30,000 miles, but also the 22,500 miles I would have earned on the trip, since Hawaii is about 5,000 miles from New Jersey and I had the incredible bonus.  As such, my redemption rate would have been far lower, only about $0.01 per mile.  I passed.

Trying to Gain Elite Status?

If you’re trying to gain or preserve elite status, frequent flyer travel doesn’t help you do so.  My aforementioned trip to Hawaii really jump-started my mileage earning requirements for the next year. This is only relevant if you’re genuinely flying a lot.  Otherwise, don’t worry about it.

Do You Have Too Many Miles?

I may have too many miles right now, given the rate I accumulate them (fast) and my ability to use them (slow).  Because I travel frequently for business and have small children, my mileage balances are growing against my best efforts.  One could argue that when you accumulate a LOT of points, each subsequent mile is worth less than the one before it. I haven’t caved into that line of thinking as I aspire to be able to burn a bunch of them on an incredible trip when the kids get older, but if an airline or two goes out of business, I would be majorly disappointed.

How do you approach the spend money vs. use miles decision? How have you have changed your attitude in this matter recently?

I just received two copies of Grads: Take Charge of Your First Year After College by Kathryn Marion.   One’s a keepsake for me, since I wrote a small “bonus” chapter in the Money section of the book. But the other copy is a gift for you.

You: For me?

Maybe.

You: How do I find out if it’s for me?

Simple.  Include a question in the comments field below for Kathryn.  She’ll pick her favorite questions and answer them for you in a future post. In addition, she’ll randomly pick one questioner as the “winner” of the book.  She’s already autographed it for you.

Grads: Take Charge covers three main sections:

1. Your Career
2. Your Money
3. Your Life

As such, nearly any topic related to starting in the real world is fair game for Kathryn.  Again, Kathryn will write her guest post in a week or so to respond to your questions. So, get them in now and have a chance to win her book.

Some Grads Take: Charge “Clips”

The book is written for people with short attention spans (seemingly everyone these days) and a desire for actionable tips. Nearly the entire book is comprised of bullet points.  A couple of my favorites:

Don’t choose a dealership based on their convenient location.  This isn’t grocery shopping – the goal is to buy the right car from a reputable dealer at the best price.  If you have to drive to the edge of town to get a great deal, do it.”

Amen, Kathyrn. Several weeks ago, my wife and I drove more than an hour each way to pick up a car after negotiating the best price at that particular dealer.  We passed at least five other Honda dealers along the way to the “winner.”

Another good tip, from the “Job” section:

Don’t announce to your coworkers (or anyone else at the company) that you’re planning to leave.”

Couldn’t agree more. When you’ve resigned, fine. Until then, keep quiet. Kind of obvious in the down-market we have today, yet shocking to too many when jobs are plentiful.  I’ve personally seen this work out quite badly more than once.  You want the job transition to occur on your timetable. Once it’s well known you’re heading out the door, you just might be pushed.

What questions do you have for Kathryn?