Unlike Christmas or Halloween, Tax Day won’t make the top ten list of anyone’s favorite holidays. Many people grumble and groan at it. Some even turn out to protest it. If you’ve been putting off filing your taxes, you’re not alone. As many as one in three taxpayers wait until the last two weeks of the season to file their taxes.

There are many reasons not to be one of these people.

If your return is more complex than you thought, you might need forms or documents that won’t arrive in time, especially if they must be mailed. Don’t expect institutions like banks, brokerages, or legal offices to expedite documents just because you have a deadline. Plan ahead and save the stress.

Do you have everything you need? The quickest way to make a mistake is to rush through the process in the frantic last hours before tax time. It will increase the chance of an IRS or state audit, so instead of being done for the year, you may be dealing with some not so nice letters.

Identify theft is another reason to file earlier. Once you file your taxes, your Social Security number can’t be used by anyone else. Yes, it can and does happen, leaving you to explain to the IRS why everything on your return is wrong. 

Not only do you have to file by the due date, any payments due also need to be sent by that deadline. The balance due may be more than you thought, leaving you little to no time to come up with the money. The sooner you file, the sooner you know the damage and the sooner you can come up with a plan to deal with it.

Tax time is never going to be fun, but don’t make it harder than it needs to be. Plan ahead and file early, so you can get back to your life.

With spring break right around the corner, you’ve may have spent time looking at tropical getaways. Those pictures sure look enticing, don’t they? It might be logistics, timing or finances, but the bottom line is those lovely places just aren’t in the cards this year. Spring doesn’t have to end in disappointment though. 

The Internet is your best friend here. Look for local attractions in your area. You might be surprised to find how many there are right under your nose. Local bakeries and restaurants often offer tours of their facilities. Once you see how things are done behind the scenes you can put what you learned into action at home. What about a park hop where you visit all the local playgrounds and parks? Feeling creative? Many local community colleges offer craft programs, and a lot of local artists will be happy to make a little extra money teaching what they know.

Most places have an international foods store. Take a visit and try something new. There might be a new family favorite just waiting to be discovered. Every place has history. Take a local walking or bike tour to see it. It will leave you with a new-found perspective on the place you call home.

Sure, a staycation might not have been what you had in mind at first, but without all the hassle of traveling, it offers exactly what you wanted the vacation for in the first place— and that’s the time to have fun.

When you think vacation you often think of resorts or tropical getaways, crisp, cool mountains or perhaps a scenic lighthouse in some obscure cove. And chances are you’re thinking about summer, because that’s when most people take vacations. The main reason for that, is that parents don’t want to take their kids out of school. However, learning is a 24/7 activity and sometimes the best lessons don’t take place in a classroom.

If your kids are going to miss any school time, it’s best to check with their school and their teacher so it can be coordinated, and lessons and tests made up. There may even be some extra credit if your kids can pass on what they learned to their classmates in the form of a presentation or report.

When coming up with ideas for vacation, try to take the child’s interests into account. Maybe it’s dinosaurs or Greek history or astronomy. Find what they like and let them explore it. Many children (and a few adults) have limited attention spans, so look for interactive activities and presentations. A dusty old museum with a curator that looks like he should be a part of it, isn’t for everyone.

You’ll also want to decide how far you’ll go and plan accordingly. A three-day outing to the nearest large city is quite different from a cross-country adventure. Make a plan, but also consider alternatives if the first option doesn’t work out.

The world can be your classroom. There are lots of great places out there, and so many things to learn. Here are a few ideas to help you get started. Enjoy!

With visions of beautiful, juicy tomatoes, peppers and broccoli dancing through your head you’ve carefully selected the finest seeds. Time to grab the garden gloves and your trusty spade and get planting! 

Great idea, but there’s a little more to it. Starting your seeds rather than just putting them in the ground can be just the boost they need.

You’ll want to start seeds in clean, sterile seed-starting mix made from peat and coconut coir. This helps keep pathogens from ruining your work before you’ve even started. At this point the young plant has all the energy it needs from the seed itself. Once the seedlings have broken the soil and produced their first set of leaves then it’s time to transfer them to regular soil. At this point the plant starts to need nutrients from the soil to keep growing.

As far as temperature goes start warm (roughly 75f) to give the plants a jumpstart and then move them to cooler areas (around 65f) to prevent them from getting thin and leggy. They’ll need plenty of light, so if possible place them in a south facing window. Don’t have a great window? No problem. Here are some solutions for good lighting.

Timing is the key here. Check the back of the seed packet for instructions as to when to start. Too early and your plants may outgrow their container before you can move them outside. Too late and your new seedlings may be choked out by competitors before they’ve had a chance to establish themselves.

Starting your seeds from scratch is a great way to save money, especially if you’re planning a larger garden. For the price of one plant you’d get at a garden center, you can get a dozen or even a hundred seeds. 

Sure, it’s easier and quicker to buy sprouted plants from a garden center, but you have no idea where those plants have been. Starting the seeds yourself gives them their best chance to reach their full potential so you get exactly what you want.

It should come as no surprise that a great garden starts with great seeds. Not all seeds are created equal though. In general you want you stick with organic seeds whenever possible. They’re more expensive, but they’re also the best way to know you’re getting strong seeds without any additives you don’t want to ingest later. If you plan to save seeds for next year, you’ll also want to avoid many hybrids since they are sterile. 

Try to steer clear of GMO seeds. GMO stand for Genetically Modified Organism, which means they’re not a natural variety, but instead spliced together in a lab. 

You’ll probably see chemically treated seeds for sale as well. There are pros and cons with these seeds. After all, one of the main reasons people grow their own gardens is to avoid the chemicals found in supermarket produce.  However, a chemically treated seed will likely be more resistant to common garden pests and be easier to grow.

Heirloom seeds are a popular choice. Like the nobility of yore, these seeds come from long established lineages. They’ve been proven to work over the years, so you know exactly what to expect from them. 

Once you’ve decided what types of seeds work for you, you may want to save them for next year. It’s a little bit more work, but many gardeners find the extra effort worth it. Here’s a handy guide to see if saving seeds is the right choice for you. 

As an additional note, what works well for seeds works even better for bulbs, whether they’re onions or tulips.

Seeds are the foundation of that garden you’ve always wanted, so use this guide to help your garden down the right path.  

With spring rolling steadily in, a person’s thoughts naturally turn to gardening. There are also a flood of magazines and online ads showing you beautiful, perfectly arranged flower beds and fat, juicy vegetables as far as the eye can see. 

There’s nothing wrong with getting excited about planting season, but it helps to keep your expectations realistic. Even if you have the space, you don’t want to plant more garden than you can handle. A simple garden still requires a good bit of work, and that work is a lot more exciting in the cool spring breezes of early May than in the blistering sun of late July.

There is also cost to consider. Gardening is relatively inexpensive compared to many hobbies, but there are costs involved. The bigger and more elaborate the garden, the greater the hit on your pocketbook.

Before you even put spade to dirt, you want to make a realistic assessment of your gardening project. How much do you want to grow? How much time do you have to devote to it? What are you willing to spend to make it happen? Consider the space you have. What do you have to work with and how much effort will it take to make it into the garden of your dreams?

Getting overambitious will only lead to frustration. However, if you plan it right, a garden can be a beautiful patch of earth that’s all yours, and gives back to you year after year.