I’ve done a post about taxes about this time each of the last two years, and this year will be no different. There seems to be a bit of a buzz this year concerning the 2008 Economic Stimulus Package that is due out next month. I’ve said for many years that there are two tax codes; one for the informed, and one for the uninformed.

The principle involved here is time-honored and true: and that is — it’s your money.
~ Robert Dole

We often just take what we hear from others as fact without actually checking to verify for ourselves if what people are telling us has any merit. The media in the case of this Economic Stimulus Package is no different from what I’ve seen and has been feeding us information in bits and pieces, but here’s the part the media has overlooked.

No matter how Washington tries to spin this, it is NOT a tax “rebate.” If it was a rebate, how could people who paid-in no taxes, get a rebate? But most of them will.

Lately, they’ve begin calling it an “advance on our 2008 taxes.” If that were true, why would they also be telling us that if we don’t owe any taxes in 2008, they won’t take any of this “Stimulus” money back?

This 152-BILLION-DOLLAR bail-out program is an “unfunded government expense” — which is a term in “government-ese” meaning: “We don’t know how we’re going to pay for it.”

So, if it’s not a “tax rebate,” why is the IRS involved? They’re the only federal agency with accurate names and addresses of most legal citizens, so they have the best “system” for distributing the checks.

But the IRS doesn’t have a current address for every legal adult citizen, because some people are not required to file tax returns — retirees living on Social Insecurity, for example. But Congress has decided that the only way a person can get an Economic Stimulus check, is to file a 2007 Tax Return.

So those folks who don’t normally have to file, will be required to file a “special” tax return this year (called a Form 1040A). If they don’t file it, they won’t get a check.

Result? The feds will soon have a database of current addresses for nearly 100% of all adults in the U.S.

Can you say “Big Brother?”

Here’s another neat little feature of this program that most people haven’t been told. When they have your Social “Insecurity” Number (from your tax return) their computer will take a look to see if you happen to owe any back-taxes. If you do – they will automatically do you the “favor” of applying your “rebate” towards the back taxes you owe, instead of sending you a check.

Is there no end to how far our taxpayer-elected members of Congress will go, just to help us stay caught up in paying our taxes? Like I said, two tax codes; one for the informed, and one for the uniformed.

One final point.

How big a deal is this one time economic recovery bribe of $600? The average taxpayer running a home-based business and who understands the home-business tax breaks, is collecting additional tax refunds of up to $600 every month – not just one time.

The same Americans who are so excited about getting a one-time payment of $600, should understand that they can get a check about the same size every single month for the rest of their working lives – simply by having a legitimate part-time home-based business. That’s what Congress should be telling taxpayers, not “Here’s an unearned check; go spend us out of a recession.”

Are you about to lose out on some 2007 tax deductions because you didn’t keep accurate records? Do you even know what kind of records you need in order to make them legitimate?

I have a few ways for you to find out if you do or don’t.

One, find yourself a good tax professional. One that is qualified in helping you in your Home Based Business and the tax laws surrounding what is right and what is wrong.

Two, to help you figure out if your Tax Professional knows anything about Home Based Business tax laws, get this book from Ron Mueller, “It’s How Much You Keep That Counts”. If you want to find out some of the information found in this book, you can find a basic outline from last years post after I bought the book for our own business.

Three, On Tuesday, April 8 at 9:00 pm Eastern time (6 pm Pacific), Ron Mueller will conduct a special, Tele-Coaching Session devoted to the topic of How to “Reconstruct” Missing Documentation that will Audit-Proof Your Tax Returns.

There is no charge for this call. The call-in number will be 419-400-0203, and the access code will be 8683900#.

When all call-in lines are filled up (and they will be) you can join via the Internet by going to this special web link.

If you’re in YTB I would also recommend signing up for our FREE Newsletter for news and updates concerning the steps you need to take in order to keep your business on the up and up concerning the tax laws. (I posted several tax specific webinars from various professionals as early as January of this year.) In addition, we share other tips and tricks for you on how to make your experience with YTB a success.

Well, that’s it for today. The kids and I are going to be enjoying Spring Break this week together. They’ve been working really hard in school all year, and they’re looking forward to spending some time with Dad!

PS - If you're involved with YTB, sign up for our FREE Newsletter. As a Website Owner or Website Seller, we'll keep you up to date with all the latest news, acquisitions, and developments with YTB.

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Back around tax time this past year, I did a post on tax tip’s for owning a home based business, based on Ron Mueller’s book “It’s How Much You Keep That Counts!“. I just got word about a FREE webinar from the Tax Guru himself for this Sunday night, September 16th, @ 9:00 PM Eastern Time Zone.

While the Travel Industry and YTB certainly has tax benefits all it’s own, you may find this information useful if you are currently working from home, or considering starting a home based business. Ron’s book certainly opened my eyes to what I can claim legally with the IRS by converting what I considered personal expenses into a business expense. It’s saved us THOUSANDS each and every year we’ve been using the information and tips Ron has supplied.

Some of the topics will include:

~ Increase Your income Without Asking For A Raise!
~ Save $500 For Every 1000 Miles You Drive!
~ Create A Bullet Proof Record Keeping System!
~ Hire Your Children, The Right Way!

System Requirements:

PC-based attendees
Required: Windows® 2000, XP Home, XP Pro, 2003 Server, Vista

Macintosh®-based attendees
Required: Mac OS® X 10.3.9 (Panther®) or newer

If you’d like to participate in the webinar, feel free to contact me and I’ll forward the information to you. But hurry, space is limited and filling up fast!

Hope you can join me on the call!

PS - If you're involved with YTB, sign up for our FREE Newsletter. As a Website Owner or Website Seller, we'll keep you up to date with all the latest news, acquisitions, and developments with YTB.

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Last week I posted how a home based business can help reduce your tax burden. After starting our Home Based Business two years ago, I quickly found out how some of the ordinary personal expenses, can now move into a business category, simply by starting a home based business. I started to look at every expense I made and asked, “How can this expense benefit my business?”

I also looked at other expenses that came up because of my business and made the expense a much easier to make because I knew it was business related and could now qualify as a deduction. This long term thinking actually helped in generating revenue I could actually use and spend in the short term.

Qualifying

It’s easier than you think to qualify many of the ordinary expenses you make and turn them into business expenses. Check each of the statements below that accurately reflects your situation.

Category: Self-Employed Business Expenses

Deduction: Advertising

- I paid for advertising expenses related to my business.
- The advertising was ordinary and necessary for my business.
- I paid for public service advertising which relates to expected future business gain.
- The purpose of the advertising was not to lobby or influence legislation.

Deduction: Bad Debt (Business)

- I was unable to collect money owed to me or to my business.
- The debt arose because of my trade or business or was closely related to it.
- The debt became partly or totally worthless during this year.
- I have previously included the uncollectable amount in income, or it was a cash loan.

Deduction: Self-Employed – Gifts

- I gave gifts to business customers, clients or employees in the course of my business.
- The expense was both ordinary and necessary for my trade or business.

Deduction: Self-Employed – Entertainment

- I paid for entertaining clients, customers or employees.
- The expense was both ordinary and necessary to my trade or business .
- The entertainment was directly related to the active conduct of my business.
- The entertainment directly preceded or followed a substantial business discussion.
- The expense was not lavish or extravagant under the circumstances.
- I kept adequate records of my expenses.

Deduction: Self-Employed – Meals

- I paid for meals related to overnight travel, entertainment or employee benefits.
- The expense was both ordinary and necessary to my trade or business.
- The meals were not lavish or extravagant under the circumstances.
- I kept adequate records of my expenses.

Deduction: Car and Truck

- I used my car or truck in my business, or reimbursed my employees for car and truck expenses.
- If employees used my company car, I allowed only business use, or reported the personal portion of their expenses on their W-2 as compensation.
- I kept written records.
- The vehicle is unlikely to be used for personal purposes (such as a delivery truck that seats only the driver).

Deduction: Cost of Goods Sold

- My business manufactures products or purchases them for resale.
- I maintain inventories in order to determine the cost of goods sold.

Deduction: Home – Business Use (Self-Employed)

- I regularly used part of my home in connection with my trade or business.
- The business part of my home was used only for business, or to store inventory or product samples for a business selling products; or I had a day-care business in my home.
- I used the business part of my home as my principal place of business.
- I used the business part of my home to meet or deal with patients, clients or customers.
- The business part was a separate structure, not attached to my home.

Deduction: Insurance

- I paid for insurance premiums for the protection of my business.
- The insurance was ordinary and necessary to my trade or business.
- The premiums were not for life insurance on my own life, self-insurance reserve funds, or a loss-of-earnings policy.

Deduction: Interest – Mortgage

- I paid interest during the year on debts related to my business.
- I am legally liable for the debt.
- Both the lender and I intend that the debt be repaid, and we have a true debtor-creditor relationship.
- The debt is secured by property I own (if not, see Interest-Other).

Deduction: Interest – Other

- I paid interest during the year on debts related to my business.
- I am legally liable for the debt.
- Both the lender and I intend that the debt be repaid, and we have a true debtor-creditor relationship.

Deduction: Legal & Professional Services

- I paid legal, accounting and other fees directly related to operating my business.
- The expenses were ordinary and necessary for my business.
- The fees were not paid for work of a personal nature (such
as making a will).
- The fees were not paid for preparing that part of my tax return not relating to my business as a sole proprietor.
- Legal fees were not paid to acquire business assets (those should be added to the cost of the assets).

Deduction: Repair and Maintenance

- I spent money to keep my business property in normal, efficient operating condition.
- The expenses don’t add to the value of the property or significantly increase its life.

Deduction: Start-Up Costs

- I spent money to set up an active trade or business or to investigate creating or acquiring an active trade or business.
- The spending occurred before I began business operations.
- The costs would have been deductible if paid to operate an existing trade or business.
- The costs were common and accepted, as well as appropriate and helpful, in my business.
- I will deduct the costs in equal amounts over a period of 60 months or more (“amortize” them), beginning with the month I began business operations.

Deduction: Supplies

- I consumed and used materials and supplies during the tax year as a part of my trade or business. (The cost may include books, professional instruments, equipment, etc. that are normally used up in less than a year.)
- I have accounted for inventory of supplies and materials on hand at the beginning and end of the tax year.
- I don’t keep a record of when supplies are used, I don’t take an inventory of the amount on hand, and this method doesn’t distort my income.
- The use of the supplies is common and accepted in my field of business, and appropriate and helpful for my business.

Deduction: Taxes & Licenses

- I paid federal, state, local and foreign taxes and license fees directly related to my trade or business.
- The taxes were ordinary and necessary to the conduct of my business.
- Taxes paid on behalf of others, such as sales tax collected from customers, have not been included in gross income and are not deductible.

Deduction: Travel (Self-Employed)

- I spent money – for myself or my employees while traveling on business.
- The trip was taken because our duties required being away from the general area of our regular place of business for substantially longer than an ordinary day’s work.
- The assignment away from home was temporary.
- Sleep and rest were needed to meet the demands of the work while away from home.
- The expense was ordinary and necessary for the work and not lavish or extravagant.
I kept adequate records.

Deduction: Utilities

- I paid for heat, lights, power, and telephone for my business.
- None of this spending was for my personal use.
- I am not deducting any of the cost of basic local telephone service for the first phone line in my home.
- The costs were common and accepted in my field of business, and appropriate and helpful for my own business.

Deduction: Wages

- I paid wages and salaries which were directly connected to my business.
- The actual services performed by the employees are common and accepted in my field of business, and appropriate and helpful for my business.
- The amount of pay is reasonable, and an amount that similar enterprises ordinarily would pay for the same work under the circumstances.

Category: Self-Employed – Other Deductions

Deduction: Education (Self-Employed)

- I paid for tuition, books and other expenses for education related to my trade or business.
- The education maintains or improves skills required in my trade or business, or is legally required to keep my pay, status or job.
- The education is not necessary to meet the minimum educational requirements of my present trade or business.
- The education is not part of a program to qualify me for a new trade or business.

Deduction: Moving (Self-Employed)

- I spent money moving to a new workplace.
- The move was related to a change in my job location.
- My new workplace was at least 50 miles farther from my old home than my former workplace was. (If I didn’t have a former workplace, my new workplace was at least 50 miles from my old home.)
- Right after the move, I worked (or will work) full-time for at least 39 weeks during the first 12 months, AND for at least 78 weeks during the first 24 months.
- My new job ended because of death or disability.

Deduction: Health Insurance (Self-Employed)

- I paid for medical insurance or qualified long-term care insurance for myself and my family.
- I am self-employed, a general partner (or a limited partner receiving guaranteed payments) in a partnership, or a shareholder owning more than 2% of an S corporation.
- I paid the premiums, or my partnership or S corporation paid the premiums and included them in my gross income.
- I was not eligible to participate in any employer subsidized health plan (including my spouse’s) during any month for which I am taking a deduction.

Surprised? So was I when I first learned about all this. I think about all the money I paid to IRS over the years that I could have kept instead of paying, and we’re talking hundreds of thousands of dollars over the years. What I could have done with all that money? A nice vacation? A retirement plan? A bigger house? A new car?

The good news is that all these deductions started for our family two years ago.

They can start for you too, legally and ethically with minimal expense. Who knows, it could even provide the kind of lifestyle and freedom we now enjoy.

PS - If you're involved with YTB, sign up for our FREE Newsletter. As a Website Owner or Website Seller, we'll keep you up to date with all the latest news, acquisitions, and developments with YTB.

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The Number 1 way to reduce your taxes with a smile is to convert your personal expenditures into allowable deductions. How could this be you ask? Well, it’s not only true, but it’s a lot easier than you think. In Ron Mueller’s book “It’s How Much You Keep That Counts” he discusses in detail every major deduction, in black-and-white, the exact Congressional Law, the specific Article in the U.S. Tax Code or Federal Tax Court Ruling which specifically authorizes it.

One of the most surprising things I found was that the IRS does not require you to actually make a profit in order to write off these expenses, you simply need to be in “pursuit” of a profit. How cool is that?!

Here’s how you do it: Turn yourself into a business owner. This is not complicated, expensive or difficult to do, and incorporation is not necessary. We got started in our business after only a few days of research, it cost us less than $500 to get started, and we simply used our Social Security Numbers for tax purposes.

Establishing a ‘profit motive’ is the key

To be in business, you merely declare it. And by doing so, you can magically turn personal expenses into tax deductions. If you want to operate in a noncorporate format, as an individual proprietorship, but under a different name than your own, no problem. It’s easy.

In some states, you may have to file a “DBA” (doing business as) form with your local county clerk. Basically, you just fill out a form with your name, address and the assumed name under which you’re doing business. For example, I might be “Doug Bauknight DBA BandBVacations.com.”

Here’s the best part: Your business doesn’t have to make a profit for your expenses to be deductible. All you have to do is establish a “profit motive.” Under the Internal Revenue Code, a “profit motive” is presumed if you earn any net income in any three out of five business years.

It’s recognized and expected that new businesses probably won’t make a profit in the early years. In fact, in the early years, you can insist that the IRS defer any challenge for the first five years as to the legitimacy of your business by filing Form 5213 (.pdf download).

Remember you don’t have to show a profit — just a “profit motive.” The test for deductibility is whether you have an actual and honest profit objective. You need not have a reasonable expectation of a profit. The test is subjective: Was your intent to earn a profit? The IRS looks at the following factors to decide if your intentions are honorable:

- The manner in which you work your business.
- Your expertise and the expertise of your advisers.
- The time and effort you expend in working your business.
- The expectation that the assets used in your business may appreciate in value.
- Your success in carrying on similar or dissimilar activities.
- Your history of income and losses with respect to the business.
- The amount of occasional profits, if any, that are earned.
- Your financial status.
- The elements of personal pleasure and recreation.

That doesn’t mean that just because you enjoy doing your “job” that the expenses aren’t tax-deductible. The Tax Court has ruled that “suffering has never been made a prerequisite for deductibility.”

Even if you’re employed full time elsewhere, that doesn’t prevent you from having a home based business on the side. When we first started our Home Based Business, I worked a full time job, and had two part time jobs to boot. This works whether your business is your primary source of income or it’s a sideline. Mine was certainly a sideline the first year, but because we basically turned our hobby or cruising into a business, it turned into a full time business for us.

How to qualify as a business deduction

To qualify as business deductions, your expenses must be:

- Ordinary and necessary — defined by the courts and the IRS as “reasonable and customary.” – Paid or incurred during the taxable year.
- Connected with the conduct of a trade or business.

The term “reasonable and customary” depends on your specific business and the business customs in your locale. The expenses don’t have to necessarily be reasonable and customary to you, but simply to your particular trade or industry. There are innumerable cases of “hobbies” converted into “businesses” with expenses allowed. Our hobby is cruising. So we became Travel Agents. It is customary for Travel Agents to preview cruise ships so we can inform our clients. BAM! All our cruising just became a tax write off. We also took a trip to Disney earlier this year, and took the kids. Why? Don’t you think it might be necessary to get a 3 year old and 5 year old perspective on what they liked about Disney?

Focus on your profit-making motive. Remember that it’s not what you pay in taxes that counts, it’s what you keep.

Next week I’ll post a list of things that you may be able to now claim as a tax deduction because you’ve started a business. Some of this list may surprise you so make sure you check back!

PS - If you're involved with YTB, sign up for our FREE Newsletter. As a Website Owner or Website Seller, we'll keep you up to date with all the latest news, acquisitions, and developments with YTB.

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I found this in my “in box” this morning from a woman who came to a company presentation Monday night. I have asked her permission to publish her e-mail in order to alert the public.

“I am so excited! I have a trip that I have to go to in June. I already called the resort in Mexico and could get a great agent rate! I also checked Spirit airlines and see we can get a flat rate for a little over a hundred dollars. Have you used the Spirit airlines discount before? Ok I’m going back to bed. It’s 4am and I can’t stop looking at the site, thinking and dreaming YTB, thinking of some different marketing ideas, dreaming of luxury vacations, going on my first cruise—-
Oh well you get the picture.
Good night-I mean Good morning!
Dominique”

Unfortunately, I DO know what she means. It’s a syndrome that both Scientists and Physicians don’t really know that much about called “YTBitis”.

Key symptoms Include:

• Daydreaming about Exotic Destinations
• Sleepless Nights Surfing for “Deals”
• Racing Mind of “Who to Talk To!”
• Talking to pure strangers, people they don’t even know
• Spending more time with family
• Excessive traveling and vacationing, up to several times per year
• Decreased tax burden
  

The worst symptom of all…most whom are infected with YTBitis experience increased bank accounts of Tens, sometime Hundreds of Thousand of Dollars.

Currently there have only been 52,000 cases found here in the US, but YTBitis has shown to be gaining momentum with up to 200 to 300 new cases found per day. Current statistics show that YTBitis is rapidly taking over the entire country and it is feared, soon the WORLD starting in January of 2007! Experts have worked diligently to trace this growing outbreak back to just three man…J. Lloyd Tomer also know as Coach, his son Scott Tomer, and J. Kim Sorensen. All three have been linked back to a Travel Company known as YourTravelBiz.com, or YTB for short. While based just outside of St. Louis, Missouri, these three Gentlemen continue to travel across the country, spreading YTBitis which has only shown to increase the momentum!

The good news is that individuals can learn to live with this over time. Some cases have actually been quoted as saying, “I’ll let you in on a little secret. This is sooo easy, fun too!” Nevertheless, there will soon be a National Publication out in Bookstores and New Stands in January of 2007 concerning this syndrome from the editors of “Success From Home”. A growing number of cases have also been found to already have this publication in hand; in order to alert the public of this growing trend. Support groups have been organized all over the country, even full day trainings in most major cities which continue to grow in order to learn how to cope with these indicators.

Yet, no one really knows if a cure will ever be found.

While “YTBitis” will have most suspected infections with bags under their eyes due to sleepless nights, obviously the worst part about this ailment, the rest is very “manageable”. Experts all agree this is certainly not life threatening, some occurrences have actually been considered to be “life enhancing”.

If you feel you need to learn more about YTBitis and how it could affect you or your family, please contact your nearest YTB Representative to get the full story on this sweeping epidemic.

Thank you.

PS - If you're involved with YTB, sign up for our FREE Newsletter. As a Website Owner or Website Seller, we'll keep you up to date with all the latest news, acquisitions, and developments with YTB.

PPS - Subscribe to the Just Picture It Now RSS feed, (including e-mail) for all the latest posts and updates found right here!

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It’s that dreaded time of year when that dirty word comes up. “Taxes” Just the thought of it used to make me cringe. If you were like me, you would keep your fingers crossed and just pray that you wouldn’t owe anything come April 15th. Once my wife and I purchased our new home some 7 years ago, we found a new way to ease some of that, and when our children came along they were also ways to keep more of the money we earned rather than giving it to IRS. Every year, we would collect the W2’s from several jobs we had and total them all up. We were often surprised at how working several jobs would total to a nice gross amount. We then would also realize just how much money was taken away to pay for our taxes. Each year, the majority of us work until April 15th just to pay our taxes. A full quarter of our work year goes to Uncle Sam.

We are all looking to make more money to provide for our families and to enjoy the finer things in life. But when was the last time you got a raise from your employer? If you did, it was somewhere in the neighborhood of 2 ½% based on the national average. Yet the rate of inflation is more than triple that rate. So what do we do? We go out and find another part time job!

Consider this as an alternative…instead of a part time job, what about a part time Home Based Business?

We opened our YTB Travel Network business back in January 2005, and we worked this like a business. We also took full advantage of the tax benefits of this business. Here are just a few examples of what we were able to use to our advantage because we owned an On-Line Travel Agency. As you read this list, I want you to pay particular attention to the items on this list and compare this list to what YOU already have and are already using currently in you home for personal use.

1. Startup Costs - Expenses such as kits, or franchise fees may be claimed as a deductions.
2. Business Supplies – All receipts for any supplies we purchase for our business use. Computer paper, business cards, pens, catalogs, or any items purchased and use for our business.
3. Car Mileage - I stop one mile away from home to get a cup of coffee in the morning and give someone a business card, and the same before I come home. All miles between can now be claimed.
4. Computers - I purchased two new computers for business use, one laptop and one desktop and the cost of the computers may be claimed. We may also claim depreciation for 3 years after the computer was purchased.
5. Internet access - We have on On-Line Travel Agency and the internet in the home or office is for business, and we save all receipts for each bill paid.
6. An in home office - A portion of our home is an office can also be added.
7. Cell Phone – Is considered my business line. The vast majority of the calls received and made concerning our business are made on this phone.
8. Postage - All postage costs paid or shipping fees may be claimed. We keep receipts for all shipping supplies, and postage.
9. Dining- Before any waiter or waitress gets their tip from me, I make sure I have their name and e-mail address written on the back of the receipt so I can send them my Travel Steals and Deals. We just conducteda business transaction and dinner is now a deduction.
10. Travel and Entertainment - And for our business, this included ALL TRAVEL, including our personal vacations down to Disney in two weeks and our cruise on Freedom of The Seas in August.

Running a home based business reaps many wonderful tax deductions that other businesses some times may not claim. Most of the time, average home expenses can be related to your business can be added as a deduction on your taxes. We already had things like high speed internet access, cell phones, cars, and a room in the house we used as an office, but could not claim any of those items before.

Each business is a bit different so be sure to mention these ideas to your tax advisor or accountant to see if your business can qualify for these deductions.

And you may be thinking that those personal vacations we claim are not legitimate. We are Travel Agents and it is customary for us to travel in our industry. I don’t do anything underhanded or illegal. You’ll see a review of our trip and what we liked and didn’t like, just like we did earlier this year when we took a Weekend Getaway to Sandestin Resort. And that trip reminds me of another deduction we are able to claim this year, our Fuji S9000 digital camera that I took the pictures with to show all of you how nice it was.

Want to ease your tax burden? Want to keep more of the money you make?

We found a way to work smarter, not harder and started a Home Based Business.

PS - If you're involved with YTB, sign up for our FREE Newsletter. As a Website Owner or Website Seller, we'll keep you up to date with all the latest news, acquisitions, and developments with YTB.

PPS - Subscribe to the Just Picture It Now RSS feed, (including e-mail) for all the latest posts and updates found right here!

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As travel agents with YTB Travel and Cruises, we have an opportunity to travel to some of the most beautiful destinations in the world. You may have heard a picture says a thousand words, and back around Christmas we made the choice to invest in a new digital camera for the increasing number of trips we are taking due to our business. Some of you had some great comments and we got a lot of positive feedback from the picture in last weeks entry “Weekend Getaway @ Sandestin Resort”.

Because my intent was to use the camera for our travel business, money really wasn’t an option since it was a tax write-off; however, I still wanted to find a good value for my dollar. I also had some key features I was looking for that I enjoyed from other cameras I’ve used in the past.

1. I wanted an SLR or “SLR Like” camera. I wanted to have manual control when I wanted, but also wanted good auto features when I wanted. Having a big camera like this type can be cumbersome at times, but it puts me in a more professional mindset and I find that I take better pictures.
   
2. I wanted Compaq Flash memory. Simply because I have several cards already and wanted to continue to use these cards. I also have the belief that this format is the most stable and durable, although I have no factual evidence to back that up. It just feels and looks more durable.
   
3. I wanted AA battery power. While I purchased rechargeable AA batteries, I always carry a few AA’s in my camera bag, just in case the rechargeable batteries die on me in the middle of some shore excursion we are on. AA’s are also easy to find in just about any convenience store so I am never out of power for long.

I began my search as most of us do when we are looking for a purchase of this nature. I started to surf and found various different digital camera reviews on the internet. After I found one that I liked, I made a trek to my local store to take a closer look at the camera. I found several from Cannon, and Nikon which I was intending on buying, but none had all the features I wanted.

I then ran into the Fuji FinePix S9000, which finally had all the features I wanted. Oddly enough, it was not a camera that I found easily at any local store so I could actually get a real life feel of what I thought I wanted. When I did find it finally at my local Micro Center, I found the camera very easy to hold, with a substantial right hand grip and plenty of room around the lens for my left hand for manual functionality. While it’s not a Digital SLR, because of the fixed lens, it still has an impressive 10.7X optical twist zoom lens. Most ultra zooms start at 36 or even 38 mm, the S9000′s lens starts at 28 mm, so I get wide-angle capability without the need for conversion lenses. The exact focal range of the lens is 6.2 – 66.7 mm, which is equivalent to 28 – 300 mm. The lens is threaded for 58 mm filters, which I ended up purchasing UV filter, more for protecting the lens than anything else.

One of the best features of this camera for me was the 1.8″ LCD that can be pulled away from the body and then tilted up to 90 degrees or down 45 degrees. My video camera’s LCD flips to the side, which I use to shoot over people in front of me, or take “ground level” shots of my kids and now I have the same versatility with my still camera. This was a big factor in my choice which I honestly wasn’t looking for at first.

What I am most impressed with is the image quality and color of some of the shots I’ve been able to capture. The pictures seem to pop out with incredible detail when first downloaded into the computer, thrown up on a television display or printed out on photo paper. Pictures compressed and then posted on the web really don’t do these shots justice. I’ve managed to get some real keepers even in the short two months of using the camera. I’ve created a hyper link of the picture to the right so you can get a better look at the detail.

It has taken some trial and error in capturing these shots with all the features this camera has. I’m a big manual buff, and its taken time to get use to using these controls again after years of using auto-everything. With two small children, the auto mode does come in handy. Start up time is very quick, 1.8 seconds, and comes in handy when I need to capture something cute quickly. But when I have the time to set things up properly in manual mode, I have yet to be disappointed in any of the shots taken.

I also really like the natural light feature of the camera, but have found that this feature is best used on a tripod. No matter how still you think you are, or the subject is, the slightest movement can blur whatever action happens during the shot. When needed a pop up flash will accommodate nicely and to my pleasant surprise there is far less red eye when using the flash than what I’ve seen on any other camera.

Battery life is also far better than I ever imagined. I enjoy using the optical viewfinder when I can, so that helps, but even when using the digital LCD and flash there is plenty of life still left for a full day of picture taking. I also like to review shots throughout the day and delete any shots that I don’t want to keep.

When it comes to the memory card, this camera has dual media slots for handling of xD-Picture Cards and Compact Flash/Microdrives, the S9000 lets you concentrate on shooting without worrying about storage space. You can even insert different types of media in each slot and then select which one you want to use to store each image as you shoot.

I recommend not only the biggest card you can get, but also a high speed card. This camera is a 9 mega pixel and can eat up a lot of space. A 512 card will capture about 104 pictures in “fine mode” which I have found to be the resolution of choice. I have the option of reducing the resolution and getting more pictures, but I never know when that next “keeper” will be taken. With this much information being written, the standard memory cards take a few seconds to be written or downloaded to the card. With a high speed card, I can not only use the video mode or take up to 4 frames per second continuous still frame. Keep in mind; this is a still camera, and not a video camera. While the video is adequate for streaming video over the internet, it is not something that will produce my next DVD family movie.

I found a great price from Butterfly Photo out of New York, and was very impressed with how they called to confirm my order and made sure I had everything I needed after my purchase. I did upgrade to the high speed card, and also bought a UV filter because of the call. I was forwarded an e-mail the next day complete with tracking information so I knew when the camera would arrive. I would highly recommend them as a vendor and will certainly consider them when it comes time to upgrade my digital video camera.

We are thrilled with the Fuji FinePix S9000 and am very impressed with both the manual, and auto features. I’ve already captured some incredible shots that I’ve already shared and am sure there will be more in the next few months as we travel down to Disneyland, Williamsburg, and our Royal Caribbean cruise on Freedom of The Seas later this year.

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