Economics is so last week

[Maniac Craniac]

Wait?! What?! Maniac is back?! :hurray:

No. :toetap:

I did say that I would be back for the "I'm done" posts. Well, I'm ALMOST done with my BA in Social Sciences, however I will be saving the last few credits for the first few months of 2012 in order to take advantage of tax credits.

Anyway, I'm just reporting that "I'm Done!" with both Economics CLEP exams. Last week, I got myself in a rut and was left with only a portion of one day to study for the Macro exam. This week I expected to have more time but studied even less for the Micro exam :reddevil:. I didn't even get to finish taking a practice test for either... which is a bummer because that is usually my favorite part of studying. The breakdown is as follows:

Macroeconomics - 7 hours of study, score: 58
Microeconomics - 6 hours of study, score: 63

As always, the best starting point for preparing for these exams was free-clep-prep.com. I found the sparknotes link expecially useful, but I also found a couple of sources that Chebasaz didn't have listed (pssst, Chebasaz, PSSSSST!!!!!!).

Investopedia.com - They have primers on economics (both micro and macro) that are short, sweet and incredibly clear. They also have somewhat of an economics dictionary in that you can use their search bar to pull up definitions and concise explanations of specific terms, accompanied with a list of related articles. In fact, in my rushed study, for many subjects in the exam content guide I simply plugged in a search and after reading the investopedia page for about a minute had everything I need to know for the exam.

YouTube, ACDCleadership's channel. This guy is amazing! He is a high school economics teacher, and fittingly his videos are geared toward the AP economics exams. Of course, they 100 percent fit the study needs of someone looking to take the CLEP. What he does is, just as he purports to do, explain key economic concepts in 60 seconds or less (with rock music playing in the background- loads of fun!!!), then takes another minute or two to give you some examples to help solidify your understanding. NO JOKE- THIS IS HANDS-DOWN THE BEST VIDEO LECTURE SERIES YOU CAN FIND ON ECONOMICS. Trust me, here. Look on the CLEP exam guide topics, read it in your text book or on the internet, then take two minutes to watch one of his rapid-fire videos and you will see for yourself!!

Oh, and in case anyone wonders, you can look at my new sig line to see my updated list of exams. I have completed several more ECEs and a couple more CLEPs since my last post.

See you all in March for the REAL "I'm Done" post.

[ryoder]

Congrats maniac! Why wait till march just to take advantage of a tax loophole? How much are we talking about? I would just power through it and graduate asap. In fact I paid an extra 350 for two courses at ncu to start early and lost 7500 in tuition assistance to complete my mba this year. Everyone does what they can but I owe some of my success in life to impatience

[Maniac Craniac]

Congrats maniac! Why wait till march just to take advantage of a tax loophole? How much are we talking about? I would just power through it and graduate asap. In fact I paid an extra 350 for two courses at ncu to start early and lost 7500 in tuition assistance to complete my mba this year. Everyone does what they can but I owe some of my success in life to impatience

I'm in no immediate hurry, since I've significantly decreased my contract work and would not be in the position for a raise any time too soon with my employer, so I'm forcing myself to be patient in order to save some money. I'm talking about the American Opportunity tax credit. I've used up my credits for 2011, so I'd have to wait until 2012 for a maximum of $2000 in dollar-for-dollar credits. The CLEP exams obviously can't be covered, which is why I am doing them now, but my graduation fee from TESC and the courses and books from LSU that I plan on taking will be covered.

If I had $7500 to blow, I'd do it at the dentist :reddevil:

[ryoder]

2k is quite a chunk of change. Once I got over the initial pain of sending TESC my 2k I sort of loosened the purse strings a bit.
Its all in the name of my education and employability so I saw what the hell. I wonder if there is something else you can do in the meantime to keep yourself out of trouble Thats my biggest problem. If I stay idle too long I will pick up another hobby like wandering Lowes looking for something to install in my home

[Maniac Craniac]

2k is quite a chunk of change. Once I got over the initial pain of sending TESC my 2k I sort of loosened the purse strings a bit.
Its all in the name of my education and employability so I saw what the hell. I wonder if there is something else you can do in the meantime to keep yourself out of trouble Thats my biggest problem. If I stay idle too long I will pick up another hobby like wandering Lowes looking for something to install in my home

Between my job, my volunteer work, my Bible study, honing and adding to my languages, my social life, my cooking, my board and card game mastering and my workouts, which FINALLY include a healthy dose of strength training, I'd say the biggest problem I have is having a bit too many things to keep me out of trouble. Thank goodness I'm single and plan to be so for the short term!

[keithk]

First of all, congrats on your "almost done" status, that's great

Second, I was not aware of that tax credit, thanks for bringing that up. I was delaying taking my accounting courses at LSU-distance learning but it looks like I should get on the ball starting this year! Thanks again.

[Maniac Craniac]

First of all, congrats on your "almost done" status, that's great

Second, I was not aware of that tax credit, thanks for bringing that up. I was delaying taking my accounting courses at LSU-distance learning but it looks like I should get on the ball starting this year! Thanks again.

It would be best for you to pay for as many as you can up to the $2k before the end of December, then pay for the rest in the year 2012. Unfortunately, the credit is set to terminate in 2012 with no guarantee of continuance, so NOW is the time to do it!

[ryoder]

I am assuming this is a progressive tax loophole correct? It is not available to upper income earners?
These are the kinds of loopholes that the government is looking to close due to our massive debt.

[burbuja0512]

Hi Maniac!! Nice to see you here and glad to hear about your progress. Keep it up and can't wait to see the final "I'm done" post.


LOL... I find the tax thing sooooooo boring. I never take advantage of that stuff just because I hate keeping track of it so much.

[Maniac Craniac]

W

I am assuming this is a progressive tax loophole correct? It is not available to upper income earners?
These are the kinds of loopholes that the government is looking to close due to our massive debt.

It's not a progressive tax, per se, but there is an upper income limit for those who can take advantage of it.