The end of the year has arrived, and among the nostalgic reflecting on 2016 – certainly a big year to reflect on – it's time to consider an important question: how do I hack my way into 2017?
You see, there's plenty of hacking to do before 11:59 p.m. on December 31, 2016, so we thought we'd compile a short checklist of year-end hacks so you can win big on January 1, 2017.
(1) MAKE A DONATION.
December 31, 2016 is your last chance to give your hard-earned money to a charity instead of Uncle Sam. Making a donation gets you tax-deduction on your 2016 taxes, and can be a big help. Let's break that down:
tax-de·duct·i·ble – adjective 1. able to be deducted from taxable income when calculating income tax.
So when you give, say, $250 to your favorite orchestra, you get to claim a sweet $250 on your taxes as a charitable contribution. The bigger the donation, the bigger the deduction!
And nothing screams "I win, 2017" like giving your dollars to awesome classical music instead of paying taxes.
(2) GET THAT MEDALLION AIRLINE STATUS.
Want to hear United Airlines' iconic "Rhapsody in Blue" safety video more often in 2017? Using a travel credit card more at year-end can help bump you up to that next status for 2017!
There’s no better way to rack up some serious airline miles than by making an online donation to a charity (say, for instance, that awesome orchestra in your hometown. Hmm... see a trend yet?)
(3) MAKE YOUR 2017 RESOLUTIONS.
We all make resolutions for January 1st, but by February they've been abandoned for the latest Netflix binge. Why not secure your resolution – make a promise to meet more people, explore classical music, learn to play an instrument; and grab your ticket to a classical concert to keep you on track. The future you wouldn't want a perfect ticket to go to waste, right?
Better yet... when you donate this month to many orchestras, you get a host of donor benefits. Lots of classical music organizations have benefits like free tickets, extra drinks at intermission, and behind-the-scenes access. Making a donation to classical music organizations can secure your date-night activities for a whole year!
(4) SHOP AMAZON SMILE
You have lots of holiday shopping to do, yes? Why not support a charity in the process. Simply by shopping Amazon Smile (smile.amazon.com rather than the traditional www.amazon.com), you give a tiny percentage of each purchase to your favorite nonprofit. It doesn’t cost you a dime more, and makes a small-but-meaningful impact.
LONG STORY, SHORT...
Support classical music this December! Your contributions go a long way for the organizations, and there’s tons of benefits to donating.