Instead, you would research and compare, brands, size,features, color, sound. You would take brochures home and think which would benefit you best. You decide what you can afford and which model and store would give you best value for your hard earned dollar.

You can do same to prepare for your divorce.

Research costs, benefits, and how it affects your life. How much does your lawyer charge? What retainer fees would he/she require? Are you comfortable with that? If not, find another. Your lawyer is YOUR employee.

What does he/she charge for things like faxes, phone calls etc All miscellaneous necessities involved in your case can either be reduced or eliminated. You just need to ask how! Your lawyer will not voluntarily tell you how to save money on your legal fees. That would be against his/her best interests! Unless you are earning more than $100 to $300 per hour your lawyer is charging you, you should do legwork.

Gather all information required regarding your marriage and financial situation. What was your's, pre marriage? Is there an inheritance or business involved? Look over all of your financial papers, noting account numbers and balances. Do a full financial disclosure so both you and your lawyer will know where you stand at first meeting. Your lawyer will take care of informing you of actual laws of your state/province. You should have knowledge of and take care of everything else.

You need to discover personal and financial consequences pertaining to your situation so you can minimize them.

By preparing you will be able to make informed decisions that will put you in control of your divorce. You will be in a position to negotiate with your spouse and your lawyer with self-confidence. Amongst multiple benefits of preparing for your own divorce are retaining more assets as well as reducing your legal fees.

After all, there's more at stake than choosing wrong TV.

Liz Wertman "Divorce Strategy for Men and Women" is an insider's view on legal, financial, tax and personal issues. Written with compassion and understanding. http://www.divorcewell.com

If you have children under 18, hire them to work in your business. You must issue them a W-2 and all money you pay them is a business deduction for you. Your child must pay taxes on money they earn but there is no tax on first $4,300 of income earned from working. Your child can even deposit up to $2,000 into an IRA account for even bigger savings. There's also no Social Security tax to pay when you hire your child under 18. Please remember that your child must do real work and you must keep good records. I know people who send their children to private schools on tax-free income. They pay their child to work in their business and child uses that income to pay tuition.

Are you starting to see some of possibilities here?

Any purchases you make in association with your business are deductible. If your business is enjoyable and related to your interests, you might have made some of these purchases anyway and now they are deductible.

If you are going to have a business for tax reasons, your intent should be to make a profit at some point. The IRS knows that there are significant costs in starting a business and that it might not be profitable for a few years. A general rule is to show a profit within two to four years. The longer you go without making a profit, more likely IRS might consider your business a hobby and disallow deductions you are claiming unless you can show a business plan with a definite plan to be profitable and show changes when needed to increase your chances for profitability.

So once again, consider a side-business. It could save you hundreds of tax dollars every year.

Doris Dobkins, Money Saving Expert Author of "Financial Freedom A-Z Home Study Course" and publisher of the free weekly ezine $mart Money New$ To subscribe, send an email by clicking on this link --> mailto:join-smart_money_news@nova.sparklist.com or sign up at her web site: http://www.creativefinances.com