This One Simple Change In my Business Saved Me THOUSANDS (And Bonus, You can do it too!)

When I started my business several years ago, I was completely overwhelmed by all the things I needed to do. Not just on the photography side, but on the business side. And gosh, it’s exhausting trying to keep up with everything! But over the years, I’ve found several money saving tricks. My only regret is not starting this one sooner. And over the past three years, I have been able to write over over $25,000 on my taxes (which REALLY saves you some money!!) BY SPENDING LESS THAN $60! Oh, and by the way, you don’t have to be a photographer to do this. If you drive a car for your business (besides commuting), you could be saving tons of money!

So here’s my secret: I use MileIQ every day in my business, and that is how I track mileage! Maybe you already know what I’m talking about, but in case you don’t, here’s a refresher: Every mile you drive for your business, you can write off on your taxes. (Wait, you’re talking about TAXES right now?? Heck yes!! Because if you’re not doing this RIGHT NOW, you’ll regret it come January…or if you’re like me, April).

When I started, I would track miles by hand, and I’m pretty forgetful, so I know I wasn’t keeping the best track of things. And it gets messy. And if you’re audited, harder to prove (especially if you’re not tracking perfectly!). And let’s be honest: I am SO far from perfect, so tracking by hand quickly became something that needed to change. Step in MileIQ.

Let me brag about MileIQ for a second (and no, I’m not getting paid by them for this post, that’s just how much I love this app!). You download it onto your phone, it tracks your mileage, and you swipe left for personal and right for business. You can even auto-classify drives (For example, I have Crossfit & church auto-classified so I don’t have to waste time putting them in my personal mileage). You can also sort business mileage into categories. Some of my categories include weddings, location scouting, errands, and networking, to name a few. Once a week (or sometimes daily), I categorize my drives. Then at the end of the year, writing off mileage expenses is a cinch!

Oh, and also, you can try it out for free! And if you upgrade, you can get 20% with this code.

It is, by far, one of the BEST tiny investments I’ve made for my business and has helped save me THOUSANDS!

And I couldn’t write a blog post without sharing some gorgeous photos, so see beautiful Hunter below!

Florals by Wildrose House Florals