The Tax Man cometh

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Filing income taxes is one of the things I have never procrastinated about. By this time in January I am usually ready to file and just waiting for the final tax forms to be released. I've been like this since the early 90s, when I first started filing when I got married, as my now ex-husband's tax philosophy was have too much taken out of (my) check so we would get a ginormous refund every year...and he wanted the $$ as soon as possible.

Since the divorce in 2008 my philosophy is I'd rather have my money as I earn it and not give extra to the government to muck around with interest free during the year so I've been gradually dialing in my withholdings to try and achieve a no refund / no tax bill balance. I still took care of it immediately, just in case, because if I were to get a refund I wanted it immediately and if I were to owe I wanted as much time as possible to prepare for it.

But now I am "behind". I was on vacation from 12/28 - 1/8, and then sick all of last week and most of this. So I have not even started my taxes yet. This has been making me a little crazy.

My deep dark dirty secret is...I like doing taxes. If a parallel universe were to exist my counterpart is probably a CPA or tax accountant. Back when I started filing (in the years before tax software was available) I would do them by hand. I considered it a personal challenge to understand the forms well enough to "beat" the government at its own game and get back every penny owed. Even my first year of marriage when my ex insisted on having his CPA sister do our taxes I still did them by hand to compare mine to hers (about the same so I know I could trust my numbers).

Even after we got a computer and I used the tax software for the first few years I would double check and prepare a set by hand, which were always pretty darn close to the software. I don't do that anymore, mostly due to not wanting to spend the time for no additional benefit.

So today I am starting the process. I will likely still be delayed by the government not having all the federal or state forms released yet, or one of the banks or loan companies deciding to be stupid and not make information available until the last possible legal second, but I will have my part done. No procrastination here.

Although you'd think that if the government delays in releasing forms it would push back the April due date by a corresponding number of days so people would have the alloted amount of time to prepare adequately.

Yeah, I'm not holding my breathe either.

And one of these days I'll get around to taking a formal training class and become a tax preparer for real, probably when I retire for extra income or something to do. And to keep my brain sharp, staying ahead of the legal crooks we elect.

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On being green

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

This is not a brag blog, but rather a give me your suggestions & ideas request. I try to be environmentally aware in my choices and reduce my carbon footprint. I think I do a good job although I know I could always do better. I'll list the things I do but what I am looking for are those *smacks head why didn't I think of that* suggestions.

*reuseable grocery bags
*recycle paper/cardboard/metal/glass/plastic
*compost
*mend when I can before replacing
*try to avoid buying things with extra packaging (i.e. pre-portioned anything)
*donate or freecycle as much as I can instead of tossing
*use the library or e-books or on-line movies instead of buying new
*swap books, music & movies through sites like paperbackswap.com & swap.com
*re-use or re-purpose items from the thrift store (depending on the item) instead of buying new

I had a *smacks head* moment a few months ago from a suggestion from another SP member. You know those little plastic bags you get at the grocery store to put your fruits & veggies in? Did you know they (and the plastic grocery bags if you use them) are recyclable? Did you know that there is no reason you can't take those little plastic fruit & veggie bags and use them again the next time you go to the store?

*smacks head*

I never thought about it but it was obvious once someone pointed it out. So now I have a number of them I've saved and just take them with me to the store to re-use. I'm also on the lookout for mesh or net bags to replace the plastic ones but I have not seen them in the store yet.

What ideas do you have for me?

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Not a lot to report today

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Just getting my daily blog done for the Winter 5% Challenge - Go Cats!

While I was on vacation Scout Dad, he painted most of the house last spring, came back and finally finished the ceiling & walls in the last 2 rooms. He's not a slacker, he was working his regular jobs over the months and finally had the free time over Christmas break to finish. And since he's not charging me anywhere near what a painting company would charge I'll work with his schedule. So now my ceiling is no longer textured, the light fixtures are once again properly installed and the walls are painted instead of paneling and the whole house flows together. Before he started every single room had a different look and feel which really dated the house and kind of created a low level of background stress for me.

I actually started on my daily housekeeping goal last Monday when we were back from vacation. That, plus having the kitchen area ceiling & walls finished, has really left me a lot less tense. That background stress again from when things aren't quite right but you're so used to the situation that you no longer notice it consciously...is gone and finally noticeable by its absence.

Purple Heart finally called again tonight to schedule a pick up time for this week when they are again in the area so I can get rid of several bags of stuff I've been waiting to donate. More background stress eliminated.

I'm hoping by tomorrow I'll finally be over the worst of this cold, it has completely wiped me out the past week. Today was the first day I felt almost OK energy wise...but was completely congested so couldn't breathe well. I miss exercising especially as being sick seems to increase my appetite (or at least it completely disables the stop switch).

Today it rained a lot, and now it is very cold, so I'm guessing there will be ice in the morning. Yay - NOT! The commute will be horrible if there is ice. It was bad enough this morning with everyone stopping to look at the water falling from the sky, whatever could it be, they've never seen such a thing before! Driving tests should be mandatory to weed out the stupid drivers. That would also do wonders for my stress levels.

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Goal progress

Monday, January 16, 2012

Just a quick update on my progress on my 2012 goals.

Yes, I know I only posted them yesterday. But it is now yesterday's tomorrow, time to banish some procrastination tendencies and I've made significant progress on at least one goal.

It's been about 6 months since I've paid close attention to my accounts. I made sure I was paying the bills and not overdrawing my checking account but that's about it.

Bad me.

So I spent a few hours today getting all my receipts entered and account balanced (and I was only $2 off after 6 months which is a minor miracle and a probable typo which is now adjusted for) and updating my budget. I changed up how I was allocating payments and assumed my ex will pay me his half of our son's school fee this month as promised...and discovered I will be able to pay off 4 debts this year, not the 3 I was going to go after.

Bonus!

And IF I actually follow the budget and no unexpected large expenses hit (furiously knocking on all wood and wood like substances) I will have my car and student loan #1 paid off before the end of next year. Which only leaves my house and a few thousand on a Visa going into 2014, and the Visa would be gone that year.

Finally! Debt freedom has appeared on the horizon! It is still a ways away and I have to stay committed to the budget, which is going to be an extreme challenge for me, but I can foresee the end.

Just in time for the kiddos to start college.

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Procrastinators unite...tomorrow!

Sunday, January 15, 2012

Procrastinations is the theme for my 2012 goals. Or rather to stop procrastinating, as many of them have been around for awhile, if only on my mental to-do list.

Here it is, already the middle of the month, and I realized I have been procrastinating starting work on my goals to reduce...procrastination. It is a vicious circle.

So without further delay, and in no particular order, my goals for the year:

1) Maintain my weight at +5 / -14 pounds, putting me in range from 120-139. This should be very doable as I have been maintaining since September.

2) Become a half fanatic by the end of August. This will require a minimum of 3 half marathons in 90 days (I think that is one of the ways to qualify, I will have to double check).

3) Do some sort of housecleaning or maintenance daily. This can be as simple as cleaning the sink, I just need to start a new habit of doing a little bit every day so I'm not faced with a seemingly insurmountable housecleaning task by letting it all pile up. Track in Other Goals.

4) Break my dependence on Splenda. I drink 4-6 cups of tea daily, each with 3 Splenda packets. I want to reduce this to a maximum of 1 packet per cup, if not eliminate its use entirely. I will do this by the end of March. In January I am down to using 2 packets per cup, February will be only 1 packet, and March will see if I can do without.

5) Finalize my budget by the end of January so that I will pay off at least 3 loans by the end of December. These will be my furnace loan, student loan #2, and personal loan #2.

6) Earn my black belt! Somehow this has slipped my priority list as other things came up. No more! I will detail the steps I will take to do this in a separate blog; I intend to be ready to test by the end of June.

7) Finish replacing all the light switches and wall outlets by the end of March. Then focus on completing 1 room at a time instead of jumping all around the house and never really finishing anything. Complete the 3 in use bedrooms by the end of December. Completing a room involves replacing all moldings & trim, doors, light/ceiling fan and drapes.

8) Run my first marathon by October 21. This is the date of the Detroit Free Press Marathon, so it will be this one if I don't decide to run something earlier in the year. I probably won't because I will be focusing on black belt training the first half of the year and I don't want to distract myself and take up my time by also training for a marathon.

9) Other goals as they occur to me.

10) Have fun and stress less!

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