I keep thinking I should post something, but nothing "major" or "interesting" seems to be happening right now...... just so much "life stuff"....... So, here are random thoughts........
Wedding planning....... blah...... how is that girls who are so excited to be bridesmaids can't find the time to get their measurements to me to order dresses? Yikes....... time marches on and I KNOW alterations will be needed, but I can't seem to be able to light a fire under these gals and get them moving......
However, I really am enjoying the time spent with Morgan on planning the wedding, and we've had fun going shopping and working on-line, putting together wedding registries. It's fun to watch the joy she has in planning her own home -- brings back fond memories of that time in my life, so many years ago.....
My nephew Russell is getting married in October to a gal in Honduras. I found out that it will cost less than $400 to get there -- I wonder if I'll have any money left over after Morgan's wedding to be able to go to that one?? And if I go, I could make their wedding cake too....... Of course, that idea had me thinking about things I might have to bring along -- cake pans, icing decorating tools, cake mixes..... hmmmmmm...... if I brought along two pound bags of powdered sugar, I wonder if TSA folks would suspect me of smuggling cocaine INTO Honduras and check all my luggage?? (that thought definitely got me giggling!!)
I got a box of flowers last week from a client who had her baby last year. It was her baby's first birthday and she sent me the most beautiful note along with the flowers; it read: "Pam, a year ago, you helped bring our baby Jack safely into this world. Thank you so much for your unflagging spirit that night. Every day, Jack is an amazing gift! Best regards, CS & HS" Wow....... it's moments like that that help me remember why I do this job; most of my clients are amazing, wonderful people, and every time I see a baby born, I'm witnessing a miracle -- there's just no other way to describe it.
Nelson's talking about finally installing the wood flooring in the upstairs of the house. We bought it last year; it's been sitting in the garage, waiting for the time and $$$ to install it, but now with the wedding coming up and potentially hoardes of people to come through our house in the next few months, he's decided it might be time to step things up a bit. YAY!!! I hope this finally happens......
Nelson went to the hardware store last night; I don't even know what he went to get, but he came home with a beautiful new orchid plant for me! It's got fairly small flowers that are a very deep purple color, and the flowers have a long throat on them. I'll have to take some pictures and post them.
Our choir from the homeschool group had their year-end performance last Thursday, and as usual, pulled it all together at the last minute!! They did a great job! I love playing the piano for these kids -- they're just so much fun to work with. Now the band/orchestra concert comes up in two more weeks -- I need to keep Mackenzie busy practicing that violin!! And she's been sick for the last few days, but no time to let up on practicing now, with the concert coming up -- I'm such a MEAN mom!!
Taxes -- now there's another random thought...... I just can NOT seem to get myself motivated to work on these this year and now Tax Day looms. Guess I'm filing an extension of time for now!! It's sure not going to get done in the next two days!!
It's also getting close to the end of the school year, which is prime time for selling old homeschooling materials. I have SO MUCH stuff to get rid of -- and I'd love to make some money off of them -- but organizing it all is just one more thing in my ever-growing list of things that need to be done. So much stuff, so little time..... I need to clone myself three or four times in order to catch up...... It's like that T-shirt I saw: "God put me on this earth to accomplish a certain number of things -- and right now, I'm so far behind, I'll NEVER die!!" That's me.....
At least my paperwork for the homeschooling program is up-to-date....... One thing's done, anyway!! Now if I could just find the surface on my desk..... such a mess....... maybe that ought to be today's project......
I suppose I've now frittered away enough time on the computer, rambling on and on....... Back to real life!! Mackenzie's Pioneer Girls group is going bowling this afternoon, and we've got a LOT to get finished before we leave. 'Bye for now.......
Showing posts with label tax. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tax. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Friday, April 17, 2009
Taxes are so taxing.......
My yearly rant about how complicated income taxes are is just a bit louder this year. I will freely admit that part of the problem is usually my lousy bookkeeping during the year. This requires several hours of time digging out and categorizing all the receipts, calculating all the mileage for my business, and all those kinds of things before I can actually start the tax preparation.
This year, however, tax preparation has hit a new low. And at least part of it is the fault of TurboTax. I've done our taxes using TurboTax for probably at least 8 or 9 years, so I'm not new to this program at all. As soon as I started using this year's version, I realized it wasn't as user-friendly as it had been in years past. It was harder to navigate through the options, harder to go back and review some area you'd already worked on, and just seemed generally more difficult to understand.
But I kept on plowing through and thought I was nearly done by Monday. Some of TurboTax's figures didn't look quite right to me, especially the credits for college expenses, which seemed rather low. However, TurboTax knows better than me, right??? Or so I thought.....
On Tuesday night, I remembered one more small donation we'd made -- only $100 -- so I plugged that figure in and went to bed. Wednesday morning (yes, the 15th -- I was really pushing that deadline!!), I hit the "print" button, and up popped a message saying my return showed five errors...... sigh....... One was just a needed notation for the $100 addition; two others were minor things; and then up came the education tax credit with two errors. I couldn't figure out what on earth was going on, so I decided to get back into the program in-depth and try to figure out what the problem was. As I was reviewing the "interview" (TurboTax asks bunches of questions to help determine your status on each deduction), I found that TurboTax, for some strange, unknown and totally random reason, had marked both of my older daughters as having received convictions for drug use, possession or trafficking!! WHAT???? Where on earth did it come up with that crazy idea??
Now I was getting angry and frustrated. It was already noon on tax day, and I was still fighting with this stupid program -- I just wanted it to be OVER. I unclicked the "drug convictions" boxes and re-ran the error check. And all of a sudden, my tax refund went from $400 to over $2,300! Again, WHAT???? How did that happen? How do I know if it's right or wrong? I ccouldn't file THAT -- I wouldn't even be able to sleep knowing that I filed that kind of paperwork, possibly in error.
So what happened after those hours and hours and hours of work and frustration??? We ended up filing extensions of time! How ridiculous is that?
I know my taxes are a bit more complicated than many people's, because of having two kids in college, plus a small home business. However, there's no reason on earth that it should take HOURS of my limited time, incredible aggravation and 30 pages of returns and "supporting documentation" to file income taxes, especially for a tax refund. I heard on the radio yesterday that it took the "average tax payer" 26 hours to prepare their taxes this year. Something is really wrong with a system like this, when the average person, trying to be honest and do the right thing, can't relax and file their taxes without feeling like it's possible they've made a huge mistake somewhere along the line and that the government will "get them" in the future.
I think I need to join those people who were at those "Tea Party" protests on Wednesday!! Yes, I'm fed up with how much we're being taxed, but I'm even MORE fed up with a system so complicated, inept and convoluted.
Just my rant for the day.......
(And with my hubby's permission, I am NOT even going to think about taxes again for at least one week! Maybe by then, I will have calmed down a bit and can work on the taxes again a bit more rationally.)
Until then, I wish you many happy "returns"!!! (oh, yes, I'm feeling very "punny"!!)
This year, however, tax preparation has hit a new low. And at least part of it is the fault of TurboTax. I've done our taxes using TurboTax for probably at least 8 or 9 years, so I'm not new to this program at all. As soon as I started using this year's version, I realized it wasn't as user-friendly as it had been in years past. It was harder to navigate through the options, harder to go back and review some area you'd already worked on, and just seemed generally more difficult to understand.
But I kept on plowing through and thought I was nearly done by Monday. Some of TurboTax's figures didn't look quite right to me, especially the credits for college expenses, which seemed rather low. However, TurboTax knows better than me, right??? Or so I thought.....
On Tuesday night, I remembered one more small donation we'd made -- only $100 -- so I plugged that figure in and went to bed. Wednesday morning (yes, the 15th -- I was really pushing that deadline!!), I hit the "print" button, and up popped a message saying my return showed five errors...... sigh....... One was just a needed notation for the $100 addition; two others were minor things; and then up came the education tax credit with two errors. I couldn't figure out what on earth was going on, so I decided to get back into the program in-depth and try to figure out what the problem was. As I was reviewing the "interview" (TurboTax asks bunches of questions to help determine your status on each deduction), I found that TurboTax, for some strange, unknown and totally random reason, had marked both of my older daughters as having received convictions for drug use, possession or trafficking!! WHAT???? Where on earth did it come up with that crazy idea??
Now I was getting angry and frustrated. It was already noon on tax day, and I was still fighting with this stupid program -- I just wanted it to be OVER. I unclicked the "drug convictions" boxes and re-ran the error check. And all of a sudden, my tax refund went from $400 to over $2,300! Again, WHAT???? How did that happen? How do I know if it's right or wrong? I ccouldn't file THAT -- I wouldn't even be able to sleep knowing that I filed that kind of paperwork, possibly in error.
So what happened after those hours and hours and hours of work and frustration??? We ended up filing extensions of time! How ridiculous is that?
I know my taxes are a bit more complicated than many people's, because of having two kids in college, plus a small home business. However, there's no reason on earth that it should take HOURS of my limited time, incredible aggravation and 30 pages of returns and "supporting documentation" to file income taxes, especially for a tax refund. I heard on the radio yesterday that it took the "average tax payer" 26 hours to prepare their taxes this year. Something is really wrong with a system like this, when the average person, trying to be honest and do the right thing, can't relax and file their taxes without feeling like it's possible they've made a huge mistake somewhere along the line and that the government will "get them" in the future.
I think I need to join those people who were at those "Tea Party" protests on Wednesday!! Yes, I'm fed up with how much we're being taxed, but I'm even MORE fed up with a system so complicated, inept and convoluted.
Just my rant for the day.......
(And with my hubby's permission, I am NOT even going to think about taxes again for at least one week! Maybe by then, I will have calmed down a bit and can work on the taxes again a bit more rationally.)
Until then, I wish you many happy "returns"!!! (oh, yes, I'm feeling very "punny"!!)
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