Tax Time

Oh how I despise this time of year, not only because it is Winter’s last desperate attempt to ruin my life (thus the snow outside falling as I type), but also because it is the dreaded tax season. I really should not dislike it as much as I do, because most of the time we always get money back (except for twice when we were living in California), but just the whole process of going through all the paperwork and the fear of doing something wrong on accident and bringing the wrath of the IRS down on us gives me a headache.

I did finally break down and get to it, with very pleasant results, but it ended up taking around two days and some mild irritation at not being able to find all the things that I needed when I needed them. (Thank you Wells Fargo for not sending out my 1098T because it wasn’t past $600, yet still was enough to make a dent in my return.)

Normally, I would wait until about April 10th to even begin looking at my taxes, but I was feeling motivated this year and didn’t want to be one THOSE people (I usually am) who are running to the Post Office on April 15th (or April 18th as the case may be) mailing the return at the last possible second. This will be our last year of having to file three different returns (Federal and two state) and should make next year much less despicable for me.

Our actual goal during the year is not to have e refund yet still not have to pay. Our money is worth more at the moment we have it, not a year later when the government gives it back to us. I would much rather have my money working for me throughout the year earning interest then for the government. This year we paid too much, but I am sure it has more to do with the decrease in pay we took as a whole when we moved to Wisconsin and Andy gave up his job. A small price to pay for the kind of life we enjoy here.

We definitely tried to make it all easier by having a folder that we immediately put all of our potential tax receipts or forms or anything tax related in through out the year, so that at the end of the year all I have to do is pull out the folder and have everything I need. It worked for the most part this year, except that we had put some of the receipts for upgrading our home in with all the other receipts as well as some places that never sent us the paperwork to begin with.

But now all we have to do is wait between 2 to 8 weeks for all the refunds to come back in the mail or be direct deposited, so that the time and effort will be worth it.