Tax Confessions

The tax deadline has passed.  Hope all the procrastinators made it!

I hate taxes.  And math.  To me, taxes are like word problems and my brain just wants to shut down when I get them.

Everything is so overwhelmingly complicated (or maybe my brain just wants to over-complicate things I want to avoid).  No matter how much I read online, I just don’t get it.

I’m 28 and, aside from this year, have only filed taxes maybe twice in my adult life, and I didn’t even have to.  It’s what happens when you only work part-time, minimum wage jobs.

This year, being that I’m required to file taxes as independent contractor, I went to H&R Block for help and to get some questions answered.  $211 later, I left the H&R Block appointment still confused.  The lady just didn’t seem to understand my questions, especially the ones pertaining to my student loans.  She was more interested in deciding what she was having for lunch (hamburger fyi).  But after doing some further research online, I think I figured things out.

Maybe.

No, probably not.

Definitely still confused.

I was told I did not need to file self employment quarterly as most PF bloggers have written about.  The internet tells me I don’t need to pay estimated quarterly taxes until I expect to owe $1000 or more.  Let’s hope that’s the case!

The only thing I took away from my appointment is that my husband and I probably shouldn’t be filing separately.  We currently do so because I do not want my husband’s income to be factored into MY student loan payment.  I don’t want him paying for my loans.

Married couples who file separately lose out on the student loan interest deduction.  She ran a trial based on our numbers from 2013 and we would have gotten back more than double what my husband got back this year from filing separately, including me having to pay my portion of taxes.  There’s still a number of factors to consider before we decide it would be more beneficial to file jointly.  My income was only for three months in 2013, it will be a heck of a lot bigger for 2014 and I will owe more.  I’ll also need to figure out what my payments under Income Based Repayment would be with my husband’s income factored in.  If it increases too much that he’d basically be paying all of it, I doubt it would be worth it.

How did this tax season treat you?  Are you an early bird or an 11th hour occupant?  Do you know what you’re doing when it comes to taxes?

 

Happy New Year!

Happy 2014!  It’s that time of year where you have to get used to writing 2014 on everything you date!

I can’t believe it’s been a year since I came up with these resolutions.  I feel like it was just a few months ago. No excuses for the lack of crossing off more items!  Here’s how I did with my goals for 2013.

Improving time management.  While I still procrastinate a bit, being busy with work and volunteering has helped me be more productive.  I have somewhat of a morning routine to clean instead of hopping on the computer right away, which helps set the pace for the day.  I’m not exercising daily but there have been some improvements and attempts.  Sleeping schedule with a bed time routine is a joke and I need to fix this, badly!  I’ve attempted meal planning and cooking more but I really need to stick with it every week.

Finding passion in art.  I’ve successfully been able to separate the anxiety I once felt when creating art. I’m still not creating art every day, but I’m working on it.

Some other things I want to do in 2013:

• Go to the shooting range with husband – Won’t happen in 2013 but it’s on my list of things to do with the hubby while he’s on leave.
• Visit my family
• Pay off credit card debt – I paid off one card, still have one to go!
• Run a mile easily – Hahaha.  Yeah.No.
• Use my Waterpik habitually – Didn’t even try.  Finally cleaned off my bathroom counter, took it out of the box and WILL start using it!
• Develop a skin care regimen – Didn’t try this either.  Now that everything is organized, I just need to make this a daily habit/routine.
• Read more – I read a couple books but slowed down the past few months.  Recently joined a book club so hopefully that will help with the more aspect.
• Update portfolio/demo reel and design new website – Nope.
• Kip training (click the link to see what a kip is) – Not at all.
• Sit up straight, improve posture – Not really.
• Meet people/make friends and do fun things!  Have met a few new people and hope to meet more in 2014 to do fun things with!
• Spend less time on the computer!  Work and volunteering has kept me away, but I want to spend less time on Facebook, specifically.
• Improve time management – develop daily routines (exercise, cleaning, working/side hustling, bedtime routine)  Getting better!

DAILY GOALS – 15 THINGS I SHOULD BE DOING DAILY

Some of these things overlap my goals for the year.  Sadly, I have failed at most of these things.  Playing brain games and laughing have been successes and a few others are getting a lot better but still not daily.  I need to print/write out this list and post it around the apartment so I can see it every day and truly work harder at doing these all.

1. Brush cats, this will help keep cat hair at bay.
2. Play with all the cats, encourages them to get into trouble less.
3. Scoop all litter boxes.
4. Vacuum at least one room.
5. Dust/wipe down counters and surfaces.
6. Dishes, either wash them by hand or put dirty ones in the dishwasher before bed.
7. Use my Waterpik.
8. Go for a walk.
9. Eat fruit!
10. Read.
11. Play brain games (sudoku, word search, etc).
12. Laugh.
13. Take ALL medication, including vitamins/supplements.
14. Stretch and do balance exercises.
15. Wear sunblock.

Some goals I have for getting debt free ASAP:

These are goals I made a year ago and after reexamining them, I don’t think they’re very realistic as I’m months behind.

• Within 2 months:  Brainstorm/begin new and creative ways to make extra money. – Did that, just took a while to actually make extra money and it’s still not a significant amount.
• Within 3 months:  Have a job, even if it’s part-time minimum wage. – Took 10 months.
• Within 4-6 months:  Learn to love to create art again.  Update my portfolio.  Build a website and start freelancing! – Still no love but I’ve cleared the anxiety.  No real progress on portfolio/freelancing.
• 6 months to a year:  Credit cards paid off! – Just one down, one to go (two if you include my husband’s new credit card).
• 1 year:  Smallest private loan with co-signer paid off!  Not.Even.Close.  I’ve gotten this loan just below my original principal balance.
• 3-5 years:  Have all private loans paid off!  With interest, this probably isn’t reasonable but I’m not nixing it yet, especially now that I have a job (or two).
• 10-15 years:  Federal loans paid off.  Unlikely, but still hopeful.

I’m getting pretty detailed about my steps towards achieving goals for 2014 and since this post is already pretty long, that’ll be for another day!

Happy New Year, readers!  How did you do with your goals for 2013?  What new ones do you have for 2014?

2013 Year In Review

2013 has been a roller coaster of a year.  Here’s a quick summary of some major events that happened.

January – Early in January my uncle passed away and 12 hours later, my grandfather passed away as well.  I was excited to be moving out of a crappy apartment where the heat and A/C didn’t work properly.  We moved our belongings into a house that was supposed to be move in ready.  It was not.  We moved our stuff back into old apartment and had to find a new place to live within a week.  Found another horrible place, this one in a bad area.  I had an upper GI endoscopy while awake, very unpleasant.  On the plus side, I won a Pintester tshirt and $500 from a video contest.  

February – The new apartment was a mess, literally.  Found myself, yet again, searching for a place to call home.  My best friend had her baby while I was visiting her.

March – Pretty uneventful.  Did a lot of cleaning and apartment searching.

April – We started budgeting and moved into our current apartment.

May – I junked my car.  We got a new/used car.

June – I celebrated my 28th birthday and 18 years of being cancer free.

July – I started volunteering at a local animal shelter and became a volunteer wish granter with my local Make-A-Wish chapter.  I took a two week trip to visit my family in Upper Michigan.

August – I interviewed my first Wish kid and this first wish shall forever be remembered as a wish full of Kaseys.  Me, the other wish granter, and the wish kid’s mother, all named Kasey – with a K no less!

September – We bought a couch.

October – The month of many interviews.  I started working two jobs!

November – Been busy between work and volunteering.  I started 30 days of organization, which is looking more like 60ish days of organization now!

December –  Debt Perception turned 1!  Got hearing aids.  House cleaning job has been non-existent since Thanksgiving.  Picked up two pet sitting opportunities.  Learned to use chopsticks.

What will 2014 entail?  Stay tuned!