Yes, I am still here. 
I just can’t stand when I don’t post for a while and by the time I do, I have a million updates.
First update: Taxes. You know. Since my husband became self-employed, doing our taxes is something I absolutely dread. Most people like tax time. Mainly because they are expecting a big refund. I don’t want to expect a big refund, because for one, that means I let the IRS hold my money interest-free for the year. I rather have my money right now-not next year.
Last year we got a decent tax refund for a few reasons:
- Child Tax Credit
- My husband’s work was slow so we had less income
- We qualified for the Earned Income Credit
- I claimed the home office deduction for the first time
- We claimed the depreciation of our car and anything work related for my husband’s work. I was always scared to for fear of an audit-but hey, why not? I am not lying.
- I did not have my exemptions right taking out too much from each check. I updated them last year.
We are definitely not getting anything back this year. Did I take out too little? Nope. The exemptions are fine. Here’s what I have got so far…
- My daughter turned 17 at the end of 2009. So she is no longer eligible for the child tax credit. She was 16 all year… We are legally responsible for our kids until they are 18 but lose the tax credit when they turn 17? What is that all about?
- My husband had more work this year, resulting in more income—not a lot but enough to surpass the Earned Income Credit Limit.
- We fell into a different tax bracket-HA! So “the more you make, the more they take” is even worse for the so-called “middle class”.
Just these factors alone has caused us to owe THOUSANDS. I actually got so irritated doing our taxes, that I just stopped doing them. I will deal with it this weekend. I am going to pull out every single receipt, every single donation and claim it to lower our tax obligations. I am really ticked by this.
I didn’t want a refund, but I didn’t want to owe either. Yuck.
Second update: Work. I took some vacation days off last week. It wasn’t planned but the opportunity presented itself. It was more of a take it now or take it after everyone else takes theirs…so I took it. Besides, I got to stay home and watch the little one while she was home from school on Spring Break. I worked the whole time (writing) but took a day off just to hang out with her. It was nice.
Third update: Our living situation. So far it looks like we need to move in June, but we are waiting to hear from the property managers for more info. I inquired already but was told they will have more info closer to my lease end date.
Apparently our complex was sold to a group of investors in February and they are in the process of changing a lot of things. They assumed our lease but other than that it, who knows what they will pull when our lease is up.
All I see is moving trucks every week…more than usual. So I am thinking it might not be good. Gosh, I am really sick of moving. We were not planning on moving until the girls were out of their schools next year. Moving is not only a pain but it costs money…so I don’t want to move this summer. I really don’t. We’ll have to wait and see.
Other than that, it’s been the same old around here. I just figured I would update here. Gosh, my last post was weeks ago. My next post surely will come sooner than that.
