Sunday, March 05, 2017

The slow process begins

I worked on taxes again today. It's a slow process collecting all the data in one place. I do a good job of preserving what we need, but putting it all together is grueling work. If I were a little more organized throughout the year, it would be easier. Each January I'm full of good intentions, but by mid-year, I tend to slack off and simply stuff things in folders in my file cabinet.

The following year, my self-esteem takes a beating during tax season and swearing to myself that I will do better the coming year...and so forth.

Today I did most of the easy stuff. I plugged in all the household expenses, land tax, car tags, and our charitable giving along with the receipts in my organized tax folder.

If I don't jab a sharpened pencil through my temple first, I should be through with our taxes by the end of this week.

At 3:30 p.m. I knocked off because I heard the dogs barking in the back yard. Our friend Fred was coming over for dinner and that seemed like a perfect excuse to quit for the day.

Jilda made spaghetti and a sour cream crumb cake that was absolutely out of this world. It was a delightful way to end the day.

The day was overcast so I looked back at last March and found a picture I took of an ornamental cherry tree in the courtyard outside my office window.


14 comments:

  1. Anonymous10:29 PM

    One of the reasons I've stayed married to Bud for 62 years is that he does ALL our taxes!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I dread tax time too. George does our personal taxes on Turbotax but the accountant does the farm tax adjustments but we do all the entries on computer. The accountant make a lot of money off us. Taxes for the farm are due in June.
    I remember that flowering tree photo it seems.
    Hugs,
    Julia

    ReplyDelete
  3. Snap. I am in the midst of our tax. I have gathered and sorted the information and now I need to enter it into spreadsheets. And I put is off for too long each and every year. And promise to do better next time.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Rick, for 40 years Norma did our taxes, then I retired and thought she should too. We hired a tax guy on a friend's recommendation, then he retired. Now we approach our 47th anniversary by celebrating at H&R Block. They have a staff of infants who complete in an hour what used to take us days. Now the hardest part of taxes for me is the NYT crossword puzzle while I sit at one of their desks.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Tax time is a slow process for sure. Nice to have a reason to take a break and to enjoy the good food and company too. Just looking out your window would be wonderful seeing that beautiful tree too. What a great break for the eyes!

    ReplyDelete
  6. My taxes are pretty simple but I still fret over them... try to make sure it's correct. I'm always thrilled when it's over xox

    ReplyDelete
  7. Okay now you done it! I have this folder labeled 'This year's Taxes'. I haven't opened it yet. Thanks dude! ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  8. It is a royal pain! At work we have to do volunteer tax for people who are on disability or assistance. It is a pain because the people either don't show or don't have all the information and they have nothing compared to what you have to save for income tax time. It is such a pain in the you know what.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I used to do the taxes for a lot of my family. Finally it got to be too much. Now I take care of my own and they take care of theirs. Much less taxing (sorry about that).

    ReplyDelete
  10. We keep all our receipts and papers in a folder all year. Then we sit down in January and gather and add it all up and get it all prepared for the Tax man in February. We got ours over and done this year thank goodness.
    Lisa

    ReplyDelete
  11. Prior to coming out here I worked for a CPA for several years then vowed, "Never again." With the ever-evolving tax laws, the process can be incredibly frustrating. This year I saw back in my pj's with a glass of wine and let TurboTax do the dirty work. Just wish I hadn't waited so long to discover them!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Fortunately for me, Mrs. Chatterbox worked for a CPA firm for years and she does our taxes.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Taxes!!! I have to start doing them soon! Your dinner sounded delicious!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Tax time sucks for pretty much everyone except the bloody rich who don't seem to pay much in tax

    ReplyDelete

Please consider sharing

Email Signup Form

Subscribe to our mailing list

* indicates required