Entries From 'Money'

NW - Apr08

What happen to April?!
I’m skipping April’s Net Worth post for a few reasons, mainly though because I’m making a major purchase that will change my financial picture. While that is in the works any snapshot of my money will be misleading and inaccurate.

I’ll wait until the first week of May, once the financial dust settles.

Meanwhile, in April, just after I sent in my Federal Tax Return, I realized I had forgotten a very small W-2. Very annoying, but it had to be corrected. I dreaded doing my first ever tax amendment - it sounded intimidating. But using Turbo Tax online it was pretty straight forward and simple.

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Taxes Done

Hooray! I’m done.

With my self-imposed deadline of March 31st approaching fast, I dedicated all day Sunday to completing my taxes that were started over a month ago. After dallying the morning away - I realized that I had to get going…then I put it off for another hour or so before I got busy. Time flew by, but I got it done.

First, I have to say we have some seriously whacked tax rules!
Second, I loved having my hybrid car purchase tax credit. It even has its own form: Form 8910 “Alternative Motor Vehicle Credit”.

What I use to file…
The previous three years I used H&R Block’s online filing program. I really liked how it worked. The program was user-friendly, easy to find help when you needed it and seemed to cover everything. Last year, however I had a small issue so it was the first time I had to actually communicate with their customer “service”. I got one of my worse customer service experiences ever (at least in the top three) - and it wasn’t from just one person. For that reason I went through the extra hassle of switching up companies this year.

I would not recommend using H&R Block’s online tax program if you think you may ever have to actually communicate with someone.

This year I went with the TurboTax online program. Pretty much the same setup as H&R’s. In my opinion the Federal was a little easier with Turbo Tax, but the state return was more complicated. The state interview is not as well done in the program as either their own Federal or as H&R’s state return section.

I didn’t have any need for their customer service yet so I can’t compare that - but I can’t imagine it could be worse…or even as incompetent as H&R’s.

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NW - Mar08

I’m a little late posting this but the numbers are from the beginning of the month - March 6th.

My financial goal in February was to mostly complete my taxes and be ready to submit them mid-march. Unfortunately that goal was not met. My taxes are about half done…I’ve found many-many excuses not to dive into them again and finish them up.

Hopefully by my next Net Worth posting in April I’ll have better news to report..or else I’ll be posting about filing an extension!

As of this month - March 2008:

Asset growth = -0.05%

Debt reduction = 0.37%

Overall Goal = 84.4%
My Overall Goal amount is moving much slower than I would like - I need to start taking some steps to increase this amount.

This month’s goal is to get my taxes done. Then to plan out the spending of my return and “Tax Stimulus” check. I have a couple large financial things going on right now so depending on what happens over the next few weeks will determine where the cash goes…either way it will be put to good use and not spent frivolously.

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