Mommy's Little Tax Credit
I’m working on pulling all my tax info together for our upcoming meeting with our tax accountant. I know, don’t hate me; it’s a sickness. I have a compulsive need to have our taxes finished by the beginning of February.
But I was noticing a large backlog of filing to be done and receipts to be entered into Quicken; and strangely enough, all the dates start right around June. Hmmm, what caused me to start falling behind on our family paperwork in June?
Oh, yeah, we had a kid.
And bought a house.
But look on the bright side, I say to myself! Both things will really help us on our taxes this year, or so people keep telling us. Right now those two things seem to mean more paperwork and more spending on this end, but I’ll withhold judgment until the results are in.
At any rate, I’m entering all my credit card receipts into Quicken, and see a distinct difference between our spending habits the first of the year and the end of the year. Last January, we saw movies. We went out to dinner. I bought books, and magazines. I’m entering these costs and feel as if I’m taking some sort of vicarious, voyeuristic vacation where people sleep late and watch t.v. and order appetizers and dessert, things I can’t imagine doing. After June, the card’s suspiciously quiet: the occasional Blockbuster, or Boston Market (takeout), but that’s it. It’s as if we, I don’t know, suddenly lost all concept of disposable time. And I can’t help but notice that from June onward, I seem to type the same thing over and over again: Target – diapers. Costco – diapers. Eckerds – diapers. And the numbers are staggering! I’m toying with the idea of doing one of those customized reports that’ll show me just how much her hiney alone has cost us thus far – but I don’t think I really want to know.
Is her hiney tax deductible? It certainly works hard enough.
But I was noticing a large backlog of filing to be done and receipts to be entered into Quicken; and strangely enough, all the dates start right around June. Hmmm, what caused me to start falling behind on our family paperwork in June?
Oh, yeah, we had a kid.
And bought a house.
But look on the bright side, I say to myself! Both things will really help us on our taxes this year, or so people keep telling us. Right now those two things seem to mean more paperwork and more spending on this end, but I’ll withhold judgment until the results are in.
At any rate, I’m entering all my credit card receipts into Quicken, and see a distinct difference between our spending habits the first of the year and the end of the year. Last January, we saw movies. We went out to dinner. I bought books, and magazines. I’m entering these costs and feel as if I’m taking some sort of vicarious, voyeuristic vacation where people sleep late and watch t.v. and order appetizers and dessert, things I can’t imagine doing. After June, the card’s suspiciously quiet: the occasional Blockbuster, or Boston Market (takeout), but that’s it. It’s as if we, I don’t know, suddenly lost all concept of disposable time. And I can’t help but notice that from June onward, I seem to type the same thing over and over again: Target – diapers. Costco – diapers. Eckerds – diapers. And the numbers are staggering! I’m toying with the idea of doing one of those customized reports that’ll show me just how much her hiney alone has cost us thus far – but I don’t think I really want to know.
Is her hiney tax deductible? It certainly works hard enough.
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Mommy Musings
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