Birth, taxes, Spring fever, etc.
February 22, 2003
Courtney and I spent Snowstorm Ought-Three with Brian and Karoline (and our two cats, their cat, and their dog) at my in-law's house on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. We got about a foot and a half of snow and were "forced" to stay an extra day because there was no way to get off the farm. On Tuesday, a local fish and game officer (inspector? warden?), and friend of the family, came by with a front-loader to clear a path to the road.
The weather this year has been about an 8 on the depresso-meter (where 1 is Mary Poppins and 10 is Kurt Cobain). Most of January and early February have been below freezing, with many weeks in the 20's and many days in the teens and below. Luckily, the days have been getting longer -- they're pretty bearable now, from a sunlight perspective.
This year is our simplest yet for tax purposes. No house. No renters. Not many stock trades. The entire year working for the same employers. The simplicity, and the fact that we got a tax refund last year (our first), and the fact that our accountant made a big mistake last year (which luckily the IRS corrected in our favor), inspired me to do our taxes myself and early. I read a good review of H and R Block's TaxCut program on C|Net (and also read about Turbo Tax's oppresive licensing scheme) so I bought a copy (it's cheap) and tried it out. It's very nice. I did most of the work on a Sunday, while Courtney was at work. I probably spent about an hour, total, entering information. Most of the work was in gathering receipts, 1099's, and matching stock sales to their buys. I'm expecting the refund to appear in our account any day now. With rebates, the software cost was about $20, plus another $25 or so to electronically file the federal and state forms.
I'm working about 50 hours a week and Courtney, a little more, maybe 55. Late fall and winter is a seasonal peak time for her.
Last year we were looking to buy an apartment in Manhattan, but in the Fall decided to postpone our search for at least a year. The main reason was, and is, we can't afford to buy a place as nice (and convenient) as the place we're renting. Our only reason to buy is for its investment potential. With the current housing bubble talk, and knowing a couple of people who have had trouble selling property, the security of investing in an apartment isn't a given.
It's raining.
Next in news:Christmas pixThe weather this year has been about an 8 on the depresso-meter (where 1 is Mary Poppins and 10 is Kurt Cobain). Most of January and early February have been below freezing, with many weeks in the 20's and many days in the teens and below. Luckily, the days have been getting longer -- they're pretty bearable now, from a sunlight perspective.
This year is our simplest yet for tax purposes. No house. No renters. Not many stock trades. The entire year working for the same employers. The simplicity, and the fact that we got a tax refund last year (our first), and the fact that our accountant made a big mistake last year (which luckily the IRS corrected in our favor), inspired me to do our taxes myself and early. I read a good review of H and R Block's TaxCut program on C|Net (and also read about Turbo Tax's oppresive licensing scheme) so I bought a copy (it's cheap) and tried it out. It's very nice. I did most of the work on a Sunday, while Courtney was at work. I probably spent about an hour, total, entering information. Most of the work was in gathering receipts, 1099's, and matching stock sales to their buys. I'm expecting the refund to appear in our account any day now. With rebates, the software cost was about $20, plus another $25 or so to electronically file the federal and state forms.
I'm working about 50 hours a week and Courtney, a little more, maybe 55. Late fall and winter is a seasonal peak time for her.
Last year we were looking to buy an apartment in Manhattan, but in the Fall decided to postpone our search for at least a year. The main reason was, and is, we can't afford to buy a place as nice (and convenient) as the place we're renting. Our only reason to buy is for its investment potential. With the current housing bubble talk, and knowing a couple of people who have had trouble selling property, the security of investing in an apartment isn't a given.
It's raining.
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