Tax Day

Tuesday April 15th, 2008 - Lake Villa, IL

Tax day. It could be worse. I could be Wesley Snipes. I have had my share of problems with my taxes over the years but not that. He’s got some serious issues. All I did was fail to file returns for a few years. That’s all caught up now and I ended up getting a refund at the end of it. I planned on getting them done early this year but I had to file an extension.

It’s a quirk with me and I need to fix it. I thought I was going to do it this year but it got to be close to the deadline and my accountant sent me an email saying he was busy and it would be easier just to file an extension and do it later. I said it was fine with me and it is. I have all of my records and receipts and it shouldn’t be very complicated at all. I hope.

If I’m lucky next year’s return will be VERY complicated because it will mean I made a lot of money. I’d gladly pay extra to have the accountant have to sort out all my payments and royalties and dividends from various sources. I’ve been trying for that for a lifetime.

Money is a skill I am working on and it’s becoming less and less scary. There is no real secret to it other than paying attention and watching what comes in and what goes out. If I would have been smart right from the first dollar I ever made I’d be rich now but I wasn’t and most others aren’t either. There needs to be some financial training for the masses.

You’d think there would be at least a high school course in it but I never heard of one. I had to learn everything on the fly and now all these years later I see what an idiot I was. If I had saved just $100 a month since age 16 I’d have $34,800. Plus interest. But I don’t.

What if I saved the money from HALF the sodas I bought during that time or blew on a magazine I threw away a day later or whatever else I pissed it away on. I don’t think there needs to be a total miser attitude of saving everything and not having any fun but I think I could have been a lot better with my money with not all that much extra effort. I blew it.

That doesn’t mean I have to stay stupid though. I am actually in a good position to start turning all this around. My car is paid off and my credit card debt is zero and my rent is as low as it gets without having to share a toilet down the hall with recovering alcoholics. If I start saving now I can still salvage a decent life at my retirement age if I live that long.

That’s a big if though. Who knows what will happen? Life is day to day and this was an uplifting one. After yesterday I needed it. No pressure today, only fun. My friend Shelley came by and took me out to lunch at Applebee’s because she’s a mystery shopper and had to go there. We talked about what we‘re going to do with my website and mailing list etc.

Her daughter Greta just turned four and I love kids that age. To make a kid laugh is one of life’s true treasures and thankfully it isn’t that difficult. Just a few fart sounds or goofy faces usually does the trick and that laughter is pure medicine. We finished up lunch and I came home and started working on my comedy notes. I always get lost in that and it took up most of the rest of the day. My taxes will get done soon enough. Today was for fun.