Then he said to them, “Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” Matthew 22:21
Every year, I cringe when it is time to do our taxes. I guess there really isn't anyone who just loves going through the ritual of seeing if enough was paid throughout the year and if there will be enough deductions to offset what we owe (Can I adopt someone's kids temporarily? Please?). For us, it's a crap-shoot. We've broken even and we've had to pay. Rarely do we get the coveted refund (does last year's $1 from the state count?). So, needless to say, tax time induces a lot of anxiety for me.
Last week, I decided it was time to get it over with. How much would we owe this time? I really had no idea how it would turn out given that Kevin didn't work the last half of the year. With all my forms in hand, I set out to scale the tax mountain...
I sensed there may be trouble when we didn't have enough to itemize. A comparison to last year's filing showed that even the standard deduction was a little higher this year. Maybe it would be okay.
I plodded through...checking all the forms, filling in the boxes, answering all the questions.
Finally.....I get to the end. Dare I look?....
Hallelujah! We're getting a refund! A refund big enough to recoup some of our bigger expenses this year! A huge weight lifted off my shoulders at that moment. I couldn't believe it! I looked again to make sure it was true........YES, it was true!
After feeling so down in the dumps about our financial situation a couple of weeks ago, this was a Godsend. Yes, maybe, just maybe, we really are going to get through this year with some finances in tact. Maybe, just maybe, we won't have to resort to candlelight dinners, serving rice and beans (again).
I thought that doing the taxes would create more stress for us. Turns out, at least this time, that doing the taxes alleviated some stress. Yes, we deem it a blessing, but not because we think we deserve it. So many more people deserve to be lifted from more dire situations than ours. Nonetheless, we receive the gift and give thanks.
Every year, I cringe when it is time to do our taxes. I guess there really isn't anyone who just loves going through the ritual of seeing if enough was paid throughout the year and if there will be enough deductions to offset what we owe (Can I adopt someone's kids temporarily? Please?). For us, it's a crap-shoot. We've broken even and we've had to pay. Rarely do we get the coveted refund (does last year's $1 from the state count?). So, needless to say, tax time induces a lot of anxiety for me.
Last week, I decided it was time to get it over with. How much would we owe this time? I really had no idea how it would turn out given that Kevin didn't work the last half of the year. With all my forms in hand, I set out to scale the tax mountain...
I sensed there may be trouble when we didn't have enough to itemize. A comparison to last year's filing showed that even the standard deduction was a little higher this year. Maybe it would be okay.
I plodded through...checking all the forms, filling in the boxes, answering all the questions.
Finally.....I get to the end. Dare I look?....
Hallelujah! We're getting a refund! A refund big enough to recoup some of our bigger expenses this year! A huge weight lifted off my shoulders at that moment. I couldn't believe it! I looked again to make sure it was true........YES, it was true!
After feeling so down in the dumps about our financial situation a couple of weeks ago, this was a Godsend. Yes, maybe, just maybe, we really are going to get through this year with some finances in tact. Maybe, just maybe, we won't have to resort to candlelight dinners, serving rice and beans (again).
I thought that doing the taxes would create more stress for us. Turns out, at least this time, that doing the taxes alleviated some stress. Yes, we deem it a blessing, but not because we think we deserve it. So many more people deserve to be lifted from more dire situations than ours. Nonetheless, we receive the gift and give thanks.