Tax woe-man

We are not very good at taxes. We took our stack o' papers to a tax preparer last night and it was the same ol' story of woe as every year. We paid off our house, have no debt, and don't have enough deductions to be able to itemize. Therefore, as is the case just about every year, we have to pay more to Uncle Sam. Of course first we need to buy a couple IRA's and make a plunk into our HSA account so we only have to pay in the 100's instead of the 1000's. Argh. Such is life for us simple-minded non-debtors.

We did at least like the woman who did our taxes. It was our first time going with her. I asked for suggestions on Facebook and the first person who responded gave us her name. It turns out one of her workers also use to work for Jane and they are friends. So that turned out well. She was very thorough and went through everything with us. We were there for 1 1/2 hours!

So, death and taxes. I guess now we're just waiting for death.

Tax day

Okay, so apparently the official "tax day" this year isn't until Monday... but still, if you haven't paid your taxes yet, you better hurry! We finally filed ours online the other day (actually, Jane did everything). The only thing I had to do was purchase an IRA so we didn't have to PAY more taxes (yet). That's the bad thing about not having any debt or deductions... we seem to get hit hard on taxes. Fortunately we were able to make enough tax-deferred investments this past year to avoid having to pay. I will never understand how some people seem to always get a bunch of money back in refunds. We've never gotten much back at all, and it seems like most of the time we have to pay more in. Oh well, I'm not complaining. Glad it's done for another year.

Some simple ways to save money

I haven't worked for about four months now, so the other day I was thinking about some ways I have tried to cut back on expenses. Not that we're in a financial bind, necessarily, but every little bit helps (even if you're still working). So here's a random list off the top of my head of some ways to save money:

• Cut your own hair - I paid $20 for a pair of clippers and started cutting my own hair. With hair like mine it's hardly worth paying someone to buzz it all off. Plus, now that it's buzzed, I don't need to buy shampoo or hair products anymore and I use less water when I shower.
• Cut out junk food - We keep ourselves on a fairly limited diet, therefore we don't spend a whole lot on the food we keep in the house. We mostly buy lettuce, vegetables, and meat. I think avoiding junk food and a lot of baked goods helps quite a bit. We also drink mostly water.
• Cut out over-priced coffee - If I feel like splurging for an afternoon coffee or something, I'll just go to McDonald's. Their coffee is not that bad, and at many locations you can get it for $1. Although it is rare that I ever buy coffee anyway. Usually I just make decaf at home and have it in the morning.
• Cut down on clothes - I don't remember the last time I bought any clothes. I could probably go several years without buying anything new. I guess I did get a couple new golf-type shirts this year, but they were to replace the ones I've had for years. Just how many clothes and pairs of shoes does a person need? I remember a friend of mine once got rid of all his clothes except for 6 outfits. He was a professional person who survived quite well.
• Cut out unnecessary driving - I've been trying not to drive much. I used to like to 'cruise around' a lot, but there are many days now where I don't even leave the house. Sometimes I will walk down to the gas station or down to Bluffton Road if there is something I need during the day. It has also forced me to touch base with my neighbors.
• Cut out eating out - If I have one downfall it is eating out. I like to go out to eat. We always go out at least one night a week (date night), but we've tried to limit it to that. Plus I don't eat lunch out. I have a salad almost every single day. I only eat breakfast out 1 day a week - and that is more of a social thing with my pastor friends than anything. So there are ways to limit eating out.
• Cut the cable - One thing we did before I lost my job, but it has saved us a ton of money, is get rid of cable TV. We just have an antenna and only get local stations, but you can find so much online anymore. It beats the heck out of paying $70+ a month for more channels of stuff I don't really care to watch anyway (at least for me).

I suppose there are other ways to save, but those were some I thought of at the moment. If you can think of more, please feel free to share in the comments. Happy saving!

Sold the farm

Jane and I no longer own any farmland. We sold our 39.1 acres to her nephew. We signed the papers this past Monday (10/28/13), and yesterday the money was transferred into our account. Personally, I'm kind of torn, because it was nice to own some land and know it would always be there. It's also nice to be out of debt though and know that we got a good price for it. I'm sure we could have sold it for more, but we were glad it was able to stay in the family. This was apparently the first farm in Jane's family, and will now be farmed by the 7th generation. All in all, it's a strange feeling, which I'm just trying to ignore.

Helpful site for job hunting

I ran across this site that offers some help in finding a job, or at least 'How to Make A Quick $50.'

http://money.msn.com/how-to-budget/article.aspx?post=0e3d8e37-794f-4453-9252-a2f8c8244cdf