I just got done filing my taxes. I decided to go with Complete Tax. That was the best of my available options.

I will be getting a $364 refund from Federal and a $36 refund from State. Not a fortune by any means, but it’s something. And at least I didn’t have to pay in. I had to a couple years ago because of how I filled out my W-4. And according to the info they provided me, I should have my refunds around Feb. 8th. I’m having them directly deposited into my account.

Now I just have to wait. I already have plans for that $400. I hate waiting ………

I set up my retirement plan with my new employer today. It’s a Simple IRA rather than a 401K. I still know nothing about those things. I just went with the suggestions the guy gave me.

It’s with Edward Jones. I’m putting 3% (of each paycheck) toward it and my employer matched up to 3%. That money is going into what they call “American Funds B shares”. There are 3 funds that the money will be going in to:
35% into Capital World Growth and Income Fund
35% into Fundamental Investors
30% into Capital Income Builders

I have ABSOLUTELY no idea what any of that means. But that’s what the guy suggested. I’m hoping he’s being straight with me and suggesting the best options. I guess I should do some research on things so that I’m more knowledgeable about things. I can make changes at any time. I’ll just have to keep an eye on things to see how it goes. I’ll be getting monthly statements on it.

Is there anyone out there who knows anything about this sort of thing? If so, can you point me toward some online resources so I can try to get to know what I’m doing? I just hope I’ll have some money somewhere to use once I get to retirement age. I did have some money in a 401K with a former employer, but I had to cash that out after they “let me go” (and waited a month to tell me that they “eliminated the position”) … I had bills to pay. Hopefully that will NEVER happen again, and the money will still be around when I get old. LOL

I got my W-2 forms in the mail today and I had gotten my 1098-E for my student loan last week. So I sat down at the computer tonite to file my taxes. Last year, I was able to file both my federal and my state taxes for free online with Turbo Tax because of the IRS’s “Free File”. But apparently this year I make too much money … or things just changed.

The IRS website states:

If your adjusted gross income was $54,000 or less in 2007, you can use Free File to prepare and e-file your taxes online.

My AGI WAS less than that, but apparently Turbo Tax has their own limit of $30,000 unless you served on active military duty in 2007 or qualify for an earned income credit. Neither apply to me. So … if I plan on using Turbo Tax again this year, I’ll have to pay full price. Dammit.

So here are my options this year:

1. Do my taxes the old fashioned way and mail them in.
2. Use Turbo Tax and pay $14.95 for Federal and $29.95 for State
3. Use Complete Tax and file Federal for free and State for $14.95.
4. Use H&R Block and file Federal for free and State for $29.95.

I’m such a cheapskate that I’m actually considering option #1. But that would mean it would take a lot longer to get my refunds back. I’ll probably end up going with option #3. I did file with Complete Tax a few years ago. I was going to file with them last year, but I would have had to pay for my State return. I didn’t have to with Turbo Tax, so I went with them. But now Turbo Tax really isn’t the best option.

So it looks like I won’t be filing my taxes tonite. It’s almost 9 already. I’ll sleep on my options and pick things up tomorrow nite.

I was really worried that I was gonna be screwed financially for this month. I don’t get my first paycheck at the new job until the end of January. I did have some money left in savings after getting my laptop. And when I got my final paycheck from the old job, I found out they added 40 hours of vacation time. That really helped. So I still have a fair amount left for the month after paying my bills. That’s a good feeling.

Of course, I have a feeling that a chunk of that will disappear tomorrow. I have a follow-up eye exam, and I’ll probably be getting a new pair of glasses. And I’m taking my car in for an oil change tomorrow too. Hopefully that’s all it will need … for now anyways.

I just need to make sure that I leave money for food for the rest of the month too. I’m hoping I can put some of it back in savings … but I’ll just have to wait and see.

I had my review yesterday at work. It’s been around 6 months since I’ve been back (after being laid off for about a month … give or take a couple days). It was a positive review. Of course, I have things to work on. Who doesn’t? Nobody is perfect.

Reviews have meant raises in the past. This time was no different. I got a nice raise. It ended up being about $1.15 more per hour … or an extra $100 per paycheck ($200 per month) before taxes. I wish that was AFTER taxes, but every little bit helps.

Things seem to be going in the right direction financially … <knock on wood /> I hope they keep going in that direction. Maybe I will be able to get the laptop I want by the end of this year.

So to celebrate (and because I don’t have anything in my apartment that I want to eat), I decided to order a pizza from Papa Johns (I love being able to order online too). I get emails from them from time to time with promos. I was hoping I had one for chicken strips. Well, what was in my inbox when I got home? I promo for chicken strips. :dancin: That made the supper decision easy. I placed my order at 5:32pm and they say it takes 30 to 40 minutes (which it usually does), so I should have my pizza (bbq chicken and bacon … :drool2:) no later than 6:12pm. That can’t come soon enough. I’m HUNGRY!!

One thing I love about my new bank is that they pay you 10¢ every time you use your check card. I use mine all the time. I rarely have cash on me, and I only write checks for the bills that I can’t pay online. Well, I just checked my account online and my Dime a Time Reward was deposited in my account yesterday. Just by using my check card, I made $2.60. Yeah … it’s not a fortune. But it’ll add up over the course of a year. Again, not a fortune … but every little bit helps.

I’m definitely not a big fan of Microsoft, but I do admit that I use some of their products … mainly Windows XP and Office. I also use Microsoft Money. I have Money 2003. I’ve been thinking of trying something different. I checked out Quicken this weekend. I wanted to download a trial, but you have to pay to download it and then you can cancel/return/whatever within 30 or 60 days. I don’t wanna do that because I don’t know if I want it or not. I just want to check it out.

I was able to download a trial version of Money Essentials. So I installed it this weekend but didn’t get a chance to try it out ’til tonite. Well … I HATE it. So I uninstalled it. Well, that fucked up my install of Money 2003. I guess that when it uninstalled Money Essentials, it uninstalled some libraries I needed or something. Excuse me!! I had a WORKING COPY of Money 2003 before that fucking trial version. So I had to re-install that damn trial version in order to get my version of Money 2003 to work again. Now, my luck it will quick working when the trial runs out. The MS website said you could install it in a different directory than your other install. What they didn’t bother to say is that if you uninstall the trial, it fucks up your other version. I should email them and complain.

Better yet … I think I’ll go out and buy Quicken and tell Microsoft to

I only signed up in October 2004. I finally hit $100 in January 2007. That’s only 27 months. My sites aren’t very high traffic, are they … LOL. That money will come in handy though. Who doesn’t like money? LOL Now I just need to keep an eye on my account for it to be deposited. Then, after it is, I can close out that account.