Talk About and Tackle It Tuesday: Taxes!

This week I didn't exactly tackle the office as I wanted to. Instead, I did my taxes. I was actually quite surprised at how quickly and smoothly it went. I claimed one of the kids this year versus both of them (as it was my year to claim both). My fiance' had to claim our son in order to carry insurance on him. Next year, I will claim both to help with the taxes that I will owe on my unemployment.

Anyways, I gathered all the paperwork and laptop then headed for the living room floor. Within an hour, I was done! Not only that but I am getting a refund. A much larger one than expected.

One thing I had done when I found out (actually got the feeling I was being laid off), I switched my tax exemptions from 1 to 0. Some people would disagree and say I should have kept the money rather than give it to the government to hold on interest-free terms. Had I received it, I probably would have spent it because it wouldn't have been that noticeable. Once I was laid off I was no longer paying the ridiculously high child care fees so that amount was put towards my debt. Now that I've been trying to survive on a less than 50% off my old wages, I will be getting a lump sum of money that was "planned" (in the budget). For me, it worked. I didn't blow the money, I grew my savings and I focused on paying my debt down (all on my measly unemployment check).

Sorry to bore all you with the details but that's what I tackled this week and have been trying to tackle over the past couple of months. I didn't tackle all my debt but hope to by year-end.

Visit 5 Minutes For Mom to see what others are tackling. Visit Lazy Organizer's Talk About Tuesday to see what others are talking about.