No Taxation...
Taxes = DONE! Heck yeah.
Unfortunately, I had to file in two states due to the fact that I spent one month in North Carolina in 2006. Oh well, they are done, so I'm happy. I'm pretty neurotic about having things finished before a deadline --- that, and the fact that I'll be traveling so much in the next two months really lit a fire under me to get this task marked off the list.
I like that the government can get all up in your business. It (it = government) needs to know where you were and where you are now. When you file in two states, you have to send the tax forms from the other state to prove yourself. Among additional information, it knows how much you earn, your marital status and if you have kids. Nosy bastard. And if you try to pull one over its eyes, it has your address and isn't afraid to use it.
The questions get pretty interesting too -one on the North Carolina form says, "Are you a registered farmer or fisherman?" It's kind of like when I had to re-take the written part of the drivers test to switch my license from South Carolina to North Carolina. Most of the questions dealt with tractors and alcohol. Don't mix the two. That's the bottom line.
Along with all this tax business, I was thinking about finances in general and how much we can learn from those around us. My parents, for example, taught me some great habits - one of them being ALWAYS pay off your credit card in full and on time (and more specifically, always pay all of your bills in full and on time, too). Of course there's that pesky interest that will get you the longer you put off paying the credit card bill, but it can also negatively affect one's credit score. Lenders use that score to evaluate the risk of giving someone a loan. When I buy a house, I would like to be deemed worthy of a decent loan.
In college, I had a friend who held about 3K in credit card debt. Her parents cut her credit card and then made her get a job to pay it off. It's scary to think about how that will hurt her in the future. My friend expressed to me how she got out of hand - with a credit card, it was so easy for her to charge and not give it a second thought since you don't see an actual statement until the end of the billing cycle (if at all - since her parents were paying her credit card bill). So, you can charge with reckless abandon and a few charges can add up to a lot. I think this experience made me pay a lot more attention to the details of what and how much goes on the credit card. Dad's simple solution to this situation is, "If you can't afford it, don't buy it. Period." He always says that the money you have in the bank should be able to back up what you charge on the credit card. Its such a logical and simple idea, yet for some, so difficult to do as I found with my friend's situation.
Investing for retirement is something else I've gotten myself into. I can't believe I'm thinking about retirement at the age of 26 (actually, I started at 23), but I guess there's no harm in planning for the future.
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I'm channeling my inner Suze Orman today.
Unfortunately, I had to file in two states due to the fact that I spent one month in North Carolina in 2006. Oh well, they are done, so I'm happy. I'm pretty neurotic about having things finished before a deadline --- that, and the fact that I'll be traveling so much in the next two months really lit a fire under me to get this task marked off the list.
I like that the government can get all up in your business. It (it = government) needs to know where you were and where you are now. When you file in two states, you have to send the tax forms from the other state to prove yourself. Among additional information, it knows how much you earn, your marital status and if you have kids. Nosy bastard. And if you try to pull one over its eyes, it has your address and isn't afraid to use it.
The questions get pretty interesting too -one on the North Carolina form says, "Are you a registered farmer or fisherman?" It's kind of like when I had to re-take the written part of the drivers test to switch my license from South Carolina to North Carolina. Most of the questions dealt with tractors and alcohol. Don't mix the two. That's the bottom line.
Along with all this tax business, I was thinking about finances in general and how much we can learn from those around us. My parents, for example, taught me some great habits - one of them being ALWAYS pay off your credit card in full and on time (and more specifically, always pay all of your bills in full and on time, too). Of course there's that pesky interest that will get you the longer you put off paying the credit card bill, but it can also negatively affect one's credit score. Lenders use that score to evaluate the risk of giving someone a loan. When I buy a house, I would like to be deemed worthy of a decent loan.
In college, I had a friend who held about 3K in credit card debt. Her parents cut her credit card and then made her get a job to pay it off. It's scary to think about how that will hurt her in the future. My friend expressed to me how she got out of hand - with a credit card, it was so easy for her to charge and not give it a second thought since you don't see an actual statement until the end of the billing cycle (if at all - since her parents were paying her credit card bill). So, you can charge with reckless abandon and a few charges can add up to a lot. I think this experience made me pay a lot more attention to the details of what and how much goes on the credit card. Dad's simple solution to this situation is, "If you can't afford it, don't buy it. Period." He always says that the money you have in the bank should be able to back up what you charge on the credit card. Its such a logical and simple idea, yet for some, so difficult to do as I found with my friend's situation.
Investing for retirement is something else I've gotten myself into. I can't believe I'm thinking about retirement at the age of 26 (actually, I started at 23), but I guess there's no harm in planning for the future.
---------
I'm channeling my inner Suze Orman today.
posted by mkp @ 2:56 PM
2 Comments:
At 1:27 PM,
ma said…
Um... Suze Orman just recently came out... not saying there is anything wrong with that, but since you've got an NC and all... how much of her are you channeling?
:)
At 2:01 PM,
mkp said…
Just her financial genius. I think she's brilliant when it comes to money matters.
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