Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Budgeting, email and taxes...oh my!

I am so completely tired of sitting in front of the computer getting these three things done (so naturally, I am sitting in front of the computer blogging about how tired of these I am!)

Hubby's hours have been cut back little by little over the last several months, and we keep thinking that they'll start going back up soon...so we've just been trying to go with the flow. Well, we got his pay stub for this Friday, and were a little sad to see the number. But, it covers all our bills (although we did have to put off contributing to Charlotte's college fund for a month), so we're not complaining. Hubby did, however, apply for a part time second job (evenings and weekends) so we would appreciate any prayers about that situation.

We also have been planning on getting high speed Internet for my 30th birthday in August...so I was researching prices (after being told by the church organist that she had tried to call me for several days because she needed a cantor for a funeral, and that she finally gave up and got her daughter's doctor to allow her off bed rest for preeclampsia for the funeral...) and found out that all of the places that provide high speed Internet out here require a one year contract. Since we are REALLY not sure if we will be here much longer than a year (particularly if hubby's hours keep getting cut) we decided to go ahead and get high speed now...so starting Friday, I'll be able to do all sorts of things on the computer I never have before (I can watch my first YouTube video!) So, I don't know if that was a good or bad decision, but I guess I'm locked into paying for a year...

Of course, with changing ISPs, we also have to change our e-mail address...I didn't actually realize how many places I would need to change our e-mail until I started going through our inbox and trash can in Outlook...I mean, just little things like Seton Home, Blogger, CCL, ITunes, banks, mortgage, investment accounts...and on and on and on...

I also started working on taxes, and decided to try the Turbo Tax free edition (as suggested by Christine R...thanks!) and it is working out great so far (I still need the appropriate documentation from our banks, but other than that I'm all set!) and it is looking like we will be getting back a good chunk of change, and are going to owe the state under $200 (MUCH better than the almost $500 we owed last year!)

Well, I should probably stop procrastinating and get back to everything I am working on! Hopefully I'll get a chunk of it all done before nap time is over!

2 comments:

Unknown said...

YAY!!! I'm glad TurboTax is working out for you.

You'll LOVE high speed internet. I will never go back to dialup. It's more important to me than my TV.

If you ever switch to cable from DSL, you can think about cancelling your land line too and save some money that way. That is, of course, your cell phones work at home.

Additionally ... if you do end up moving, I bet they will make allowances for you and can either move with you, or will let you out of your contract.

Whimsy said...

I think I type faster with high speed internet :-)

I didn't know that homeowners could use the free tt version.