Tax Day In A Recession. Lovely.

—By Carla

So here it is, April 15th, TAX DAY…and I have another confession to make. This one may actually be a little more painful than telling the world that I recently started getting my eyebrows shaped at a mall kiosk in order to save money (and not even a Dallas mall…a suburban mall).

So here goes: I have never done my own taxes. That is actually quite embarrassing and hard to admit, being a grown woman and all and having (up until recently) had a thriving career, making very good money, and always surrounded by very smart people.

I told you up front that I was going to be brutally honest. That means throwing myself under the bus whenever necessary…and at times even kicking it into reverse and backing over myself a time or two. Well, fill ‘er up with diesel and fire up the back-up beeps because here we go…

In my (single days) 20’s, I used to pay someone to do my taxes. It always made sense to me to hire a professional to do the heavy lifting if something really boggled my mind …(see: hair nightmare). I simply cannot imagine myself hunkered down on the floor in the family room surrounded by piles of receipts and a giant calculator with a mile-long spool of paper, clicking away at the numbers. The same goes for health insurance paperwork…my brain just isn’t wired to handle that. I’d rather sit in an ant pile.

It’s not in my nature to be still for very long stretches of time. That’s why going into the news business was such a perfect fit for me. Like Katy’s career as a TV producer in L.A., no day in a newsroom is ever the same (and Heather knows this as well, being in the biz). I love(d) the action, the uncertainty of what might come during my shift. So sitting for hours on end…focused on one thing isn’t happening.

These days the hubby does the taxes and it seems that he even enjoys it. He does makes a good point (sorry accountant friends) when he says that the tax preparing people I used to pay are just plugging numbers into a computer program and we can do the same at home. Fair enough. Have at it…just leave me out of it.

That being said, (and I know..it’s never too late) I do wish I had learned or taught myself to do my own taxes. Because if this recession and my layoff have taught me anything, it’s that we are each in charge of our own destiny. That handing your fate over to someone else leaves you with zero guarantees and that taking risks and chances may actually pay off. Had I learned in my 20s how to do my own taxes, maybe I would have been more careful with my money during the rest of the year.

As for the big tax deadline, the hubby is always very much on the ball with that stuff (he has more patience than should be legally allowed) …and our tax refund is already in the bank. Thankfully, that is. Because some of our friends in other states may not be getting ANYthing back, thanks to this recession. Can you even imagine doing your taxes, thinking you have money coming back, then not getting any? Again, ant pile.

Like I said, we did get some back this year and this recession mama would, of course, love to leave that money alone, honey. But there is that old part of me that says “oh, come on…spend a little here and there, it’s fine”.

After all, I’d be helping the struggling economy right? RIGHT?

—Carla