Tag Archives: money

Finding New Ways To Accomplish Old Goals (or Feeling Good About Some Challenges)

Posted on February 7, 2024 | Comments Off on Finding New Ways To Accomplish Old Goals (or Feeling Good About Some Challenges)

To kick off 2024, I wanted to work on budgeting again. I’ve done this so many times in the past, but it’s still something I struggle with. I’ve heard a lot of people say they are making the most money they’ve ever made right now but also feel the poorest they’ve ever been. I totally related to that feeling. So working on budgeting for my January challenge seemed like the right thing to do.

Things didn’t go the way I expected them to go last month, but I still feel like I accomplished my goal. I still don’t necessarily have a budget created for myself to track my money, but I’m a lot better about how I’ve been spending money. And a big part of that is working on using coupons and deals a lot more. I have been pretty good about using coupons at places like CVS that make them really easy to use, but I haven’t been as good about doing that at the grocery store. And honestly, it’s silly that I haven’t been doing that. But I’m now working on being a lot more mindful about what I buy each week at the store and trying to make sure I look up any coupons ahead of time so I can make the best choices.

I also signed up for a rebate app that does money back on top of coupons I might find online. I know there are a bunch of rebate apps out there, but I went with iBotta. That one seemed to be mentioned a lot and was pretty user-friendly. I know that I can do a lot more with that app than I’m doing now, but I’m starting off doing what I can and I’ve already gotten just over $20 back from the past month. I know that’s not a huge amount, but it’s still $20 I wouldn’t have had if I didn’t do it.

Once I’m better with doing these things, I do want to figure out about how much I spend in a month for groceries so I can use that to help me work on making a budget. I don’t think a super strict budget will ever end up being the right thing for me, but saving money where I can and being aware of how I’m spending it is something I know I need to continue to be better about.

And being mindful of things connects a bit to my challenge for February. This challenge will be a little harder to see if I’m successful or not, but I want to work on listening to my body more this month. I’ve had a lot of things that affect my body in crazy ways and I’ve just been working on going with the flow. But that’s not working for me anymore. Especially with side effects from medication, I’m tired of letting those things control my life as much as it has. I know I can’t be fully in control, but I can be a lot more aware of how things will affect me based on different factors. Maybe if I eat differently at different times of the day, things will be better. I’m sure I need to continue to get more sleep, but finding the right amount of sleep would be good too. I know that when I can sleep in, if I sleep too much I feel tired just like I do with a little too little sleep. I also want to focus on the hip pains I’ve been having lately so I can see what I can do to make that a little easier to deal with. So much is out of my control with pain and side effects, but there are still things I can do to try to make things better for me. I’m not willing to just give up and accept how often I have bad days anymore. I need to work on making things work for me again.

Just like so many other challenges I’ve done, this one will likely last more than just a month. But I’ve already been noting things about how different medications are affecting me and finding small changes I can try to see what works and what doesn’t. I’m hopeful that I’ll have at least a few new routines that work for me by the end of February!

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Posted in Health, Saving, Tough Stuff

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Ending The Year With A Very Productive Challenge (or Starting Off 2024 With Another Repeat)

Posted on January 10, 2024 | 2 comments

My monthly challenge for December was one that I knew I needed to do. I wanted to get myself as ready as possible for 2024 with my acting career. This was something that had really taken a backseat in my life over the past few years. I was still pursuing acting, but I knew I wasn’t doing things the best way I could. Things haven’t been what we all considered normal for the industry between the pandemic and the strike. But that’s also just an excuse because things have been happening since the pandemic, and commercials weren’t affected during the strike so there was still a possibility for me to audition. However, I discovered that I no longer had an agent during the strike. That was the kick in the butt that I needed to get back in gear.

I knew I needed new headshots, but I wanted to see if I could get a new agent first since that agent would likely have an opinion on those headshots and I didn’t want to do a shoot only to need to do another one after that. It’s been over a decade since I’ve had to look for an agent, so I wasn’t sure how things worked now. So I decided to start with people I knew since that would be the easiest way to start and I would love to be represented by someone who really knows me and doesn’t just see me as another actor on their roster. My first submission was to someone I have known since I was in college. We did improv together when I was in my 20s so we’ve known each other for over 2 decades. She transitioned to being an agent and I knew that her agency represented actors both theatrically (for film and tv) and commercially. It seemed like it could be the ideal situation for me and I was hoping she would think the same. And fortunately, that’s exactly how she felt and I was signed to her agency when we met! I know I’m insanely lucky how easy it was for me to get a new agent and this isn’t how it is for most people. And I’m also grateful that I have stayed in touch with people I’ve been in classes with for this long so I would still have this connection.

Getting a new agent was a huge win for my challenge and technically that was the only thing I got done during December. I did shoot new headshots last week after discussing what looks my new agent wanted to see. That shoot was in January, but I think it still can count as a win for my December challenge since it only was delayed because of the holidays. And now, I feel like I’m really back to acting and I hope that the combination of the new agent and new headshots will result in some amazing auditions and some bookings!

I know that not all challenges can go as well as my December one did. I didn’t even expect it to go that well and was thinking I might still be submitting to agencies and trying to get meetings through the next month or two. But it was a great way to end 2023 and I’m hoping that my challenges in 2024 will be close to that successful.

For my first challenge of 2024, I’m doing a bit of a repeat again. But I’m modifying it so hopefully I can be a bit more successful at it. I’ve tried multiple times to create a budget for myself and get on top of my finances. I’m doing much better with it now than I did before, but I’m still not great at having a budget. So this month, my challenge is to find the parts of my life that I can create a budget for. I might not be able to budget for everything, but I can try to budget for certain categories so I can be more mindful of my spending. I think that creating a budget for meals (both groceries and going out) would be a smart one to have. Also, I’d like to have some sort of entertainment budget. I don’t go out that much right now, but budgeting to go out and do things would be smart as I try to be out and social more. I also want to look more carefully at regular or recurring expenses to make sure there aren’t things I don’t use anymore that I’m paying for.

Maybe by budgeting for a few categories, I can ease into creating a larger budget for myself. I have some unplanned expenses right now that I don’t have the funds for and I need to save up. Knowing where all my money is going will help me save for what I need to do now and what might come up in the future. I know that I don’t make a lot of money, but finding any extra money right now would be so helpful. I don’t expect everything to be perfect, but I’d like them to be better than they are now so I can continue to get things in order as I have more things in my life that cost me money.

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Posted in Acting, Fun Stuff, Saving

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My 2024 Goals (or Things Already Might Need To Change A Bit)

Posted on January 3, 2024 | Comments Off on My 2024 Goals (or Things Already Might Need To Change A Bit)

Happy 2024! I hope everyone had an amazing New Year’s and the year has gotten off to a good start already. I had a pretty chill and low-key New Year’s (except for one thing) and that’s exactly how I like to do things. Before I went out to celebrate with friends, I set aside some time to work on my goals for 2024 and I came up with 4 that I really want to focus on for this year. But I might have to make a few modifications already.

My first goal for 2024 shouldn’t surprise anyone who has seen my goals over the past few years. I want to do at least 200 workouts this year. This is the same number I have had as my goal for a few years, and I don’t expect that I will ever change this since 4 workouts a week at Orangetheory feels right to me. I know I’ve had random weeks when I’ve done 5 workouts in a week, but I can’t imagine doing that regularly. I hope that I will do a few more than 200 this year, but this number allows me to have some missed classes if I get sick or something else prevents me from getting to a workout. But as long as I get to at least 200 workouts in 2024, I’ll be happy.

My second goal for 2024 might need to be changed. The original goal I had for myself was to find a way to save money so I could finally go on a vacation. I still want to see if I can accomplish this goal this year because it’s been a very long time since I’ve had a vacation. I think my trip to Catalina was my last vacation, which was awesome, but I’d love to get away from LA for a fun trip this year if possible. But on New Year’s Eve, my car was hit by a firework and has some pretty decent damage on the door. My car is drivable and the lock and door work, but it will need to be fixed. And I know that any work I do on my car will be pretty expensive. I’m going to work on getting some estimates soon and I’m going to look into whether I want to go through my insurance or not (going through insurance might end up being more expensive if my premiums go up after making a claim). But the amount that I was hoping to have for a vacation may have to go into fixing my car instead and a vacation might have to wait another year. I’ll just have to see how expensive the repair will be.

My next goal is a continuation of one from last year. I want to go as full force as possible with my acting career this year. I am starting the new year in a good place with a lot of things happening for my acting career. I have a new agent, I’m getting new headshots, I’ve re-edited my reel, and I’ve worked on updating my online casting pages. There are other things I haven’t had a chance to do or look into just yet, but I’ve made a lot of progress in the last month that will help to support things moving forward this year. I know that getting auditions and booking jobs aren’t fully in my control, but I’m doing whatever I can to make sure I’m ready for opportunities and I hope that I see some new progress in my career over the next 12 months.

My final goal for 2024 is another one that I feel like I’ve kind of done in the past, but it’s still important. I want to find the time to enjoy life. It’s so easy for me to wake up early, go to my workout, work my day job, make dinner, go to bed, and repeat. Week to week my schedule is pretty consistent, which isn’t a bad thing, but it also makes time go by without me realizing it at times. I want to enjoy my life as much as possible because that is the point of life. I do make plans with friends when I can, but I need to be more active in reaching out to friends and scheduling things. I have some days that are really difficult for me to do things after work, but that’s not every day. So I should take advantage of the evenings when I do have more flexibility and do things that aren’t just sitting at home and doing nothing.

I know these goals aren’t anything crazy or extreme, but I think they are good goals for me to focus on so that I can make the most of 2024. I still will have my monthly challenges that will push me to do more than just these goals throughout the year. But I think these main 4 goals are things that will really benefit my life in the long run. And I hope in a year, I will be reflecting on these goals and proud of what I have been able to do.

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Posted in Acting, Celebrations, Fitness, Fun Stuff, Saving

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Reviewing Some Expenses (or Getting Rid Of My Old Budget)

Posted on March 8, 2023 | Comments Off on Reviewing Some Expenses (or Getting Rid Of My Old Budget)

I think a lot of people have recurring charges on their credit cards or money taken from their bank accounts each month. I don’t set up my bills on auto-pay since I like to review my bills to make sure there aren’t any odd charges before I pay, but I’ve had plenty of things set up to be recurring charges whenever they are set to renew. I think I have more of these on my phone, like the NY Times crossword puzzle app. But I do try to review these when they renew to make sure I didn’t forget to cancel something. And I do check the charges on my credit card each month, but most of the recurring charges on my card are annual ones so I don’t think about them too often.

I try to cancel anything I know I’m not using since it’s wasted money if I don’t. And if I’m trying out something, I always check to see if I can cancel it while I’m in the current trial or paid service to make sure that I don’t get charged for renewal but still have access to use it the entire time that I should. And I have removed a lot of things that I have realized I don’t need or want anymore. The biggest one that was recurring charges was magazine subscriptions. I don’t get any magazines in the mail anymore outside of things through my union. It was an extra expense that I didn’t need and since getting rid of them I haven’t missed them either.

But there are always things that I forget about until I get the email either saying my payment is going to go through soon or thanking me for making a payment. And with those annual recurring charges, since I don’t think about them I don’t think about canceling them either. But I recently had to cancel 2 annual charges for things that I just don’t find useful anymore.

One was for a note-taking app that I used to use all the time. The only reason I paid for it was that that was the only way to sync notes between devices. And since I used it on an almost daily basis in the past, that small annual charge was worth it to me. But when it was renewed recently, I realized that I hadn’t used it much in the last year that I was paying. I have found other things that work for me for tracking notes that are free and if I really needed my old app I could still access it for free through my computer. So I could transcribe notes from something else on my phone to my computer with a little effort. Since that had already been renewed, I had to submit a form to get a refund, but fortunately, that wasn’t too bad of a process and I got my money back within a week.

The other annual charge that I decided against renewing was my budgeting app. I think it’s a bit funny to cancel a budgeting app to do better on my budget, but I just wasn’t using the app anymore. I’ve been working toward finding an alternative that I like more, but I haven’t figured that out just yet. But while I had been working on a new option, I wasn’t using the app I had been using for a while. It’s not that it’s a bad app, it just doesn’t serve me the way that it used to with the budgeting goals that I have now. And to pay for it when I don’t think I’ll be using it anymore seemed silly. So that was canceled before I was charged and I didn’t have to worry about it again.

I know removing these 2 recurring charges won’t make a huge difference in my budget, but it is removing unnecessary spending which is important. And I do want to look at more recurring charges that I have to see if there are other things I’m missing that I’m paying for but don’t use. I don’t know if there are any, but I would have said that last month before I remembered about these 2 so I have a feeling there will be something else that comes up when I look into things more.

And when I eventually figure out a new way to work on a budget, having fewer recurring charges will be helpful since it will be less to track. It’s all these small changes that I can make that will help make things easier and hopefully also add up to save me a nice amount of money.

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An Evening Of Taxes (or Not Quite As Prepared As I Had Hoped)

Posted on March 3, 2023 | Comments Off on An Evening Of Taxes (or Not Quite As Prepared As I Had Hoped)

I got my taxes done this past week. I know that there is a lot of time before they are due, especially now with the extension for CA, but I like to get them done as quickly as I can. The main reason I like doing them early is so I don’t have to be worried or stressed about how much I might owe for a long time. But also, the tax person I go to discounts her rates if you do them early. I missed the deadline to get the biggest discount, but I still saved money doing them now instead of waiting a few more weeks.

My taxes haven’t been simple for a long time, but I’ve gotten used to what I need to track and keep receipts for so it helps me stay organized throughout the year. It used to take me a lot longer to prepare for my tax appointment, but now I can usually get my packet completed in under an hour. It’s nice that all the little things I do over the year add up to saving me as much time as they did. I did notice that I didn’t have as many deductions as I used to have, but I wasn’t as worried about that since those really can vary from year to year. I also knew that in the past, I was only working 1099 jobs and in 2022 I also had a W2 job. So the estimated taxes I paid might have been more than needed since I also had taxes taken out of my paycheck. There isn’t much I can do when preparing my packet that will change what I did with my deductions or estimated payments for 2022, so I just tried to make sure I put down everything I needed to and was hoping for the best.

I’ve had a few years where I really overpaid my estimated taxes and got a nice amount back when I had my taxes done. And I’ve had other years where I’ve owed since things didn’t quite work out how I expected them to. I just know that I try my best to stay organized and pay attention to making sure I do all the things I have been told to do in order to make my appointments as easy as possible.

My tax appointment this year was another virtual one. I could have gone in person and I really did want to do that, but I would have to drive to the valley and my schedule is busier than it was when I did go in person to get my taxes done. Maybe next year I’ll be able to go there since that does make it a bit more fun. So I sent all the paperwork I needed to send in advance along with my tax packet and then a few days later I had a phone appointment to go over any questions my tax person had and to find out what was going on. There weren’t a lot of questions for me during my phone appointment since things weren’t that complicated this year compared to the past. But there were some surprises.

I had the biggest tax bill I’ve had in a long time. It’s not as bad as what others may have since I did pay quite a bit into my estimated taxes. But I really thought things would have been much better this year. But there were a few things working against me. For my job that takes taxes out of my paycheck, they are not taking out enough and I need to fix that for this year. But the bigger issue was that one of my 1099 jobs changed how some things were classified and that changed how much I owe in taxes. Since my estimated taxes were based on the old classification, I had a lot that I didn’t pre-pay like I normally do.

I was a bit shocked at how much I owed, but I also understand that this is what it’s like for a lot of people. And if I hadn’t done my estimated taxes or kept track of things the way I did, things could be easily been a lot worse. I’m also lucky that I will be able to pay what I owe from money that I had been saving for other things. I might have to delay when I buy some things that I was hoping to get, but obviously paying my taxes is more important and other things can wait.

This year, I’ll be paying more into my estimated taxes and I’m looking into how I can change how much is withheld at my other job, so hopefully, that means in a year I won’t owe as much as I do now. Maybe I’ll have more things I can use as deductions too and that will help, but I can’t guarantee those will happen. So I will just do what I can control and hope that I’ll be as prepared as possible in a year and maybe I’ll have a much more fun outcome when I get my taxes done then.

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This Is A Lot Of Stuff Coming Together (or Another Post About Budgeting And Spending)

Posted on October 21, 2022 | Comments Off on This Is A Lot Of Stuff Coming Together (or Another Post About Budgeting And Spending)

I just wrote about how there are things I’ve been buying for my new place and how I need to make sure I don’t buy too much. I did mention how I wanted to be careful about what I spend because I could see how things could get out of control. And because I’m trying to buy quality products, those tend to be more expensive. I know that buying something that costs a bit more will be worth it in the long run because things will last longer, but it’s tempting to buy something cheaper just to save some money.

I also have written quite a bit about budgeting and how I’ve gotten out of my habit of using different budgeting apps. I do still need to figure out what will work for me because I’m not sure if any apps I’ve used before will be the right thing. I might just have to do something really basic like using a spreadsheet or even handwriting stuff. I just haven’t felt as motivated because I’ve been in a better financial spot than I was in the past and I haven’t had to worry about affording things the way I have in the past.

But I think those things combined have really come to a head this month. I have had some new recurring expenses to deal with that I think I’m still getting used to. I also had to pay my property taxes and I decided to pay for the full year at once instead of splitting it into 2 payments. I also have a few other big expenses this month such as my homeowner insurance that I haven’t paid for. All of that plus my shopping has made my expenses this month significantly higher than normal. But because I’m not doing my usual budgeting work, I don’t think I was aware of how much higher it was until I had to log into my bank and I saw the numbers in front of me.

I’m fine and I have the money to cover what I need to cover, but I’ve realized that what I felt like I had saved up wasn’t as high as it used to be. I know that paying the property taxes was a lot of this (which is almost like paying a year of rent at one time), but it was also some of the things I bought this month that I might not have thought as much about. I used to be a lot better about comparing prices for things that I buy and being willing to buy from different places if it will save me enough. I don’t drive around and waste gas to buy stuff, but if something is cheaper at CVS than on Amazon, I would drive those few minutes to get it even though ordering from Amazon is easier. I’ve gotten lazy with buying stuff and just buying things wherever it’s convenient. I know that saving a few dollars here and there won’t make a huge difference, but it will make some difference.

I think this was the reality check that I needed. Even though I knew my expenses were higher than normal, I don’t think I knew exactly how much more it was. And it really made me start thinking about what I really need versus what I want and can wait for. And I want to be more aware of the random things I get because $20 might not seem like a lot but if I have 5 random $20 purchases a month, that’s $100. I don’t think I’m buying frivolous stuff that I didn’t need, but I do know that I have been buying stuff that I could have waited a bit longer for.

Of course, I’m saying all this before I do some furniture shopping with my parents. I know there’s a good chance I’ll be spending more than I would like this weekend because we are looking for some bigger items that I haven’t been able to get yet. But I’m also really thinking about what I really need at this time and what I might be able to spread out purchases over time. For example, I know we will be looking at patio furniture, but maybe I could just get one thing that I want, and then at a later date, I can buy something else to go with it. I’m not sure if that will end up happening, especially since I’m looking at sets of things. But at least I can be a bit more mindful of what I’m getting.

And as I’ve said multiple times already, I need to find a new way to do some budget planning and this was another gut check that I really need to start trying new systems even if they only last a month or two because I don’t want to be this unaware of my spending again. I’m lucky now that it’s not going to cause me any issues, but if this happens again I don’t know if my financial situation will be the same. And I know what it was like before and I don’t want to repeat that situation.

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Posted in Saving, Shopping

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Really Seeing What I Need To Buy Now (or I Need To Cut Back On Spending Again)

Posted on May 27, 2022 | Comments Off on Really Seeing What I Need To Buy Now (or I Need To Cut Back On Spending Again)

I knew moving would be expensive. There were so many expenses connected to moving that I planned on, but then there were a lot of expenses I didn’t think about until I was in the middle of moving. For example, I had to consider what things I was going to take from my old place to the new place and what things I was already thinking about replacing and just wanted to replace before moving something that I wouldn’t want to keep for a while.

For most things that I knew I was planning on replacing, I didn’t bother taking the old ones with me. I knew that meant I would be spending more replacing things I technically already owned, but I think it was worth it because that also eliminated a bunch of things I would have needed to move. The only thing that I knew I would be replacing as soon as possible that I did move with me was my printer. Once I got my new computer, I discovered my old printer wouldn’t work with it anymore. I knew this was likely because I had to do some crazy things to make it work with the old computer too. But since I knew I might need to print things and I was still deciding on the new printer, I brought it with me. But I finally got a replacement printer, so the old one is finally going to go. I might try to sell it or donate it, but I have to look into my options more.

I wasn’t planning on buying a new couch, but when I found the one I saw when my parents were visiting, it really made sense to get it. The price was really good and the old couch really didn’t fit into the new space. And I got a few other new things like silverware that I had been looking to replace for a while, but I tried to keep the expenses down as much as I could.

And there are a lot of other things I want to replace that I’m waiting on. I want to get new dishes, but I’m not going to just buy anything. I want to find some that I love and I don’t need to rush into finding new ones. And I want to get a new tv since my current one is very small for the space now. But again, I can wait on buying a new one since it’s not urgent.

But it seems like I have a long list of things I still want to get and I have to think about what are needs and what are wants. Some things feel like needs, such as a storage cabinet I’m going to put in a closet to organize cleaning supplies and other things. I used to have a little utility room at my old place where I stored those things, but I don’t have anything like that here yet. And then there are a lot of things that feel like needs but I have had to tell myself they are really wants.

I want to get some display cabinets to put next to my tv stand to make the stand look bigger and to be able to show off some of the things I love. But I know I don’t need those right now. I’m also waiting on the bookcase bed I’m going to put in my office/guest room. If I do have a guest before I get that, I have an air mattress someone can sleep on. And I have other things I want to buy like a bench in my entryway and some seating for my patio that I know I can live without for a while and it would probably be best to wait until they are on sale.

I have spent a lot of money these past few months and while I have been able to afford it, I know I can’t just keep spending like this. I need to start working on budgeting again, which is something I have really slacked off on. I know my spending isn’t out of control, but I have really spent a lot and just told myself that those were the expenses of moving when maybe they really weren’t. It was a convenient excuse for a while, but I know if I keep saying that to myself I will get myself in a situation where I can’t pay off my credit card in full or something else like that.

I know recognizing that my spending might be a bit crazy right now is going to help me make sure I get control of it quicker than if I let things continue for another month or two. And once I have things stable again, then I can look into my financial situation and really see what things are looking like. I need to budget differently than I was before because my expenses are different. But I’m also hoping that the difference will also mean I have some extra money in my budget so I can work on saving up for something fun for myself.

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Another Virtual Tax Appointment (or Missing The Social Time I Used To Have)

Posted on March 9, 2022 | Comments Off on Another Virtual Tax Appointment (or Missing The Social Time I Used To Have)

One of the benefits of becoming friends with the person who helps me do my taxes is that the stress I have in those appointments is usually not as bad because I’m distracted by our catch-up. And I am very grateful that I also have a tax person who understands why this is so stressful for me and tries to make things not as scary.

I was lucky in 2020 because since I do my taxes as early as possible, I did them before things shut down and I was in person at the office and it was just like all the other appointments I was used to in the past. And last year, I had my first time doing a virtual appointment but since it was with the same person at the same office, things were pretty close to what I was used to. I did have to get my paperwork submitted earlier than normal because of the virtual process, but because I have done this type of paperwork before, it was fine.

And just like so much in the world in the past 2 years, things continue to not really be back to the old normal. The office where I had been getting my taxes done closed down. The owner retired and we got an email saying that the people who we had been working with would be reaching out to us directly to let us know our options. Fortunately for me, I found out that I was going to be able to have the same person because she was going into business on her own! I emailed her immediately to tell her how grateful I was for that and to set up my appointment for my taxes.

It was another virtual appointment so I missed out on a lot of the social time that I like, but we did still get a little bit of time to be silly and not just talk about my taxes. And she only had a few questions about what I put on my forms (there are some things I’m not always sure about and she has a section where I can list them so we can go over each one). But my guesses for a lot of what I put down in the questionable section were right so it was easy enough for her to plug in all the information and get my taxes figured out quickly.

I wasn’t sure how I would do this time since I had the condo purchase to put on there and my estimated taxes weren’t going to be as accurate as before since they were based on my 2020 income which was significantly less than my 2021 income. I overpaid my estimated taxes to hopefully balance things out. And I did ok in the end. I owe money for my state return (which is expected since I don’t have estimated taxes for state) and I am getting back money on my federal return. I will be getting more money back than I owe, so that is nice. I know I’m not necessarily getting money back since this is my money I put into things, but it’s better to get something back from what I overpaid than to owe money that I didn’t pay.

I have no clue if by next year things will be a bit more normal and I’ll be going in for my taxes in person. It won’t be at the office I used to go to, but being in person would be nice since it’s been a long time with virtual appointments for so many things.

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Putting Off A Planned Purchase (or I Don’t Know Why I’m Waiting)

Posted on December 23, 2021 | Comments Off on Putting Off A Planned Purchase (or I Don’t Know Why I’m Waiting)

I’ve been saying I wanted to get a new computer for several months now. And there are a few reasons why I want to do this. First, my computer is starting to really slow down and have trouble with all the different things I need to do for work. It’s not a super old computer, but it’s 6 years old which isn’t that new either. And I know I probably use my computer more than many people, so getting a new one every 5-6 years doesn’t seem too bad to me.

Also, my keyboard is really starting to break. I have needed to replace multiple keys so far. I’m glad I found a site I can order new keys from and it’s not too expensive, but spending $20 for each key replacement adds up when you replace a lot of them. Right now, I have 4 keys that are broken and aren’t fully attached to my computer. I do have an external keyboard I can use when it’s really bad, but it’s not my favorite and I’m not used to typing on it so I have a lot of errors.

If things weren’t running slowly and if my keyboard was fully functional, I still might be looking at getting a new computer for an upgrade, but I think I would be less serious about it than I am now. I was waiting for the newest computers to come out before buying one, and the most recent MacBook Pros did come out earlier this year. I was slowly saving up money from each paycheck so I would have the money to buy it when I was ready, and I do have the money now. But for some reason, I’ve been very hesitant to go and get it.

I think some of my hesitation is about going to the store to get a new computer. I’m still avoiding most stores and public places to stay safe and I know this time of year the Apple store would be very crowded. I do know that there is an option to ship a computer to me, but for some reason I keep telling myself that I will just go to the store so that would be faster. But if I had ordered it online when I originally thought that, I would have had the computer several weeks ago. Also, even though things aren’t great with my computer, they aren’t horrible either. I could wait a bit longer and just push through the issues I’ve been having. But there is no reason for me to do that to myself.

But I think one of the biggest reasons I’m hesitating is because it is a lot of money and I am worried to spend it if I might need it for something else. For a while, I had money in a savings account that felt like a bit of security for me. If for some reason I lost my job or had a crazy expense, that money was my cushion to be ok. But I put all that money into the condo, so I don’t have that anymore. I know I need to redo my budget and make a new plan to start building up some emergency savings, but I wanted to wait until I was moved into the condo so I didn’t have double the expenses. But maybe for peace of mind, I just need to do it so I can feel ok about spending money on what is honestly a business expense for me.

I do know I need to get a new computer soon, and I know I will buy it in the somewhat near future. I just don’t know exactly when I’ll be doing it because I want to feel better about spending that money before I do it. But I also know that when I do and I have the new computer at home, it’s going to be awesome and I’ll probably be wondering why I didn’t do it sooner.

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A Different Type Of Taxes Appointment (or Sometimes I Do Better Than Expected)

Posted on March 9, 2021 | Comments Off on A Different Type Of Taxes Appointment (or Sometimes I Do Better Than Expected)

When I had my taxes appointment last year, it was before everything shut down. It was one of the last things I did before the shutdown and it seems like that was a million years ago. And I didn’t think too much about my tax appointment this year until recently and wondered how it would happen. I forgot that a lot of people who did their taxes last year had to do them after the shutdown so there was already a good system in place for not doing them in person.

I wasn’t able to get as early of an appointment as I usually do, but it was because I wasn’t going to schedule it until I had all my tax forms from my jobs. I didn’t want to be someone who makes an appointment and then doesn’t have everything needed. But I still got an appointment on the earlier side so I didn’t have to stress about things happening at the last minute.

The way appointments worked this year was a pretty great system. You make your appointment, but it’s for a week and not a specific day and time. Then you have to have all your paperwork and forms to the office the Saturday before your week and then your preparer reaches out to schedule a time for a phone call to finalize things. And I was very grateful that they let me submit my paperwork and forms through email so I didn’t have to drive to the valley. I wouldn’t mind driving since I don’t drive much, but it was just much easier to do it all at home when I only had to drop off forms.

I was a bit worried about how my taxes would go this year. I knew my income was lower than it was before, so my estimated tax payments were higher than they probably needed to be. But I also got unemployment, and I know that gets taxed and a lot of people owed money after getting unemployment. I did select to have 10% deducted for my taxes each payment, but I knew that wasn’t enough to cover everything I would owe. And I had very few deductible business expenses over the past year, so I didn’t know how much that would affect what I owed too. But as always, I was trying to be hopeful about how it would all turn out and I knew that I’d be ok no matter what happened.

My phone call was the other day and it was really nice getting to talk to Daphne. I think we both missed having our fun chat in person like we normally do and we couldn’t do a lot of chatting on the phone, but it was so nice getting to talk to her. It was a much faster appointment than normal because almost everything was entered by Daphne before our call. Normally, I bring my paperwork with me to the appointment and she does everything in front of me. But this time, she only had a few questions and it turned out I was missing one form about my healthcare (which, fortunately, I was able to access online and send to her right away).

Because there was so little as far as income and deductions, it was a bit simpler than before and not as many things that we had to figure out. I thought having unemployment would make it harder, but obviously, Daphne is a pro at this and it really wasn’t a big deal and there were no weird things we had to figure out with my forms. This was much easier than times in the past when I was on unemployment, which was nice.

And in the end, I did much better than I expected with my taxes. I’m getting money back for both federal and state, which is not normally the case. I always owe on my state return, but this year the healthcare forms were different. So some of the overpaying I did for my healthcare covered what I owed for the state. So I’m getting refunds for both and my taxes for 2020 are basically complete. I’m just waiting on the refund to be direct deposited to me.

And I have things set up for 2021 as far as estimated payments go. But because my income was so low in 2020, my estimated payments are significantly lower than I’m used to. If I paid them at the rate they are listed at, I would likely owe money when doing my taxes next year. So I’m debating about paying more than what it has on the forms. Overpaying doesn’t result in a penalty like underpaying does, so that’s a good thing. And if that helps me not owe money in a year, it’s a good thing. I’d rather pay in installments ahead of time than owe a big amount at once. But I have some time to think about it before I have to make my first estimated payment for 2021.

But for now, I’m not too worried about my 2021 taxes. I’m just glad that I got my 2020 taxes done and they were so much better than I was expecting them to be. Now I can move beyond 2020 and not have to think about money worries that the year might have caused me.

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