The tax man cometh...hooray!

You know what I love about being a student? Tuition tax credits. I finally took the time today to sort through all our various bills, pay stubs, and other financial paperwork, and to file most of it. Some things have been sitting around unfiled since May, yikes! I use a spreadsheet and Quicken to keep track of it all, so all the bills have been paid in a timely fashion, but I tend to be lazy when it comes to actually getting the physical documents into their respective file folders. Anyway, I also finally took the time today to install the new version of QuickTax for the 2006 tax year and to input all the information I had on hand, and I am very pleased with the number that shows up in the area that shows our expected refund. It's also really nice to see the amount of tuition tax credits I still have left over from this year (and previous years, even after I transfer the maximum amount of it them I can to my husband) that will carry forward to be used against the tax I'll probably have to pay next year (when I'll hopefully be much more gainfully employed than I am currently). Unfortunately, I know I won't be able to enjoy the refund for long--part of it is earmarked to help pay off more of hubby's student loans, part of it is promised in bond form to be part of our church's building program fund, and we do have to top up our bank accounts a little as they've gotten lower than I like them to be due to some excessive spending lately. However, we have been getting increasingly frustrated with our refrigerator, so perhaps this refund will provide some cash for a big new toy in the kitchen...that would be nice. I know I'm eventually not going to like this time of year so much, since my not being a student any more will mean the eventual drying up of my tuition tax credits, but hey, I'll then probably be making more $ year-round than I am now, so I'll have that $ to spend...and having more $ will also mean we'll be giving more $ away and thus increasing our charitable donation tax credits, too.

Oh, for those of you who know about what's been going on at Martin's work: they had the vote on the new contract today, and they are not going on strike after all--they accepted the new deal, although it is still a pretty crappy one. Andrew and Mira, Martin and I still have to figure out if we're going to join you for the Jars of Clay concert, but it's a relief to know finances won't be the deciding factor.

I'd better run as I'm helping to run the service at our church tomorrow (I'm on the world outreach committee, and we run a World Outreach Sunday a few times a year where we focus on our missionaries and our call in a special way) and I have to remind myself of what I have to do. Have a good night, y'all!