I am Alexander & am Having his Month

This new year has not been kind to me so far.

Besides having to carry all the chores Hubs usually does, having College Boy home(which is always a wild ride given that he is so absent-minded and flighty)and practically leaking cash(hello college bills and full price drugs and the electric bill will be insanely high because of Hubs this month), my HS is flaring not only in 3 usual locations but a new one, right underneath my left nipple.
Ugh.

It feels like mastitis but only in one breast. I was trying to wait this episode out(which started before Xmas)but had to see the doc on Tuesday and get pain killers and antibiotics for it.
And going on an internet message board convinced me this latest manifestation meant I have a tumor on my pituitary gland.  I need to stay away from online medical help.

Gosh I wish they had a cure for HS or even had a CLUE how to treat it effectively.
Add into the mix my post Holiday blues and Sluggy is having a horrible, no good, very bad month.

Did I mention that my birthday is Saturday? lolz

It's been hard to write anything other than what I already had in the pipeline as I've just been trying to get through the day lately.

And now I am out of material so postings may be sporadic for awhile.

I really need to go attack the disaster that is our filing system/important paper files upstairs.  Hubs' job is to file receipts and such and keep order there.  I went up to retrieve something we needed and it was such a mess!  Maybe mess isn't the proper word for what I saw but it looks like he hasn't done anything but make a mess up there for the last year!  Half the files aren't even in the filing cabinet but strewn about the room in piles and half those files aren't even labeled properly.

I will say he hates this chore so it's always a bit lacking in order but this time it's impossible and since I have to deal with it all now as he can't get up the stairs yet I just don't know where to start.
And yes, I am cursing him under my breath about this.

I was able to find enough to get College Boy's FAFSA done but now I need to start gathering all the tax stuff.
Double Ugh.

Plus with owning and renting out the house we have in Louisiana it just adds another layer of complication onto our tax filing.  I don't know if I am capable of doing our taxes anymore without some sort of soft wear program.  And I dread having to buy soft wear.

Does anyone have any suggestions for a program that is not so complicated and not expensive to purchase?  Let me hear about it please.

Ok, I am off to face the filing monster now.
Wish me luck.....

Sluggy

Uh oh.....Anybody Know The Answer to This?

Calling any tax geeks out there reading this!
I'm talking the Educational American Opportunity Credit and the Lifetime Learning Credit things specifically.

Last year I got 2 1098-Ts from Daughter's colleges(she attended 2 different colleges in 2012)...so I have 3 semesters paid for in 2012--1 Spring Semester for Clarion and 1 Fall and 1 Spring Semester for the local community college.  The CC billed her for the Spring 2013 Semester in November of 2012 and I paid it in 2012, not 2013, so that is why we have 3 college bills paid for her in 2012.

Then she dropped a class in that 2013 Spring semester before it began and we got a $960 refund on a piece of the tuition we paid.
So when I paid the taxes in 2012, went ahead and reduced the amount the Com.College said we paid for 2 semesters in 2012 by that tuition refund.

Last week I got a 1098-T from the Com. College for 2013 with Box 4 checked, displaying that $960 refund, and it said I had to do a recapture(repayment)of the AO credit I received in 2012 on our 2013 taxes concerning that amount.  Except I had already reduced our credit by this refund.
So I am good to go and don't have to do this.

But when I went looking at the figures for 2012, to make sure I had accounted for this reduction in what we paid for tuition,  I found that I had under reported the amount of the AO Credit we were due in 2012!
Yes, math nerd me, claimed $1,800+ inside of the $2,800+ for that school's Tuition payments in 2012.
So basically my credit should have been higher and my taxes lowered n 2012.

The question......if you report too much credit, of course the IRS wants you to pay more in taxes(since you own them), but is there a device in place, if you under reported your AO credits in 2012, to give you credit for it in 2013 taxes OR would have I have to file a FULL amended tax return for 2012 to get my proper credit?

And if I have to do the latter(re-file the whole enchilada for 2012), is it worth the trouble?

I am so over doing taxes right now!
Come on American, just call your Senators and get them to endorse the HR 25 fair tax bill already!

Stop the Madness!
Abolish the IRS!

Sluggy

February's To-Do List Final Tally

Here is my final report on my February Goals from my To-Do List....

Make new Price Book--DONE!

Clean out InkFrog files & Close Account--Not Done...still re-evaluating whether I want to do this or not.

Scan 1 scrapbook of photos--In Progress and about halway through this scrapbook.  I need to ramp this up or I'll never get all these books of photos digitized.

Read L. Seabrook Book--DONE!  It's a great book for History buffs interested in the Southern view on things.

Read RG Williams Book--In Progress  This book is slow going and a little "dry".

Do Taxes--DONE!  Thank you God!!  Now Hubs has to do the local taxes.

Do FAFSA--DONE!  Only had to do 1 this year.

Declutter and Make 1 Load for SA--DONE and it's been taken to the Salvation Army.  I have begun another load too.

List items on local Tag Sale site--Not Done.  The local site isn't worth even posting things on.  The local economy is so bad nothing put on there is selling unless it's a necessity, like a car or a space heater, etc.  I'll take a FAIL and take this one off my agenda.

Dental Appt.--Done....sort of.  I go back in 1 week and will either get relief or have this tooth pulled.

I had a good month overall, since I got all the paperwork and the Price Book done, did some decluttering and read 1 book.  Other than taxes, my February wasn't very aggressive or chocked full of goals, was it?

I am off to figure out what goals I want to set for March.
How did you do in Feb. on your list of things to do?

Sluggy