Don't let the knob hit you on the way out

T has a list of home improvements he'd like to take care of that is a mile long. Top priority on his list since Bird was born: a new front door.

T started researching in his standard way when he starts a project and before we knew it, he'd found a local door company and had gone by to get an estimate last month. A couple days ago, a bill we were waiting on finally surfaced and we could finally make some decisions on what to do with some of our money. We decided to go back to the local door company and see what they said this time around. T had his negotiation strategy ready and we ended up ordering a door that afternoon. The price ended up being less than the original estimate from last month!

The door takes 3 weeks to be built, then it should be installed around 4/21.

And even though its a whole year away, we're excited about the tax credit on next year's taxes for this purchase - 1/3 total cost!

Happy Due Date Day and other such things

Today is the day our little Bird was due, but she's already here. Its kinda anticlimactic after all this time, but February 4th will always have a special place in our hearts! I can't believe she's already 17 days old.

So what did we do to celebrate you ask? Taxes. We were a bit worried at how long they might take with a newborn on our hands but surprisingly we got through it in 3 hours with just one diaper change and a feeding (for all three of us).

T and I are pleasantly surprised by the amount of our refund this year, but it doesn't mean we're going to go all spender-bender nuts. No, we already have a plan for most of the money, as our return is larger than we estimated. We will be using some of the refund for car repairs on our Jetta and then a small part for our lease turn in fees in April. The rest will mainly go to maintaining our budget as things shift around here with our new addition. I'm sure we'll splurge on something but that's actually really hard for us now-a-days unless its for Bird.

Withholding

T and I decided to change our tax withholding exemptions for 2009. Our paychecks will go down by a bit and it will change our debt free trajectory, but in the end we’ll be paying what we really owe. I should see the change in the check I receive today.

When we do our taxes next year, we should end up with a major refund after the deductions we’ll have (house, charitable giving, property taxes, etc.)
The only scary thought is that the government, state or federal, might put a freeze on refunds like New York or California did this year.
We’ll take our chances.

Re-funded

T and I received our state tax refund on Thursday, just 9 days after we filed our return! Yes, Michigan!

Our plan for the return is thus:
60% - debt repayment
10% - to Emergency Fund
10% - T and RA wish list
10% - T's discretionary funds
10% - RA's discretionary funds

It may seem odd that we are not using it all to repay debt or to fill our savings. We are trying to be aggressively realistic if you will. Right now, neither of us gets a personal allowance each month until the debt is repaid, so the personal discretionary money will help out with this. Also, there are things for the house and in life that come up that we'd like to participate in that aren't in the budget, and that's what the wish list part is for. As you can see though, our largest priority, the 60%, still goes to debt repayment. After this is sent to the CC, we'll be 55% of the way to being debt free.

I'll have a better update on that come March 1st.

Taxes, take 2

We filed our taxes last night!

I am so happy that we have filed so promptly and are on our way to getting our refund (and paying the small amount due :()

We had been waiting for two forms to come in and found out yesterday that 1) One had come in the mail and was the same as our estimate and 2) We wouldn't be getting the other because we did make enough interest!

So T and I made a snack, fired through the rest of the filing questions at the end of TurboTax, e-filed, and still had time for dinner and a movie.

Taxes, take 1

Last night, T and I decided to take a stab at our taxes for 2008. We are still missing a couple of documents, like an interest form from one bank and a contribution statement from our church. We're starting early so that once we get those forms we can add the info and go.

So far I've realized:
TurboTax is our friend
USAA is so nice for giving us a discount
T nor I really understand the tax code
Never make a bet on how much you'll get on your refund
I love being a homeowner
Donating has never felt so good

Right now we have a filing for married, filing jointly, but we're going to test out the outcome for married, filing separately just to see what all the hubbub might be about.

At this point, I'm pretty jazzed about the refund it looks like we're getting. Just one more push on our step to CC debt freedom.

Thanks, Gov!

*update* In a effort to thwart the divorce rate, the IRS sticks it to married couples that want to file separately, not allowing certain deductions to be taken among other things. I guess they figure you married the person, why wouldn't you want to file with them too? For the record, filing jointly is the way to go for us!