Parents of the HS Class of 2010 and college years beyond

[lilmom]

Checkers, I love the idea of zumba but my body doesn't. Last time I went to a class, I could barely walk the next day. I guess I tried too hard. You may have motivated me to give it another go! I've got to do something!

[scualum]

Morning all:

Well, I have a confession to make on the Tax front - I gave up three years ago and started having them done. I may have an MBA along with an econ degree - as well as having an aptitude for math and therefore should be able to make heads or tails of it but the IRS won. It just started taking too much time for me to figure out the twists and turns - so I pay someone else to stress. Now I fill out the "organizer" (a 20 page simple document), add my pile of documentation to it, and send it in. Takes about 4 hours total.

As for the moving out thread - wait until they graduate and come back home. DS, 2012 grad, is packing his apartment, selling stuff on craigslist etc - but still has enough stuff that we need to make two trips with our CRV to bring it all home. Note - it is a 13 hour drive each way to Portland.

[lilmom]

Scualum, can you tell us more about the "organizer" you use for taxes? I need one!

[jackief]

there was a story on NPR recently of a reporter who tried four different tax preps. 1 was a web program, not turbotax, something like taxninja or taxgenie which he picked because of the name. That told him he would get 5K back. 2 was HR block, 3 was his regular accountant, 4 was a super high end accountant. I think the others were in the low tax payment range, but it was interesting how variable they all were. Actually, it was scary how variable they all were.

[VAMom2015]

scualum--have you considered flying one way and renting a u-haul truck? Might be a better option!

I'm mentally preparing myself for the dorm mountain--thanks for the warning.

Thanks for all your tips on getting moved out of the dorm. I took the bull by the horns and emailed the university parking folks. Too easy! They will provide him with a temporary parking pass and it's only $16 a week--bargain as far as I'm concerned. I thought It was a great solution. DS's reaction "gee, I hope I don't get lost on the way home". Mind you we have a GPS in every car and as G# can tell you, there's not much opportunity to get lost. As you can guess he's not much for driving. At least I have that one solved!

I did taxes over a month ago. DH always wants to look them over. When do you think that will happen? (hint=Sunday)!

[scualum]

Jackie F.

That's accounting for you.

One of my favorite accounting stories (I'm sure greatly stretched over the years) is the CEO who is interviewing for a new Bonus plan administrator. Three candidates handed a set of numbers and asked to calculate the annual bonus for the company management. First guy comes in and says 10% bonuses for all. Second guy says 7.3% bonus. Third guy says "what do you want the answer to be?" - CEO says "you're hired."

Tax lady I use comes up with a number that makes sense - and she is willing to defend to the IRS... works for me....

[scualum]

VAMom:

Yup ran numbers on a U-haul and it costs 3X as much. So question is value of time - and DS has time to burn this summer.

[aliceinw]

On the topic of moving out - looks like D has gotten a job for next year and will move from her college to the nearest "real" city. It's a year long Americorp position, so it starts at the end of August - she will be tutoring middle school ELL (English Language Learner) students and trying to impart a love of reading to them. Next on the list - finding an apartment and a summer job (to pay for said apartment). Of course, those of you who are familiar with Americorp (or VISTA, as we called it in my day), know that the "salary" will require supplementing if she plans to have both a roof over her head and food on her table (though it might be enough for one or the other). Ah well - good experience, good opportunity to see something different and to give back a bit.

As for taxes - I am a tax professional although I do not do any individual taxes for work. For many years I had someone do them for me, but I spent so much time preparing the material and checking his work that I decided a few years ago to save the money, buy TurboTax, and go it alone. Our returns are somewhat complicated, and I am compulsive around this stuff, and I usually work on it for many weekends beginning in late January or early February. For some reason I suffered from avoidance mode for most of February this year (oh yes, I think the lost hard drive had something to do with that), but found the benefit of starting later was that I was more efficient. Mine have already been filed.

Zumba - hmm - maybe I should try that. Let me know how it goes, Checkers, and if it's really a requirement to wear a close fitting brightly colored outfit.

Hope everyone's doing well today. ~~ waving.

[tx5athome]

Taxes: Just talked to my step-mom, who is a tax-preparer, and she is very stressed out. She says the next 4 days will be awful. She does our taxes, but they were done weeks ago. She also sends an "organizer".

Dorm mountain: Although I have the clear totes for moving in and out, S2's stuff came home in garbage bags. I converted the closet in the extra room into storage for both D1 and S2, but since D1 is graduating and coming home (and will get her masters/teaching credential locally), and will be re-claiming the room, I have to figure out someplace to put all the storage.

Zumba: I want to try it!!! I have yet to figure out where to go to a class though.

S3 and Grandma had a good time on their college tour. Hopefully it will light a fire under him to raise his test scores.

[parent56]

i'm too uncoordinated for zumba!!!

woohoo to S2.. got elected to the exec committee of his honors college

sympathy to all those in the middle of tax prep!!

woohoo on the job alice!
waving at all!!

[scualum]

lilmom:

Organizer is something I get in the mail from accountant in January. Asks a whole bunch of questions based on prior returns along with changes in tax law. Different organizer for every client as I've seen in getting three organizers - one for my DW and I and then one for each kid. The tax lady also does DS and DD taxes since their returns are impacted by DW and mine.

[TWINMAMA]

It was be the week to register for classes...both Ds have done so in the past 48 hours...can't believe that they've signed up for classes for 1st semester JUNIOR YEAR- how did that happen already??

DH is a math teacher, so thanks to that and Turbo Tax our taxes have been done for quite a while

[initiatelaunch]

Kudo's to Aliceinw's D, and here's hoping she makes a real impact! A very noble undertaking.

P56 - a big 'whoot whoot" back at you for S2's successful election bid!

[mommusic]

Skimming cause I was out of town at my aunt's funeral. A sweet woman who lived to a ripe old age, then things started falling apart. I was glad I had visited her in January. And it was wonderful to see various family members I hadn't seen in a while, not to mention my father, who is getting up there in age as well.

Zumba--they moved my class to a different location & day/time I can't make! Grump.

Taxes--done (after a few complications) and I do need to see if that refund check has been deposited in my account!

aliceinW--good on your D for the Americorps position! Though some teachers I know are down on the program cause they fire expensive teachers and then hire new college grads, cheap. Though I guess it can be argued that the expensive teachers weren't effective. OTOH, it can be argued it was the parents who weren't effective, not the teachers. Sigh.

Note to travelers: The Charlotte, NC airport has to be the nicest one to have a layover (or delay) in. Every terminal/lobby has these white rocking chairs, and the main area has a piano (with someone playing it in the evenings) and a Sushi bar. Nice!

[aliceinw]

mommusic - you may be confusing the Americorps program with Teach for America, as D will not be a classroom teacher, but rather a tutor. I have seen the arguments for and against Teach for America, and think it's an interesting debate. D did not think that program was right for her for reasons that had nothing to do with said debate.