Bright Future in Sales....will lead to dim future in taxes :(

So, I am one of those stubborn people who refuses to pay to have my taxes done (yet). I also happen to have a complicated situation where I was a New York City who worked part of the year in New York State, most of the year in New Jersey, and about 3 weeks in Ohio (for which I paid $39 in Ohio State taxes). Therefore, I spent 4 hours Monday night and 7 hours yesterday working on my taxes. I have learned much, been required to pay a little, and become what I like to call a "taxes ninja" (this term is borrowed from my good friend Jon's description of his wife's prowess with coupons, making her a "coupon ninja").

I have learned through this process that taxes went up a lot this year, and that New York is the devil. So, when I started working for Goldman out of New Jersey, all kinds of people told me that it might save me a little $$ in taxes. Fat chance. Here's how it works. New York requires me to pay taxes on ALL money I made in a given year if I was a resident for the whole year (and for simplicity sake, I'm saying I was even though I moved to Ohio on December 9). However, I also have to pay taxes to the other states in which I worked for the amount of money I learned in those states. So, the Empire State (fully living up to it's name here) graciously gives me a "credit" for the amount paid to those states. Based on a complicated formula it ends up being either the exact amount of the taxes I was charged in those states or a percentage of my New York State tax amount proportionate to the percent of my total income that came from the other state, whichever is less (fittingly).

I know that's confusing but basically what it means is that New York requires me to pay them the difference between the lower tax rate of another state and the tax rate that they charge, therefore removing any benefit of receiving income in another state.

Nice.

But I'm an innocent taxpayer who lost her job, had her roommate go awol sticking her with the rent and (not that this affects my income) whose fiance is overseas. I should get some sort of breaks or something right? WRONG. Now, I am glad to say I don't have to pay $1,700 like I did last year, but still I am not getting a dime back overall! The Feds have elected to bestow upon me $200 and New Jersey is kind enough to return some overpayment. But don't worry, New York State has snatched that up in a jiffy plus another $100. All because New York City likes to charge it's residents ridiculous rates for rent, food, drink, utilities and THEN add on $1,600 in "New York City" tax just for good measure. Ugh. Living in Jersey is looking better and better... (I can't believe I'm saying that).

Well, there you have it, the saga of my taxes this year. Mayne next year I'll fork over the $40 per state for Turbo Tax to do it. Then again, maybe not.

What I've been up to

So, in my diligent pursuit of NOT making this a blog about my wedding, I have avoided blogging when all I have to talk about is wedding stuff. And now you can see from my 9-day absence that in fact....all I have to talk about is wedding stuff! So, I am going to cave and hopefully some of you will enjoy this, at least a little.

So I think I blogged before that my dress is in the able hands of Jane from Jane's Perfect Fit in Waterville, Ohio. The woman is a genius! So far, she has already added bra cups to the dress, giving me just the va-va-voom I need. She also added an adorable bustle which ties up with ribbons. I'll need to plan a tutorial with my MOH, lil' sis Taryn. Now, she's adding some buttons and a waistband that will really give my (very) inexpensive dress a coture look. I am so excited!

As for the rest of the planning. We are working on getting out Save-the-Dates. Otherwise referredt to as "Find-a-Dates" or "Prepare-Your-Excuse," these little buggers are going to go out in April to let people know they've got a trip to NYC on their hands, so get planning! I'll unveil our web site when it's ready, but it will have all the details about travel, lodging, registries, etc. So that's my project du jour. Well, that and making sure said Registries have all the proper gifts on them :)

Finally, my favorite part of wedding planning so far (besides picking out the dress, of course) is under way....jewelry! I chose a jewler in downtown Perrysburg and managed to negotiate a good price and my engagement ring is currently in their posession so that they can create a wax mold to make the wedding band that will fit with it. My mom gave me 14 diamonds from a pair of earrings that she doesn't wear and they will be used to make a blingy component to my ring :) I'll post a picture once I get it (probably in about a month).

Well, the time has come for me to do my chores (vacuum our stairs) and then hit the road for a very taxing day of shopping and wedding planning. Did I mention I'm still getting paid NOT to work? Not bad :)

I'm on Twitter (and you can see it on the right!)

So I'm not sure if you've heard of Twitter, but it's a site where you can keep up to date on what all your friends (and acquaintances, and complete strangers) are doing. Well, I added a widget so that you can see my updates (and my friends' and acquaintances', and complete strangers') any time you're on my blog! Enjoy and if you are on Twitter, be sure to look for me!

Well, I am sitting in a Starbucks in Lincoln Park in Chicago. I'm about to go to a nearby store to work on some wedding stuff before heading back to Perrysburg this afternoon. I had a great weekend here in Chicago visiting my friend Tracy and her new husband Scott!

We went and saw the Broadway play Chicago on Saturday night and did a few other fun things around town. I also bought the oh-so-cute shoes for my bridesmaids! Here they are! They'll be wearing these shoes with a brown dress and I'm not sure yet what they'll be carring, but it will probably be way cooler than flowers :)


And finally, I had one really BAD thing happen this weekend :( I LOST the flash drive that I have been using for all of my wedding planning and job search documents!! I seriously have retraced every step since I last saw it and no sign. Most likely, the flash drive fell on the floor of one of the coffee shops I worked at on Friday. I went back and no one turned anything in, so my final hope is that maybe someone found it, opened it, and saw my resume and will send it back to my home address in Ohio...I know, fat chance....Luckily, most of the documents somehow made it to my e-mail with the exception of a couple of cover letters I was working on. Also a few of the docs had been updated quite a bit since I last e-mailed them, but at least I have the bulk of it!

Well, say a prayer for Flashy, my little flash drive and hopefully I can still get married and get a job despite this little setback!

I've been MIA

Hello friends! Sorry I've been so missing. I have no excuse since last weekend I was so bored and lonely. Why didn't I think to turn to my BLOG!? My parents went out of town for the weekend to Orlando, FL, and I literally sat around almost all weekend. In fact, on Saturday the only thing I did was go get the oil changed on the car. I know, exciting! Then, Sunday I did head up to Michigan and go out for Mongolian Barbecue in Ann Arbor and it was AMAZING! I highly recommend it. Basically you pick whatever meat, veggies, and sauce you want and they grill it up for you. Delish.

I also found out this week that I will be giving a deposition for a court case in which I am involved this coming week. The case is a lawsuit being brought against me by the passenger in a car that I gently (and I do mean gently) side-swiped in a minor accident in June of (get this) 2006. Yes, you read that right. The accident was in 2006 and it is still going on! They dropped a trial that we were supposed to have in October 2007 and the new trial is set to commence on my birthday, July 21 (lucky me). So, this coming Wednesday I am going to give a deposition at the office of the plaintiff's attorney. The somewhat interesting thing about this is that I actually get to sit through her deposition where she tries to explain how she was injured in this oh-so-minor car accident. I hope I don't laugh out loud, that probably would not be good. I'll definitely let you know how it goes!

Well, right now I am coming to you live from the Central Time Zone in Chicago, IL (btw, don't forget to change your clock an hour forward on Sunday morning!). I am here visiting my friend Tracy who just got married and bought a Condo in the South Loop. I love their apartment, it's pretty much my dream! While we're here, I hope to do some shopping and we're going to see the touring Broadway production of Chicago. A girl I went to high school with is actually the lead role (Roxy), so it should be fun! I'll post photos and update once I get home on Monday!