Taxes. I have never gotten a big tax refund (more than a few hundred dollars). I'm always jealous of the people who get thousands back! I claim 2 deductions on my W2, so I'm getting my "tax return money" in my paychecks. Which is better… but still. This year though, I'm going to be in the red. I OWE the government money! This actually happened once before… I think I owed like 100 bucks or so my first year out of college. Not sure why. This year, due to my being 1099-ed [freelance for my employer while I was laid off], I had to pay "self employment taxes" (which I think is a joke, considering I don't actually have my own business!). Thankfully I had a student loan interest write off that took care of half of it. As of now, I owe about 600 dollars. And I still have to add in my 1099 forms for interest earnings. Not pleased. Looks like I won't be filing officially until April… because I have no desire to pay this. I'd rather it earn interest in MY account for another few months. Argh.
Misc. Spending.
I paid off my shell card [which had budgeted expenses on it, like gas and things of that nature]. Now I have to pay the BIG one. Sigh. I'm officially taking it out of my wallet again. It seems I can't be trusted with it. The burden of paying it though, won't be fun. Some of the things on there were budgeted for, and I do have the money set aside [cable, a few things from Christmas, cell phone]. The rest? Looks like my savings account will look pretty barren after next month. And I have nobody to blame but myself! Ugh.
Freelance Income.
I have a freelance project which I did several months ago, which will be issuing me some money soon [partial payment]. The rest of the money will come in the spring sometime. I really hope it's not 1099-ed, but my suspicion is that it will be. Sometimes I think it's not even worth the money I get from freelancing, because most of it goes towards taxes anyway. It's honestly a huge hassle for me. However, I'll be putting that money on my car [if I get it before it's paid off], or in my savings account.
Moving.
Our move date is tentative… but it looks like it will happen early this summer. On one hand, I can't wait! On the other, it's going to be expensive. New apartments require deposits and such. Moving trucks [or at least the cost of gas, and a meal for friends with trucks]. They also require buying new things. This won't be fun.
Car.
My car is SO close to being paid off… but I can't. Why? Because of all the aforementioned items. This is frustrating to me… because although I know I've made amazing progress, I hate that I can't rid it quite yet. I'm being very impatient here (and I probably sound like a broken record!).