Friday was QUIET. Today so far too. Phew!!

Looks like MIL is having outpatient surgery this month (follows our pattern: in the middle of biopsies during the holidays, surgery in January). But, that's it! The word her doctor used was "pre-cancerous cells." There should be no recovery time. Her and dh seemed in good spirits after getting more information.

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I thought I Was going to have to really start bracing myself to withhold more income taxes, that we were on an upward swing after a long downward swing. For reference, last year we got about a $2000 income tax refund, and this year I owe $500.

I believe I was wrong. I got my W-2 today and updated my tax return. Even though I basically withheld hardly anything for the state ($30 per check), I am still owed a $40 refund. (I was trying to avoid any refund from insolvent state, but failed!) The Fed tax situation is about same as prior year, but the prior year way too much got withheld from my bonus check. This year, not enough. You can't win. But I rather have the use of the money up front and owe $500.
So the plan will be to file around January 31 for my refund, and to pay the Feds on April 15th.

Taxes will still be on an upward slope if this refi goes through. Will take a hit to our itemized deductions, so will still have to plan for that. But I thought it was going to be a bit of a double whammy, so I am relieved our taxes don't seem to be on an upward climb.

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January has been pretty non-fiscal so far, BUT today I bought some shoes. When I noticed my very comfortable work shoes were falling apart, all I could find was some very high heels to replace them. I took the risk on the "these shoes are so comfy" reviews, though I Was skeptical. The kind of shoes I like and buy are way out of favor the last several years - can't find any in my size at a reasonable price.

Anyway, the super high heels are not too bad. Meaning, I can actually wear them. But I will go insane if those are the only shoes I have. SO, I checked online again today and thankfully found some flats and a low heel. Hallelujah! Everything was on sale, I found a 30%-off coupon in one minute, online, and delivered to store since that makes free delivery.

I went back and forth on buying the cutest boots, but with 30% off, they were only $21. So I did a $21 splurge on myself today. It's hard for me to splurge like that, right after the Christmas and Birthday binge. If it was July, I probably wouldn't have thought twice about it. But today I felt a lot of reservations. It seems silly as I type it out, since it was well below my monthly allowance limit! Frankly, I probably won't buy anything else for myself the next 3 months anyway. I usually don't shop much during tax season, and I don't really shop online much at all (except when I need something).

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Tax season is well under way, one-day weekends for me for a while. I have no idea why, but I was the only one to show up to work today. It was very nice and quiet and I got a TON done. Everyone has been complaining about money (which is very unusual - accountants tend to be pretty conservative) so lord knows why I am the only one racking up the overtime. I also had a TON to do, but the financial incentive is extra nice. So I guess I was extra surprised that no one else seemed to take advantage. I am sure I will not be alone for long!

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Oh, I did also redeem $50 on my Fidelity AmEx ($50 deposits to my ROTH). On the 4th, when the statement was ready and my points were available. Will be on average once a month now that I no longer have any other credit cards I am charging up for points.

I still have not been able to redeem my $250 AmEx reward. Of ALL the rewards cards I had this year, this is the only one that did not make my points available within a week of the credit card cycle closing. I am waiting for the second closing next week and will call if I still don't have those points. (They credited them to me with my last statement, but still says "pending," so I have been unable to redeem!)