It's tough to get enthusiastic about taxes when you know you're going to have to pay. Oh, I had high hopes that maybe this year would be different. After an epic miscalculation last year, and having to pay Uncle Sam through the nose, I made some adjustments to my W-4 and thought I'd be fine this year. Especially with my son starting college, I thought for sure that the IRS would cut me some slack.
Not so much. It seems that the IRS considers me far wealthier than I really am - certainly wealthier than I feel, especially when I'm living paycheck-to-paycheck! All of those great deductions for paying college tuition and all? Yeah, we make too much for them to apply to us! We try so hard to do the right thing, living within our means, saving for retirement, saving for college - sometimes I think my kids would be better off if I were unemployed. At least they might get some financial aid out of the deal!
I shouldn't complain too loudly, though. We were better off this year than last (by which I mean we owed much less tax). I am ready to throw in the towel and hire an accountant to handle it from now on, though.
I've been using Intuit TurboTax for years and years now. It's good, don't get me wrong, but I've really gotten sick and tired of getting nickel and dimed to death. It's like every few minutes they're trying to get me to upgrade to a more expensive version of the product, or buy some other service. Now, the version of TurboTax that I always use doesn't include Self Employment support like it always has. Sure, this year (because I'm such a great customer) they upgraded me for free. Next year, though, it'll cost me. Sounds kinda like a drug dealer, no?
And this: I live in Massachusetts but work in New Hampshire. I earn only my salary in NH and with no personal income tax, I don't need to file taxes there. TurboTax doesn't understand that, and every year wants me to buy that State package in addition to Massachusetts.
The final straw: This year, both my teenagers had part-time jobs. They didn't make much money. In Massachusetts, if you make under $8,000 and don't have certain other types of income, you don't have to file at all. The only reason to file under those circumstances is if you're expecting a refund. Neither had state taxes withheld, so neither needed to file. Not according to TurboTax, though. They would have been happy to accept $30 each to eFile state taxes unnecessarily.
Likewise with their Federal taxes. Both kids had Medicare & Social Security taxes withheld, but only my son had Federal withholding. Not sure what that's about; someone in Payroll goofed, I think.... Anyway, My daughter, not expecting a refund and making less than $6,200, didn't need to file Federal taxes at all. My son made less than that, but was expecting refund so filed a return. Intuit doesn't charge to file your Federal returns, which is good, but would have been happy to have me file a return for my daughter unnecessarily. Sheesh! As if I don't spend enough time on my taxes as it is!
I hadn't intended to rant about doing my taxes, but TurboTax just pushed me over the edge this year - sorry! Mostly I was going to talk about my vehicle woes. The detour was merely to demonstrate that I already feel especially poor at this time of year. And that brings me to my car...
I have - had - a gold 2006 Dodge Grand Caravan with about 249,500 miles on it. My daughter named it the Golden Bullet.
I was really hoping to hit the quarter-of-a-million mile mark before I had to retire it, but I fell just short. It was pretty beat up, but served me faithfully for almost 10 years. Shortly before I brought it in to get inspected, the Check Engine light went on. I figured at worst, it would be another catalytic converter. If only! The front tie rod was shot and the engine was misfiring badly. That could mean all sorts of things, including a new catalytic converter, valves, seals, whatever.
Let me back up for a second. A bunch of years ago, a buddy of mine at work turned me on to Moschetto Brothers Auto Sales, on Merrimack Street in Methuen, MA. They sell used cars, but are (more importantly to me at the time) a full-service repair shop. Not only are their prices much more reasonable than a dealership, they are, in my opinion and experience, scrupulously honest. There have been times when they've come in below their estimate because the problem turned out to be less severe than they originally thought. In contrast, every single time I've brought a vehicle to a dealership for brake work, I've always needed a complete brake job. Go figure! They've always done right by me, and I'm happy to give them a plug whenever possible.
Moschetto Brothers Auto Sales
So, the score so far: I needed a front tie rod replaced and a front-end alignment ($325) and new spark plugs and wires and a tune-up ($300 - my plugs were very old and very difficult to remove). Only after replacing the spark plugs could they diagnose other problems associated with the misfiring engine.
Other shops could have - would have - done the front end alignment and the tune-up anyway, costing me $625, and then delivered the bad news about everything else that was wrong with my engine. They didn't. They did the bare minimum (new plugs & wires, $169) required to diagnose the other problems, reasoning that it's a waste of time and money to do any more on a terminally ill vehicle. And terminal it was. The engine needed thousands of dollars worth of work. A used engine would have still cost about $2,400. It was just too much money for a minivan that was close to end-of-life anyway.
Ah, misery. I definitely got my money's worth out of my minivan. And I paid for it with Broadcom stock options way back when, so I'd really gotten used not having a car payment. Now, here I was, needing a new vehicle, knowing I'd need to pay taxes, and dreading taking on a car payment. Oy!
Well, I knew I'd be replacing my minivan soon anyway (I was hoping for later rather than sooner), and was planning on looking at Moschetto's used cars. I checked out their inventory online, and they actually had a decent looking one available. It was a 2010 VW Routan with only 27,000 miles on it, a clean CarFax report, and only a single previous owner. I checked a variety of sources and found that their price ($16,800-ish) was very reasonable, so we (my wife & I) took it for a test drive, and liked it. My wife especially like the heated seats (it was a long, cold winter). I liked the NAV system. We decided to go for it, and after a couple of weeks of driving it, I can report that I'm very happy with the choice. Though I hate having a car payment, it's manageable. And it's really nice having a new car (well, new to me) again. I just hope it serves me as long as my Grand Caravan did!
My daughter has once again claimed naming rights, but hasn't come up with anything yet. Apparently, she has to get to know it first!
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