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Archive for January, 2012

Seriously wants to cry!

January 30th, 2012 at 02:02 am

Told you guys our taxes were bad this year....we owed close to $4k bc we messed up our elections. Well, there is more to that sad story now. And it is really sad.

Several years ago we did a stupid thing and sold a house to a couple of sleaze bags who turned out to be criminals. We did a promissory note for a year where we carried the note and they were supposed to get their own financing at the end of the year. We did it all correctly, had a contract drawn, full closing, deeded property to them, etc. A year later they bail on the house that they trashed out, told us we could "have it back" even though it was theirs....and never paid property taxes or anything. At that time my husband wasn't working so we had 2 choices...either save our current house or possibly lose both if we try to save both. We couldn't afford both so we tried to work with the bank. This was before the housing crash so the bank was not interested in working with us at all....we did the entire bit where we submit our package of paper, they lose it 5 times, then it is outdated, we submit more, they lose it some more, etc. after several months of getting no where and losing a short sale buyer bc of the bank's inability to function, we told them to kiss our a$$ and do whatever they want with the house. We were through dealing with below average intelligence. So the house is foreclosed on, we get sued and we settle the debt with a cash payment. The following January, we get a 1099-C with the cancellation of debt amount we have to pay taxes on....which totally ate our lunch! And pissed us off. So we pay it and forge ahead.

Then last Friday afternoon, we get 2 more 1099-C's from this same bank....for the same account, one for me and my husband! Of course I call them and they are closed bc it is 4:00 in the afternoon. So I've had to wait all weekend, fretting & worrying over what this could possibly mean. While I am not surprised if it is an error, I cannot for the life of me understand how this mistake could be made. The form says the debt was cancelled in Oct 2011....but the other form was several years ago says the debt was cancelled in March of that year. So I have no idea what the heck is going on but if by some chance they don't admit this was an error, we will have to get an attorney and fight it. If we put it into our tax return, we will owe over $15k....which is bananas! I called the IRS and they said it was between us and the company....but that if we couldn't get it resolved that I should go ahead and send in the forms with our tax return with an explanation of all that took place.

So I plan to be on the phone with the bank most of tomorrow arguing if necessary....I'm just so worried this thing will go south in a hurry! Please pray for us!

Taxes

January 23rd, 2012 at 03:37 am

Doing our taxes tonight and I have to say I'm pissed! We got back over $6000 last year so we were clearly overpaying...which prompted us to change our deductions so we would get that money during the year instead of at tax time. We didn't go crazy and claimed what we would claim and it increased out take home by $500 per month which is roughy what the tax return would net us for 12 months. Well now we owe almost $4k and I am super pissed! It really annoys me that we try to do the right thing and it comes back to bite me in the butt! Im no tax genius but is there some kind of magic formula to determine deductions so you aren't owing money?

Hating life right now....

2011, It's a Wrap!

January 12th, 2012 at 08:27 pm

So 2011 was the beginning of my total money makeover following the Dave Ramsey plan. I am glad to report it has been an amazing process and has literally changed our circumstances and our future! Here is a snapshot of our successful year:

January 2011 total debt = $103,565
This eye popping number consisted of a student loan, braces, 2 credit cards and 3 cars.

As of January 2012, our new debt balance = $43,794...while we are cash flowing about $12k in college tuition for DD.

It has been a very interesting year....I hate to say hard bc it is just so stupid we put ourselves in that situation to begin with. We did deserve the discomfort bc we clearly enjoyed too much stupid spending! Honestly, it was hard and involved a lot of creativity, mathematical hoop-jumping, budget-crunching, dollar-stretching, discount-asking and unhappy kids are just a few descriptions that come to mind. We did have a few things here & there that we splurged on but for the most part we were gazelle intense on getting this debt gone!

Of course our plan is to have everything paid off this year and live debt free forever! We are also selling our house now bc we plan to relocate soon....this should also give us some cash to put towards the debt. If we do sell, we plan to rent for a bit and save up enough to pay doe our next house or save enough to pay half....I'm not super worried about that right now but it would be nice to achieve that as well.

This site has also been a great tool for inspiration throughout this last year. While misery does love company (haha), the shared wisdom and success stories have been very motivating as well. ...so thank you all for the helpful information!

Now I'm off to do some more budget crunching....wish me luck ;-)