2009 Taxes – Real Estate Stimulus Info

Right now most people are busy gathering up all of their paper work that it takes to get our yearly income taxes prepared and sent off. I’m so thankful that my sister has taken care of my taxes for the last couple of years. The last time that I paid a company to do my taxes it cost me over $200, which threw me for a loop and really upset me. I know that there is a lot involved in preparing tax forms but good grief I don’t have $200 to throw around these days.

I have gotten pretty good at keeping good records and saving all kinds of paperwork and receipts in order to get the most bang for my buck come tax time. It’s a pain in the rear but a necessity. Each year they have so many changes to the whole tax scam, I can’t keep up with them all though I do try. I understand that the Real Estate Stimulus package for first time home buyers has been utilized by over 2 million people and it has been extended so that more people can utilize it. That is over $22 billion has already been added to the general economy resulting from the bill, that is a nice chunk of change!

I found the video on YouTube that addresses the extension and I thought that I would share it here.

To watch the video click here Real Estate Stimulus

The Saints Kick Some Super Bowl Butt

Last night’s Super Bowl game was a great game. I think that I actually enjoyed the game more than the commercials this year, that is a first. I did enjoy watching The Who perform some of their hits at half time, their music and the light show was fabulous, where as their singing voices left a lot to be desired. But then again we are all getting older.

I’m glad that the Saints won.

Vanity plates

One of the things I really enjoy doing when I’m driving around is reading other people’s private number plateson their cars. For example, the pictured plate in this post reads “Idiot.”  When I see something like that I have to laugh because most of the vanity plates that I see are a comment about the driver of the car!  So for this particular plate, I am thinking that the driver is an idiot!  Although I suspect the person who bought the plate meant to imply that the OTHER drivers out on the road are idiots, I think that it back-lashed.

I think that one of the funniest plates that I’ve ever seen was in Maine, the plate read “PB4UGO”  – something that my mother always used to tell us kids right before we left the house to go anywhere!  Another good one was “IOIO”, which made me think of the Seven dwarfs going off to work.

Not as clever, but still memorable are plates that are on company vehicles that have some reference to the business – such as a plumber’s truck having the plate “PIPES” or “FLUSH.”  Or a home decorating business have a plate that says “DKR8.”  Yes, I do enjoy trying to figure out a lot of the weird plates out there – makes sitting at a traffic light or traffic jam a little more entertaining!

Miracles and disasters

I’ve been watching the very sad and disturbing news stories about the earthquake in Haiti.  It boggles my mind to see how much destruction was caused.  Yet I hear nothing about any damage to the Dominican Republic, which is part of the same island!  How can an earthquake that huge not had any effect to that part of the island?  The stories about medical personnel leaving their clinics in the middle of the night out of security concerns, leaving so many injured victims to fend for them themselves overnight was really disturbing!  And the stories about so many survivors being pulled out of the rubble so many days after the quake are simply miraculous! 

I pray for the healing of all of the victims and their friends and families.  So very sad.

Got an email from Candy

My friend Candy and her hubby moved to Arizona about seven years ago.  They moved to Arizona because they thought that the climate would be better for her hubby’s health.  We keep in touch by email, which is nice.  She was telling me that she was going to have some body sculpting done at a local sono bello center to have a Velashape procedure done to remove the cellulite on her thighs.  She’s been self-concious about her legs for years!  I hope she is happy with the results!