Alumni

"All their work has certainly bears fruit."

-- From an alumni letter I just received (maybe you read the same sentence, had the same cringing feeling?) from my alma mater

--

That letter was sent to Nebraska, not my new Ohio home address. Glad to see the bees at the ol' Hillsdale hive are savvy as to what I'm doing post-graduation. Maybe I should email someone. It is nice, though, to receive my alumni mail after it's been sifted at my parents' house. Send this one to Chris, but keep that one here, hon--that's a lame-o.

Along with the alumni caboodle came tax forms and documents. I plan to have my taxes finished by the middle of March this year. We'll see.

I'm amazed at how many people refuse--simply refuse--to file their own taxes. My dad once hired a bean counter to finagle more money from the feds, and it was a sort-of success. We got an extra $100 back. The only catch was, it cost almost twice that much for the service.

As for me, I've had my share of tax-related snags, but they have been my errors, and I own them proudly. But the fact is, in almost ten years of earning money, I have done my taxes every time around. I feel closer to my dollars as a result.