Organizing Finances: 4 Solutions for Sanity, Tax Time and Beyond

Kim Wolinski, MSW
“Dr. DeClutter” http://www.drdeclutter.com/

Organizing Finances: 4 Solutions for Sanity, Tax Time and Beyond

“There is no such thing as a good tax.”
~ Winston Churchill

Tax time, again. I hear it in every phone call this time of year more than usual… “Kim, please help me organize all this paper. I can’t handle it!” Or, more to the point, two weeks ago I received a call from Jenna, “Kim, I will shoot myself if you don’t come and help me find all my tax stuff and get it together. I just can’t deal with this!”

Paper. Taxes. Not doing your Patriotic Duty throughout the year, one-receipt-at-a-time to stay on top of it. Life. Overload. It’s a lethal mix.

What do you do? Please take the following guides seriously to organize now and throughout your year to get your financial paperwork and taxes ready and done, on time and with so much less stress, pain and self-loathing.

Fact:
If you haven’t started pulling your taxes together “yet” and may not until about April 14th, plan on lots of stress, fear, complaining, blaming the government and others and gnashing of teeth, thoughts about “extensions,” and wondering if people really do go to jail for not paying their taxes and by the way, “Doesn’t the government have more important things to worry about than my petty couple hundred dollars?”

Solution #1:
Stop waiting. Stop stalling. Stop procrastinating… NOW. Start doing them today… little by little. Sit on the floor or at a clean table and start dividing, sorting, culling through your receipts, putting them in their separate categories, such as vehicle, utilities, health insurance, etc. Put these in envelopes labeled for each category. When you sit down again, go through each envelope and add up the totals and write them on the envelope. Call your accountant. Be done for this year.

Fact:
What you put off creates more stress and becomes a health hazard.

Solution #2:
The magic of maintenance ¾ I say it all the time, especially when I hear people complain about having to deal with and take care of their “stuff” ¾ “90% of life is maintenance.” Whatever you have, buy, create, keep, use or store… must be maintained, even your thoughts and beliefs! You choose how much you want to maintain. If you don’t want a lot of tax papers to think about and take care of here are a few options: 1) hire someone to take care of them (which means having the money to pay them and trust that they’ll really take care of it); 2) use and buy less creating less paper/receipts; 3) move to a country that doesn’t have taxes; 4) see Solution #3.

Fact: Computer tax programs, they’re a good thing.

Solution #3:
Get ready for your 2005 taxes by getting ready now. Gather, organize and account for papers, receipts, etc. well in advance of the April 15 filing deadline. Keeping up with your paperwork and bookkeeping on a daily, weekly and monthly schedule gives you plenty of time for Tax Time to request copies of any missing documents as well.

Use QuickenÒ, QuickBooksÒ or some computer finance, banking and tax preparation program REGULARLY (weekly, monthly) to keep up with your receipts, expenses and income, investments and interest so that at the end of the year, like magic, you can click on REPORTS and PRINT and vwalla!! It’s all done. Incredible! Yea technology!

“This [preparing my tax return] is too difficult for a mathematician.
It takes a philosopher.”
~ Albert Einstein

Fact:
Some people need to have chaos, drama and negative experiences in their lives to feel alive.

Solution #4:
I know several people that I simply stay away from this time of year. They wait until the last few weeks before tax deadline and then become maniacs. This kind of behavior and self-imposed habit is not good for the person or their family, friends or co-workers.

Waiting until March or April every year to do your taxes creates fear, stress, anger and adrenaline spikes that are seriously not healthy for your body. Stop it. Drama and adrenaline may make you feel “alive,” but they are only helping you get “adead!” You should have and want to have much more important activities that bring joy, happiness, excitement and positive adrenaline rushes to exchange for doing mundane paperwork on a regular basis. Do what you love, take care of the “life on planet earth daily stuff” and have a happy life -- you deserve it! Those around you will love you for it too!

©2005 Kim Wolinski – Dr. DeClutter

Need help getting your space (house, office, barn, backyard – thoughts, mind, time, schedule, priorities, or life) decluttered and re- organized? My new video “BURN YOUR HOUSE DOWN, AND OTHER ORGANIZING TIPS AND TOOLS FROM DR. DECLUTTER” is a great help. You can find out more or order BURN YOUR HOUSE DOWN at http://www.redecisionsinstitute.com/kims_store.html

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