MrPopo wrote:REPO Man wrote:Got my taxes done for the first time in 5 years. There's a whole story there. Anyway...
I want to know the story of why you didn't do your taxes for several years.
Seriously? That's your takeaway?
Fine.
Back in 2014, when we were still living in Florida I worked at Disney World, though by March we were ready to throw in the towel and head back to North Carolina. But I wasn't able to resign in person, so I wasn't able to give them an address to forward any mail they'd send to me, i.e. my W-2 form for 2014 that I'd need in the following year.
I would get the form, however, after my uncle's fiancee found the number to call. She's actually been helping me a lot since moving back.
In 2016, when it was tax time and I had two years' worth of tax forms, my mom says her friend from work would do my taxes for free. Unfortunately shortly before my mom could ask her, her dog attacked my oldest niece, leaving my niece traumatized and wounded. And my mom and her friend at odds. By the time they came back to being on good terms, it was already the summer or fall. Between a new job and helping my great-uncle and great-grandmother (may they rest in peace), I obviously never brought it back up.
At least not until 2017 when I got my 2016 forms. But this is where things get repetitive.
First I'd get the needed forms, then I'd ask my mom to get my old forms that were still in her possession. But since the forms were stashed away in her car, she'd have to look for them.
Why were they in her car? The forms were in her possession since 2016 and since living with my brother's ex's grandparents doesn't afford her much in the way of personal space, her car became a closet of sorts.
And when I ask about them, she'd say she'd have to find them. Since her car is a bit of a clusterfuck, she'd naturally not be able to just grab them and hand them over. Throw in having to work basically most of her waking hours and spending the remaining time devoted to taking my oldest niece to her dance cheer practices or events (many take place over the whole weekend, give or take) and having to take her of her uncle and grandmother until her uncle's passing in 2017 (where shortly after my great-grandmother would be put into a nursing home since aside from me and my mom there wasn't enough people to care for her round-the-clock), and she'd have any and every excuse (and a few reasons) to find a few envelops somewhere in the trunk of her car where roughly 99% of her possessions were located in.
But by a few weeks ago, having given up for the year after she failed to produce the forms in April, I tried again, being much more persistent and finally she found them.
I then immediately got on the horn to my uncle's fiancee and told her. She snagged the forms and then I made an appointment with a local tax service to get my taxes done.
I was genuinely surprised that, ironically, I could have filed the forms I had after April (when it became too late to file the 2015 back taxes). But again, while that cost me well over $600 in potential tax returns, I cannot really be too salty since I still got back over $2200, excluding $20some in owed state taxes or the $200some I spent to file them (as opposed to shelling out an extra $40 to have it taken out of my returns).
And now I'm awaiting $2200 in returns, though only the returns from 2018 will be direct deposited. The rest will be mailed out as a check.
And after spending $700 to pay off my back rent, I'll be halfway there to meeting my $3000 budget. After that I'll have roughly three months to raise $1500. That's $150 a week! Naturally I'll try to sock away more, seeing as I'm averaging $500-700 a week working 70-80 hours a week.
Any NYC tips? Moving tips? Interesting hacks? How to find a room for rent? Best neighborhoods for cheap rent? I heard from two YouTubers I follow (Brett Conti and LivingBobby) that Chinatown has decent rent per room. Bobby showed a NOICE-ish Chinatown apartment with rooms costing $600 a month
in this video