Procrastinators Anonymous is a fellowship of men and women who share their experience, strength and hope with each other that they may solve their common problem and help others to recover from chronic procrastination.
Accounts and Tax Challenge!
As a few of us have decided to anticrastinate on our taxes and accounts I thought it might be helpful to have a Check In thread where we can support each other and celebrate our successes, so here it is!
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you're on a roll!
You're doing great with your One Big Focus, and it's inspiring me because I have similar financial problems and backlogs.
I automated all my payments some time ago because I couldn't ever remember to pay my bills on time, even when I had the money (ADD at work again). It's great - one less thing to worry about.
How to eat an elephant...
...one bite at a time, (and let me add) don't eat anything else in the meantime.
Some days my to-do item was to just pull a file out and put it on the desk. Break it down small enough and the pieces are easy.
WTG!
That was my experience, too, when I finally started dealing with my taxes a few weeks ago. I was paralyzed about even opening the IRS letters that had been on my desk for weeks, but figuring out a "next actionable step"--and partnering with pro, with support from normy and milo, plus a few helpful comments from others along the way--helped me get from denial and panic to the point where at least it's all in the hands of my accountant, and she has a power of attorney from us so she can talk with the IRS and get it all figured out. Figuring out tiny steps and bookending to get them done was an amazing turn around. Good going, 1Focus! One step at a time, report, affirm/regroup. Takes most of the dread away!
Let me pontificate a bit...
I am no expert, to be sure, since I am WAY more broke than you are (there I go bragging again)...
..BUT, one thought:
the common definitions of gross (pretax) personal income - the figure for "AGI" on the bottom of the first page of the 1040, for average middle class people, or the bottom of Schedule C for us self-employed types (maybe if you're in ranching you use Schedule F, same thing I think) - anyway, these common definitions of income the tru figure for profit.
Unlike a corporation, you have to eat. You don't have a choice. A corporation can reinvest all its "profits". You cant. A corporation doesnt need shoes for the kids, gas to get to work, or a family car. You do. So there is an "overhead" for workers and self-employed people, that we pay taxes on as if it were income, but is in fact actually an expense.
One simple method to give a very rough accounting of home expenses - rent, utilities, gardening, phone lines, alarm system, everything - and deduct it all from AGI or Schedule C income, to see what youre really working with for food, clothes etc.
Oh and I would treat all auto expenses the same way, including gas, down payments, etc.
One has to collect these home and auto expenses ANYWAY, if one files on schedule C, since a portion is deductible. What I am saying is that from an operating management standpoint, auto and house expenses have to be deducted 100%. Profit is whats left, before taxes. Then you deduct the actual taxes youll have to pay. What's left is roughly "profit" the way corporations report it. it represents your source of savings, and also what you have to live out of.
An alternative for self-emplyed people is to do what management consultants recommend - which is to pay yourself a fixed salary, no matter what, and live out of that. What's left in the business after paying salary represents true business profit. The dismal truth is that if we did that, most of us would look at the actual paltry salary we could really commit firmly to pay ourselves - and quit.
I realize I am time-binging here, so see you later.