Tax Deduction

When I was single, tax time was a breeze. I was always broke, so the math was simple=
$0 (my income) - 10% (Uncle Sam's cut) = $0

Every so often, when I made a few dollars during the year, I'd actually get a refund. The refund was never anything to get tickled over, but it bought a few school supplies and one good dinner.

After I got married, I entered the worst tax bracket ever: married without children. The first year Tim & I went to do our taxes, we brought all of our school loan interest statements, business expense sheets, W-2s, possible itemized deductions neatly categorized, and hope.

Two hours later, we left as naked as Adam & Eve.

We had no idea we owed several thousand dollars. The accountant's fee alone was $400. The IRS demanded what pennies we had salvaged after the Christmas season and more. We would have shed tears, but it had garnished those, too.

Didn't Uncle Sam care we had a ridiculous amount of credit card debt, 75% school-related? What about the money we spent driving to work because of the scarce public transportation? Didn't he know we had purchased two cars at completely exploitative interest rates to get to said jobs?

Of course not, so this end-of-year beat down has gone on since '01. Since then, we've wised up on ways to limit our losses and have even resorted to doing our own taxes. Still, the check we mail out every April 14th (you better believe we hold on to it that long!) stings.

So, a few weeks ago, Tim & I purchased our first set of bibs for Baby Dowdel. We passed on the ones that read, "Daddy's Little Girl," "Thank Heaven for Little Boys," "Princess," and "Grandma Loves Me" and went to the one we knew spoke the true words of our hearts: "Tax Deduction."