Earlier this year, my husband got bad news….Actually, I’m surprised it took so long as I’ve been expecting something like this….No he’s not sick….He didn’t get fired….None of his relatives died….The IRS caught up with him.
You see, I started filing taxes separately over 15 years ago. I was tired of paying taxes all year long and everything I paid in going to pay what he owes because his employers and the Government (through his retirement) weren’t taking enough out of his check. I had tried to explain to him over and over that he needed to claim 0 deductions on his W-2’s so they would take out more money….He stubbornly decided he wanted more money every pay day….
As a rule, I always had extra taken out of my checks. I wouldn’t miss $10 a pay day if it meant I’d get a bigger check in the spring…
We moved to Ohio in 2002….and my husband has not filed his taxes since….So the government has decided he owes over $14,000 in federal taxes. (He owes probably close to that in State, local and school taxes; too!)
Now my husband takes all his mail , unopened, and piles it on a table beside the couch….I’m not allowed to open it or know anything about his income or bank account….But after 32 years, I think I am entitled to know….So one day I opened every piece of mail of his I could find…..and there it was; a letter from Cleveland with a garnishment applied by the Federal IRS for $252 per month beginning in March!
Well…..that’s a big bite out of our monthly income! I also found out later that the state of Ohio has been garnishing his Target pay check….(I don’t know how much they get).
After talking to several knowledgeable people, I called the IRS.
Of course they wouldn’t speak to me because I wasn’t the “Taxpayer” but I put my husband on speaker phone so I could help him with things he didn’t know…..We were transferred to 4 different people before someone finally gave us what we needed…..They are sending us 6 years of tax papers (everything we need to file) for “him” to fill out and return….Now you know who will be doing the “filling out”…..ME!
So here sometime in this next week, I will be getting writers cramp…..He also has to fill out a promissory note to pay anything back he does owe….If he is due refunds, they will probably apply to what he owes….but the good thing is they will stop the garnishment….at least on the Federal side….
Each year has to go in a separate envelope, and then all 6 can go in a larger envelope….and hopefully all, or at least some of our money woes will be over.
When I heard we were going to lose so much money each month, I made adjustments….I went down and changed my cell phone contract to a cheaper rate….I moved everything from a downstairs storage unit into a smaller upstairs unit for half the price, and thus saved about $75 a month.
This past week, Barbara, the 81 year old neighbor lady I run errands for asked if I would like to cut her grass for her this year. She pays $17 a week…..there’s another $68 a month….
And on Tuesday, another neighbor, Arlene asked if I would take care of her 2 cats while she goes to visit family in Arizona for 2 weeks…..She paid me $40….I have to go over twice a day to give them their “treat”, (which includes medication for one of the cats) make sure they have dry food and water, and clean out their litter box….
Now in case you weren’t following along…..I made up $183 of the $252 we lost on the first…..
What has my husband done to help? You may ask…..
NOTHING!!!
He still maintains his selfish ways….eating more than his fair share of food and not worrying about whether or not anyone else has anything to eat or not. For instances, I went to the cheapest store in town and using my “kitty” fund, bought bread, some of those packages of ham that cost 49₵, cheese, margarine, etc….I could make grilled ham and cheese sandwiches for the entire family…..He waited until after he had already eaten dinner, and then made 3 sandwiches for himself using up an entire package of the ham in less than an hour!!! I had been to church that evening and paid $2 for dinner there, so I didn’t even eat any of what I had fixed at home for the 3 of them….and he made sure there were no leftovers!
“Lord, grant me the serenity to accept the things I can not change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to hide the bodies of those I had to kill and the strength to resist the desire to choke the living shit out of some asshole who desperately needs it.”
P.S.….. I thought you’d enjoy these pics of the kitties getting a drink of water…..
Hugs and Love to All!
Hey Look! I finally wrote another Blog!!!
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