Whew!!!!!

Tax season is over! I sent my tax forms and payments yesterday. I did it all on my computer after many hours of long and tedious research to find deductions, credits, and strategies to save money and pay less taxes.

When it was all said and done, I declared -$651 in contract work income losses! I declared -$6900 in residential income losses! Yes! That's good because I basically offset my gains with my expenses to reduce taxes. That's the beauty of self employemnt.

But the downer is that I paid a ton of taxes in capital gains. IRS tax law doesn't allow you to offset capital gains on stocks/mutual funds/etc. with losses from other sources of income. So I still paid a bunch of taxes to Uncle Sam and Governor Arnold "The Taxinator".



Blaaaah! What a bummer.

I always say that Uncle Sam is a not a blood relative, but he takes more money from me than I even give to my real relatives. I have given away a bunch to this non-relative who takes, but never gives. The government will never give me benefits that are valued even close to the amount of money I have paid in taxes. This is true especialy this year as I gave away a brand spankin' new Porsche 911 Carrera S to Uncle Sam and Arnold.



So I've concluded that I should spend some of my own money.

Usually, I'm a typical Chinese tight-wad who saves, saves, and saves. I'm a frequent client at Jack-In-The-Box on First and Mission, along with the many homeless folks who make that place the stinkiest restaurant I've ever entered. But hey, I spend only $3.44 to get 4 tacos and a re-fillable diet coke!



On other days, I go to In-N-Out Burger and eat lunch at In-N-Out Burger. I always get the Protein-style, Animal-style Hamburger. I usually order two of these and a re-fillable small diet coke.



I've become the expert in living a low-budget lifestyle, spending almost nothing on my meals. Oh of course, there's always the days when I drop by Costco and get the $1.62 hot dog and diet coke. That's always a filling lunch on barely anything.



Dude, I really shouldn't scrimp like that. It's really bad for my health eating junk food just because it's cheap. And this year, after paying a ton of taxes, I came to the conclusion that I should eat healthier and better quality food. The savings just isn't worth it. But most of all, I paid Uncle Same and Arnold Schwarzzeneggar enough money to eat high end dining for the rest of my life! Literally!

Why should I live like a pauper when I pay ton of taxes so that people on welfare can eat well on food stamps? That's ridiculous! So I've resolved for 2005 to eat better, enjoy fine dining, and spend money without second thoughts.

Breaking my old habit is going to be tough. I want to end the "penny wise, pound foolish" mentality that I've subjected myself to for decades. It takes practice for me to spend without thinking. Ironically, I have to make a concerted effort to spend without thinking. Ever since I was in high school, I would always try to spend little on food, thus subjecting myself to junk food and fast food.

If you ever catch me, let's do lunch somewhere that's better than fast food! And pray that I don't get audited this year. Uncle Sam and Arnold took enough already.