Taxation Calculation

I do our taxes myself with a sheet of graph paper and a pencil. I use a calculator to check my work. Obviously, our financial situation isn't complicated and based on my, admittedly limited, personal interactions with accountants, I'm not sure they're worth the money for us.

I've also tried a tax program on the computer and after filling out 10 million screens it told me we owed a horrifying amount to the state and I couldn't figure out how to explain to the computer that only a portion of our income is subject to Oregon tax. I decided could do the job more quickly with my prehistoric methods.

I usually do all the calculations and pencil-in the forms in February so I know how much we owe and then in April I re-do everything and check all my numbers and finalize everything with a ballpoint pen, attach a check and send off. It's hard to believe that someone who loves computer technology as much as I do does not embrace it for tax filing.

This year, for no particular reason, I put off any tax calculations until Tuesday night. We ended up owing more than I thought but not horrifically more.

Last night I attempted to finalize before I picked up my sweetheart from the airport because I had all the stuff spread out on the kitchen table and I wanted to clean it up before he came home. I found a big booboo having to do with the kicker so turns out we owe another big chunk.

Still doesn't qualify as horrific but definitely hits depressingly large.