"'In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes."

Though he said it in the 1700's, good old Ben Franklin had it right. It's tax time again. Not because it's April but because in April I didn't have my shit together enough to be able to get them done so I asked Eric to file an extension.

In April, my life was just barely out of boxes. I was five months into a move to a city that had always scared me. I was trying to rebuild some semblance of self-respect, a new sense of self when my world had literally been turned upside down.

I couldn't face my taxes. It was....Too Much.

I hadn't balanced my checkbook since April 2007 - I had months of data to enter into Quicken. I couldn't find all of the receipts in the boxes of things I needed. I had all the excuses - the cold truth was that I knew I would OWE.

And I was barely making it.

The cost of living in (and immediately around) NYC was staggering. My car was costing me $800 a month. The cost of my living space tripled - and dropped in size more than 60%. I stillk had the house in NC and the apartment for three months. My December electric bill was more than ALL of my utilties in North Carolina - and I was really cold.

I knew I would owe because I didn't take any taxes out of my unemployment money or out of my consulting money. I knew I was going to owe - a lot.

Fast forward six months. The house sold in late February. I got out from under the car in August. I got all the data loaded into Quicken back in September. Did I get the information to Eric as soon as I could?

Nope.

So I've spent the better part of a day - inside - when it's 75 degrees and gorgeous and not a cloud in the sky, stressing over this. Because today is literally the LAST DAY. I leave tomorrow afternoon (Monday) for Philly. And the taxes are due on Wednesday.

There has to be a better way.

And Meg is right - I end up here every year. Maybe taxes for 2009 will be easier. No mortgage, nothing massive to deduct. I could file a 1040EZ and be done with it.

But I still need to get through 2008.

So to get ready for 2008, I need to enter (you guessed it) five months of data in Quicken. And gather all the papers from the sale of the house. And figure out what Eric will need and start all over again.

Let's hope I do it in January - so I don't end up in the same place again come April.