Guest post from Tiffany of Don’t Waste the Crumbs
Do you have a planner? I do.
Actually, I have a pretty incredible planner (that I saw here on MoneySavingMom.com) and I write just about everything in it: meals, birthdays, to-do lists, chores, grocery lists, appointments, things not to forget. That is, unless I forget to write them down.
And in that case, nothing gets written in it, and then my planner isn’t so incredible after all. But I can’t really blame the planner now, can I? 🙂
Today is 2012 Tax Day. I celebrated by getting our taxes done. I know — nothing like waiting until the last moment, right?
Actually, I’m ahead of the game. I got our taxes done on Monday.
No need to remind me, I know I’m cutting it close. But at least I’m not late! (And yes, this is a reminder in case any of you forgot!)
As I was attempting to do them myself last week, I realized that I could have done them so much faster, with so much more information, and so much more accurately (and in turn, not needing to go have them done by someone else) if I had only kept up with my planner!
You see, I do write down a lot of information in my planner, but apparently, there’s a lot of information that I didn’t write down.
- If I wrote down every doctor’s appointment for each member of the family, I’d know what doctors I needed to contact to get records of payments made to the office.
- If I wrote down the reason why we had an appointment (wisdom teeth extraction — ouch!), I’d know whether or not there was a prescription to go with that appointment.
- If there was a prescription, then (in theory) I would have written down how much was spent and where it was spent (since I write down everything we spend).
- If I went to the eye doctor, it’s usually because I needed glasses or contacts. How little did insurance pay much did we pay for those again? Did we buy them online instead? What about that fitting fee?
- Wait, didn’t my husband go to the eye doctor, too?
- Exactly how much contact solution do we go through anyway?
This is just a glimpse into some of the thoughts that were spinning in my head, while seeking comfort in a bag of left-over Easter jelly beans last week.
I had a revelation: my planner was good for more than just properly managing my household day-to-day. Using my planner to its fullest could actually save me money.
Suddenly, I have a renewed interest in my planner and will do my best to do a better job of writing more details down in it to save me time and money come Tax Day 2013.
Tiffany is a full-time mom who teaches part-time and blogs at Don’t Waste the Crumbs, sharing ideas on kids, food, frugality, and making the most out of the small pieces of life.
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