after all.
Thanks so much for all your comments about which article to pick for the compilation book. I reread many of my articles suggested by you, and was all set to use the black theology series, when I reread the Haggard piece one more time. As it turns out, I think I can manage the time bound aspect of Haggard's fall while highlighting the central critique which is less time-bound. The Haggard article deals with a very specific issue (evangelicalism promising what it shouldn't) which I feel is important in a book like this.
My black theology series means a lot to me too. I just realized that I had best save it for the book I want to write. The other articles (especially those that detail my faith journey) will be good foundations for that book. (Hope to get to that later this year.)
And may I just say for the record: you all are a bunch of football sluts! The divisional play-offs post got more responses than my last UPI article on the ::ahem:: Very Important Topic of Postmodernisn! Ha!
And I love that about you all.
Now to get my taxes done before the games start. Who else uses Turbo Tax? :)
13 comments:
Football is easy to comment on. Your columns raise the bar and require more introspection!
Turbo Tax is the shiz-nit.
Shiz-nit! Dave you are killing me with the vocab! What was that one word you called me a few weeks ago on Bilbo's blog? I read your comment to my daughter (I laughed so hard, she had to know) and she made me promise to NEVER use that word. (Don't worry, I crossed my fingers behind my back because believe you me, I'm usin' it and soon!)
YOU are the shiz-nit, Dave!
Julie
Are you thinking of the "Quisling" jibe? I think that has to be it. I labeled you thusly because you were rooting against the Wolverines and for the Trojans. "Quisling" is pretty much synonymous with "Benedict Arnold." Go ahead and Google it (or better yet, Wikipedia it) to get the full story - he was an infamous WWII era traitor.
There's a great old Looney Tunes cartoon where a hunted turkey is trying to hide from Porky Pig (who wants to shoot him), and he enlists Daffy Duck to help him hide. Daffy tries all these different places, then decides to stuff him inside a snow-man. Daffy stays loyal to his turkey friend, until Porky tempts him to the breaking point with the promise of a fully decked-out Thanksgiving dinner, with dumplings and gravy and stuffing and cranberry sauce... Daffy's resistance wilts ("It was the cranberry sauce that did it!") and he eagerly reveals the hiding place to Porky with huge arrows and lights pointing straight at the snowman. Then a cutaway view reveals the turkey all scrunched up inside and with impeccable timing, he sits silent for a moment, then utters the single word, "Quisling!" out of the side of his mouth.
A hilarious moment! It made a lasting impact on me, obviously. :o)
I love Turbo Tax -- it has made my life so much easier the past few years.
Dave, it sounds like you can handle the comments in the appropriate manner. I try it and sound like a doofus (which is a word that I CAN use pretty well;-)
- Matt
Yes! Quisling was it. I love that word and the story has now added richness I would never had rec'd from you without forgetting the word. So I am grateful.
Shiz-nit you quisling. :)
Julie
Quisling sounds like Hobbit speak or something from Harry Potter....I don't claim to have the vocabularly capabilities of the "grandmaster" Dave but we hobbits do have a rich history of some great sounding words in our own culture. Here are a few teasers......Quendi,Radagast,Bofur,Drengist,
Dwailin,Eglath,Fingolfin,Gundabag,Harfoot,Khazad-dum,
Nazgul,Pukel-men,Ulfang,Wargs, and Bombadil.
Football? I thought you just talked about the Bengals :)
WebTurboTax for me ... I can usually get a deal on it.
The Ted Haggard piece was what put you on my blog radar. An excellent piece, and a good choice!
I used Turbo Tax for a few years, but numbers/math are NOT my forté, and so I was always SOOO scared that I had messed something up, despite the great assistance it provides.
And so, this year, I've hired an accountant. Because within the year 2006, I was a) employed fulltime and freelancing as a sole proprietor business, b) freelancing fulltime as a sole proprietor, and c) freelancing fulltime as an LLC business, and d) moved from Alabama to Georgia, which will affect ny state taxes. There was NO WAY I was going to attempt to figure out the implications of those incarnations all by myself!!
And I'll have to say, by incorporating my business, I'll save around $3,000 in taxes this year. If any of you freelance and have the ability to go LLC (Limited Liability Corporation), you might want to consider it. While it involves detailed bookkeeping, it not only protects your personal assets, it also can potentially save you a bunch of money in taxes! Now THAT's the shiz-nit! :)
Cheryl, this is where I am exactly - sole propritor of a business and freelance to boot. Jon just told me we are using an accountant. I am ambivalent about becoming an LLC but your comment sure makes me want to rethink. I don't like the feeling that I have to know how much to make my draw etc. Did you find this difficult? Learning the limitations/benefits of an LLC? I'm like you - awful with numbers.
Hey Julie,
My first advice would be to talk to your accountant and follow their advice about the pros and cons, since they will know your financial situation nor your business.
Secondly, you can find out a lot about LLC and S-Corporationss online. probably enough to help you talk/question your accountant intelligently. (It was a big help for me, anyway!)
And finally, while I'm not a numbers person, knowing that if I chose to go with the LLC that I'd HAVE to keep better books, it has forced me to become a better business person. My money does not slip through my fingers like it used to! And Mac's OSX comes with QuickBooks software, which is what I use for my business. My accountant spent one hour showing me what I needed to know to learn it. It's very easy once you know the basics.
This is how I handle my draw: From each accounts receivable I earn, I take out a predetermined percentage...first being living expenses. Then, I withdraw a percentage that goes to my IRA and another percentage for anticipated taxes. The tax-delegated money goes into a high-yield money market account so that, until I have to pay taxes, at least it's making some money for me. Everything else stays in the business account, although, it's yours to be withdrawn for emergencies if necessary.
My accountant charged about $275 to set up the LLC, and there's a charge for a business license. And of course, all your legal docs must have the LLC on them, so you might have to change some business cards or something. However, in return, you get the tax benefit AND knowing that if you should run up against some shady client who wants to sue you for all you have, they can only touch your business assets. They can't take your home, car, etc.
Sorry for such a long post, but I hope this helps. Good luck!!
Oops. in the first paragraph, I meant to say talk to an accountant since "I" don't know your finances nor your business.
(You'd think I'd learn to preview my comments before posting....but, nooooo! :)
Cheryl thanks so much for more info. Jon (husband) says that our Mac OS X comes with quicken not quickbooks. Is that right? is that what you meant?
No, I meant QuickBooks. I think Quicken is included as well, but I never use it. I think it's more about personal bank accounts, whereas QuickBooks is more about business accounting.
The version I got with OSX is a basic version...you can't put personalized logos behind your invoices, and you can't email your backup as a PDF, but that's about it for its limitations. I don't use either of those anyway, so it's no big deal.
My version is "QuickBooks NUE 2005." Perhaps they have not included it in the later laptops like you have, but it wouldn't hurt to check. It's a great piece of software, especially considering it was bundled!!
Oh, and I enjoyed your "Shut Up and Listen" article. :)
Post a Comment