My dear readers - 1
The other day I got an email from yet another dear reader that was certainly about an issue to which we can all relate.
Rather than repeat her story, I have decided to print her note to me in its entirety, with her permission, of course.
Dear Corney,
It’s time, last Tuesday I went out and bought my yearly pair of shoes.
It doesn’t so much matter what kind of shoes I buy – this year it happened to be a pair of those sassy short boots that are all the rage – its more the box that they come in.
I mean, during the year I buy other shoes – I don’t relish walking around barefoot – but this between Christmas and New Years shoe purchase is my annual ritual.
To what ritual might I refer?
A long time ago, when I was so traumatized by the whole tax process, had my own small business, and never could get the necessary receipts together at the end of the year, a good friend told me to keep it simple and use a shoebox to collect my receipts in.
She told me that whenever I come in with a receipt to just toss it into the box and forget it to the end of the year.
A miracle!
I have been using this miraculous technique for 10 years now, and it does keep me sort of centered around record keeping, though it is notably low tech.
But the main thing I wanted to tell you is that although the ritual of going out and buying a new pair of shoes after Christmas every year takes some of the sting out of this tax process, I dread it, I hate it, and I think it is the scourge of modern civilization.
I have depression and anxiety at the beginning of every year, a time when I should be celebrating, taking stock, and positively planning my life for the upcoming year.
Do I do that?
Do any of us do that?
No!
We scurry around collecting receipts and records, making appointments with accountants, downloading the latest version of TurboTax, and going shopping for shoes that come in a satisfactory size box. (This year my box is the perfect size – small solace though it be).
So, dear Corney, as we waste ¼ of 2009 completing the required tax forms, and all of 2009 keeping track of receipts and records, I implore you to get out there with your tax-less, cash-less plan so I can once again breathe easy and don’t feel compelled to buy a damn pair of shoes during the last week of December every year.
Your devoted reader and fan,
Doreen Hildebrand
By the way, as a preview to a complete overhaul of the current tax system, I invite you to download my report “Done with Cash” for free.
Tags: Banking Crisis, Corney's Model, Financial Crisis, Geithner, IRS, Stimulus Bill, Taxes
