I totally hate February! For over thirty years it’s been my least favorite month. Always the coldest, darkest and dreariest. Since I hate it so much, I always lump all the other things I hate to do during the same month–you know, get it all over with at the same time. Taxes, mammograms, cleaning out my closets, suffering through the flu . . . .
Yesterday I started getting all the reports ready for the tax man. There is sooo much to gather, check, question, and debate. There has to be a better way to do this. Why does our government make it such a pain in the butt chore? And that’s before writing the required check. Of course, working with archaic software like Quicken 98 doesn’t help things. So this year I decided to update to a new version of QuickBooks.
Ye gads! I had no idea what I was in for. First I had to get the old file ready to convert as the new stuff doesn’t let you delete extraneous categories and accounts. Thankfully, I no longer need accounts set up for childcare or tuition expenses for each kid. And that wedding account for a doting daughter can go–we’re not ever doing that again!
I’m all about simplifying my life these days, and that includes how long it takes to reconcile my checkbook and record expenses. So, fully committed, I reread everything I could find under HELP–then dove in. I put the saved file on my flash drive, walked downstairs to my husband’s office and attempted to load it on his computer, the one with the new software. It’s a PC (now everyone, including Stephen King, knows the best writing comes from a Mac). I say attempted because of course it didn’t work. I’m sure I have neglected something major, like maybe the two programs aren’t compatible–maybe because mine works with a Mac operating system, while his works with Windows. This could easily be a lost cause, but help is on the way (the real kind). But I’m running out of time, I have to get all this done before February rolls into March. We wouldn’t want to ruin the perfectly delightful onset of spring with anything as exasperating as taxes, as annoying as a mammogram, or as unsettling as finally tossing out my size 6 jeans. The flu, well . . . been there, done that. That’s one thing checked off at least.
Time to work on a list of fun things I can look forward to doing come springtime! Just around the bend . . . 43 days to go!