Pulling IT All Together

It really doesn't matter where you live- in a house or a coach or a condo or a cabin in the woods. It doesn't matter what state you reside in (or happen to be traveling through) either- taxes must be paid! And the annual effort is always daunting. But we are finding that pulling it all together from the confines of an RV, no matter how big it may be in comparison to others, is even more challenging than it ever was before. For starters, when we had the house(s), we always had at least a four drawer file cabinet filled with receipts, and reports and a closet full of boxed old records. We had a reference library close by too if we needed it. We had a much bigger computer, a bigger calculator, a much bigger desk, a much bigger space in which to "figure." No room here for any of that! In the coach, there is only one small file drawer in the main salon, a plastic portable file buried in the back closet, and a few more older records that we still need tucked away down below. No matter what we need- it seems it is not at our fingertips, it's "somewhere else." Still, we have made good progress, especially considering that all the annual forms like filing forms, tax organizers from the accountant, 1099's of every type - all have to come to us in the indirect path from the mail forwarder that reroutes all our necessary mail to us. So while we wait for the facts and figures from the banks and so on, we compile the necessary data from our businesses and prepare to reorganize the business venture going forward. It all takes time and concentration. And it takes more time now than it ever did before. Yet while it is necessary in more ways than one, it's not much fun, so it tends to be a more, rather than less, stressful time. But after a solid week at crunching the numbers, there is light at the end of the tunnel! Now if only that light turns out not to be the proverbial train!
Our total time allowed for tax prep this year, before materials get sent off to the accountant will be three weeks. One down, in East Tampa, and two coming here at Bay Bayou on the other side of Tampa. Hopefully there will time to play, because, well, you know, all work and no play makes Greg a dull boy....