1. File taxes as early as possible, or wait until the last possible minute?
As early as possible, typically, because I generally get money back. I filed in February this year, but waited til April to send it off the state return, because I had to pay them.
2. File electronically, or mail paper forms?
Electronically. Much easier.
3. Prepare your own taxes, or have someone do it for you?
Hrm. I guess this one counts as having someone else do it for me, because I use TurboTaxWeb to take care of this stuff. All I really do is put numbers in.
4. Are you a saver or a spender?
*cough* Uh. Spender, definitely, which...well. Let's just say that this question has prompted the essay below. :)
5. Do you prefer to carry cash, or pay with plastic (credit/debit cards), or by check?
Debit card, most often. Sometimes cash, if I've got it. Check only if I have to. I didn't start carrying my checkbook with me til I got my new thing...which is really a purse, I guess, but I hate that word. Can I just say that I hate that word? Bah. :)
6. You're broke and desperately need a job, but the only places that are hiring are retail or fast food places. Which would you pick?
Retail, definitely. The customers suck, but guh, I worked fast food for six months at Kentucky Fried Chicken (or, as Brett says, Come-Fuck-Me Fried Pigeon), and that was enough. ENOUGH. Ew ew ew.
7. Keeping track of your money: are you more meticulous or careless about it?
I'm not exactly careless about it, but neither am I totally meticulous.
8. What do you do if you find yourself with a lot of change weighing down your purse/pocket/wallet? Do you try to spend it to *get rid of it*, or do you put it in a jar or a piggy bank?
I put it in a jar (or, in the case of my car, the little spare change drawer), then when I get a good pile of it, I take it to one of those electronic counting machines at the store and get cash.
9. Which form of fake money do you like better...Monopoly money or those chocolate coins covered with gold foil?
Monopoly money, definitely.
10. Thought-provoking question of the week: You find a wallet containing $5,000 in cash, as well as several credit cards and the owner's drivers' license. Your rent is due tomorrow and you're short $200. Do you take the money (some or all of it) and mail back the wallet anonymously...or do you return the wallet with all contents intact?
Oh, return the wallet with the contents intact. Not saying I wouldn't be tempted, but I'm a strong believer in karma, and I'd be so guilty afterwards that I wouldn't be able to live with myself.
So, that question above, 'Are you a saver or a spender?' got me to thinking on the way home, namely about horoscopes, and self-fulfilling prophecies. See, I was born on July second, that puts me smack dab in the middle of the Cancer sun sign, and there are a lot of predictions and insights on How A Cancer Should Be by various astrologers and books and things. Interestingly, a lot of the 'traits' that a Cancer-born person is said to exhibit are ones that I do, in fact, exhibit. I've got a very strong need for security, I've got a pretty good intuition about people, and I'm moody as all get out.
However, one of the other traits that I'm supposed to have is some sense of financial prudence. Cancers, they say, always know where their money is, they're very meticulous about it, strict about budgeting, always have an eye for sales, and are generally pretty tight-fisted with money.
This is the point at which I diverge from a 'typical Cancer,' because I am really none of those things. I'm not strict about budgeting, and though I do prefer to get things on sale (who doesn't?), I won't *not* buy something I want if it *isn't* on sale. I haven't budgeted my checkbook in I don't know how long--why should I? I barely use it, and I have web access to my bank account, who needs to keep a paper record? So, whatever 'good with money' gene I was supposed to get from my sun sign, it's not mine.
It was that particular bit of internal commentary on the way home from work that got me thinking. Astrology is far from an exact science, though I'm sure the people who practice it would tell me either that it is, or that it's an art rather than a science. They'd also argue, and I've read this for myself, it's rare to find a person who exhibits *every* facet of their sun sign's personality, because there are so many other things that can influence that--rising sign, position of other planets in the chart, moon sign, all that good stuff. I'm not going to argue that, but I still wonder...
How much of someone's defining characteristics are truly because that's the luck of the draw they got by having the sun sign they did, and how much of it is self-fulfilling prophecy? How much of it is them (me) reading about their sun sign and deciding, about themselves, that they exhibit those characteristics, and truly *living* as if they did? Now, it's true, I don't think that anyone would choose to live the life of a moody, crabby, prone to snapping and needing alone time sort of person... :) But still, that's not a thought I can get rid of.
So many other things are influenced by how they're viewed--like mood, for instance. I had a really big perspective shift a few months ago when I realized that, part of the reason I was so miserable at work all the time, part of the reason that I *always* had bad days is because...that's what I expected of myself. I expected to have crappy days at work, I expected to come home tired and cranky, and to always be unhappy, so what did I get? Crappy, tired, cranky, and unhappy. Once I realized that I really do have control over stuff like that, my life at work, and at home, became so much better. Mind you, I still think I've reached that point of nirvana at work: apathy! But the fact is, when I encourage a positive mood rather than a negative one, I'm much more productive, and I come home feeling much better. That's worth the attitude shift.
That's the sort of thing I mean, though, when it comes to horoscopes and sun sign analysis. Maybe I am the way I am, we are the way we are, because we're told that's how we *should* be, based upon our birthdates.
And, then again, maybe I'm off my rocker. That's been known to happen. :)
Posted by Liz at April 15, 2003 04:47 PM