About Those Tax Bites

I’ve been negligent in keeping the weekly and monthly tax bites updated on this blog. I’ve been too busy traveling for work or, as of tomorrow, vacation. I’ve been keeping all of my receipts, though, and I’ll do the math as soon as I find the time — just in case anyone out there was wondering.

The Math Skills Of Journalists

Journalists like me should never write blogs that require a good grasp of mathematical logic. When we do, we spend hours trying to compose entries that would take normal people minutes.

That’s my way of saying that some of the year-to-date numbers you’ll find on this blog are suspect. Specifically, the year-to-date numbers for entries that recap our weekly tax bite may be off.

It’s too complicated for me to try to explain why. Just trust me when I say that the most trustworthy year-to-date numbers are in the entries that calculate our monthly tax bite. No partial weeks are involved there, so I’m not as confused when I try to do the math.

I’ll keep tracking the year-to-date numbers in the weekly entries; you’ll just have to wait until the end of each month to see the more reliable numbers.

One other administrative note: I have revised the year-to-date numbers throughout this blog for two reasons: 1) I discovered some math mistakes and fixed them; and 2) I have dropped property taxes from the monthly calculations.

Our mortgage statements this year have yet to reflect any property taxes paid to the county government. I’m guessing that means our lender only pays the taxes quarterly. (See, you learn things when you blog about taxes.)

Rather than trying to estimate those taxes monthly as I had planned, I’m going to make note of them when they are paid. That will explain in part why a few of the monthly tax entries will be noticeably larger.

Tax Bite, Week 18

April 27-May 3
Gasoline: $5.47
Groceries: $3.75
Eat-In/Other: $4.27
Sales: $8.51

Weekly total: $22.00
Year-to-date total: $12,616.87 (includes monthly tax bite)

Tax Bite, Week 17

April 20-26
Gasoline: $5.71
Groceries: $1.79
Prepared foods: $0.05
Eat-In/Other: $8.23
Sales: $5.63

Weekly total: $21.41
Year-to-date total: $10,943.89 (includes monthly tax bite)

Tax Bite, Week 16

April 13-19
Gasoline: $10.08
Groceries: $5.26
Eat-In/Other: $3.39
Sales: $3.16

Weekly total: $21.89
Year-to-date total: $10,922.48 (includes monthly tax bite)

Tax Bite, Week 15

April 6-12
Gasoline: $5.88
Groceries: $5.37
Eat-In/Other: $2.90
Sales: $7.97
Postage: $2.15 (to mail income-tax forms)

Weekly total: $24.27
Year-to-date total: $10,900.59 (includes monthly tax bite)

Tax Bite, Week 14

March 30-April 5
Gasoline: $6.01
Groceries: $3.96
Eat-In/Other: $3.81
Sales: $5.41

Weekly total: $19.19
Year-to-date total: $10,876.32 (includes monthly tax bite)

Tax Bite, Week 13

It’s amazing how much money you can save on taxes a week when you cut back on driving and don’t have to buy groceries. This week’s numbers compared with last week’s, for instance, really show what an impact government has on the family pocketbook. Less taxation with representation!

UPDATE: I take it all back. I just found another receipt in the checkbook. Kimberly did go grocery shopping this week, boosting that tax from 3 cents for the week to $3.14.

March 23-29
Gasoline: $7.23
Groceries: $3.14
Eat-In/Other: $3.37
Sales: $1.47

Weekly total: $15.21
Year-to-date total: $9,193.78 (includes monthly tax bite)

Tax Bite, Week 12

March 16-22
*Gasoline: $7.57
Groceries: $5.13
Eat-In/Other: $5.97
Sales: $41.97

Weekly total: $59.97
Year-to-date total: $9,178.57 (includes monthly tax bite)

* I worked from home two days this week, and my parents have been playing chaffeur to the family in their van. We’re also a one-car family for now, so the burden from gas taxes should be a little less for a while.

Tax Bite, Week 11

March 9-15
Gasoline: $13.39
Groceries: $1.14
Eat-In/Other: $5.06
Sales: $6.61

Weekly total: $26.20
Year-to-date total: $9,118.60 (includes monthly tax bite)

Tax Bite, Week 10

March 2-8
Airfare: $146.76
Gasoline: $13.90
Groceries: $0.98
Eat-In/Other: $7.87
Sales: $5.86

Weekly total: $175.37
Year-to-date total: $9,092.40 (includes monthly tax bite)

Tax Bite, Week 9

Feb. 24-March 1
Gasoline: $11.29
Groceries: $3.33
Eat-In/Other: $3.10
Sales: $6.60

Weekly total: $24.32
Year-to-date total: $7,260.80 (includes monthly tax bite)

Tax Bite, Week 8

Feb. 17-24
Gasoline: $9.71
Groceries: $3.33
Eat-In/Other: $1.03
Sales: $4.23

Weekly total: $18.30
Year-to-date total: $7,236.48 (includes monthly tax bite)

Tax Bite, Week 7

Feb. 10-16
Gasoline: $3.63
Groceries: $3.07
Eat-In/Other: $3.55
Sales: $49.64 (includes new dryer)

Weekly total: $59.89
Year-to-date total: $7,218.18 (includes monthly tax bite)

Tax Bite, Week 6

Feb. 3-9
Gasoline: $9.19
Groceries: $1.84
Eat-In/Other: $4.93
Sales: $11.25

Weekly total: $27.21
Year-to-date total: $7,158.29 (includes taxes from monthly tax bite)