Time to file!

It is that time of year. It is time, or nearly time, to file your tax returns. Even if you are not expected to owe many or any tax payments; Even if you are expecting to get a refund, filing taxes is not something most people look forward to. It is generally a stressful, tedious, process that very few would appreciate doing.

That is why so many people uses services to file their income taxes, even when it is often free or cheaper to do it on your own. Time is money, and saving time and aggravation, in addition to be sure it is done correctly (even the most intelligent and careful people can make mistakes in things they are not trained/skilled in).

Now, as unpleasant as it can be to file taxes once a year, there are many instances where the same types of tasks are required more often. Most notably is sales tax filing. When you own or run a business, you have to manage all things related to taxes. Including the taxes from sales and use, taxes taken from employee wages, and much more. And those things require monthly reports.

That is something that I, personally, would never want to handle on my own. I always defer to the experts when I am outside my depth, and that is almost always when it comes to data and figures. I am not a numbers person.

If you are one of the unfortunate souls that has to worry about sales tax nexus, or anything of the kind, I would highly suggest looking into a service to manage it for you. It is done so often on yearly income tax filing and yet so many business struggle to do all the work themselves. It seems counterintuitive. Work smart, not hard.

I really love it when I can find easy ways to ease the burden of mental and actual work that I have to carry. It is so surreal how sometimes saving yourself let's say, for example, an hour of work can actually make you two hours more productive. When you have the weight of a stress inducing task hanging over you, it slows down your performance. So by getting help for that one thing, you are actually improving two or more sets of tasks. 

I know it is sometimes difficult to justify the cost or just to take what you might see as a hit to your pride in admitting you need or simply want help, but it can be so worth it. While the situation is obviously not entirely similar, I will think of this example every time I try to talk myself out of getting help because I think it is not worth the cost.

The story is, the cartridge in our tub stopped working. It was the second time this happened. The part was under warranty, so we got that shipped at no charge. We're already doing good. But last time the plumber said the repair is simple IF YOU KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING. That was the key part. Hubby and I figured to save on the cost of a plumber to just try it ourselves. Well, needless to say, it was a huge fail.

The cartridge blew out (whether it was only mishandling or the part was faulty I still don't know). With that damaged, there was nothing to stop the water from just flowing out the handle. We had to shut the water off. This was a Friday night. So we had to call an emergency plumber, they couldn't come until the next day. They cost more than the plumber we would have used had they been open on weekend or had we been able to wait. We even had to pay for a part, again, since they other one broke.

So, yeah, take it from me. Sometimes it is better to just pay to get it done right the first time. Seeking help is never something to be ashamed of. Sometimes not seeking it can be, though.