It’s This-or-That Tuesday, this week with taxy goodness!
1. File taxes as early as possible, or wait until the last possible minute? I’d prefer to do the former, but I tend to do the latter — and not because I’m expecting to have to pay.
2. File electronically, or mail paper forms? Do they still take paper forms?
3. Prepare your own taxes, or have someone do it for you? Ever since I stopped having to deal with various post-divorce financial entanglements, I’ve prepped my own (via TurboTax).
4. Are you a saver or a spender? I don’t save as much as I should. I probably need to do more direct deposit to savings. It’s not being a spendthrift, but being lazy and forgetful.
5. Do you prefer to carry cash, or pay with plastic (credit/debit cards), or by check? Plastic. You don’t have to get it recharged at the money wall, and you don’t need to write legibly.
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? I recall my fast food days with a bit of wistfulness — I can recall feeling a sense of accomplishment, getting through a lunch rush, dealing with a big order, instant gratification, short-term goals set and met.
I suspect that’s more than a bit romantic. I’d probably go for retail, where it’s more likely to be well air-conditioned and less greasy.
7. Keeping track of your money: are you more meticulous or careless about it? Not as meticulous as I’d like to be.
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’ll tend to spend it, though I might fish out the pennies and hoard them.
9. Which form of fake money do you like better…Monopoly money or those chocolate coins covered with gold foil? Monopoly money. It’s more edible, and better for you.
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? Hmmmm. I think I’d hold onto the wallet until I could make up the $200, then send it all back “intact.”