I may have gone to the extreme on not caring. I was overwhelmed (caring "too much") about aspects of my life. The budget is ok, but not in great shape as I keep spending too much on going out to eat. I don't care if I make all Ds, if I ever finish the house (in this crappy market, who does care?!), if I lose my 20 more pounds (I gained 4 and lost 2 this week), haven't worn skirts, heels, makeup, or hose in the past two weeks (who can look good swaddled in six layers of sweaters, boots, socks, long pants)... Langour of late winter. Or something else. Ordered some St. John's wort. I have been having crushing depression once a month for about three or four days. I really didn't want to take something 100% of the time when I only need it 20% of the time. And then further thought, Huh, why not? Maybe I'll kill two birds with one stone. I have been sleeping better since I decided not to push so hard on everything. Anxiety or antihistimines, whichever it was. The yoga mat is still trying to get me loose. I am getting new glasses, sunglasses, and contacts next week. Got my eyes checked and ordered them all online. Did the $39 route; I'm really curious to see if it's as great as Ed made it out to be. My big brother has been on his way over to look at moving the electrical box for two weeks now, but has yet to make it. I hired a handyman to come redo the entire back window and he'll contact me next week. Seems strange hiring someone and paying them when I know Ed could, but won't, do it. Silly. But I gotta do what I gotta do. As I walked to class on Tuesday, I was wrapped head to toe in fur, and every inch covered so that the icy wind couldn't cut into me. Still did on my legs, but other than that... and I was thinking, by the end of the semester, I'll be sweating! Only two days later (yesterday) I already make it to a pants and long sleeve shirt only? Not even the end of the semester. Shesh! Yes, our schools were closed on Friday due to the cold weather, but that's because we are not equipped to handle it. Truly. We can't stand at bus stops in frigid weather. But then we didn't shut down for a heatwave last summer like the northeast did. Turnabout. Turnabout.

If you are remodeling a kitchen and have a permit, then your local government folks have a written record of you purchasing some big ticket appliances. I suspect that extends to knowing exactly where you bought them, because I think they want to see invoices in order to assess the increase in property value. I also don't know whether they join the dots between the property tax people and the use tax people. You have to ask yourself whether you want to take the risk of not declaring these purchases... Even in a remodel, it's often possible to delay replacing some appliances until after the permit has been finaled if you are desperate to save a few $$ on your property tax. AIUI, the value of appliances included in a remodel is included in the increase in property value, but appliance replacements at any other time are not counted for that purpose. (For folks wondering what the heck the obsession with property tax is, the OP is in CA, which has the famous "Proposition 13" that caps property tax increases due to open market valuations. This means local government looks for any and every reason to hike up taxable values.)

We have Vannie and Kelly beat.We will be giving the IRS $18,000.! See what I mean about almost enough to buy a new car? LOL Talk about Ouch! All because we were fortunate enough to inherit oil property from in-laws in 81 and were even more fortunate to be able to sell last year at a very good price.We have paid an average of $3000. every year since in taxes on the oil royalties on 2 producing wells,plus about $1200. a year in property taxes.I think it is a little unfair to have to pay 18% taxes on that one time windfall but that's the way it is.So much for being one of those "rich" Texas oil people! LOL

Not beyond stupid! When we were renovating our bathrooms three years ago, I happened upon a site that had my shower pan which I had picked out. The high end bathroom shop priced it at $576.00. I purchased it from an on-line store with their Easter sale price for $336.00! Free shipping free and (Ahem) no tax. The delivery guy even brought it in and carried upstairs for me. Moral of the story - you just never know.