Estimated Tax for Individuals - worse than filing taxes?!

I know it's rather down to the wire, but I'm finally posting on estimated taxes for freelancers. I looked at the form about a month ago, and didn't think much of it; but tonight I'm filling it out for the first time, and it is a headache.

Yes, I'm finding estimated taxes to be much more difficult that filing taxes. First of all, it's really hard to estimate income, let alone stuff like expenses and deductions. Secondly, the worksheet keeps warning that if you don't do it right, "you may owe a penalty when you file your taxes." Frequently they make it sound like you "may" be penalized even if it's not your fault! For example, the instructions include this dire warning in the section where they tell you what to do if you need to adjust your estimated taxes... In other words, if you inadvertently start making more during the year, you could be held liable for estimating improperly?! Whether or not that's true, I don't know - but it definitely scares me (which is, I'm sure, what they want).

In any case, the estimated tax worksheet - form 1040-ES - walks you through a simplified exemptions and deductions calculation. Once you figure out the tax you estimate you'll owe in the current year, the worksheet throws in some confusing bit about "alternative minimum tax from form 6251." I really have no clue what this is about, but since nothing looks familiar, I rather doubt I have to file it; my advice is to read the instructions and determine whether the IRS requires you to endure this additional headache.

Then you get to input your previous year's taxes; if it's less than you're estimated you'll have to pay this year, you get to go with the smaller number - yay! Once you have figured out your estimated taxes for the current year, you divide that number by four, and pay each of the four installments by the due dates given.

Here's another fun saving grace: if your estimated taxes are less than $1,000, you don't have to pre-pay! Nice, but the way they threaten to penalize you left and right, I don't think I'd trust it.

In any case, hopefully this post will get you started. If anyone more experienced has anything to add, you're welcome to post tips in the comments on the post. And if I learn anything new, I'll be sure to pass on the information, as well.

The long awaited post on self-employment tax

I recently promised a post on the self-employment tax form, which I forgot to mention in my tax tips post some time back. Since you last-minuters have only a week left, I thought I should post on this today.

The form is the 1040 Schedule SE, and should have been included in my "Forms you will need" list. The self-employment tax is about 15% of your net earnings - that is, your income after all of your expenses have been deducted. I forgot to include it in my post because after all of my deductions (mainly my laptop), I netted less than $400 last year, in which case you don't have to pay a self-employment tax or file the form.

I was reminded of the form because I started investigating the estimated tax prepayments, which self-employed people are also required to do. Speaking of that, I will post on that particular subject very soon, as well, as the first quarter's estimated taxes are due on tax day, as well.

Self-employment tax infuriates me, especially as it is so high. I think I remember reading somewhere that it is meant to replace a tax that businesses pay - i.e. if you're not employed by a business, the IRS would otherwise lose money because of your self-employment. However, it hardly seems fair to penalize us for having the gumption to make a go of it on our own, with a tax that wouldn't ordinarily come out of our pockets. When you consider that the self-employment tax is 15% on top of the normal tax rate, I can understand why there are so many books on how to increase your expenses and reduce your net income!

Although I didn't have to worry about that tax for last year, I will definitely have to pay it this year, and I don't expect it to be a pretty sight.

The crimes of society against literacy

This evening I caught sight of a billboard that showed a Latino family - two parents, two kids - huddled up on the couch together, smiling and gazing at something off in the distance. The billboard broadcasted the words "Tradición" and "It's a Latino thing." The billboard was a cable company ad.

The ad infuriated me, from a political as well as a literacy point of view. First of all, even though Denver has a high Latino population (which I'm sure the cable company has suddenly come to see as an excellent opportunity just waiting to be cashed in on), there are also plenty of others who will instantly assign racial connotations to that image. They will superglue the stereotype of the TV-watching white trash family onto the Latino family, which will serve to exaggerate the stereotypes they have already assigned to Latino people. They will say, "If that's one of their traditions, no wonder they [fill in the blank with any number of problems mainstream society tends to blame on minorities]."

But forget about what people will say - let's address what is fundamentally wrong about an ad like this. It's bad enough that the cable companies encourage people who are well-off and educated to spend more time parked on their @sses in front of the TV - what business do they have selling the imaginary merits of television to a socio-economic group that is already statistically known to face huge challenges in society due to poor education and illiteracy? We already know that television causes problems because it displaces time that could otherwise be spent in pastimes more conducive to education, such as reading or playing. So what does it say about our society that the cable company (whose employees must know the statistics as well as I do) has decided to target an already-challenged socio-economic class with their newest advertising campaign?

This is sick. It is a perfect example of the corruption of our glorious free market society. It's all about advertising and selling. Greed. God help you if your needs oppose theirs.

I remember reading somewhere that the average preschool kid watches 30 or 35 hours of TV a week. That's nearly a full-time job! And the cable company is trying to increase this?

It's partially the writer - and the reader - in me that has a hard time with this. I don't know if it has to do with race, class, or my mom's somewhat old fashioned values, but I didn't really watch much TV growing up. Oh, I can remember a few choice shows, particularly when my mom was making lunch during the summer or a favorite afterschool cartoon during the school year...but that's about it. I could count on one hand the shows I watched with any sort of regularity during my first twelve or fourteen years.

Mostly, I remember the books.

I read constantly. Teachers actually complained that while they couldn't get other kids to read, they couldn't get me to stop reading. I read in class, often straight through another lesson. I read under the covers with a flashlight. (I remember the first book I did that with, too. Five Children and It, by E. Nesbit. I couldn't have been more than seven or eight.) I was even pretty good at reading while I was walking, a talent saved for the particularly engrossing books. When I was in high school I often finished a new book every day.

My little rant does have a point: in many ways, I was far more advanced than my peers throughout my childhood. English class was a breeze, to say the least. I usually already knew the spelling and vocabulary words we were supposed to learn. Often I had already read the assigned books. And writing - imitating the words and turns of phrase I'd read so much of - was second nature to me.

So here is my point: TV displaces reading as a pastime. Reading as a pastime actually educates children, but in a fun way. It also prepares them for (and helps them choose) an educated lifestyle. So by pushing television, the cable company (or society, depending on how you look at it) is handicapping the education of the upcoming generations. And by pushing television on a group of people that is already hurting for proper education...well, I see it as something akin to kicking a dog while it lies half-dead in the street.

Why are writers so critical of each other?

I recently got into a forum debate about a bestselling book that I liked (but, apparently, quite a few people didn't). In defending the book, I inadvertently sparked a lot more criticism of the book, much of which seemed awfully harsh.

Last night, while reading The Last of Her Kind, by Sigrid Nunez, I ran across a mention of a quote that perfectly described what I felt about all the criticism I was reading about the bestseller I'd stood up for:

"One cannot review a bad book without showing off."
--W. H. Auden

Particularly coming from a writer, criticism of another writer's work just comes across as self-righteous, as if there is always an unspoken I could have done it better. Not only that, though; often the criticism seems unreasonably harsh. Writers tend to pick on things that "normal" people would never consider a serious enough flaw to ruin a book. It reminds me of a theory in social psychology, which observes that people are most likely to judge others that are most like them. For instance, women tend to blame a rape victim for bringing it on herself, presumably because all women are vulnerable to rape, and therefore prefer to blame the victim and deny that it could happen to them just as easily, rather than admit to the vulnerability. I think this theory could also be applied to how writers react to each others' work: when writers see "just another writer" become a bestseller, they automatically find reasons to criticize, indirectly making the case that they are more worthy of bestsellerdom by denying that the bestselling writer is any good.

Now that I've stated why I think writers are so likely to turn on each other, I have to say that I don't care why they do it, I think it's absolute crap. All of my fellow writers out there - particularly the newer ones, who will remember their own periods of vulnerability better than the established, successful writers - don't you remember how much senseless criticism can hurt? I'm sure all of us have bad memories of someone making some ridiculous, hurtful, and not at all constructive comment about our work. Rather than turning that same fire on another writer, we writers ought to stand by one another, as we all know and understand what it is like to be injured by criticism.

I have one other quote that I want to leave you with, which Nunez also led me to:

"Three things in human life are important. The first is to be kind. The second is to be kind. And the third is to be kind."
--Henry James

Please, my fellow writers, be kind to one another; support one another.

Getting into writing mode quickly

It's not always like this, but frequently it takes me a while to get into "writing mode" - particularly if I'm working on something I enjoy less than usual. And although I'm not a mom yet, I still have frequent distractions that rob me of the opportunity to take my time getting warmed up. Also, as a professional who must support herself on her writing income, I can't afford to waste time by prolonging my "warm-up" period longer than necessary.

I'm not perfect, by any means - I still procrastinate when I have the luxury of time - but when I don't, there are a few tricks I have learned to get myself going faster.

Make notes. This is probably the most important trick I've learned. I frequently make notes, set apart from the draft by symbols that will draw my attention (so that I don't leave my notes there by accident). For example, I might type "" at the end of a paragraph when I don't know how to finish it off, but I have lots of good ideas for the next paragraph that I want to get down while they're fresh. Also, when I open a new document, I'll often set up a rough outline in this manner, to get my full idea down before I forget it or lose track of it. This saves a lot of time when I pick up my work again, as I don't have to reread everything and figure out where I was and where I wanted to go with it.

Location, location, location. Location is good for more than just house values. I've found that some places enable me to get started writing more quickly than others. I think this must vary between writers, so figure out what works for you and use it when you really need to jump start your writing for the day. For example, contrary to all common sense and how-to-write books' advice, one of the places most conducive to work for me is a coffee shop. I think it's because I have so many distractions at home, which aren't there at the coffee shop. All I have there is literally my coffee and my work. The busy atmosphere doesn't distract me because it doesn't concern me. Likewise, there are areas in the home that help me get started on my work more quickly: desks and tables are not very comfortable for me to work at, and I write best when I'm comfortable, so the couch and the comfortable old granny rocker in my office are the places where I can get started writing the fastest.

Plan for distractions. Does anyone else get the munchies three sentences into something that took a long time to warm up to? Well, you know that getting up will ruin the "writing mode" you worked so long and hard to achieve, so think ahead! Go to the bathroom before you get started, and keep everything else you might need nearby: a blanket in case you get cold, a snack in case you get hungry, any reference books you might need, etc. I actually have my doubts as to whether these sorts of distractions are genuine; your brain may be making them up in order to prolong your "warming up" time, so anticipating them can help avoid some of the subconscious procrastination your clever mind sabotages you with.

Of course, if I were to write about how to prolong your procrastination efforts as much as possible, I would recommend blogging. It really is therapeutic to write and not get anything done at all. :o)

Oh, this sweet, sweet agony!

No, the title of tonight's post was not intended to bring to mind a smut novel. :o) The "sweet agony" I am referring to is actually the pain of several days' hard work on the house, balanced by the joy of seeing it really start to come together.

This evening Michael and I went back to the house and pulled up the carpet in the living room. The floor was about as I expected: pretty much beautiful, with only a couple of flaws: worn spots in the three doorways (front door, kitchen door, and office door). I'm hoping to be able to sand these spots a little, match the stain of the rest of the floor as closely as possible, and apply a new layer of finish to the entire floor. Wear like this happens precisely because over the years, people haven't taken the time to reapply the finish when it starts to wear thin; once the finish is gone, footwear starts to go through the stain and then the wood itself.

In any case, the floor looked beautiful with the ivory color we painted the walls, just as we'd hoped.

Pulling up the carpet didn't take long, so we decided to start removing the hardwood laminate in the front bedroom (office). This was much more difficult, as apparently the stuff doesn't come apart as easily as it pieces together. Also, we felt guilty for pulling it up, as the sellers were obviously very proud of what they did to fix up the house (although we don't know when they installed the laminate), so we tried to keep as much of it undamaged as possible. We got about two-thirds of the office done before we decided to call it a night.

The office floor will also look great with the color of those walls (called cherokee rose, but it's actually more brown than rose - a very pretty earthy tone). The finish is, for the most part, better in there - to be expected, as the room would have seen less traffic over the years. The only flaw was a couple of long grooves between the boards where someone thought it would be a good idea to stuff it with putty. It's pretty ghastly, at first glance, but I'm hoping to stain it to match the wood. At the very least, it's in an area that'll be mostly covered with a small area rug I've had my eye on.

Despite a few flaws, the floors are really terrific. They are all that glorious reddish-gold color we saw in the corners when we peeked under the carpet. A little scratch cover, a touch of stain here and there, and a new coat of finish should do wonders for the hardwood, without destroying the character and ambiance that we like so much. I promise, I will post the before and after pictures soon.

Back to the "agony" part of my title: I hurt. I was stiff and sore after yesterday's long hours of painting; it's funny how you don't notice while you're working, but 10 minutes after you sit down you swear you'll never get up again. I hurt so bad that I didn't sleep well last night - every time I moved, my muscles would cramp and my head would pound. (My neck and shoulders were very stiff, which I think had something to do with my headache.) Today wasn't much better, so I snuggled in with a heating pad and took a nap in the afternoon. Even so, I quickly forgot about all my aches and pains once I was getting ready to work on the house again this evening. I'm sure it'll come back to haunt me tomorrow.

It occurs to me that my blog hasn't had much on writing during the last few days. Obviously, that's because writing has - remarkably - not been a big part of my life. This morning I searched the markets, wrote a bunch of emails, started gathering interview materials for an article due mid-week, and wrote a bunch more emails. Even though it'll be a relatively slow week, I still feel guilty about not working very much. I was planning to catch up on some work tomorrow, but it appears I may have to bail out one of the families I babysit for - their nanny was sick today, and may be tomorrow, too. If my remarkable childcare skills are needed, catching up will have to wait until Wednesday - just one more day, yet it seems unforgiveable.

In any case, to prove to you that I haven't forgotten that this is, first and foremost, a writer's blog, here is a preview of upcoming topics:

How to get into writing mode quickly. This is a struggle I face frequently. I often need time to warm up, and I often don't have it. I do have a few lessons learned that might help other writers.

The self-employment tax form. When I posted about what forms you need to file taxes as a freelance writer, I left this one out. I'll explain why - and why you still need it - in this post.

The estimated tax nightmare. I was really worried about calculating and paying my estimated taxes, but I think I've got it figured out now, and it's not so bad. I'll blog on this once I complete my form, hopefully later on in the week.

Upcoming how-to-write book reviews. I looked into a few more books for writers, and a couple are waiting for me at the library. I'll blog on them once I have a chance to look through them.

And, naturally... More updates on my beautiful house! I am deeply in love with my house and my life, so I can't help but share the good news! I'll let you know how the work is coming along, and why I think this house will make me a better writer. :o)

That should be enough to whet your appetite for Swan's Blog!

A whole lotta painting goin' on!

Well, Michael and I painted this weekend. A lot. Out of the four rooms we're painting, we got three of them done! The living room we did on Saturday, before I babysat; that was about four hours of work. The two bedrooms (a.k.a. the bedroom and the office) we did today; with shopping for the paint for the bedroom, it took us about eight hours! I was tired yesterday, while babysitting, but this evening - wow! If I've ever been this bone-tired in my life, I can't recall.

In the evenings this week, we're going to pull up the carpet and fake hardwood to expose the real stuff. We also need to paint two walls in the kitchen still.

As for tonight, I'm going to take it easy, go to bed early, and worry about work in the morning.