It's about time.....

Quick Action: If you do your taxes yourself (and I would encourage you to try it), go to CompUSA and get H&R Block's TaxCut Deluxe, TaxCut State, Microsoft Money Deluxe and Microsoft's wireless keyboard/mouse combo for pennies on the dollar.

I started doing my taxes myself about 4 years ago. With the advent of personal tax software, it has become fairly easy for the average Joe (or Dan) to take care of everything and submit them. With a computer and internet connection, I can fill in the blanks and electronically submit my taxes before Groundhog Day (usually also receiving a rebate check by then). Doing my taxes myself also helped me by:

A) teaching me some of the finer points of tax preparation for the next year
B) keeping me more in tune with my financial health
C) allowing my to use this knowledge to better position myself for years to come (maximizing 401k and IRA contributions, utilizing flex spending plans, planning property and stock sales, etc)

The icing on the cake is when I can get the tax software, financial planning
software (MS Money) and cool computer hardware (wireless keyboard/mouse combo) for pennies on the dollar. Today I spent $127 for all of that. It only took me an hour to fill out all of the combined rebate forms and cut the UPCs and box tops (while I sat in front of the TV watching football). Once they hit the mail tomorrow, I will be looking forward to receiving back $110 in rebate checks. That makes all that look for $17 out of my pocket a steal. Yes, I had to do all the paperwork and, yes, I will need to keep track of the rebates (via my cool spreadsheet). But if those parameters are good for you, it is a great deal.

I encourage you to take a stab at it. For $17, even if you don't use the software, you get a decent wireless mouse/keyboard combo.