It’s an April ritual. I’m talking, of course, about the habit of honing our procrastination skills.
Yes, I know, Christmas Eve gets all the press as being the procrastination pinnacle. At least, supposedly, for men, who have, apparently, honed those skills to a fine art.
But where do they get their practice? Where do they do all that “spring training” to get into shape for later in the season?
It’s only a hunch, but I think those skills become finely tuned in April, aka tax season.
Few are they who can’t wait for the end of February, so they can get to their taxes. Many are they, I’m sure, who scramble in the second half of April to pull together all the little documents they got at the end of February–and hope they haven’t lost any.
Documents collected, it’s time to re-introduce yourself to the tax form, to reorient yourself to all the nuances of last year’s form that you put away—somewhere! And learn this year’s new tweaks.
Whoops! Can’t find this year’s form. Where did I put it?
Off to the Post Office for a new form, only to discover they’re now out of stock. Should’ve come sooner.
All this comes, of course, just at the start of the Stanley Cup playoffs. And that first round is always the most exciting.
How does one mesh the mental acuity and concentration required to do one’s taxes with the distraction of the hockey game in the background? Or maybe the foreground?
Oh heck, you decide, I’ll just take it over to the accountant, or maybe the guy in the mall kiosk.
But, by now they’re solidly booked until the end of April.
And so it goes . . .
Why didn’t I get at this sooner? My team wasn’t in the playoffs, anyway!
“Blessed are those who love to do taxes!”
In business, the saying goes, “Do what you do best; write a cheque for the rest.”
Sometimes, I think that applies to personal life, too. I decided some years ago just to let an accountant do it, in the hope that he’d find enough deductions I didn’t know about, to offset his bill–and take the load off my mind.
Yes, I still have a deadline: “No tax returns will be accepted after _____!” But, I only have to do half the work—assemble the documents—and that deadline is well before the tax return deadline, when my mind still harbours a vague recollection of having received those documents.
OK, I don’t hone my procrastination skills as well.
But, I can enjoy the Stanley Cup playoffs so much more.
(Go Oilers, Go!)
Rent 2 Own tip
The housing market continues to be strong! Last year we thought it had gone crazy, as prices were being bid up.
But statistics for the month of March, for Abbotsford, show the following comparison to March, 2016 for the “benchmark price” of the following types of properties:
- Detached homes: Last March: $551,800; This March: $687,700. Up 24.6%
- Townhomes: Last March: $240,300; This March: $297,300. Up 23.7%
- Condos: Last March: $164,000; This March: $226,700. Up 38.2%
A benchmark price refers to a “typical” property (however that is defined.)
While prices vary from one municipality to another, the trend is the same across the Fraser Valley.
Together with the revision in mortgage policies announced by the Federal Liberals last October, it is increasingly difficult to get into home ownership. Many are finding they have to lower their expectations from detached homes to strata properties.
Rent 2 Own works for strata properties as well as detached homes.
– Nadia Comaneci
