Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Almost done with the taxes

In my 17 years of filing taxes (17 years?!?!?! I'm Fing OLD!), I have never waited this long to file. Never. The reason? Mostly dealing with deductions associated with traveling for a living.

Getting back just enough to buy an IPad. Kelli said that it's fine to use it for an IPad which shocked me. Of course now I don't want one as much. Eh. My other idea is establishing a fund for the baby (First time I used that term in referring to what is growing in Kelli's uterus was last night....my sister in law Jessi noticed).

We have an ING account for "house stuff". We each put $20 a month into it. Not a lot, but there's a little more than $600 in there now. The money is too be used for house repairs and such. The baby account would be along the same ideas. Whenever the baby needs a new fence or duct work...yeah.

The new Macbook Pro's are out. Sexy and fast. Not buying one now. Maybe in August when we go to Oregon. Tax free + my employee discount is major savings!



Every  new Toyota....EVERY  NEW TOYOTA, that's sold in Texas comes from Gulf States Toyota. No matter which dealer, it's one distributor....Gulf States Toyota.

Gulf States Toyota is evil for the most part. They are notorious for slapping on dealer add-on's to nearly every car they bring in to Texas. All the Prius models I looked at had one of the following "Owner Rewards Packages"

The $600 "package" includes:

Rear Bumper Protector

Floor Mats

Trunk Mat

Wheel Locks

Premium Carpet Mat Set (Another one?!?!?!?)

Door Sill Enhancements

The $1800 "package" includes the above plus:

Leather seats

Now all that crap in the $600 package can be purchased separately online for under $240. Gulf States window stickers are very tricky. They make their own and at first glance it looks like all the "Owners Reward Package" stuff is from Toyota....not Gulf States. Ugh.

So how do I get around this? Don't buy from Gulf States Toyota. In order to not buy from them I have to travel outside of the states they control: Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma and Texas.

It's not uncommon to fly to a different state and buy a car. Some dealers specialize in it. Seeing as we get cheap tickets....it's doable. The Bridges are looking for a new car right now. They could do the same thing!

Where did this rant come from? Well I was browsing cars yesterday and stopped by Toyota.com. I found out the Prius model IV has everything I want. Leather seats, bluetooth, nice stereo, all the safety features for just $26K. However all the cars around are loaded up with Gulf States Crap.

Kelli and I talked a bit about our vehicle needs. We don't need anything big. Very doubtful we will be driving anywhere further than Wylie. The Mazda5 that I have now is a bit of overkill. Gets good gas mileage though....and can make Ikea runs. The Bridges keep bad talking my FJ Cruiser desire....damn people with kids speaking the truth. Bleh! Keep the Mazda5, Prius, GMC Terrain (4 cylinder) or maybe a 4-Cylinder Toyota Highlander.

2 comments:

  1. I approved the Ipad purchase WITH CONDITIONS! You seem to have forgotten those conditions. I distinctly remember saying certain large items in our house must be sold or otherwise gotten rid of before mom visits next month in order for you to get that Ipad. I even have the text to prove it. :)

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  2. Fine I will get rid of "certain large items". Wouldn't call your dogs large though. Whateva....headed to the Wal-Mart parking lot with a sign..."Free Dogs...1 is even a Champion!"

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