*sigh* Looks like we'll be paying big time, tax wise. I have to go back through TaxCut again, to make sure Im not missing something, but right now, we owe over $1000!

We make good money up here, yes, but Im pretty sure I never even changed my withholding amount after Voldemort was born - so we shouldnt owe THAT much. I think.

I think it's the rent issue tripping us up. Our rent is tax deductible because we live in the provided teacher housing and have no other options. I need to check closer and make sure that it is being applied correctly as a deduction.

Brandus has decided that he wants to First Dance at Potlatch this year, which is awesome.

Potlatch and First Dancing is a HUGE thing to get to do - it basically declares you a part of the culture. But, it's alot of work. Id like to First Dance too, but with dance practice being held every night from 7 til 10 or later, I cant. The Dark Lordling has to go to bed! Plus, the women have so much more physical stuff to prepare than the men!

The men have to have fur boots, a kaspaq (traditional shirt), and dance fans.

The women have to have boots, kaspaq, fans, fur headdress, fur belt...

We have a month to get him ready - he's already ordered his boots. I dont know how much they were - he wouldnt tell me. And he's selling one of his game systems to fund the boots, so it doesnt matter to me in the slightest.

So, now we have to put together the gifts. The first night of Potlatch, the First Dancers hand out gifts to as many guests as possible. We were already told we dont need to worry about getting any axes or shovels, which makes things a little easier. But, a lot of the gifts are traditional and we cant exactly just hop on down to Anchorage to go shopping.

Just so you have some idea of the magnitude of this, we're talking about 2 entire villages coming to dance and visit. And we have to get gifts for many of them.

And then, the second night, we have to bring MORE gifts - this time all food!

It's alot to do, and if Brandus wasn't going to be selling off some things to help pay for it, there's no way we could do it. He also has his class making things for gifts - ammo bags and beaded bracelets and things, which I think is really cool.

But, we have to go online tonight and order things. Otherwise, they might not get here in time. And we have to put some of this month's savings/debt payments towards stupid taxes.

So, out of curiosity, I took a look at how much I owed last year on the credit cards vs how much we still owe.

And I got depressed when I saw the numbers.

Last year: We owed 15,000
This year: We owe 10,000

And I thought, that's it? 5000 is all we've managed to pay off? What the heck did we move to Alaska FOR?

But, then I started really thinking about it.

Yeah, 5000 doesnt sound like much, especially with how much money we're currently making - but we had a baby. We moved. We traveled this summer.

AND.

We managed to put almost $3000 in savings for our next moving adventure.

So, while we didnt get out of debt, which I was really hoping for, we did make a dent. And we've got a good emergency fund.

And a baby.

So, hey, not too bad. Not bad at all.