Well, it is tax time - as I go over the last month and a half's worth of check stubs, I realize that I have been writing 2009 on nearly all of them. Going back to the same time last year, I made the same mistake. Despite this traditional, annual screw-up, what a glorious couple of weeks it has been! It is only February, but 2010 is already a good year. Not that there was anything wrong with 2009, I just wish I could've slowed down a bit to enjoy it. As I look over my receipts, here is how 2009 can be summarized:
January 2009 I was in New York City, celebrating my recent engagement to Ashley. Hmmm, how can I possibly write that trip off as a farm expense?
A year ago at this time was, unsurprisingly, tax season. Additionally, my then fiance and I began to plan a wedding, and put together a budget to buy a house. After all, 4.6 percent locked in for 30 years seemed too good to pass up.
Around March and April I began planning a motorcycle trip to the Atlantic with Stewbert. Also decided that 4.6 percent was way too good to pass up, and began filling out paperwork with Ashley for a home mortgage. Any of you ever do that? It's a lot of work! The rest of 2009 blurred together.
June: Took bike trip with Stewbert. July: Realized that wedding was only a month away - crunch time! Consumed unhealthy portions of energy drink. August: Got hitched, took initial honeymoon. September: Signed mortgage papers, hurray! Officially homeowners! October through December: Harvest season. Whenever I burp, I can still taste a combination of Monster and gas station pizza. My hair is still grayish with corn dust. December: Real honeymoon to Australia. Oh, yeah - this whole time I also managed my dairy farm and took care of my cows, the "Precious Princesses".
And now, in February 2010, here I am. For the first time in a year, I have nothing pressing. I can actually sit down, relax and enjoy the house that Ashley and I bought. As for the farm, well, after all the hard work, preparation, risk and uncertainty associated with starting my own business, I have now reached a point where the farm is fairly self-sufficient. It is now large enough to support my lifestyle, rather than dictate it. This is the American Dream. This is how free enterprise is supposed to work, and when it does, it is a wonderful thing. But, there are two sides to the story.
Let's explore the two sides of the coin, shall we? Here is the utopian side of home ownership: Most evenings my wife gets home from work before me. Maybe we will make dinner together; maybe she's already put something together. The house has that warm, inviting and cozy feeling that all lived-in homes do. Some nights, while I am changing out of my work clothes, I can hear Ashley practicing her piano. Music is such a beautiful thing to have in one's life. As I climb the stairs into the main floor, her two housecats sense my presence, and appropriately run and hide. This, all of this working in conjunction, is heaven. For the first time in my life, I have a place that is truly "home". There is nowhere else on earth that I would rather be, in the evening after work.
Flip the coin, here is the more satirical side of home ownership: Remember my above timeline for 2009? Specifically, this is what it took to purchase the house. In February we put together a budget. In April we started the paperwork process. In May came all necessary inspections, from water, septic, and electric - the real estate version of "bend over and cough". Next, the property was surveyed. Questions arose from the mundane to the outright perplexing: "Is the east property line going to INCLUDE the creek, or is the creek going to BE the property line?"
My favorite -"Turns out this property sits on two separate parcels of land, which means the two must either be split or joined together for tax assessing reasons, which parcel would you like to annul into the other?" Jeez - it's 10 acres, not like I'm buying an ocean!
This brings us up to July, which happened to coincide with wedding planning (well, it's not like we had anything else going on). In August we received word: "Your home loan has been approved, but is awaiting funding." Meaning, the powers at be decided to give us the moolah, but are waiting for it to physically arrive into the account. I casually inquired as to how long this could take, and was politely informed, "Anywhere from two weeks to three years." Time for a cold shower.
September rolled around, and hurray! Ashley and I signed papers, officially transferring ownership of the house and 10 acres from seller to buyer. As the term "homeowner" gradually sunk in, we received a bill in December for our property taxes, due Jan. 31, 2010.
Wait for it - here is the punch line: On Feb. 1, 2010, we made our first mortgage payment. This means, that Ashley and I actually paid property taxes on our parcel of land, BEFORE the first mortgage payment was due.
So, in summary: The American Dream includes home ownership and free-market business enterprise.
The American reality is paying taxes on it.
January 2009 I was in New York City, celebrating my recent engagement to Ashley. Hmmm, how can I possibly write that trip off as a farm expense?
A year ago at this time was, unsurprisingly, tax season. Additionally, my then fiance and I began to plan a wedding, and put together a budget to buy a house. After all, 4.6 percent locked in for 30 years seemed too good to pass up.
Around March and April I began planning a motorcycle trip to the Atlantic with Stewbert. Also decided that 4.6 percent was way too good to pass up, and began filling out paperwork with Ashley for a home mortgage. Any of you ever do that? It's a lot of work! The rest of 2009 blurred together.
June: Took bike trip with Stewbert. July: Realized that wedding was only a month away - crunch time! Consumed unhealthy portions of energy drink. August: Got hitched, took initial honeymoon. September: Signed mortgage papers, hurray! Officially homeowners! October through December: Harvest season. Whenever I burp, I can still taste a combination of Monster and gas station pizza. My hair is still grayish with corn dust. December: Real honeymoon to Australia. Oh, yeah - this whole time I also managed my dairy farm and took care of my cows, the "Precious Princesses".
And now, in February 2010, here I am. For the first time in a year, I have nothing pressing. I can actually sit down, relax and enjoy the house that Ashley and I bought. As for the farm, well, after all the hard work, preparation, risk and uncertainty associated with starting my own business, I have now reached a point where the farm is fairly self-sufficient. It is now large enough to support my lifestyle, rather than dictate it. This is the American Dream. This is how free enterprise is supposed to work, and when it does, it is a wonderful thing. But, there are two sides to the story.
Let's explore the two sides of the coin, shall we? Here is the utopian side of home ownership: Most evenings my wife gets home from work before me. Maybe we will make dinner together; maybe she's already put something together. The house has that warm, inviting and cozy feeling that all lived-in homes do. Some nights, while I am changing out of my work clothes, I can hear Ashley practicing her piano. Music is such a beautiful thing to have in one's life. As I climb the stairs into the main floor, her two housecats sense my presence, and appropriately run and hide. This, all of this working in conjunction, is heaven. For the first time in my life, I have a place that is truly "home". There is nowhere else on earth that I would rather be, in the evening after work.
Flip the coin, here is the more satirical side of home ownership: Remember my above timeline for 2009? Specifically, this is what it took to purchase the house. In February we put together a budget. In April we started the paperwork process. In May came all necessary inspections, from water, septic, and electric - the real estate version of "bend over and cough". Next, the property was surveyed. Questions arose from the mundane to the outright perplexing: "Is the east property line going to INCLUDE the creek, or is the creek going to BE the property line?"
My favorite -"Turns out this property sits on two separate parcels of land, which means the two must either be split or joined together for tax assessing reasons, which parcel would you like to annul into the other?" Jeez - it's 10 acres, not like I'm buying an ocean!
This brings us up to July, which happened to coincide with wedding planning (well, it's not like we had anything else going on). In August we received word: "Your home loan has been approved, but is awaiting funding." Meaning, the powers at be decided to give us the moolah, but are waiting for it to physically arrive into the account. I casually inquired as to how long this could take, and was politely informed, "Anywhere from two weeks to three years." Time for a cold shower.
September rolled around, and hurray! Ashley and I signed papers, officially transferring ownership of the house and 10 acres from seller to buyer. As the term "homeowner" gradually sunk in, we received a bill in December for our property taxes, due Jan. 31, 2010.
Wait for it - here is the punch line: On Feb. 1, 2010, we made our first mortgage payment. This means, that Ashley and I actually paid property taxes on our parcel of land, BEFORE the first mortgage payment was due.
So, in summary: The American Dream includes home ownership and free-market business enterprise.
The American reality is paying taxes on it.
