Random 5 for February 16, 2025 – Presidents’ Day, taxes, weather, coupons, classmates

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It’s a holiday weekend here – We are celebrating the presidents. Not the current one but the dead ones. We celebrate with sales, dining out and snowstorms. It’s not my favorite holiday. I like the ones we celebrate with grilled foods, margaritas and shorts.

Did you hear the angels sing? – I did my taxes yesterday. I usually take a few weeks to moan and wallow in self-pity. I did that for two days but woke up Saturday morning with vigor to attack them. I use Turbo Tax (TT). Every year the program is different, so I must learn new ways to navigate and find things. The search feature is AI driven and not great. It was easier to Google a question than to ask the software which always gave me answers to OTHER questions I didn’t ask. TT estimated it would take just under two hours. I laughed. It always takes me longer because I agonize over stuff. That’s part of the process. This year was simpler, and I finished before the time frame. A huge burden is off my shoulders. This is the earliest I’ve ever gotten them done. Go on Gabriel, toot that trumpet!

Snowy February – That rascal Punxsutawney Phil was correct in his weather predictions this year. If he keeps this up, he will end up in my crock pot! We are in a string of weather patterns that include snow, sleet and freezing rain. Mid-week we will have a “measurable” snowstorm. That is the new term to describe anything from one inch to lots of snow.

Something good happened! – I had a $5 off coupon for shoes at a local store. I bought a new pair of sneakers. They were pretty but a brand I’ve never worn before. I tried them on in the store and they seemed ok (you can never tell how comfortable a shoe will be in the 2 minutes you wear them inside a store). I put them on a few times at home but always ended up taking them off. The fit was off. After a month of not wearing them, I finally took them back. I would lose the coupon value but that’s better than having unworn shoes in my closet. The cashier asked if I was going to shop. I told her I’d have a look around (not expecting to buy anything). She gave me a 15% off coupon for the day. I found a pair in my favorite brand. I ended up with more savings with the new shoes than with my $5 off coupon. Score!

Another one lost – A classmate of mine died this past week. We weren’t close but she was one of the first kids to include me when I started high school. I was invited to her birthday party. Our friendship never clicked after that, but she was a nice person. Dropping like flies.

So how was your week.  

 

49 thoughts on “Random 5 for February 16, 2025 – Presidents’ Day, taxes, weather, coupons, classmates”

  3. Nice shoe score! I’m sick of the weather. I worry every time one of my son’s has to drive in it. One son has an hour drive at midnight every weeknight and the roads aren’t always the best late at night. Ugh.

    Liked by 1 person

  5. Glad you got a pair of comfy shoes and got to save some $. 🙂 Kuddos to you for already having your taxes done. I need to start pestering my hubby and my mom. My mom will get an extension, as always though.

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  6. Fortunately, my husband is responsible for our taxes (at least getting everything together for our tax guy). He used to do everything on TurboTax but now we’d rather just write a check and have it done. Good for you for soldiering on.

    I’m sorry about your friend. There are too many failing these days…

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  7. Hi, Kate – I think our snow is almost all gone now…as we head into rainy season. But Richard and I will be spending holidays were it is still cold and snowy. What were we thinking.
    I’m sorry about the passing of your classmate. That is always tough.

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  9. Congratulations on your taxes!!! I’m still in the putting-them-off phase.

    And congrats on the better coupon and the better shoes. That’s quite a coup. Yesterday my sister and I used a coupon I received over Christmas for $20 off on some delicious lunches.

    I’m sorry about your classmate. But I do love the bear with insomnia.

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    • I usually drag ou the putting-them-off stage. That’s why I’m so happy! I also didn’t hit one of those glitches where it asks me a question I don’t have an answer for.

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  10. Good job getting the taxes done early! I think that our weather prognosticator, Woody the Woodchuck, let all her kudos go to her head … she has been wrong, wrong, wrong! We had two big snowstorms this week, it’s snowing now and we’re in the Deep Freeze tomorrow. I’m really done with Winter and these are the types of Winters we always had … we got soft after the last two mild Winters. Bring them back I say! I’ve done that with shoes and I think I mentioned before that I’ve bought Minnetonka mooseskin moccasins for years as they were comfy. They last a long time and I wear them in the house as slippers. I ordered some from Amazon as my mom and pop shoe store went out of business. Dumb me, didn’t try them on. I didn’t need them right then, just wanted them ready when mine were got worn down on the heel. I never read the reviews as they were a tried-and-true brand. Nope. When I finally went to wear them six months, maybe a year later, they were tight. I went on reviews and everyone said the same thing. Sigh.

    Liked by 1 person

    • You have to be careful with sizing these days. I did the same thing with a pair of winter pants from a tried and true company I’ve bought from for years. Turns out the waist was 2 inches smaller for the same size. Not comfy at all.

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  11. Bravo for getting your taxes done early. It IS always a good day to be done with them. Every since the so-called simplification of the tax code a few years ago, my refund is the smallest ever. And the so-called tax breaks expire for the 2025 tax season. Oh joy…it should be interesting to see how Congress manages to muck it up for the common people. Sorry about your classmate. It’s always a reminder of our aging when folks our age pass ahead of us.

    Way to score on the shoe coupon. I never have understood how shoes feel fine walking around the store but hurt like heck once you get them home.

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    • Taxes need to be simpler although under 2 hours is good for me. When you do something once a year, I have to refresh myself. TT changes their website every year so there is that too. Had a hard time finding my summary page. I had to do some manipulations to get to where it was in the menu. Argh!

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  14. Congratulations on getting your taxes done so early, Kate! Glad to read that you are not celebrating your current President! I hope this one never gets celebrated- whoever he is – I get confused…is he the outright Nazi one who makes ugly trucks or the funny-coloured one who grabs women by their genitals? Confused Canadian here😉.

    Deb

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  15. As far as Presidents go, give me a dead one over the current one any day, Personally I think George Washington would have loved to be remembered by a white sale.

    My taxes too are done ready to be dropped off. Nice you got new sneaks, and I’m sorry you lost another friend, past or otherwise.

    Liked by 1 person

    • I get most of my shoes there. I recommend them to people all the time. They are very customer oriented. My biggest issue is that they have cut back on the number of styles in my favorite brand and I told the salesperson that too.

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  17. I did Turbo Tax too. It works pretty well. I had one bump in the road but was able to finally go back to fix it. We filed and had the direct deposit in five days. Sorry about the loss of your school friend, and, yes, they are dropping like flies all around. I chuckled at your shopping experience, but you definitely scored in the end.

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    • There are a couple things about TT that I didn’t like this year. They always had a front summary page that I found very useful. I couldn’t find it. I have to try again. That shopping experience was unusual. Typically this store will give you the $5 credit IF you buy another pair at the same time. This coupon had expired at the end of January and I had already gone through all their sneakers so I wasn’t expecting anything. Some of my sneakers (I wear them every day) are looking past their prime so having a nice looking pair is great especially at a discount. I got a discount on TT too but it still was $$.

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  18. I’d celebrate a current dead president. Though the current line of succession wouldn’t be much better. We at least finally got some solid rain and it’s now gorgeous here, with the ash out of the sky and my daffodils blooming. I have to get out and weed today. Boo.

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  19. Poor Phil would be smart to just stay underground; the crockpot can’t be too appealing to him!! Glad you got your taxes done. My accountant did all of ours (easier with the self employment and prepayment of next years taxes and such) but there’s one investment report that doesn’t come until the end of February each year. Don’t know why they get an extra month on that. The accountant doesn’t like it either! But so far it looks like some small refunds in all categories, which will reduce my April pre-payments. It was nice having a pretty day on Friday but we’re back to the gray and slush and cold coming up. I’m ready for some nicer weather.

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    • Taxes get not a fun job. I have a mental block about them but our filing is not so complicated that I need to have someone else do it. I just don’t like to spend time on it. We have small refunds too which is better than paying in.

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    • I didn’t do that actual filing. I like to set the finished product aside and review on another day to be sure I didn’t forget anything. Maybe today but that’s a much easier job.

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  21. You’re SO right about how predicted snow is described. They ought to just say “snow is coming” and leave it at that. We will have snow Wed/Thursday but right now we’re having enough rain to make me want to call Noah to see if he got a discount on his boat-building kit and WHERE. Thankfully we’re on a hill. Good deal on the shoes!!

    Hugs, Pam

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