So all year long, I throw all the receipts into the back of a file drawer. On New Year’s Day, I empty them all into a shopping bag. Then at some point, later rather than sooner, I start the sorting process. A couple of weeks ago, I had an hour of limbo for some reason, so I did the initial sort, and rubber banded and clipped groups of receipts – plus I recycled lots of things – like deposit receipts, that are all on the bank statements.
Today is the perfect day to finish up. This is a totally rainy Saturday, ending up with wet snow. So I do a little sorting, a little adding up, a little looking for needed info. Then I do a little blogging, a little roasting of carrots and of sweet potatoes, a little feeding of birds – head back to the paper-strewn coffee table and get back to work.
I am very much in favor of taxes. I want to live in a world-class country and a world-class city with well taken care of citizens. Having an over-burdened bridge becoming obsolete is not my idea of a good time. But just across the river, there are folk who think that tolls are awful, unfair, and that someone else should pay for a new bridge. Namely us, on this side of the river.
And I’d actually be willing to pay their share, just to get the new bridge built before the old one starts to fall apart. Living in a wonderful place is worth paying for. So is having educated kids, great places to play, vibrant and joyful folk. It’s all good. And generosity, in the matter of taxes and in the rest of life, always pays us back big time.