Well, it looks like all those 'profits' I was talking about belong to the IRS. You know how I was so proud of myself for paying off all the credit cards and lines of credit?
Well, that was profit, even though I didn't 'see' any of it.
Went to see our accountant yesterday, and between us, Linda and I owe a bunch of money. Pretty much wipes out the savings. The taxes are due on October 15th (these are 2008 taxes).
I swore when I started the store that I wouldn't get worked up over taxes. They are what they are. I wouldn't try to avoid them by exaggerated expenses or try to minimize my income. I didn't want to play games. I want my ethical life simple and straight forward. (I've tried the same approach to my blog -- straight-forward and as honest as I can make it.)
A profit is a profit.
It still hurts. I still suspect that small businesses bear a unfair percent of the burden. But I'd rather just take my lumps and move on.
I still have Christmas to try to make a profit. But I really need to slow down my buying of product.
I've got 18 boxes of material coming in this Wednesday -- about 3 times the normal. Most of it is the 'sale' stuff I was buying earlier in the month. I also have a few hundred new books coming in any day now.
I pretty much blew out my budget this month. Spent over twice what I originally intended to spend. Typical 'feel good' peak buying. Usually punctuates the end of a good cycle.
I'd like to say that I knew the month would be good, but when I made the orders I really didn't. As it turned out, about 2/3rds of the overspend was actually covered by the results.
I'll still be carrying debt through the end of the year. But manageable debt. Should have it all cleared away by January 1.
I figure it's better to have three months to try to sell this stuff than one month.
But I need to get back to thinking about just maintaining again.
There is a weird sort of pride in how much I owe in taxes -- because it reflects a couple of businesses that have actually begun to generate some money. Linda is going to try doing a monthly stipend to the IRS, instead of quarterlies. I'm thinking of making a monthly stipend as well, but to my own savings account. We still haven't pulled very far ahead in our earnings -- but our debt is down, and our taxes are caught up, so that's better than most of our career.
Strange how the last two years have been the best two years we've ever had. It seems like our stores reached maturity just as the economy went into the tank. Wonder how we would've done without the downturn.
Well, that was profit, even though I didn't 'see' any of it.
Went to see our accountant yesterday, and between us, Linda and I owe a bunch of money. Pretty much wipes out the savings. The taxes are due on October 15th (these are 2008 taxes).
I swore when I started the store that I wouldn't get worked up over taxes. They are what they are. I wouldn't try to avoid them by exaggerated expenses or try to minimize my income. I didn't want to play games. I want my ethical life simple and straight forward. (I've tried the same approach to my blog -- straight-forward and as honest as I can make it.)
A profit is a profit.
It still hurts. I still suspect that small businesses bear a unfair percent of the burden. But I'd rather just take my lumps and move on.
I still have Christmas to try to make a profit. But I really need to slow down my buying of product.
I've got 18 boxes of material coming in this Wednesday -- about 3 times the normal. Most of it is the 'sale' stuff I was buying earlier in the month. I also have a few hundred new books coming in any day now.
I pretty much blew out my budget this month. Spent over twice what I originally intended to spend. Typical 'feel good' peak buying. Usually punctuates the end of a good cycle.
I'd like to say that I knew the month would be good, but when I made the orders I really didn't. As it turned out, about 2/3rds of the overspend was actually covered by the results.
I'll still be carrying debt through the end of the year. But manageable debt. Should have it all cleared away by January 1.
I figure it's better to have three months to try to sell this stuff than one month.
But I need to get back to thinking about just maintaining again.
There is a weird sort of pride in how much I owe in taxes -- because it reflects a couple of businesses that have actually begun to generate some money. Linda is going to try doing a monthly stipend to the IRS, instead of quarterlies. I'm thinking of making a monthly stipend as well, but to my own savings account. We still haven't pulled very far ahead in our earnings -- but our debt is down, and our taxes are caught up, so that's better than most of our career.
Strange how the last two years have been the best two years we've ever had. It seems like our stores reached maturity just as the economy went into the tank. Wonder how we would've done without the downturn.