One of the down sides of the area in which I live is that we get snow in the winter. I'm not a big fan of snow and I'm less of a fan of getting snowed in. On the bright side, getting snowed in also means that I can't spend money, like I was intending to do yesterday. So Mother Nature forced me to have a no spend day.

On a different note, I finished my taxes yesterday (which was what I did instead of shopping). The pages I filled out are a "rough draft" of sorts. I haven't received any W-2s, interest statements, etc., so I filled out the tax forms using estimates and by going through pay stubs and bank statements I've received this year. I also found out that I can't get a credit for contributing to my IRA because I'm a student, which disappointed me.

I filled out the 8815 (Exclusion of Interest From Series EE and I U.S. Savings Bonds), 8917 (Tuition and Fees Deduction), and the 1040. If my estimates are close, I should be getting about $450 back. My dad says I need to change the number of exemptions I have so that less is taken out of my paycheck and therefore the less I receive come tax time.

I need to go into work later this week to change the accounts I have a direct deposit into, so when I'm there I'll change my exemptions from 1 to 2.

The money I receive back will be put into my IRA as I haven't contributed to it in a couple months.