Where your Tax Dollars Go . . .

Where do your tax dollars go, you wonder?  More specifically, where do your tax dollars go in the Miser Mom Household?

Last year, when we officially adopted J-son, our social workers told us we'd get a tax credit for the adoption.  Honestly, we didn't believe them.  We'd heard the same thing before, a decade ago, when we adopted N-son.  It turns out that back then, our combined income was so high that adoption credits didn't apply.  Even though we didn't get any of that promised refund on our taxes, it was sort of nice to be considered too rich to enter that particular carnival ride.

Our big new deduction son.

So when we filled out our tax forms this past February, it was with some considerable surprise that we found out that J-son is considered "special needs" and that the IRS did indeed therefore want to share YOUR hard earned money with US, to the tune of $13,500.  Quite a tidy little refund, all the more so because we didn't really expect it.  (Technically, it's a tax credit, not a tax deduction or refund.  Either way, it's money in our figurative pocket).

So first of all, thank you for paying your taxes; I'm not sure you knew that some portion of your withholdings would be coming our way.  And second of all, I figure you deserve some accounting of where your money will be going.

First of all, we're putting our money where our mouth is (in a figurative sense).  I've been collecting my charity envelopes all year.  We do give regularly to a few places (our church, World Vision, United Way), but once a year I like to make contributions to other places.  On the list this year:  our public radio station, some environmental groups, several human rights groups, our library, local food bank and  economically based charities, a few schools.  All in all, we'll spend about $2000 on non-profits.

A Herbst appliance.
It doesn't look as scary as this
when it's inside a real mouth.

Second of all, we're putting our money where our mouths are, literally.  J-son -- handsome though he may be -- is getting braces.  Perhaps you can see from his smile above why he'd need them.  N-son won't be left out of the fun; he is going to have a bionic-man-esque contraption called a "Herbst appliance" to straighten out his jaw.  Because we can pay up-front (did I say thank you to the American tax payer?), we're getting a 6% discount from the orthodontist.  We also have some help from dental insurance.   We're figuring our household contribution will be about $8000.

My guy and the boy we hope will become X-son.

The rest of the money?  That will get plowed into what we hope is our fourth-and-final adoption, God willing.  That's the child from Haiti we met back in December.  I'm estimating that our total adoption costs for X-son will run more than $15,000.  We've had some (and by "some", I mean "lots") of help from our church and from friends.  And now, thanks to Uncle Sam and the IRS, we've had some help from you, . . . whether you wanted to help us or not.

So, thank you.