Depends on the strings.

Good point! I was assuming that all the income was from the husband's job, but you are right! If the assets are held jointly, then the income is held jointly. I don't know about community property states since I don't live in one. I agree with whoever said above to figure it both ways.

Then filing separately will not change anything. You only get child tax credit if you have an income - if you have no income, then you get no credits.

Maybe they were flat broke and needed the prizes?:D

Do you mean as married filing separetly? Have you tried redoing your taxes in another format? Are you self-employed or did your income jump dramatically this year? Sell stocks, cash out retirement, etc.?

I do understand. My dh and I have this ongoing conversation about a coat. He wants me to buy myself a coat that runs about $150. He has bought himself 2 of this particular kind in the last few years. He says I should do the same. However, he doesn't get that his coats came directly out of our food money, KWIM? He's gotten somewhat better, but even recently he spent $600 on fancy exhaust for his truck and then was surprised when the phone got cut off.:rolleyes:

As I just said, make sure your family dynamic works this way - mine doesn't. Mine was NEVER willing to get a second job for any reason, and he wasn't willing to give up anything for his family. This almost ruined our family. I was willing to do whatever necessary to support him, but he wasn't willing to return the consideration. That's why I work 50 hours, shoulder the burden of the family care, AND homeschool - because he won't.

Before you do something like this, make sure your dh *is* willing to "take up the slack" in your income. Make sure that he *won't* simply let the bills go unpaid. My dh won't take on *any* burden by himself and rarely does he help carry mine. Yeah, he'll pitch in and help some, but never will he take on the responsibility of something. I tried someone's advice to "let him provide" and quit working when I had the same problem (more work than time.) We ended up with my dh furious that his satellite got cut off and me scrambling to keep the lights on and get food for my dc. Yes, my dh works in our business as well, but he does only that which he wants to do and leaves the rest to me.

OK, I will bow out here. This (to me) seems dangerously close to violating the "no politics" rule. I am sure there are plenty of people who disagree with your characterization.

It is true that his dad is Muslim and also that Barack attended a Muslim school when he was younger. Currently, the church he attends (UCC) in Chicago has links to Louis Farrakhan (Nation of Islam leader). I think the importance of his name is how he is perceived by foreign Islamic heads of state. Some may look at him as an infidel since he was born to a muslim father but then at some point rejected islam and "embraced" christianity. Will that be more trouble for our country? :confused: Here - link to their website: http://www.tucc.org/about.htm As for the rest - for those for whom it will be a problem - they would have as much of a problem with a woman, or a Baptist, or anyone else for that matter. The "connection" with Louis Farrakhan is shaky - a magazine launched by the pastor of his church gave him an award, presumably for his work in rehabilitating criminals.

I've read all the responses. I am you. You are me. Something like that anyway! I get up at 5am. We leave at 6:15-6:30. During that time, I get 5 dc up, dressed, and ready to go out the door. 5 children that are 9 and under - thankfully my 14yo can get himself up! We drop the 1 yo and 3yo at daycare - they started this week at a rate of $1454 per month. Money I don't have to spare, but I didn't know what else to do. We couldn't find a reliable nanny. Then we continue on to get to work by 7:15 with our 5yo, 6yo, and 9yo. The 14yo goes to school - sometimes I have to drop dh off at work and drive him to school 15 miles away. Then I try to homeschool and work for the next 10+ hours. It's hard - someone always wants SOMETHING (whether it is a child, my dh, or customers.) If we are busy it seems that the dc run out back unsupervised more than anything. We then do everything in reverse. After coming home at 6pm, cooking dinner, trying to clean and do laundry for 8 people, etc., I usually fall into bed at 9:30. My dc have no lessons, no outside life. I have them enrolled for school next year. BUT - would it be any better? I don't know. I want so much for them, but our business requires both of us. When I didn't work, the only difference was that we didn't leave the house, but there were no lessons, no doctors visits, nothing. Dh doesn't want them to go to school, but I told him that if he doesn't want them too, then HE has to help me figure out how to make this better. I am SOOOO thankful for our business - we're still broke, but at least there is a light at the end of the tunnel. I don't have any advice - just empathy. I get what you are saying - you want everything, but you don't feel like you can (and you don't know what to give up.)

Same here (for past years) - we get $0 taken out and get roughly $4K back each year. LArge family + low income = Large Refund (of money we never paid in.)

You can rent chairs and tables from a party rental place pretty inexpensively (at least more inexpensive than a restaurant!) Move all the furniture against the walls and set up the tables in the middle.

My grandmother died of breast cancer in her 30s. I have never had a mammogram becuase I am only 32 (according to the doctor it wouldn't do me any good) and I have been nursing or pregnant for the past 10 years.

Schools today have so much more to worry about than education. They are expected to make sure the children have good nutrition, get "character" education, and screen for all basic health needs. Schools in some places have health clinics for birth control and STDs. Other schools have daycares for teen parents. Still others are dealing with the ills of poverty, drug use (by the children and the families), and child abuse and neglect. My oldest ds goes to a public charter school. It is a school of choice, which means they have to accept whoever applies. However, they don't have to keep the troublemakers! They don't deal with this stuff because it isn't their job. The school does fairly well at education, especially compared to the local regular public schools, mostly because their only function is to *educate* these children!

They are not going to a local school, but rather a charter school that functions like a private school. The school follows the Core Knowledge Sequence - I have the "What Your ___________ Grader Needs to Know" books, so I can use those to help. I have to get my 4th grader writing, my first grader is behind in reading and math, and it seems so overwhelming to figure out what to do next. I just need to determine what areas are most important, and go from there.

When I lost a SOTW CD, they sent me a new one free of charge when I called Open Texture. I would not copy someone else's.

It's different - it's the same item. If you were buying the CDs used, then the comparison would be the same. In this case, copying means that an *extra* copy exists that they never get paid for - if someone copies for themselves then sells the originals, that is still unethical.

I would be more worried about the ones you *don't* know about. Our dc are much more likely to be s*xually assaulted/molested by someone you know and trust.

Do you know how much those things cost? It would take a long time to pay for itself....

So, food costs have actually gone down relatively speaking?

They are enrolled in a very good school for the fall, but our goal is to figure out another option. BUT, just in case, they have to be ready to go. And they aren't. Well, my 5yo will be ready for K, but my 1st grader is struggling and I worry that my 4th grader may be a lost cause! I am using BJU DVDs for my 1st grader and ACE PACES for my 4th grader. I realize ACE PACES wouldn't be considered rigorous, but I do think they will get him where he needs to be. I am also adding in Writing Strands 3 and some other stuff to work on. My 4th grader's hadwriting is also really bad - what can I do to help him? I need help - the thought of them going to school is overwhelming!

Are there sidewalks? Elementary kids are not allowed to walk here, but there are no sidewalks and most of the roads are 55 mph zones on either side of the school zones.

I think it is more based on our expectations as a society to have cheap food. Colleen's family makes a good living, works long hours, etc. and is able to sell their product at a premium price because people are willing to pay it. When you get to the other side, though, people lament how much regular milk costs (including me.) Why shouldn't we pay more in order to allow conventional dairy farmers the same income potential? In the 1960s, people spent approximately 30% of their income on food. Now, most families spend roughly 11%. We lament the cost of food, yet we benefit from having an additional 19% of our income that has become disposable! Price is the intersection between supply and demand - it has little to do with cost of production.

Won't this affect inflation then?