Almost every year since the early 1990s, I have been determined to do my own taxes. Certainly if you can go to Costco and buy a copy of TurboTax, doing taxes yourself just can’t be that hard, right? But every year, come mid – April , I curse myself for wanting to save a couple of hundred dollars and trying to figure it out by myself.

This year, I had the distinct disadvantage of adding my mother in law to the mix. Fortunately, she didn’t sell her house this year, so her taxes were fairly simple. My job is in Massachusetts, and we live in Connecticut. So that’s Federal plus two states, only one state is free with the “premium edition” of the software. The second state costs around $45. So now we’re over $100 if my time was free. Adding the Georgia taxes as well this year makes it almost $150. Not a good deal at all.

Next time, we’re going to the right professional and having it done right and for not that much more money.