4 Reasons Moving is More Stressful than Taxes

Tax day is in T-4 days.

Around here that means I'm trying to figure out how I'm going to send two estimated quarterly tax payments with only one check left.

First world problems... I know.

Typically, tax season is exciting for me. I get a rush every time I push the "Next" button in Turbo Tax and get really giddy when it tells me that I've won a brand new car.

Just kidding.

I gave it back after they told me how much the taxes would be.

For real, though. Tax season can make you want to pull your hair out. This year I figured out what it really means to be self-employed. Like that you have to pay income tax in addition to self-employment tax on your income.

That one should've been obvious.

Then again, common sense isn't that common in my life.

Thank God for Turbo Tax.

Tax season is stressful, but I'm pretty sure moving cross-country takes the cake.

(Is Colorado to Texas even considered to be a cross-country move?)

(As far as I can tell, they are completely different planets...so I'm gonna go with yes.)

For argument's sake, I've developed a list of the biggest reasons moving is more stressful than the taxes you may or may not be waiting until the last minute to pay.

Yep - I called you on it.

1. Breaking a lease. My husband seemed to have the idea that this would be the easy part. Don't worry - I totally knew better. I had already planned on giving them my firstborn.

Let me just say that it is not easy. Or cheap.

Not. At. All.

Apparently we decided to move at the time no one (and I mean no one) is looking for an apartment. Snow seems to be quite the deterrent. Who'd a-thought?

We finally just went over and paid them WAY more money than I'd like just to be done with it. Because I'm tired of crying about it. And fighting about it. And checking the website everyday to see if it's still available. And trying to convince everyone I meet into leasing it.

I have to admit, though, that I am a little sad no one wanted to lease it before our time was up.

(Well, unless you count the felons that didn't get approved. Or as the Mr. likes to call them, the convicts.)

I took it personally for awhile. I mean - come on - we are awesome renters! How could you not walk in and want to move in immediately? Princess didn't even pee under the bed this time!

Although Dunkin did throw up on the carpet quite a bit. And broke the blinds. But we replaced those.

I swear, he's like having a child that I can't even claim as a dependent.

We're done with it though and with that comes the end of the apartment stress.

And rent. I really like not paying rent.

2. Packing, packing...and more packing. I love moving. I really do. I love the experience of discovering something new, getting out of the routine, and just seeing where life takes you.

I like new things, but I'd prefer for someone else to get me to the new things.

Like, if we could hire movers to pack and move our stuff, I would be happier than Dunkin looking out the window through the broken blinds.

And that's pretty happy.

The Mr. and I are go-getters. If we make a decision, we figure out how to get it done as quickly as possible. We don't like waiting.

Delayed gratification is so not our thing.

So when we found out on March 14th that if we moved out early (by the 20th) we'd have a better chance of not having to pay as much, we jumped.

Actually, more like dove off of the cliff into the waters of the crazy and insane.

I started packing that day. And the next day. And the next.

We were out by the 17th. Which is crazy, even for us.

Josh had to work, so it was just me, Dunkin and Princess (those two were not any help, in case you were wondering). To top it off, Josh got sick.

I think he packed a total of 3 boxes.

But I'm not bitter. Not at all.

In a matter three days, our belongings were all packed and ready to be moved into the Mr.'s parent's garage. And between moving and cleaning up Dunkin's puke every 5 minutes, I was about to have a nervous breakdown.

Thankfully, Josh came home early that day with Chick-Fil-A.

Chick-Fil-A always makes me happy. It's totally the reason I married him.

3. Being homeless. I've decided that whenever we buy a house, our apartment move out date and house move in date will coincide perfectly. Because I really just can't deal with being homeless for very long.

Not that we're homeless, per say. We just don't have our home with our stuff.

Well, we do have our stuff but since it's out in the garage sealed with tape a nuclear explosion couldn't even break, I'd have to say that's a moot point.

We are so blessed to be able to have somewhere to live while we are in limbo, but it's still hard.

And stressful.

Because I can't go thermo-nuclear with three other people in the house. I mean, we've only been married a year and a half. I don't want to scare anyone away with my crazy just yet.

Josh keeps saying that we'll just be more appreciative of our apartment and our time together when we do finally get to move in.

I keep saying that I was more than appreciative, and he must have been the problem.

God is obviously refining him at my expense.

4. Not being in control. I am a self-admitted control freak. I am fully aware of my tendencies and will totally fess up to them.

Here's the thing about moving - there's not much you have control over. At least, not in our situation.

We planned on moving in September; we're moving in May. We planned on moving out of our apartment, driving the truck down, and moving into our apartment in one cohesive timeframe. Instead, we moved out of our apartment, moved into the Mr.'s parents' house, are driving one car down on the 28th, moving in with my parents for a week, having Josh's parents drive the U-haul, the holy terror (Dunkin) and the last car down, and moving into our new apartment a week later.

So not my plan.

But apparently God had other plans. Ones that involve me having very little control and lots of heavy-duty breakdowns.

It's a gift. What can I say?