Taxes, Buying a House, & Moving

Why is it so hard to estimate federal and state tax? Heaven forbid the government does anything straightforward! Arizona state tax is straightforward or at least the withholding part makes sense. They withhold a percentage of your federal income tax. Of course, I'm not clear what I'll actually end up paying Arizona for income tax, because I can't find any clear information on it. Shoot, I can't even figure out what the actual withholding amount is because I don't know what my federal taxes will be. All I know is that it's more than I wish it were, but isn't that always the case?

So I'm doing all of this estimating because I want to figure out how badly a mortgage payment is going to hurt. I'm planning on buying a house in Arizona. Yep, I'm joining the land of adulthood and buying a permanent residence. I'm planning on being in Phoenix for awhile. (My definition of "awhile" is over three years, but I suspect it will be more like five.) I've already done some house hunting and have a pretty good idea of what I can afford. I definitely know what I like and surprisingly, I can afford what I like!

So I should fill you in on the move details since everyone is asking these days. On Saturday, July 16th, I am officially moving to Phoenix, Arizona. I'll be living in a furnished apartment for the first month while I look for a house. Sometime in August, I'll come back to Texas for a couple days to supervise the packing of my house and then it will be back to Arizona permanently.

Comments