Tuesday, March 25, 2008

How many miles have you gone?

I finished my taxes yesterday. I persist in doing them myself because- my dad helps me, they aren't that complicated, and I am a little bit of a control freak. Plus Turbo Tax makes it easy. Anyway, this past year I actually had enough medical expenses to be able to deduct them (well plus the fact that I was on disability for most of the year). Anyway, I dutifully read all of the supporting info on what could and could not be deducted including the per diem rate if you have to stay out of town for medical care. I followed all of the rules ( I hope). Then I got to the part that says you can deduct miles driven for medical care- huh. I thought about it for awhile, I plugged my address and the address of UCLA where I had my radiation and realized that it is 30 miles round trip and I went there every day for 5 weeks plus multiple other appointment. So, I grabbed my trusty calculator and figured that i had driven 2000 miles to go to and from UCLA a few million times. By then I was on a role. I went through my insurance log to figure out how many PT apts I had and how many times I went to USC and how many had my parents house as a starting point and I added all of that up. BTW- I had 60 physical therapy apt in 2007- yes 60. Plus many other apts. Total miles driven in pursuit of my own healthcare- >3000 miles. I was shocked. Who knew I had driven that much. Crazy. Thanks to the IRS for that revelation and for only letting you deduct 20c a mile which would barely pay for the gas at almost $4 a gallon.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey, as some guy who insisted on a receipt for his $5 cash purchase of uniform patches at the conference I was running Monday pointed out, every dollar counts!

I love that you have that dorky love of odd math calcualations/problem solving/control freakness too to make me feel more normal!

Love ya,
Suz

Dr. Lisa said...

Suz, Anytime that you need support from your dorky friend, let me know

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...

Hi Lisa, All of our older set are still following your blog. everyone is thrilled with your amazing progress, especially the skiing trip. Keep up the good work! Love, Mom