After paying a small fortune last year to have my taxes done, I decided to go the TurboTax route and do my own this year.  Yes, it was a little time consuming, but I figured I saved myself severla hundred dollars by plugging numbers into the software myself, rather than paying someone else $250 (or more) per hour to do it for me.  Every year I have to gather up all the W-2s, 1099s and whatever else and take one neat pile to the tax preparer - who no doubt uses software similar to what I did.  

So after a couple of hours and some swearing (but no pencil breaking or calculators thrown across the room) the taxes are finished! And I am quite proud of myself.  As we owe money the forms won't be sent until the last minute, but at least the time consuming part is done.  i was going to say the hard part, but the hard part is writing the check.  

Now I even feel comfortable and competent in this new and foreign world of tax preparation.  So next year I won't be afraid to just dig into and go.  So, sorry Mr. Tax Preparer.  But it's tough enough to pay taxes without paying a hefty fee on top just to be told I owe money.