Please tell me I'm not the only one who does this- I travel 5 hours to buy my clothes. Well, technically I'm driving to Minnesota to visit friends and family, but I make it a point to stock up on clothing anytime I'm there because there's no sales tax; it's wonderful.

Here, on the other hand, I experience severe anxiety over making any kind of clothing purchase. Just the other day, I went to Target to take advantage of their 7 for $24 pantie sale and for a split moment at the cash register I thought about returning them after the cashier told me what the dollar amount was.  I mean, I need underwear, but I also need to buy gas and pay rent.

Later, I found myself examining the receipt to see if she rang me up wrong or if I grabbed a pair that might not have fallen under the sale; only to realize that the tax was 8.25%. Good lord.

I've been doing that a lot lately, checking my receipts; and often times I'll skip making a purchase because I battle this inner monologue of "do I really need this;" and soon you might be too, because not only is Illinois considering adding tax on Netflix, Spotify and other streaming services, now; according to WREX, the state is thinking of adding sales tax to eight service categories ranging from landscaping to hair removal.

So, the next time you need mulch or want to get your nails done, there's a chance you could be paying upwards of 6.25% in sales tax. Other services you can expect to pay more for include storage space like parking garages and boat docks, car repairs, dry cleaning, pest control, and anything personal care related (even tattoos).

Is there anything Illinois won't tax?

Lawmakers say the additional tax would bring in an estimated $291 million a year.

I'm not a politician so I don't have all the answers, but has anyone ever considered cutting spending? Adding more jobs so people have money to put back into the economy? Cutting pensions? Is there anything else that can be done?

 

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