You can feel like you are being taxed to death

They say the only sure things in life are death and taxes.We all know about the money that comes out of our checks and the property taxes we pay twice each year. There are expected to be more that 20 levies on the Nov. 5 ballot. Those are the taxes we have a say on.There are many taxes we don't have a say on and we pay every day without hardly even blinking an eye.And those taxes really can add up.Two editors and three reporters at the Norwalk Reflector saved all of their receipts last week and added up all of the taxes.Here is what I and my wife Jody spent in taxes last week.The biggest numbers came at the gas pump. I filled up our two cars last week for a total of 27 gallons. With the help of Huron County Auditor Roland Tkach who supplied me with all of the numbers, I figure we spent about $15.37 in gas taxes (we pay 56.9 cents per gallon in taxes). The 10.5 cents per gallon added by the state July 1 cost me an additional $2.84.Between Circle K and McDonald's, I bought 11 pops at 7 cents tax on each. That's 77 cents and proof I need to stop drinking so much pop.Other taxes that add up included $2.31 at Walmart, 64 cents at Pat Catan's, $1.40 at Uptown Cafe, 54 cents at IGA, 84 cents at Walmart, 62 cents at Discount Drug Mart, 27 cents at Walmart, $2.44 at Cameo at the Creek, $5.51 at Norb's Northside Service, $2.39 at Once Upon a Child and $1.46 at Rudy's Bar & Grill in Vermilion.It was a quiet week around our house with no big expenses and no major trips to the grocery store. And still we paid $34.56 in taxes.Figure that out over 52 weeks and that's $1,797.22 in taxes.That's money out of our pockets we can kiss good-bye. And it's worse in the bigger cities. Book a hotel room in Columbus and you will pay almost 20 percent in taxes. Vacations, back-to-school clothes and supplies will all add up.The rest of the week we'll see how everybody else in the newsroom did with their spending and what their taxes were. (Matt is married with four children while Cary, Stacey and Zoe all are single).CentersYou might be surprised how many receipts you can collect in a week and how much tax you really pay.