Ivylad shows up at work Friday. The front desk calls to tell me he’s here, and I rush up front, my mind racing…is he all right? The kids? What’s wrong?
Turns out nothing. He just stopped by to say hi, which is somewhat strange since I live about 40 miles from work. Then we get to my cube, and he pulls out this wad of cash.
Our tax refund came in, and instead of writing me a check for my share, he withdrew out my half in cash, after we paid the accountant and set aside a bit for the kids.
So I hide this wad of cash and then Saturday, we waltz into the mall and I pay off my Sears bill! Then I do a couple of jigs, one inside the store after I get my receipt, and one outside the mall, singing “Free at Last! Free at Last!”
I’m sure I looked like a loon, but know what? I don’t care!!!
Getting rid of debt is a wonderful feeling.
I recall the relief when I paid off our Sears bill and cut up the card. They were evil - they kept upping our limit till it was ridiculous! But we beat it into submission, and soon it was gone. And since they take VISA, there’s no reason to have a Sears card.
So, Yay!! Wish I coulda seen your happy dance!
I only use my Sears card to buy socks.
Congrats, ivylass!
(Now you can use that Sears payment money to buy ribs http://stickyfingers.net/ribs.html - they sell whole slabs, not just pulled pork!) 
I paid off Sears with my income tax refund also - there is no better feeling than getting out of debt. When I called to cancel the card, they lady asked why. I told her that I didn’t want to live like that anymore - after a pause she said “You’re doing the right thing”.
I work for Sears and I agree. The credit card is evil. The interest rate is obscenely high, and there aren’t that many benefits. And my bosses get mad at me when I can’t get enough people to sign up for it. How can you push a product that stinks?
My advice? Ditch the Sears card and get Discover.
Damn you Slainte! I was planning to invest that money…but if Sticky Fingers sells ribs…
You are truly the spawn of Satan.
I don’t plan to cancel it, because I might need it if the washer goes kaput. I’ll go to Sears every couple of months and buy towels or something.
Or maybe not.
Yeah, who cares about retiring with dignity when you can have ribs?
Mrsrobgruver and I are in the process of paying off 10K in debt. Its a great feeling… Congrats to you!
Dave Ramsey is your friend. 
Yay for you! I work as a bookkeeper and I collect money from people working to pay off various debts. I get so happy for them when they make their final payment. I can just imagine how they feel!
That is awesome news. I know how relieved I would be if I had my credit cards paid off, I am working on it on it though. Hopefully I will be doing that same dance in about 8 months.
The next step is to reduce your withholding (submit a new W-4 form to your employer) so that your income tax refund is less. Better you should have the money all year than the government.
The refund is high not due to withholding, but from Ivylad’s tax free workers comp.
Prior to his accident, we had nice refunds, but less than $1000. After the accident the refund has been higher, but changing my withholding isn’t going to make much of a difference.
And Rocketeer, just how high did you think my Sears bill was?
“Better you should have the money all year than the government.”
I have about a dozen friends who used to bleet that refrain – until April came, and they discovered they owed THOUSANDS. Thousands, by the way, they didn’t have on hand. So unless you set aside a big chunk of your paycheck to pay that tax bill, don’t even THINK of changing your withholding.
I didn’t say “reduce your withholding to zero”, which would be suicidally stupid; but if your refund is in the thousands, it’d be dumb not to reduce it to hundreds. Granted, it’s tough to predict what your tax bill is going to be if your employment situation is unstable, or if you have an accident (god forbid).
Ivylass, from the sense of relief evident in your original post, I thought it musta been pretty substantial
Just don’t reduce your withholding too much; these days the IRS is Very, Very Suspicious of people who appear to be trying to avoid paying legitimate withholding. If your withholding or tax paid during the year isn’t at least 90% of the tax due, they can sock you with a penalty on top of the tax due.
And if you try to avoid withholding altogether, they will brand you as a Tax Protestor and find more ways to make your life a living hell than there are stars in the universe. You can pay: taxes due, plus interest (from the date the tax was due, not the date they TELL you you owe more tax than you thought you did); penalties; and “additions to tax,” which as far as I can tell are penalties on penalties.
On a brighter note, Harrah’s provided us with a nice chunk of change last week for a zero investment (free slot tournaments), so we’re paying all KINDS of bills. No better feeling in the world!! Good job, ivylass, you celebrate!!
Ah, I think I see what’s going on here. What I advocated, but perhaps failed to express clearly, was to reduce your withholding to equal your expected tax liability, thereby reducing your refund to zero.
Butrscotch is right; if your withholding isn’t at least 90% of your taxes, you get to pay a penalty, so I certainly don’t recommend reducing your withholding to less than 90% of what you think this year’s taxes are going to be.