Ah, my favorite time of year. Tax-refund time. Squee!!
I realize that there are lots of people that don’t get nearly the break that us poor, single parents do, and there’s some resentment there. You people start a pit thread about it. This is my Happy Free Money Thread!!
What I usually do and will most likely do this year is:
Buy one splurge item. Last year it was a nice TV (but not too nice) and this year it’s a new stereo. I have a crappy little $30 stereo as my “system” and I’m really looking forward to a little audial delight.
Next will be work clothes and clothes for my boys. My scrubs are wearing really thin.
Then, $500 worth of groceries. I had an unexpected financial crisis in November, so I’ve been more poor than usual for the past two and a half months. I may even begin to horde food after this.
Pay some bills.
Save the rest. Use it throughout the year for emergencies. I usually make it to at least July with it.
If I get a refund, and I have high hopes as this is the year we get to claim Enron losses, I’ll just add it back into the portfolio pile. What’s that they say about repeating the same action in hopes of a different result?
I’m in your boat, trublmakr and what a lovely time for a sail!
Usually it’s spent on one large thing and a few small frivolous just cuz things. Past years include a TV, a couch, down-payment on my first new vehicle, nothing real exotic like a lost Vegas weekend but stuff that sure is nice to have.
This year I ummm, sorta got excited about the 0% interest idea last year, so I’ll be paying off my impulse furniture buy from last summer. :o
Having never had a refund, I can only imagine what coolness I could accomplish. Pay off bills would be right up on that list, like the student loan that will never die… Maybe a few fun items like a CD or a Sweater.
It depends on how much I get - I never get a huge amount (one year I got something like $40 back. This year, with the job change and move, it’s more than that, but not thousands of dollars or anything).
I’m debating what to do with it when it comes in. I could completely pay off one credit card…or I could buy a sofa. I’ve been sofa-less since the move in early September, and it’s looking mighty tempting. The credit card balance isn’t that high, and I’m on schedule to have it paid off by May even if I don’t use the refund for it…can you tell that I’m leaning towards the sofa idea?
You know, a tax refund isn’t like some sort of manna from heaven.
It’s not free money. It’s money that was already yours but you overpaid to the IRS and thus missed out on the interest you could have earned.
I think people are idiots when they get a check in the mail and say, “Gee hon, look at this!!! A check for $634.12!! Let’s buy me one of them there new table saws!!”
Morons. That money belongs in the bank. The same place you (hopefully) would have put it if you had gotten it in your paycheck.
IT IS NOT A SWEEPSTAKES PRIZE!
PS–Don’t forget that we here in the USA are all woefully undertaxed anyway. Countries with more realistic tax rates can afford to adequately educate their youth and humanely care for the sick and aged.
I’m pretty much the same and do that with any money I get over a hundred dollars. My dad sent me a check for $200 for Christmas to buy whatever I wanted and it’s been in the bank ever since.
I made so little money last year that I actually qualified for the EIC…and I don’t have any kids. I’m receiving back all of the tax I paid in PLUS an extra couple of hundred. Whoa.
I am seriously considering a new computer. My current POS is on its last legs and I really need one for school. I think I’ll hold off until I receive my renter’s rebate later this summer, though.
About the same as trublmakr. We usually get one big fluff purchase or two depending on the cost. Last year it was an exercise bike. Year before it was a new computer. Then come the necessities. A new bed was top on the list a couple of years ago. This year it’ll be new tires and a muffler on the truck. There’s a small amount for shopping which mostly goes to new clothes for the kid. Then anywhere from half to a third depending on bills/expenses goes into the bank. Then there’s my crack and hooker habit. You’d be suprised how quick that adds up.
This year me and the little woman both qualify for the E.I.C., so more will go into the bank and bills.
I plan my taxes to pay a little, instead of loaning it to the government, but I didn’t expect the Silly Tax to pass (where I can write off the sales taxes I paid over the course of the year) so I’ll probably get a refund.
I’ll hang onto it and find a third party candidate or reasonable Dem candidate to sink it into, or split it between Tsunami and the ACLU.
