Comments on: What Should I Do With My Tax Refund?

By: Meg

Meg — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 15:58:57 +0000

We are using ours to continue to finish our basement. While not a necessity, we’ve determined that it will add to our home usability, enable more hospitality and in general, it’s a good use of our money. We’re committed to paying down debt with my income and living on my husband’s. Of course, we’ll be doing most of it ourselves and count ourselves blessed to be related to a contractor, an electrician/apprentice, and a former painter/drywalling finisher.

By: RateNerd

RateNerd — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 22:27:48 +0000

Tax Refund? What Tax Refund? All I ever do is write checks to the government so they can go waste my money on wars and pork. At least fix the stupid potholes for goodness sake!

By: Richard

Richard — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 06:46:05 +0000

Paying off debt is certainly where our tax refund will be going this year. We also have property taxes due around the same time. Fortunately, this bill from our local government is tax deductible, which is a plus.

I agree that the goal is to have no return. This means that you are planning accordingly and are making the most of your money. It makes more sense to invest the funds (even if its in a bank account) versus having the government hang onto it. TurboTax (and others) have some handy calculators to help adjust the amount you claim on taxes.

By: Tina

Tina — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 05:39:28 +0000

I did my taxes on line and received my refund two weeks after I received my W-9 from my employer. I used a half of it to pay off cc debt(2 cc’s gone!!!), start my first savings account in 10 years(set the acct up to autowithdraw on my paydays) and have 470.00 left to see my family in the fall. Married with single income and no children.

By: frugalcpa

frugalcpa — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 04:26:49 +0000

We’ll let it accrue interest for awhile and then use it to pay some of our subsidized student loans off before they become unsubsidized.

By: Slinky

Slinky — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 22:37:15 +0000

My tax return is going to get my piano tuned (splurge), contribute $20 towards replacing my computer headphones (splurge), top off my efund to 4 months basic expenses, and pay down my car loan.

I always give myself a (proportional) splurge from a windfall before directing the rest towards my current goal. I think an eFund should get funded before paying down debt unless your position is very secure, or paying down the debt will significantly improve your financial position.

By: Tim

Tim — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 17:17:22 +0000

With the economy the way it is right now, contingency fund wins out for me. I would also add hitting up the IRS web site for the withholding calculator and finding out what I need to do such that I have that money today rather than getting a refund next year. It took almost 10 years to convince my wife that getting a refund was a bad thing, and that with good money management having to pay a little was an even better thing.

By: Neal Frankle

Neal Frankle — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 15:51:45 +0000

I like the priorities listed here and I agree completely. The only minor point I’d add is that if you do have debt, find out why. If you don’t address that core issue, you’ll likely find yourself right back in the same debt disaster.