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The Kitchen Table

What are you Doing with Your Tax Refund?

16 years ago

We just got our taxes done and I am going to buy 2 CD's for my DH and a DVD for myself. The rest I will put away until I decide to buy more movies and music.

SamKaren

your resident DJ

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Comments (42)

deemarie5500
16 years ago
My question is "what is the government going to do with the check I have to send them"?

LOL (and crying at the same time)!
Silverdove
16 years ago
Ours goes into my husband's golf fund.

He currently has no income, and if we weren't married, my taxes would be much higher, so any refund is his to spend as he wishes.
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Hmmm...very interesting. My immediate thought was having to see just how many old bills I would have to gather together. I see it will be much easier to just go with the standard amount. What is the standard amount? Individual taxpayers can take a standard amount from $30 to $60 based on the number of exemptions claimed on their tax return. For those claiming: * one exemption, the standard refund amount is $30 * two exemptions, the standard refund amount is $40 * three exemptions, the standard refund amount is $50 * four exemptions or more, the standard refund amount is $60 And "no" you certainly aren't stepping out of bounds here...your post is most appropriate for the forum...and could/should maybe be shared on the Money Saving Tips Forum as well. Thanks for posting. Sue
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Comments (9)
Hi Sasafras, In a savings account/CD/money market acct. ... you must pay some to tax. Plus, since number of dollars in asset can't grow, inflation erodes its value annually ... so you must add value of inflation to the basic asset in order to preserve purchasing power. You can keep what's left. Into the coffee can ... no income ... so no tax. But - you still lose to inflation ... so you're going downhill, even faster. ______________________________ Can you handle about a score of questions - you read correctly, more like a score than a dozen. Are you receiving employment income ... and does your family depend entirely on one income or are there two available (i.e. - how secure?)? Are you retired and receiving a pension ... do you have investment income as well ... do they meet your current operational needs? If we were dealing with a long-term financial plan here, I'd ask whether your retirement incomes were at least partially indexed, and at some time would want to evaluate with you how long you wanted that retirement income to last and whether you'd evaluated for inflation. If employed, how secure is your current income? Are you worried about layoff? How probable may it be that a money-hungry emergency may crop up? Any idea how soon? Do you have some extra asset that's available quickly, in case of emergency? Many financial advisors recommend that most people have 3 mos.' income available in case of emergency, layoff, etc. - and feel more comfortable with 6 - 9 mos.', or even up to a year's worth, depending on the possibility of major emergency, paycheque going up in smoke, etc. Those who have a financial cushion on hand in case of need can rest a lot more comfortably at night than those who lack it! Under certain circumstances, I might be willing to have lower concern about that emergency fund immediately available: I often don't have it, myself ... but I have an alternate plan in place. Do you have current debts, e.g. credit card, fuel bill, etc? At what interest rate levels? Is it deductible? For example, if you carry credit card balances owing over due date, do you know what rate of interest they are charging? On regular cards, usually 15 - 18%; on store-issued cards, usually 25 - 28%, sometimes more. It may well be a good idea to use it to pay off some of the outstanding debts, especially the high-priced ones. How long do you think that you may want to leave this money invested? One month? Six months? One year? Six years? (Sixty years?) What kind of investments do you have now? How long do you expect to have them operational, e.g. do you plan to draw some down in the short/medium to buy a car, send kids to school, buy a home/cottage, etc. Are they producing a good rate of return? Is there a possibility of some growth? Are they reasonably well diversified? If you plan to liquidate some ongoing investments to buy something soon, maybe invest this money in savings account, Money Market, etc. and leave the other investments alone ... especially if there is some capital gain developed that you'd have to pay tax on if you were to liquidate them soon. Would you feel comfortable using some of your refund to make some investment in equities, ordnarily? How about now ... with the market having gone down substantially ... many are saying that stocks are on sale, these days! There's been some recovery, but they may go either up or down from here. They may be on fire sale, later. But if they go up from here ... and keep going up ... in a couple of years you'll be kicking yourself ... wishing that you'd bought some now. When no one knows where the bottom of the market is ... best to buy some, periodicallly, over a substantial period ... though they may go down some more in the short term ... quite likely you'll be pleased with the rate of return on almost all of that series of investments, in three, four or five years. Almost certainly in 10 years. Do you figure on dyin' before that? Do you have some of your assets denominated in currencies of other parts of the world? The reasoning behind the advice that we should diversify our types of investments works here, as well - not a good idea to have all of one's assets in the financial system of only one country. I may think of some more questions later ... but that's about enough for now, ... don't you agree? Good wishes for increasingly skillful management of your income and assets - looking not just to the present, but to the whole term of your life. Maybe even stretching into the lives of your offspring, if you have some. ole joyful P.S. Now at age 80, I have 80% of my assets in equities ... if I kick the bucket next week, there'll be taxes to pay and some monies to be given to charities (and my executor's been told to gift the stocks with the highest level of capital gain to them directly, which provides a receipt for the full value ... and means that I/my estate escapes tax on the capital gain that's been developed over their life. Also ... my kids don't need the money, so won't need to cash the equities for a while ... ... so they can keep on growing, providing increase in the basic value of the equity, even if it fluctuates from time to time ... ... and on annual payout from several of them, which tends to rise, over time, even if it does vary from time to time. o j
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Comments (29)
uhh monica if you go back you will see i did say i could lose 1 day but certainly not 2 weeks worth... i also did say that every $$ coming in goes right out plus another $1000 a month, ea month, for the last 24 months, from savings, to cover what student loans do not cover ea semester. DH only gets $6K a semester, tuition runs $4500, books and CAD program rights another $4-5k, mandatory UCF insurance $250, parking $150... he gets nothing for summer so that another $2500 in tuition, $2K in books... all the shortages go on an interest-free credit card and i pay $1000 a month towards that from savings. savings has not be added to at all since 2007 when DH quit working to finish his honors BS/MS and 2 months later i got my income cut 23%. any refunds we get go straight to savings to replenish the losses. sorry if you think i'm not a good citizen lol because i refuse to take on more financial hardship...i have worked since i was 13, had fulltime employment continuously since the age of 18, moved out on my own at 18, put myself thru 10 yrs of college w/o a single loan or any aid, started a 401K at the age of 19, bought my own house, have no credit card debt of my own (dh has the college debt), buy everything needed for my DH, myself and 2 elderly dogs, pay my utilities and mortgage on time and have never ever even had a parking ticket let alone any other offense. not to mention i will never be a burden to society by collecting social security or medicare, as i was raised to believe there will be no $$ left for my generation (X) and i have planned my whole financial life around that. or maybe it's because i'm the child of a 3rd generation chicago political family that you think i'm not a good citizen lol ;-)) ~ liz
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Tax Refund....Am I being greedy???
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Comments (40)
Wow! Thank you for all of the great advice. In response to Serenity and others with questions: 1. No, I am not B**ching to my husband about the excessive money he spends on his daughter. That's why I'm on this forum. But, after giving it some thought maybe I should be more vocal. I think the reason my husband spent the $1700.00 on her last year behind my back was because he knew it was wrong and couldn't bring himself to tell or ask me. But he also couldn't say "No" to his daughter. 2. No, I do not with hold money from my step daughter. My husband and I do have seperate accounts and we split the bills. I tend to try to spend an equal amount on each child, while he tends to only spend on his daughter. 3. My step-daughter is by no means deprived. She wears designer clothing (because of grandma) while the other children get their clothing from Value Stores, she gets pedicures and manacures, eats out while we eat in, goes on vacation while we get to stay home, and drives around to parties on our gas money. Grandma pays outragous cell phone bills and gives her several hundred dollars a week to spend. 4. Grandma is also grandma to our son, but wants nothing to do with him financially. She says she must focus on my step daughter because she only has one parent (actually she has two, but her mom is a drug addict and a theif) 5. No matter how much I give or how hard I try, my step daughter does not like me. 6. My step daughter dropped out of school because she is allowed to do what ever she wants when ever she wants. She didn't feel like going to school and got kicked out. She would prefer to spend her time with her loser boyfriend. 5. We would never ever allow my step daughter to drive without good brakes, but up until last week there was no good reason for her to be driving around. 6. Grandma bought her the car too. 7. My husband will not stand up to his mom or his daughter. Anytime I try to step in I'm always the bad guy. 8. I know what they are doing is wrong. Children who are given everything appreciate nothing. She has had no job because she didn't need one. She dropped out of school because she didn't see the value in a good education. I truely believe she thinks the gravy train will last forever. 9. It drives me crazy because if she were mine, or even if I would be able to have some say in this situation I believe I could make a huge difference in her life. I'm going to HR on Monday to change how many deductions I take out of my check. It would be nice to have more money to spend thoughout the year. Also, then less of my money will be going to a cause I firmly don't believe in. I will also talk to my husband. If he still wants to spend his money on her that's fine, but I'm getting that swing set for our son before he is too old to enjoy it.
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lydia1959
16 years ago
We are getting enough from state to take a couple weekend trips, what we get back from the federal refund should pay my DD's college housing rent and utilities for most of the year.

Once DD is out of college, I'll be able to use our refund (IF we even still get one lol) for home improvements and remodeling projects.
Marilyn Sue
16 years ago
I never see that money.

Sue
linda_in_iowa
16 years ago
I am going to get new glasses and save the rest for a vacation.
danihoney
16 years ago
Ours got deposited into our money market account where it will sit and gain very little intrest.
Sally Brownlee
16 years ago
mine will go into a special savings to pay home owners insurance, school and property taxes...at least I don't have to worry about where that money will come from.
bigfoot_liz
16 years ago
it goes to replenish savings spent on DH's college costs. it's not much as i run it close but this yr apparently we should get $2500 additional for college, i'll believe that when the $$ hits the acct lol ~ liz
azzalea
16 years ago
Pay the next year's homeowners and auto insurance and a few utility bills, probably. That's what we generally do with it
Indy_Anna
16 years ago
*sigh* we are saving for a minivan.

I want to be excited...
*that I will be able to participate in car pools to school and events
*I can put the kids in their carseats without bending over and hitting my head and theirs on the roof or door of the car.
*we can pick up my nephew to come over an play so my SIL doesn't have to get the baby up and into the car to bring him over.
*that I can take my parents places with me instead of making them drive separately
*to take road trips in the comfort of a larger vehicle
*to have a car that will open its own doors and the kids can hop out by themselves
*because everyone who owns one says I WILL LOVE IT once I get it

but, I'm not excited because...
*minivans aren't cool. And in my lifelong quest to be cool, it's a bump in the road. (I know it's not important to be cool, but I still like thinking I am)
*every other pro about the van outweighs the single con.

Long story short, we're saving it until we can afford to pay for a mini van. :)
maryanntx
16 years ago
Ditto what deemarie said. :o(
organic_donna
16 years ago
I just deposited $6,000.00 into my Roth IRA for 2010. My refund goes into the Credit Union for the 2011 Roth.
Donna
casey_nfld
16 years ago
We'll put it towards a vacation later this year (Montreal or Las Vegas, we haven't decided yet).
Dee1
16 years ago
Taking Will and Grace to the vet for Heartworm checks and medicine and booster shots. Also am considering putting Baxter (cat) back on Heartworm preventative and flea treatments.

Dee in Michigan
(land of many, many mosquitos!)
alisande
16 years ago
Do most people get a tax refund? I don't think I've ever gotten one.

I'll be thrilled if I don't have to write the government a check.
wanda_va
16 years ago
We're using part of it to pay for the new Yorkie we are getting--to replace our beloved Yorkie who crossed the Rainbow Bridge last month.

And I hope to get a new sewing machine....
suzieque
16 years ago
I'm just replenishing my account after doing some home maintenance. I don't like my readily-available funds to be too low.
patti43
16 years ago
We're only getting back a couple hundred dollars. Not really enough to do anything so it'll just go into savings. I'm grateful for that, though. When we both worked we wrote checks--large ones--every year. And I'd get so mad I'd cry, every year. We had the max taken out but they always wanted more, more, more.
carol_in_california
16 years ago
What refund????
Mystical Manns
16 years ago
No refund at our house ...
bigack
16 years ago
we're getting back around 500. from state, probably will leave most in checking to pay bills, other than take a little out to share.
janie_ga
16 years ago
We own the state almost the same as we will get from the Feds so I should just tell the feds to address the check to the state and be done with it!
OklaMoni
16 years ago
No refund here, they want money from us.

Moni
evatx
16 years ago
We're taking two of the grandkids to the Grand Canyon this summer, so will save the refund for that.
jennmonkey
16 years ago
I took a trip. I usually get a decent refund back but I have it set up for them to take out the most, because I don't want to ever risk owing. I like getting a refund.
cheryl_ok
16 years ago
What is a refund? hehe, haven't seen one of them for 25 years.
schoolhouse_gw
16 years ago
Got my refund back two weeks ago. Today I paid off my new washer and dryer and..drum roll please....paid off MY MASTERCARD! Yippee!!
okwriter
16 years ago
At this point, my office is piled with receipts...so I don't know (a) how much the check will be or (b) if it will be incoming or outgoing.

IF we get a refund, DH wants to pay part of the cost to fence some land for his cattle. (yawn)
I want to use it to pay part of the cost of our cruise---we're going to the western Caribbean for 7 days in December (grin)
kathy_
16 years ago
Well I wanted to pay car insurance, but it hasn't come yet so car ins. came out of savings.
The credit card payment - lots of unexpected big purchases - gets paid off every month so it the refund is not here by then (the 5th) savings will take a hit again.
The dogs need to go to the vet and hubby needs a tooth implant that dental insurance will not pay all of. I need 2 refunds....
kathi_mdgd
16 years ago
We already got our Federal deposited into our savings acct.We plan to use it for the exterminator~~~~~~~Remember Calif is the home of the termites.It should be listed as our state bug!! LOL.Havn't got the state one back yet,and the mess ca.is in,who knows if and when we will get that.
Kathi
Marcia Thornley
16 years ago
Not a big refund here. We try to work it so we don't have to pay or get a refund. We like to try and keep our money all year for ourselves instead of lending it to the government. We put enough into our RRSP's and use any tax breaks we can to avoid giving it to the government.If we get anything back it will go towards paying for our new furnace and AC or get reinvested towards retirement. I got a note from payroll asking if I wanted to increase the amount of income tax I pay each week. No way! The government won't get any extra money from me. I'll take the extra every week and put into something for me & collect any interest on it that I can.
schoolhouse_gw
16 years ago
kathy - I hate when that happens! (forced to take from savings) My State refund usually ends up paying for at least part of my real estate taxes. Not isn't that a big pile of poo!
schoolhouse_gw
16 years ago
I must add that we should actually consider ourselves lucky that we have the money to be able to contribute to savings and "borrow" from it. I give thanks every day that I'm able to pay my bills.
vannie
16 years ago
What refund? We'll be sending them a nice little amount of $$$$. I can't imagine getting a refund. I've heard of it, but that's about it!!!
kim_okla
16 years ago
Looking like a new hot water tank. How exciting.

It is about twice as much as in the past though so I am grateful for that.

Owe the state $5.00. they should have a minumum.
grammahony
16 years ago
I'll probably have to pay this year. :(
If I do get any back, I'm fixing my front steps (which are falling apart) they're only 10 years old. Cheap contractor hired shoddy workmen.
cherbo
16 years ago
WHAT REFUND?
jannie
16 years ago
I haven't even figured my taxes yet!
3katz4me
16 years ago
Same situation as mush - we make a point of not giving the government an interest free loan over the course of the year. We try to come out even or err on the side of owing little.
joyfulguy
16 years ago
I try to avoid having any.

As a more-or-less-former financial advisor, I recommend to my clients that they try to avoid having one.

I don't like making interest-free loans to the government.

ole joyful
bluhannah
16 years ago
Playing catch up mostly...HD has been sick a lot this past year and we've paid so many MDs and hospital bills it has become an issue...hopefuly, my work will pick back up and someday, I can get my dishwasher fixed, the furnace checked out, the hotwater heater replaced, the well oh yeah, the well, whatever it needs so it doesn't spit and sputter and did I mention...the oil changed in my car and buy a new pair of socks!
janemarie5
16 years ago
We like getting a refund. We err on the side of putting alittle extra in so if something comes up, we still won't owe. For instance my DH was unemployed 1/2 the year, because we put in extra through the year we should be ok and not owe. I hope... still waiting to hear back from acct. Since we are not sure yet if we are getting money back or paying, I can't really say. Generally every year we pay off any outstanding bills, last year it was credit card, one year we used towards the expenses of SD wedding.

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