Tax return time!

[2lilsweetfoxes]

I got back just enough to pay off three of my four credit lines.  Woo-hoo!  So nice to see the balance line read $0.00!!!!

And, it "frees up" over $200 per month when we consider minimum payments.  I'll put some of the money ($25-$50 per month) towards increasing the food budget; then save the remainder until after we move, then whatever is left after the whole move is settled will get thrown at the last card.  Our goal is to pay it off by Christmas.  Only $4500ish to go.

(We get so much back due to Earned Income Credit.)

What plans do people have for their refunds (if you are getting one?)

[vannienicole]

I will be using part of it to pay off my divorce lawyer

I haven't decided about the other $1300.  I am thinking pay for my course this semester and save the rest :shrug  Won't spend a penny til I have it worked out to the penny.

[babyjonesmama]

I'm getting back just enough to pay off my car. It seems kind of boring to me, though. Instead I wonder if I should pay off a couple of other smaller loans/debts and make a couple of home improvements and maybe save a bit of it. But if I pay off the car it will free up almost $300/month that will be a major, much needed addition to our available money every month. So I think that's what we'll do.

[Stayseeliz]

We were going to use all of it to pay off cc debt but I went into preterm labor last week and I'm on bedrest for at least the next few weeks. I think we're going to hold on to a good bit of it now at this point in case baby comes early and we end up with a NICU stay since DH will miss work, we'll have addes expenses, etc. We're not going to touch any of it, just leave it in the bank until baby comes and hopefully not use it for anything.

[Panserbjorne]

I literally JUST got the last of my paperwork yesterday so I'm doing taxes on Monday.  I know we'll get money back, but how much I'm not 100% on.  I opened my first credit card (I'm a cash person...if I don't have the money I don't buy it person) in December because my stove caught on fire and my fridge died in the same week.  It's getting paid off and the card is being snipped!  Beyond that, my hope is to buy something pretty for myself. 

Of course that might quickly turn into a new piece of equipment for work, but a gal can dream. 

Little known fact: I'm a jewelry fanatic.  Love it.  I had amassed a lovely collection but in hard times over the last 6 years I sold it all, including my wedding set.  My dream is to build it back up again, as impractical and unrealistic as that is. 

[JesKace]

We get a very large refund because it's the only way we can save money each year... Sort of a forced savings acct (without gaining the interest)...  If we adjust our tax with holdings and get the extra money each week, it gets spent on misc other things and we don't scrimp the way we should.  I know this isn't a suggested thing to do, but we're working our way toward paying things off and hopefully we'll be able to get to a point where we don't have to get the large refund each year :)

We will be paying off a couple credit cards (used to do home repairs over the year, so essentially a large portion of our tax return will have been invested in our house, stinks we had to pay credit card interest on it but the repairs got done at the best time of year when we needed them so I'm happy with that decision.. we did also get some of it 6mo no interest so we won't have had to pay interest on it all).  We have a bill from my husbands side job that has to get paid that is a sizable amount (interest free).  We will get a little of that back when he gets paid from some of his jobs when he finishes them up though, so it's not a complete loss.  The rest will go in the bank for our excise taxes for our cars when they come in (in the next couple of months), we will also put the co-pay for the hospital stay in the bank for when we have our 4th baby in April ($250 for the hospital stay, ouch!).

It's all been planned out to the penny, so it stinks we don't have any extra "play" money for something fun but I'm hoping over the next couple years with our large tax returns we can dig ourselves out of the debt we accumulated when we were younger.  Then we'll be able to put money into savings and change our with holdings and have that extra money each week :)

[chely7425]

We got ours back yesterday and used it to pay off ALL our CCs!!  We also put a little in savings, and I paid off some money I owed a friend who bought us a carseat when we desperately needed one and didn't have the cash :)

[BetsyS]

We adjusted withholdings last year, so our return isn't very large.

That said, I'll use it to buy some spring clothes for my children (going to try to do this for $100), and we need to replace about 6 of our diapers (they were bought used, and are now on baby#3 for us; they aren't holding up as well as I thought they would...darn).  After that, we probably will be able to go out and eat Mexican once.  And, it'll be gone.

But, in the end, we need the money more throughout the year, so I'm pleased with such a small refund.

[jimblejamble]

We're going to put it toward paying off the car. If we do one payment a month we'll have it paid off by Feb 2012. We're getting enough to pay it off completely but we're going to send in six payments so we will have some of that money in savings.

[goinggreengirl]

We haven't filed ours yet. We plan on throwing it all towards debt. Hopefully we'll be able to pay off one of the CCs...

[crazyms]

We get a large refund as well. A lot of it is EIC and credits but we also do the large withholding. It's not a suggested thing but it works better for me. We have more withheld throughout the year so that we know we won't end up owing (and risk not having the money at the time to pay it in) and we get a large refund to be able to do things (forced savings like a pp said). Works for me. This year my car has been deemed illegal by the state (don't ask grrrr) and we're getting another car (used, same as the one I have that still runs so shouldn't need much additional cost to get have it running great) and a new (to us) camper because we travel for dh's job and with the new baby coming we desperately need more space and I'd like to get out of this one that is borrowed from the inlaws. The car and camper will take all of the refund but it'll be two major expenses out of the way for us.

[Drummer's Wife]

We got ours deposited yesterday.  Yay!  I've already spent quite a bit paying ahead on bills such as car insurance, cell phone, and utilities.  Boring, but it made me happy knowing it would free up money the next few months.  We're taking the kids out for fun and shopping today - including to get new video games for the boys and clothing for my DD. 

Also, I hope to book our flights to NYC asap - but we have to confirm that a family member is available to watch the kids as it will be a weekend away for DH and I. 

[GirlBoyGirl]

We will be getting a large return due to the EIC and we plan to use it a variety of ways

We are setting money aside for a few things: car insurance for the year, christmas and birthdays, new tires. Also paying a few small medical bills. The rest will go into savings since we want to plan a big move to another state in the near future.

[freestylemama]

I'm pretty sure we're going to owe-ie, owe-ie, owe!  I'm waiting on a return from some consulting work I did. 

[GardenStream]

We're getting back a couple of thousand and we'll put it in our savings account. We're working on saving up enough to pay cash for our next vehicle. Hopefully that purchase is still a few years off.

[Sharlla]

we paid off the lowes card and put 6k on the credit card

[Pumpkin_Pie]

I racked up some credit card debt with my recent move across town, and I also owe a mortgage buy-in at my housing co-op.  My refund will just pay for all of these with maybe $50 or so left over.  I am happy that I will be out of debt except for student loans! Nothing fun out of it, but I will be very happy to not have to make payments to all of those each month.  :)

ETA:  I am thinking of adjusting my withholdings for a forced savings for next year too.  I am pretty sure my car won't make it another year and if I max out contributions, I should have enough for a decent car next spring.  If I have to take out a loan, or max out the credit cards again sooner than next tax season, then I will be able to pay it off then, which would be nice.  I am hoping beyond hope that we have no other financial emergencies in the next year to make that not work.

[iowaorganic]

part of a land mortgage payment...  not so exciting- but awesome none the less.

[Captain_Crunch]

I'm getting enough to cancel my cell phone contract, payoff CC#1 outright and payoff 60% of CC#2. I should be debt free by the end of March, YAY!

[lookatreestar]

nada. no plans so savings it is.