Anyone wanna do a tax refund countdown? - Page 3

[alaskanmomma]

I can't remember what day the IRS told us it should be in our account, but we e-filed last week. We're getting back a little over $8k.

I'm hoping I can pay off two debts(a $2k tuition bill that went into collections, ugh, and a $700 medical bill from my daughters birth in 2008). My husband was going to go to Mexico in April but his trip got canceled, so I'm giving him $1k for a four wheeler that will work for him when he goes hunting. So, we'd still have quite a chunk of change leftover that we hope to save up and become even more self-sufficient. I never want debt again after I pay this crap off :)!

[MadelinesMama]

We filed on the 3rd and were told we would have our refund by the 21st.  It was deposited on the 11th!

[Wolfcat]

If you are expecting a refund, have you filed yet? 

Yup, last week. It's the first time in YEARS that I did my own. It was a bit intimidating, but I think it went very well.

Accepted by the IRS? 

Yup, got the confirmation emails.

Gotten your money?

Not yet, should be in the next week or so.

Bonus if you care to share your ideas for said refund.  :D

As soon as we knew how much, we sat down and planned it out.

Total: $~9K

• $2500 - kitchen remodel project (may increase as I want a French-door energy-star fridge and a garbage disposal)
• $2000 - bills catch up
• $3000 - trip to visit the in-laws
• $350 - website hosting for the year
• $600 - fix DH's car
• $400 - new tires on my car

And... it's gone! *sighs*

[SugarGlider]

2500 for our car to get a new engine and various other fixes... but we had enough to get it done and get a rental while ours is being fixed, yay!  We get to go pick her up tomorrow :)  I wasn't sure how bad off she was so I'm just really thankful we could get her all fixed up :)

[MariaMadly]

Just got an email from our bank that all our documents are ready, so we're filing by the end of the week!  Preliminary estimate is around a 4K refund.  We need to do some serious preventive maintenance and repairs around here:  chimney has an obstruction we can't reach safely, so that's a sweep for at least a few hundred.  Driveway is washing into the road; more aggregate and grading.  That's probably more than the refund right there.  Septic needs sucking.  And I have a crack in a molar that isn't causing me any trouble (cue ominous music) yet.  Seniority buy-back at work for DH.  Maybe refi the house, we're paying 2003 rates.  DS2 may be attending a summer math program at college, that's another couple large but sounds like a terrific idea.

I do not see my way clear to those gold knot earrings at Tiffany & Co.  Maybe I'll just have the cracked tooth pulled, cut in half, and put on gold posts.  :-)

[Contrariety]

We got our state return today, about $350 which went to pay off some really stupid holiday spending on the credit card.  We should get our federal any day now, about $5000 which will pay off the rest of the really stupid holiday spending, $100 for DH to spend, $100 for me to spend, buy a small chest freezer and the rest, at least $4000 will be socked away in savings.  We are holding on to it incase DH has to quit working while student teaching this time next year.  Hopefully we won't have to use it and will be able to pay off my student loans next year and then start saving for a house!! YAY!

[mar123]

I was counting on a decent refund; with DH out of work most of last year, (subbing and then a teaching position in August), I was thinking we would get most of it back. As I entered the W2s, I was shocked- the HR person entered DH's dependants as TEN instead of zero. He has been paying NO federal taxes for 2011. I didn't realize it when he was subbing for the system, because the amount he got paid varied so widely. I did notice his salary checks since were a little higher than I had estimated, but I didn't worry about it. Sigh. We still don't owe, but no nice refund from the feds. Luckily, the state entries were correct, and in our state we get a deduction for tuition, etc, so we are getting about 1K back from state (we always owed until the new deduction for tuition).

I am still amazed at how some people get back 5 thousand or more!

[Super~Single~Mama]

Originally Posted by mar123 

I am still amazed at how some people get back 5 thousand or more!

I got back just over $4k. It's because of the Earned Income Credit, which I will never qualify for again :(. 

[Chicky2]

Got ours last week.  It's mostly gone, but what we did with it feels good. We got $1700 after fees.

stocked up grocery staples--$480 (w/what we have that will actually go a very long way)

bought parts for dh's drill $10

bought parts for kids fishtank $40

bought me a kindle fire (sold my kindle keyboard to oldest dd for $100) $100

bought dh a used cell phone he hopefully cannot destroy $50

paid electricity bill earlier than planned $367

paid cell phone bill $130

dental bill (unexpected of course, but thankfully we had the $!-$516)

new shoes for one kid who needed them $8, on sale

bday banner making supplies for Grandfather's upcoming 80th bday bash!, stickers for kids $30

bought used loft bed for dd (she got jealous because her brother got a free one recently, but it will make a LOT more space in her room)$60

bought almond flour to try.  Very good, very expensive ($8 for a batch of scones for our family!) $17

bought coconut oil we've been missing $16

bought 500 misprint woven polypropylene bags for our earthbag storm shelter/root cellar project. $140

stocked up on a month's worth (or so) of livestock feed--very big deal, prices are skyrocketing! $300

Dh got a good profit sharing bonus the day after we got our return, so that's the only reason we could do all that and still have a bit left over.  Paying a few things early also frees up $ in the coming weeks for gravel and road base materials for our earthbag project.  That will be another $300.

[Amys1st]

Got mine on 2/14. Waiting on state

[zebra15]

I filed on 2/15.  Should be about a week or so.  The $$ is going into savings.

[mar123]

My son filed on 2/1 and won't get his until 2/21. His are simple, since he is 16 and filed for the first time. I am surprised it is taking so long.

[SunRise]

Alrighty, all numbers entered. Just have to confirm one last number.  So far the return is $600 IRS - talk about cutting it close; and a bit heftier state return. Enough to buy some floor tile for the kitchen renovation I have going on.

[Narawen]

Filed on 2/4, it got accepted on 2/5.  My federal FINALLY appeared on the Where's My Refund? tool last night,  I should have it by 2/6.  

Already got my state refund, but my refund from MI went to pay the small amt I owed to NC, plus what I paid for Turbo Tax. So state taxes are net 0. 

Federal refund will go to buying a Vita mix (yay!). The remainder (about $600) will go towards my last student loan, which should hopefully be paid off in April. 

[TiredX2]

Originally Posted by mar123 

My son filed on 2/1 and won't get his until 2/21. His are simple, since he is 16 and filed for the first time. I am surprised it is taking so long.

We filed on 2/2 and finally just showed up as getting our refund 2/23.  We e-filed with the same place we have used for several years so I'm not sure why it took so long this year. 

It will all go straight to savings.

[MariaMadly]

Couldn't e-file because one of our W-2s had an irregular address field.  So I went down to the Post Office, fed coins into the wheezing laboring copy machine, and sent our 1040 snail mail.  Grr.  Well, in our case it's losing a week of abysmal interest on a $4,200.00 refund.

Now DS2 and DS1 are making noises about maybe getting together next month for their spring break, so that could run into plane fare.  As long as they don't use the whole refund, they can have some fun.

[CookiePie]

Filed 1/31 got refund on 2/7!  One week earlier than the IRS had estimated!  We got $2300 back, we are using half for a down payment for dd's braces and the other half to pay off a credit card!  YAY!

[zebra15]

Says 3/6/12..  I don't really need the money but thats 3 weeks.  Shouldn't take that long for the gov't to release the reins on the funds.

[mar123]

My son filed on 2/1. I filed on 2/16- and we got our refund the same day. I think it was because he was a first time filer and there have been quite a few cases of fraud lately with high school students. In our area, a student was stopped for speeding and the cop saw a paper with names and SS numbers on it. The student had been filing tons of bogus returns for years with student information he had stole from the school.

[MariaMadly]

Completed and had to snail mail our 1040 in mid-February.  Took until March 5 to even show up as received by IRS.  Site is showing me an expected date of April 24 due to I think they called it "processing delays."  zebra15, yours sounded like a really long time for how early you filed, hope it came through.