I always look forward to tax season. I know odd, right? Well truth be told that I have a large amount of money withheld from my paycheck every week so that I get a large refund back every year. This year I am hoping to finally pay off all of my debt. Yippee!
Is anyone else weird like me and look forward to tax time?
Jo- Yes, I do, but with that being said I am horrible at saving money and it would never get paid off with just using that money monthly to make payments. I know it sucks on my part, but I have tried and just can't seem to do it.
I get what Jo, Denise and Angela are telling you BUT with the economic climate in the condition that it is in I do not see what the difference is between lending the government the money interest free or putting it in the bank and earning .01%. In this scenario interest is arbitrary. Enjoy your tax refund.
My family says Merry Income-Taxmas! We're alls set up to get big refunds and it is great to get that chunk of change.
I hear what everybodys saying about it being an interest free loan.But seriously, That money would go into the monthly budget and get swallowed up otherwise. I would have nothing to show for it. At my job we offer annuitys and cds. That's one way to put money away that you can't touch for a certain amount of time. But the interest rate is so low right now that I don't even recommend them. At 1% interest, the fees and overhead you just break even for all that paperwork. Why not let the government use that money interest free? The government is in real trouble! ANd if you are getting a refund, you aren't paying much in taxes, so, it's almost like doing your part!
I only think it is weird because I never could understand giving the government an interest free loan. I mean you realize you could have already paid off your debt or never went into it and saved yourself a mess of interest?
I'm right here with you on this. I do the same thing you do. I understand people's hatred for giving an interest free government loan but they don't understand the struggle to save some of us have with saving directly. I also like tha big check.
I also want to add that I'm an accountant but I also know my own personal weakness. It works for me and now it I have my husband on the band wagon too. He owes the IRS my annual salary. We will be paying it off quicker because they will be keeping our refund for at least the next 2-3 years all things being equal.
Yeah...not a fan of interest free savings.
What you should do is adjust your exemptions so you owe nothing and your refund, if any, is very small.
Now that you'll be out of debt--you can do that!
ETA: The difference is I can get my money when I want/need it--not when the govt says I'm ready for it.
Not a fan of loaning our govt $$$ interest free . . .
I don't have any debt but I do also claim 0 so that I get a huge refund. We use this refund to take our family vacation. This way it's guaranteed we have the money saved up for our vacation. Interest from savings suck anyways right now. Last year we were able to visit my DH sister in Greece!
Okay, I reread what you wrote and I am not in debt. Most banks right now are giving less then 1% interest. So maybe if I put that in savings I get like $30/year. Not much so that is why I'd rather get a huge refund and guarantee my vacation money. In your case, if you are paying interest/fees on your debt then isn't such a good idea. Credit Card companies charge outrageous interest - 20+%! If you are paying that then you definately need to find a way to pay that off monthly. But you have a new year with no debt and maybe not get into debt again so this won't be an issue.
yes me too i work seasonal jan -april doing taxes and make really good money doing it .plus large refund also,i pay off pays ever year i dont blow the money .i pay my car insurance up for six months .then through the year it makes life not so bad with bills. we still have bills like 400 light bill and more but it makes life easier thats for sure. now nov. and dec. is alway a rush for me because i cant enjoy christmas ,those are the month we do struggle with making it to buy christmas and paying the bills are put off if possible til i get firs check from work.
No - I am dreading it this year because it's the first year that our company isn't doing our taxes in 8 years! Since we lived overseas, they've done it all, and now that we've been back for a while, they'll give it over to us.
We always have to pay. But usually the company has pushed back the date until August or so, accountant type stuff, I guess. I have never asked for an extension, and it was hard to get used to signing tax documents after April!
Now, if the company comes back in January and says that there's another deduction they can take and that they will do our taxes again, I will say Yippie!!
Dawn
The average person OVERPAYS about $100 per week in taxes and depending on the government to decide how much of that you get to have back is an extremely poor way to budget. My family takes advantage of the tax laws to put more money in our pocket every paycheck by paying less in taxes. While having a refund every year is nice, we actually have more money every year than what our refund would be. Your big refund is actually a lot less than what you should be keeping in the first place.
No, I am not looking forward to it. But I just want to express my admiration for you. Good work!
