Thursday, April 7, 2011

Tax Realities....Better Than I Thought

Several weeks ago, I lamented that my goal of paying off my car by the end of this month had been dashed. Why? Because I anticipated a $2500 tax return (federal and state) which would have have been applied to my loan balance....and then I started using TurboTax and I soon discovered that my refund, if any, would be no where near that. So I updated my debt repayment plan to reflect NO tax refund. After having a CPA friend help me sort through taxes for two states (and one municipality) I've learned that I do get a refund (federal and state; I actually owe in one state). Now I am wondering how I should spend my refund. I've already purchased $100 worth of savings bonds using IRS Form 8888, so I have roughly $1100 left to play with. If I apply all of it to the car loan, I can finish the note approximately 1 month early. I could also contribute the amount to my Roth IRA for the 2010, for which I have $3,670.89 remaining. I could spend a portion of it for two weddings (within the month). I could put it in my emergency savings account towards my $10K goal. Or, I could equally divide it among the abovementioned expenses/savings. Decisions, decisions, decisions.....


What would you do if you expected something, then didn't expect anything, yet received something? Would you stick to your original idea when you were expecting something or change course?

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