TAX REFUNDS!! Save Them Or Spend Them?

We are getting quite a bit of money back this year. It has already all been spendt on our kitchen. Even if we do get some insurance-money. We had some waterdamage earlier this year and had to have lots done. It turned out that there was some problems with the electricity here as well that did not get covered by the insurance, but that had to be fixed now.

I haven't had a tax refund in a couple of years as I am a stay at home mom so I have no income...but with my hubby's, we usually try to spend half & save half although we normally end up paying bills with the savings half. We also tried this when wewere both working. Here in Australia, our tax year ends on June 30 so we have 2 months left to wait.

That's great idea for planning all the thing you want to do. For me, I always save it and just use it for other reason. This year, I don't have to pay and I dont have to get it back... But I just got a letter from IRS (I live in USA) said I could get $800 back from tax credit. It is really cool. I would take couple of hundred dollars to spend and the rest will be in saving.

That's so cool. I don't know if the word here in my country is tax refund, but we do have this scheme called Rebates and also GST Package whereby we get some money and it can range as the sum you've mentioned. And sometimes we are paid the whole chunk or divided into two, the other to be paid at a later date. And I feel you there. Its been awhile since I really have gotten serious on my savings and I suppose I should start now. A penny for a rainy day that sort of thing. This discussion reminds me on my saving priority. Thanks buddy for the indirect call.

I got about 500 dollars this year - getting a raise last year ment i got less back for taxes (however i like the raise!). I actually get my income tax and as soon as i get it i apply it to my outstanding student loans. I do that because the faster i get it paid off the less i have to pay in interest and then i dont go and blow it on something silly that i really dont need. I got a bonus cheque however at easter and I used half of it for my glasses and the other half i was hoping to use for a new bbq.

I already got one and we used it to pay off some bills and bought some stuff that we wanted. We have a savings account with money in it and we also always have money in our checking account.

getting money to spend is very tempting but i think it would be better to save them as sure one may require money for the future,as it is now the economy is so bad.(having some money in habd is a added bonus.)

The one I got? Part of it went to buy my husband's Ipod speaker and the rest is going to renovate the house along with part of my Canada Pension. I have nothing to say about it. He just said we'll use it to renovate the house, do the bathroom, etc. and then he gets an ipod and says that he needs a speaker so I can listen to his shows. He has not listened for almost a month. Me? I would be doing it once a week at the lest. I already one of those tax free accounts and most of that is going for a Macbook Pro when I get the $5000 in it. And I have to save money in the regular account just in case my husband kicks the bucket.

hubby got over $1,000 back which we used for bills. fun eh? we are behind in property taxes and behind in our master card payments. we need to get our mastercard up to date because i need to go to the dentist and our daughter needs glasses (we have no coverage). i got over $100 for mine but its in the bank, not sure what it will go to, prolly bills!

With the education credits we got for my daughters and I, we will get a handsome chunk back this year. Even after having to pay in for my hubby's independent contractor status at the church. We plan to pay on the principle of my vehicle hopefully getting it down where we can pay it off when I get the reimbursement check for financial aid at the end of the summer.

We always get a huge income tax return. The first $6000 goes into an account to pay off our property and school taxes for that year. After that, we try to save the rest. It is nice to have something to fall back on in case of an emergency. So now our tax refunds go right into our emergency fund.

If I get a refund and usually I don't but if I do I am going to fix my car. Wow how exciting is that! I was involved in a hit and run in Oct. I was hit and they ran. I have been driving around with bits hanging off the back of my car ever since because I can't afford the deductable on the insurance policy. So if I get a refund it will be spent on light bulbs and duct tape! I hope we at least get to buy one frivolous thing for ourselves to make us happy though!

i guess its not wise to spend some extra money these days...its so hard to earn money now adays due to the global economic crisis...if i had those refunds i sure will put it on my savings for the future expenses..lucky you..

I don't get any money back anymore because I don't pay into it all year. I am self employed so I only do my taxes once a year and that is when I pay. I have a lot of deductions because of being self employed but I still end up paying around $2000. I don't think that is too much because I have to pay my share of taxes too. But I don't know what I will be paying this year because I haven't done mine yet. Being self employed I have till June 30th to do mine. My sister owns an income tax and bookkeeping company and has an office and 5 people working for her during tax time. They do personal returns first and then they do the self employed people. She has more self employed clients than personal but they are also more work since she does the bookkeeping part first so she can have their financial page done so she can do their taxes. I do my own bookkeeping and just send her my financial statis and she then does my taxes. I think this year I will have to pay more because I made more money. But then this year I have more health deductions because I got my eyes lasered and that was $3,000 and I get to claim that. So I won't know how much I will be paying till the end of June and that is okay because the longer I can hang onto my money the better.

not expecting one,but if i did,it would be going right on bills. our utilities now are so high it's a joke.they keep voting themselves increases,so it doen't matter if you try to conserve,it still goes up.

I'm probably going to use it to pay debts since I really think is important to learn to live within my means ,and not get myself in debt anymore.

I would suggest to spend it, but spend it wisely Like: 1) you can prepay your loans with that and reduce your debt, this way you are spending it but in return you get peace of mind. 2) Buy insurance and get more cover for your life, house etc 3) If you are expecting a heavy tax liability this year pay your taxes with the same amount or invest it so that it reduces your tax liability. The secondary option would be to invest it somewhere for a long term and don't even think of touching it for a few years, which would get you good returns.

I find that if people are in a part time, or casual position of work during a tax year, and also considering how long it takes to earn and save money, the most prudent option would be to save the money. I think that it would be slightly costly and maybe a mistake to buy into reasonably big ticket items especially if a person has none or little money saved.

Hi danish...We paid bills with our refund money. And since this is a loan in effect that you're giving the government, we're thinking about taking more in net pay each week so that we don't get such a big refund. I'd rather not loan the government any more money than they need and wait an entire year to get it back. You should do whatever makes you happy and if even taking some of the money and putting it aside in a savings account makes you happy, please do!

We actually got a good refund this year and sad to say we spent it. But the way we spent it, people have laughed at us. We prepaid all our bills to were they owed us money on them. :)