My tax refund arrived electronically on Friday. Considering I had to file by paper, it didn’t take as long as I expected (mailed in the middle of February). This year’s return was for $679 which is a lot more than I usually get. I try to keep it very close to around $100 – I want my money and I don’t like “loaning” the government money interest free. But with all the tax changes last year and credits I got a little more back.
I have two plans for the money:
- I want to set up a Medical budget and use $100 as seed money. I have a Flexible Spending Account through work, but the payments are usually behind, sometimes a month or two. With this money I will pay the bill (usually credit card), then when I get reimbursed I will put the money back into the account for the next bill, etc. This way I won’t stress about where to temporarily pull money from to cover the expense until the reimbursement arrives.
- The rest of the money will go towards a small remodeling/painting project we hope to do this summer. We want to fix up our hallway and do a little work in a small guest bathroom. We estimate it will cost a little over $1000 to do what we want, so we are now half-way there!
If you are getting a return this year, what will you be doing with it? Paying down debt? Investing? Having fun?
