My Plan For Our Tax Refunds

By Pinyo, on March 28, 2008

Hank at My Investing Blog is hosting a giveaway with a few prizes up for grab. There are a couple of ways to enter, and one is by answering the following question: “How will you spend/save your 2007 tax return? If you aren’t getting one, how much do you owe?”

My Plan For The Big Fat Tax Refund

I mentioned before that I completed our tax returns and are getting about $1,800 in tax refund this year. This is higher than usual since due to the birth of our newborn son and the tax deduction for his 529 plan. Anyway, the original plan was to contribute a $1,000 each into our IRA acounts.

Photo by sezdavies via Flickr

A Couple of Obstacles

Unfortunately, I ran into a couple of obstacles along the way. First was my “expected but forgotten” quarterly property tax in the amount of $728.10. It seems like yesterday when I paid this amount to the City — how time flies! But that’s not so bad, I could come up with $728.10, and I should be on track to contribute to our IRAs.

Unfortunately, I received 4 invoices from the hospital in the past 2 days. Normally, these invoices are small because my insurance company covers most of the costs. Not this time! The four invoices add up to almost $1,300. Yikes.

Well, now you know where my tax refund checks went. I was hoping to spread out our IRA contributions through out the year, but it doesn’t look like it will happen this month. I guess I’ll have to wait for the tax rebate check instead.

How will you spend your tax refund?

Here are a few other giveaways you could enter:

$50 SmartyPig Gift Card Giveaway at My Dollar Plan
My First Giveaway!!!! at Single Guy Money
Your Biggest Money Mistake Contest at Millionaire Money Habits

This article was featured in:

The Carnival of Money Stories #53 hosted by Chief Family Officer. For more information please visit the Carnival of Money Stories.

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13 Comments

Bryce
March 28, 2008, 9:14

Pinyo,

Congratulations on the birth of your son. I hope the extra hospital invoices do not portend anything bad and that he and your wife are doing well.
Mrs. Micah
March 28, 2008, 13:10

Well, it’s nice you don’t have to dip into the emergency fund or anything like that. Better luck next time!
Squeezer
March 28, 2008, 14:16

I owe $450 but thats because last year I adjusted my withholdings and did an App-O-Rama.
No Debt Plan
March 28, 2008, 20:35

Wait, so if you owe money you won’t get a refund? Or is that just if you don’t file in time?
Pinyo
March 29, 2008, 7:28

@Bryce — Thank you. Everyone is doing well. It’s OB/GYN bill from when my wife gave birth. It took them 3 months to send me the invoices.

@Mrs. Micah — Always looking on the bright side of things.

@Squeezer — I like to owe a little too. I don’t believe in interest-free loan for the government. What is App-O-Rama.

@No Debt Plan — I am not sure what you mean.
Minimum Wage
March 29, 2008, 9:44

I was going to use my tax refund to start an emergency fund, but the government has other plans for my tax refund which trump mine, so I won’t be getting a tax refund after all.
hank
March 30, 2008, 0:31

Thanks for the post and link back – you’ve been duly entered. Funny you mention the forgotten property tax. I did the exact same thing myself on Thursday – went in and paid $1400 that I neglected to pay in December, and now have another $1400 due by Apr 30… good grief!
No Debt Plan
March 30, 2008, 13:39

Ah, nevermind, completely misread Hank’s question. I thought it was about the rebates.
Vered
March 30, 2008, 17:47

Congratulations! You must be really, really tired these days, unless you have one of those miracle babies who sleeps through the night right from the start.

If you normally get full coverage from your insurance, I would call the doc’s office to try and find out what happened. Sometimes there are mistakes. At other times it is worth making a few phone calls and being a little stubborn before paying a medical bill.

Re: tax refund, we normally try to invest it.
Tom
March 30, 2008, 20:20

Pinyo’s insurance is probably not a full coverage one.
Christine
April 1, 2008, 22:27

I just heard about something awful that the IRS might be doing…. but then again… it might be an April Fools joke from one of your fellow bloggers from “Don’t Mess with Taxes”. You should read the post titled “IRS spending rebate cash for some filers”. It is pretty scary.
Frugal Babe
April 2, 2008, 16:05

Congratulations on the new baby!! We’re getting a $3800 refund – don’t worry, it won’t happen again… I know it’s a free loan to Uncle Sam, but last year was our first year as an S-Corp and I wasn’t sure how much to withhold to cover the income we got as dividends from the corporation. Anyway, we’re going to put $800 into our HSA to max it out for the year, make the last payment ($650) to our midwife for the birth of our baby next month, and put the rest into my husband’s IRA.
Pinyo
April 2, 2008, 19:19

@hank — Thank you. $1,400 a quarter — that’s expensive…wow.

@Vered — Thank you. I have deductible plan. It sucks. My medical insurance coverage has been going down hill the past few years.

@Christine — It’s probably April Fools’

@Frugal Babe — Congratulation! I also need to look into HSA and high deductible plan. It might make sense for us, although I am not sure with the baby and all.

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