Indigo at That's My Answer asks:
Have you calculated your tax returns yet? Will you be getting a refund, or do you owe? Do you try to equal out at the end of the year, where you don't owe and you also don't get a refund?
I e-filed my own return the day that the W-2s came in at work - two days before the IRS even started processing them. I had my federal refund in my account on January 30. My state return was mailed, because I wasn't going to pay $30 to e-file for an $88 refund, so that refund has not come in yet.
Chris had to wait a little longer for his W-2 and the mortgage statement, but finally got his returns filed last weekend. His federal refund should be deposited February 20.
We aim somewhere in between breaking even and getting a refund. It's all well and good to say you don't want the government holding onto your money all year, but in case we ever have some kind of unexpected income which isn't pre-taxed, we don't ever want to end up owing. Plus it's nice to have that bit of extra cash once a year to spend on something we might not have had the discipline to save for otherwise.
This year most of our refunds will go toward paying down debt, but we'll probably make a few small purchases of things we've needed for a long time. One of those, which we've already ordered, is vertical blinds for our living room window. We might get our carpets professionally cleaned, too, especially now that we've gotten rid of Brooskey's crate, and the area underneath it is disgusting!
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