When I asked a few weeks ago how you would most likely spend your tax refunds, more than half of you said you would use the money to pay off debt.
Well, good news! Paying off or paying down debt is definitely one of the smart ways to spend your tax refund.
According to Visa's Director of Financial Education Programs Jason Alderman's article Use your tax refund wisely, paying off debt is at the top of the list for wise, recession-smart ways to spend a tax refund.
Also making the list of Recession-Smart Ways of Spending Your Tax Refund:
- Saving for emergencies
- Saving for the future
- Investing in personal career development
- Investing in your family's future
- Paying for a session with a financial planner
We paid off a big chunk of debt, set up a little savings plan, and figured out a tighter budget plan for 2009. This list is a good reminder of what to do once our remaining debt is paid off.
+++ What about you? Do you have any smart ideas for spending or investing a tax refund.
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Comments 6
We paid off some debt. We still have some left for a swingset (yay!) and some new clothes for summer (yay! again). We also have plans to spend the rest on home improvements that were put off last year when the price of lumber sky-rocketed.... building a small front deck, getting trim and doors for the whole house, and hopefully a new driveway!! Our stone a (mostly) dirt driveway looks like a creek right now!
well, we are out of debt and are working on building our EF. we will be putting half into that and with the other half we're going on vacation! we've been married 5 years and have never gone on vacation (or a honeymoon) so we are very excited! is that a good recommendation for everyone here? no, not if you have debt. pay it off first. but by all menas, if you plan on going on vacation anyway, USE CASH.
Paying off debt should generally be a #1 priority. Once you're not paying off credit cards and loans, that money can be allocated to a savings accounts instead.
As we have no debt, we're sticking a huge chunk in savings in preparation for getting out of the Navy in a little under two years, and buying things for the new baby.
we paid off debt and bought a new bed. we figured even if we are in a recession we still need a bed to sleep in.
We don't have any debt except for our house. We are saving most of it, and then bought some food storage and ammo. :)