(Untitled)

[schmitterling77]

I'm back from CA for good now (hopefully).  Protected CD's blow, you can't listen to the music from a computer....wth!  Going to be social tonight and hang out with some of Joe's friends friends.  Yes not Joe's friends directly but the friends of a friend...anyway I guess that means Joe and I are likable enough to make friends outside of work.  I

Comments

[tenthz]

If you use your refund next year to pay off your bills, that'll put you even closer than having it payed off at 52! :-) Being responsible is a pain in the butt sometimes... but if you balance it out with having fun with friends of friends or whomever, I think it's not so bad. :-)

[audesapere]

Unfortunately most of these are concerns that are so foreign to me I can't really offer any insight...I mean, I've never even made enough money to have to do taxes. however, I am terrified of debt and I would probably do the same thing; it seems wasteful and flashy to me to spend refunds on consumer items when you can pay off your debts with them.

Is it possible for you to take a sabbatical in a few years and do something just for you? I have felt hte same way: that I only ever lived my lfie for others. I wanted to take a year off before college & do volunteer work. My parents EMPHATICALLY said no. For a while in college I was the same way, but there comes to a point where you really need to do something enriching just for you.

[dracheitskara]

To be positive, you should totally stick with Joe's ideas. They say the fastest way out of debt is to steadily dump your extra money into it, and then before you know it, you'll be debt free and living better than you could imagine. You just have to be patient and forego some of the "fancier" toys. That (and my upcoming marriage) are why I will be continuing to survive with an outdated computer and a TV I found by the dumpster.

On a less positive note, you really ought to consider the fact that you are paying way too much in taxes if you are getting that kind of money back. You should break even, or have to pay a little at tax time. Either consult a tax specialist on how many deductions you should have, or just start playing with the numbers till it makes sense. I'm planning on bumping up my deductions up, and I only got back $1500 this year. Then again, that was from just 4 months of work....

[schmitterling77]

The thing about the deduction is we had no idea how things would work out this year with the joining of the incomes and the house, we knew they would somewhat cancel each other out but we didn't know how much. Next year we will not pay as much on interest in the house, the percentage goes down each year (93% this year, 90% next, etc for 30 years) until the last year you are paying only on principal, so it's not too easy to judge what the return will be

[azurereaver]

That last sentence seems to ignore that the mortgage is higher than 4.5%. Besides that; you're talking of saving the money rather than spending on something, which I thought was the point of your commentary.

You deleted my snide post :/ I was going to say more but what is the point if you're going to delete it and not go in to a further conversation (on or offline) with me about what I said.