Monday, February 18, 2008

MONEY MONEY MONEY!!!

Any Dave Ramsey people reading?? I found out this morning we are getting $7800 back on our taxes. Quitting daycare and living on one income really made a difference!! I have been thinking of the smartest way to use that much money. We owe $1,500 on that entertainment center, $3,900 on our 03 minivan and $82,500 on our house. They payment on the house is $720 a month but only $100 of that goes towards principal. I think the smart thing would be to sink it all on principal of the house. My dad said that was how he paid off our first house when I was little was using every tax return he got towards it. So what would you do? If I continue paying $500 a month on the van ($30 mth on interest), it'll be paid off by October. The entertainment center is 0% for a year. We have no credit debt at all.

8 comments:

Unknown said...

WHOOO HOOOOO!! I love tax returns!! You are soo good to do something smart with it. Which ever you decide will be a benifit to you and your family!!!

Christina

Jenn said...

Holy Cow! I am sooooo jealous! We're getting about $2300 back, but then we have to put $1200 of it towards city taxes that somehow never get taken out of our paychecks.

I think all the ideas you have for putting it to use are good ones, but I'm sure you'll feel most rewarded if you put it towards the house or car.

Nicole Brady said...

If the entertainment center is 0%, then don't bother to pay it until you have to. But don't wait a day after the due date or you'll probably get hit with all the back interest. Most of the 0% contracts have that written in - so be prepared to pay it IN FULL as soon as it's due.

As for your house and van - keep in mind that the interest you pay on your house is a tax deduction when you itemize - the interest on the vehicle is not. So if you have credit card bills or anything else then pay those before paying down your house principal. That's been my experience, at least.

Either way, kudos to you on planning to use it to pay down any of your debt... so many people see the refund and go on a spending spree!

Angela said...

That's an awesome return! I can understand your desire to use it wisely. We're getting back $3700 this year which is huge for us, but since we're planning to build a house this summer, we're going to hang onto every penny to help with that.

Bird's Eye View Photography said...

I know! We got almost $9,000 back... I had a heart attack... we are paying off debt- putting some in savaings, and doing some thigns to our house. YEAH!

Tuesday Girl said...

sigh, I wish that was my house payment!

Anonymous said...

WOW! We're getting a whole $250.00 back this year. We didn't pay as much tax as we should have while Ben was out of work for 6 months at 60% pay through worker's compensation. The money at the time was worth not getting one big check though.

Norberto Kurrle said...

Ramsey would say to start with the smallest debts first and then focus on chunking off the big one (the mortgage) through a disciplined savings plan. I tend to agree with him, because then you will have less admin. work each month and you can really breathe a little lighter knowing that's all that's left! Also, many people suggest making bi-weekly payments, so you can get an extra 2 payments in per year. That is, only if your mortgage co. doesn't charge extra for this service.

Let us know what you decided to do and congrats on such a nice sized return!

Blessings,

Julie