LA-Story.com is pleased to share with you a new guest blogger, Jamie Wharton of EARNEST.com. This post is about what you can do with your tax refund. Whether you want to use that tax refund on an incredible tropical vacation or a European trip, that’s not always in the cards. It’s particularly difficult to do so if you have outstanding student loans — or any outstanding loan– staring you in the face every month.
Yes, I know I just took the buzz right out of your daydreams.
Take a look at guest blogger Jamie Wharton’s ideas here and do not forget to take a good look at the infographic at the end of this post. It’s really smart, insightful, and useful.
How To Spend Your Tax Refund Wisely
By Jamie Wharton
It’s that time of year again…tax season! While this time of year can be an exciting time for some people, others find it to be very stressful. A lot of time is spent gathering all of the necessary documents, filing your taxes, and waiting for your refund. However, often not much time is put into how you should actually use your refund to set yourself up to better your future. We all know how easy it can be to spend your tax refund in the wrong ways, so here are some tips on how to best utilize your tax refund in order to get ahead financially.
Do’s
Everyone has a different financial situation. No matter how unique yours may be, the most important thing to do is develop a plan for how to spend your refund. Take a look at your savings. Do you have enough money to cover an emergency situation if one were to happen? If your answer is no, consider using your tax refund to start an emergency fund savings account. Another option is to use your refund to get ahead on your bills. One way to do this is to make an extra mortgage payment. Or if you have any high interest debts, such as credit cards, student loans, personal loans, or auto loans you can also use your refund to pay those down. You can save yourself even more money in the long run by (refinancing your student loans).
Don’ts
We all know how easy it can be to spend your tax refund on things we don’t really need. While it’s totally okay to use your refund to treat yourself, don’t treat your refund like a bonus. Stick to the plan that you have created and set aside a small portion of your refund to spend on personal items you may be wanting. Remember not to spend your refund frivolously. This will prevent you from spending money on things you don’t really need. Lastly, don’t spend your refund before you receive it. If this is something that you have found yourself struggling with during tax time, there is an option to receive your refund via paper check.
Developing a plan for how to spend your refund and sticking to it are the most important things to do when it comes to spending your tax refund. Check out the guide below to learn about more ways to best utilize your tax refund:
Author Bio:
Jamie Wharton is a Social Media Strategist for (Earnest). She has a passion for finance and enjoys educating others. Her main goal is to help build a brighter financial future while making finance friendly for everyone. When not working you can find Jamie surfing the web while sipping on her latte.
Follow Earnest.com on these social channels:
https://twitter.com/meetearnest
https://www.facebook.com/Earnest-624940000888848/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/earnest-inc
LA-Story.com and I would like to thank Jamie Wharton and Earnest.com for this great content. Perfectly timed to the closing of the 2016 tax season, it’s important for people to be smart about how they use any tax refunds as well as planning pro-actively for next year’s taxes! Don’t be surprised if you see Jamie Wharton and Earnest.com show up again on this blog!
Want some additional information on handling student loan payments?
Check out this article from Empathize.com:
Everything you need to Know about Loan Consolidation and Student Loan Forgiveness by Eric Lefleche
Eric Lefleche did a phenomenal job on this article!
This is very carefully researched article — in fact, Eric (and Empathize.com) quote more than 25 sources and if anyone out there has student loans, this article is a useful addition to the Jamie Wharton’s article on school lonas.
Stevie Wilson,
LA-Story.com
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I am glad to see the trends going to saving. I get no refund, but neither do I pay, so I am good. There is some very sound advice for all of those who have debt here. I am lucky in that I have none of that either. Thanks, Stevie.