what to do with 5k tax refund?

[SueInBoston]

WWYD?

1- pay down car loan at 1.99% (new car...another 4 years to go)

2- pay down CC loan at 0% (0% till 2014)

3- keep in bank for emergency...(already has a decent base)

4- send son to expensive camp (6k) that he really wants to go (been in past when our finances were good)

5- take a vacation (just kidding

TIA

 

[wdwmom0f3]

Go to Disney!

My husband wouldn't let me use ours for that though. It went into savings, but we are debt free. If I had any debt it would all go to that.

 

[clh2]

Put into an IRA or a ROTH IRA?

College fund? We get tax benefits for a 529 plan.

What do you anticipate your balance on your CC to be when you convert from 0% interest to "real" interest? If you aren't on track for the balance to be "0" - that is a consideration too!

The 1.9% on the car loan - isn't a whole lot of interest - even over 4 or 5 years.

While I'm sure the 6K was a great experience - that is also "serious" family vacation money. So - unless there was a great reason, (i.e. it was a Spanish immersion camp that gave AP credits or something like that) I wouldn't spend the money on that. A 6K camp is a once-in a lifetime experience, and it sounds like your DS has done it already. Plus - don't forget - once they hit high school, there are usually many opportunities for travel, so perhaps decline the camp - and save the money for a high school experience. (My DD went to Spain with her band...and there were many other opportunities for travel, but she only got to go on one.)

 

[livsmom04]

Go to Disney!

My husband wouldn't let me use ours for that though. It went into savings, but we are debt free. If I had any debt it would all go to that.

That's what we did with ours this year. But we also paid off all the credit cards and we paid the taxes on our van.

 

[livsmom04]

I would say pay down the car or credit card loans. Or keep it in the bank for emergencies. If you DS has already been to the camp once then I wouldn't send him again. 6k for a camp is really high. I know when we sent my dd to a camp for a week we paid probably $300 total but it also didn't help that it was church camp and my parents were there with her.

 

[crisi]

Mine is sitting in the bank - we may be moving across the country and I want the cash just in case I need it towards a downpayment. I've known about the potential move for a few months - and have been hording cash. If not, it will re-carpet the house we are in.

(I'd be tempted to pay the credit card bill - 0% often bites you in the butt - then pay it off as fast as you can and move to "no credit card debt" - its the first step in being debt free - and that changes your life in ways you wouldn't believe.)

 

[Cindy B]

Cherish it... I got a whole $6 refund!

 

[DisneyGal24]

Go to Disney! Its what we do with our refund! Lol! If that's not an option then I would either save it or do the camp.

 

[lvillotta1]

Mine went into my emergency fund. I currently have 4 months worth of living expenses. My goal is 6 months. My second choice would have been to open a Roth IRA.

 

[Marionnette]

WWYD?

1- pay down car loan at 1.99% (new car...another 4 years to go)

2- pay down CC loan at 0% (0% till 2014)

3- keep in bank for emergency...(already has a decent base)

4- send son to expensive camp (6k) that he really wants to go (been in past when our finances were good)

5- take a vacation (just kidding

TIA

Pay off the debts and then adjust your withholding so that next year's isn't quite so much.

 

[AliceIn]

1. Put aside some for an emergency fund.

2. Pay down your smallest debt to try to cancel it out completely.

3. Take a look at your withholding so that you don't end up with a 5K refund next year. You are much better off having that money to use to pay down debts now rather than waiting. You would save rather a lot of you had the extra money each month that would reduce the amount you pay interest on.

 

[eliza61]

Split it. Go on vacation and pay down car note. Cc is 0% so unless your having a hard time paying it,

 

[DawnM]

I would pay down a loan, even if it currently has a low interest. I hate loans. And that 0% WILL cost interest if not paid by the due date.

Dawn

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Split it. Go on vacation and pay down car note. Cc is 0% so unless your having a hard time paying it,

I agree. Life is short; you have to have fun sometimes. We always pay off a 0% promo a little early just to stay safe but I don't see the rush to pay it immediately.

We used ours to pay toward a Med cruise. We usually put it toward something our house needs. This year I got a rare opportunity to get more than exactly 1 week off work during summer. Usually we can only have 1 week, Mon to Fri. This year I got the previous week's Thurs & Fri which gives us enough time to fly to Barcelona & adjust to the time change. The odds of this happening again are uber-slim. It's now or wait 10 yrs til our kids are out of school so we could go during May or Sept. Plus my parents are still alive & healthy enough to join us which may not be so in future years.

I've regretted many things in life but never a vacation.

OTOH, if having a 1.99% car loan will keep you from having peace of mind, pay that off.

 

[Christen99]

Ditch the debt. We are debt free, and have withholding so we don't receive nor pay. However, each year dh gets a large bonus, as well as a ton of stock (he cashes out half if the value is over $80/share) so we do the following...

1. Buy silver dollars if the rate is low enough (you get the silver weight value, as well as the monetary value). We've made over $20,000 by doing this over the last 5 years.

2. Purchase something for dh's gun collection as well as ammo

3. Put a lump sum cash in special savings spot

4. The rest goes into IRA

5. Something small for each of us so we're not tempted to make a huge splurge purchase. Last year I bought a really good dehydrator, we bought a used iPod for our son, and a used iPad for our other son.

 

[Planogirl]

Pay down debt and maybe pad the emergency fund. We are in debt (again) due to medical problems. Medical costs can easily wipe out savings and you never know when they might strike.

 

[crisi]

:debwalk:

Pay down debt and maybe pad the emergency fund. We are in debt (again) due to medical problems. Medical costs can easily wipe out savings and you never know when they might strike.

I'm sorry to hear that - may your health and financial issues be short lived.

 

[njcarita]

Pay down debt and maybe pad the emergency fund. We are in debt (again) due to medical problems. Medical costs can easily wipe out savings and you never know when they might strike.

amen we were debt free till i became ill 3 years ago and could not work.......... wiped out our savings.......... and put us in quite a credit card debt........... thought we have tons of equity in our house over 150,000 we cant tap it and refinance...... cause our income is low due to me not working and our credit cards so high due to me not working.................. so save save save save...... dont put everything into your house cause when u need it u may not be able to pull it back out................. thankfully i am now working part time and everything i make is going toward the credit card..... every penny....... but at this rate it will take at least 5 years to get rid of the debt............. if not more..................

 

[manning]

Try to stay debt free and have an emergency fund.

A thought. I worked with someone who hated his job. He was debt free and had money in the bank. He quit. Said he had enough money to look for another job. Debt did not force him to stay.

 

[ilovemk76]

WWYD?

1- pay down car loan at 1.99% (new car...another 4 years to go)

2- pay down CC loan at 0% (0% till 2014)

3- keep in bank for emergency...(already has a decent base)

4- send son to expensive camp (6k) that he really wants to go (been in past when our finances were good)

5- take a vacation (just kidding

TIA

4 & 5 are out.

1, 2 or 3 are the best options.

2) Will you have this all paid off by 2014? If you might have a problem doing that, then put all the money toward this debt.

1) If above is not a problem, then I would pay off the car, if you can pay it off in full, otherwise, I would do 3.