tax return for freebies?!

[chestercheeto48]

Each to their own, I for one would much rather invest the money. If I really wanted to get a return at the end of the year I'd rather just drop $50.00 into a savings account every paycheck then at the end of the year go WOW!!!! free money!!!!

Have you ever done the math on actually how much you interest you would make in a year? It's like 20.00 by the time it is all said and done if your lucky. My interest earned on my savings account between 4500.00-5000.00 dollars last year was 35.xx.

Yes it is "free money" but in my opinion I am better off getting it in one lump sum paying off bills or making house improvements and not having to worry about saving which I am not historically good at. To each their own but the saving game isn't as good a gig as some make it out to be in terms of tax return vs getting it in your paycheck.

 

[jeffie7]

Have you ever done the math on actually how much you interest you would make in a year? It's like 20.00 by the time it is all said and done if your lucky. My interest earned on my savings account between 4500.00-5000.00 dollars last year was 35.xx.

Yes it is "free money" but in my opinion I am better off getting it in one lump sum paying off bills or making house improvements and not having to worry about saving which I am not historically good at. To each their own but the saving game isn't as good a gig as some make it out to be in terms of tax return vs getting it in your paycheck.

Savings = shit, I think my basic savings account is .08% however there's many options for 2-3% range return on your money.

While a 3% return on 1000-2000 bucks isn't that much, every little bit adds up. besides, I'm not one to let money sit around and so nothing.

I would have taken that 1000 bucks and bought SIRI siri/xm radio...oh wait, I did do that. I bought them right around 12-13c.... I believe B did the same, then again he was trying to be a cheap bastard and pick them up at like 7c so he might have been knocked out.

right now they're at 35c

1000 bucks would have gained me well over 1000 bucks in less then 1 month.
Too bad I don't have 1000 bucks in it.... I have more =)

What it comes down to is I don't give a damn if its 5 dollars, there's no reason for the gov to invest MY money when I could be doing the same and seeing the returns.

 

[Briansol]

i made 40% on a good chunk of my money.... TODAY. In fact, i made close to a grand today in the markets. like jeff mentioned, siri. I averaged down with my huge 11 cent buy to 14 cents.

All of which, i talked about over at savingstalk.com. If you want to make money, i post some good ideas from time to time over there

Sure, i lost some along the way, but i've been buying like crazy at these drit prices. All of you who aren't buying right now will regret life in 5 years, kciking your self in the ass for "not buying 5 years ago when this $50 stock was 10 cents and B told me to". I'm not remotely joking.

i have 1 months living expenses in savings. $3500. thats it. it earns me a whopping $0.24 a month in interest. but its there quick and easy should i lose my job and need to pay my mortgage for a month. I doubt i would ever need more than a month's living expenses. I'm a pretty desirable person, and even today i could find a job pretty easily. Maybe for less money, but enough to make it by.

 

[chestercheeto48]

Each to their own, I for one would much rather invest the money. If I really wanted to get a return at the end of the year I'd rather just drop $50.00 into a savings account every paycheck then at the end of the year go WOW!!!! free money!!!!

You were talking about savings here. I agree I would also invest but I am already maxing out my contributions to my retirement fund 403b and in all honesty don't want to get into the stock market at this point due to the volitility of it and I don't think it has bottomed out. The money I got back this year is going into home improvements (deck) which will yeild a pretty hefty return on investment when completed because I am doing it myself and lumber prices are cheap right now.

 

[jeffie7]

You were talking about savings here. I agree I would also invest but I am already maxing out my contributions to my retirement fund 403b and in all honesty don't want to get into the stock market at this point due to the volitility of it and I don't think it has bottomed out. The money I got back this year is going into home improvements (deck) which will yeild a pretty hefty return on investment when completed because I am doing it myself and lumber prices are cheap right now.

My mistake for not being clear on savings, I have 3 savings accounts, 1 is my normal bank, that sits at ZERO I then have 2 other accounts, 1 with scottrade where I can put money in and take money out at any point. and also one with Vanguard but that's part of my IRA.

To my savings = scottrade. Another good option is ING Direct. People need to stop thinking of normal banks as savings....

 

[BigJ]

ING direct used to have a very good money market rate I used to sign most checks out of but now since the rates suck, I don't really have a benefit to keep money in there versus my own savings account.

 

[Briansol]

a day later and still no new users at savingstalk.com

Do you guys hate money?

I should close out around +$500 today.

who else makes $500 a DAY?

proof:

 

[reckedracing]

fail
posting one day stats of a $500 gain is like someone selling a car and saying they make $3000 that day
lets see your track history

besides, i'm already a user at savings talk, and my money is tied for buying a house
when the house closes i'll make $8000 in one day thanks to uncle sams housing credit



what are those huge gains you posted?
40% 20% 15% increases

 

[BigJ]

a day later and still no new users at savingstalk.com

Do you guys hate money?

I should close out around +$500 today.

who else makes $500 a DAY?

proof:

Pfffft....


My dad was going to buy some BAC last week at 3.20 but he didn't have enough money in his scottstrade and had to wait for it to clear. Well its at 7.36. Chalk that up for making some money. I believe he bought a 1000 shares at 6.11-6.14 on monday.

 

[Briansol]

my lifetime position isn't great for a couple reasons.

1) when i first started out 3 years ago, i had no idea what i was doing and no one to guide me. As a result, i made a LOT of stupid choices that there's little point to selling for pennies on the dollar at this point. Might as well just sit on it and see what happens. But with my bad choices, i learned a ton along the way. So, i chalk that up to my 'education expense' You don't have to go through the same thing i did... there's people there to help you now.

2) I've been buying like crazy, well knowing that some of them were still headed down. With these, i don't care about 2009 results at all. 2009 is a buy at dirt year for me for my longs.

All that said, i'm only down 18%. But the market is down like 30%. so, i beat the market by 12%. If you factor out my stupid n00b choices, its something closer to 10%.
and finally, if you factor out my buy and longs, i'm up... a lot.



40% 'er
IMPM.PK: Summary for IMPAC MTG HLDGS INC - Yahoo! Finance

This is one of my noob bad choices. Formerly known as IMH. then dropped to pinks when housing collapsed. i lost nearly $900 on them. the 40% gain is a joke. i need to see 4000% to break even.

my 24% choice is ambak
ABK: Summary for AMBAC FINL GRP INC - Yahoo! Finance

This is one of my buy and hold long's. this stock was nearly $100 before the housing crash. I buy as much as I can every month while its dirt cheap. Financials are good again, and its been headed up the past 6 days or so. I fully epect to see this back in the double digits in a few years once the markets turn around. buy now while its cheap. I'm still dollar averaging down on this from some low $1.xx buys. So, yes, i am down on it, but when it goes back, and it will, i'll have a ton of shares at cheap prices for the most gain.

my 10% one is sirious
SIRI: Summary for Sirius XM Radio Inc. - Yahoo! Finance
as previously discussed.

 

[Briansol]

and oracle just released earnings reports, and afterhours is spiking huge.
ORCL: Summary for Oracle Corporation - Yahoo! Finance

 

[jeffie7]

I'm currently working on my "debt free by 2013" plan.

It includes no credit card bills or outstanding lines of credit other than my house by 2013.

Right now I have 8 open lines of credit... and all 8 have balances. 3 credit cards, one payment entitled "other", two loans (one was SUPPOSED to be paid off 3 years ago...), a car payment and the mortgage. I'm tired of it all.

My tax return will go to pay off 1 loan which wasn't closed, and as much as the rest that is necessary will return my outstanding property taxes from 2008 to a balance of zero, thus dropping my mortgage back to where it was removing the strain on myself AND Brian.

With the money I'm saving... I'LL BE ABLE TO FREAKING EAT!! YAY! What I don't use of my return will go into paying for my 1.5 week long vacation to St Louis which is coming up in August.

Anywho, I have 14 more payments on the car, possibly only 13, and I'll have 2 of 8 closed by 2010.

I don't know how I missed this post.

Here's the deal, paying an extra 100 bucks a month on your credit card, can in a sense earn you money that would have other wise been lost.

Think of it this way.

If you pay $1500.00 at one time, you're making zero off that money, however $1500.00 paid on a credit card over the course of the year would in a sense earn you 5-10-15% (the rate of your loan)

Where else can you find a 100% safe investment that will earn you 12.9%? (whatever your current rate is)

Large lump sum tax returns help people who actually, and simply put, live literally paycheck to paycheck. You got lucky and found a calling early. I simply didn't, you and I don't compare in any way shape or form. I'm glad that you can do that for yourself, but myself, much like quite a few others here can't.

To me what you're saying is if you live life paycheck to pay check it's better to get paid less. Rather then have more money to pay down loans faster in the end saving hundreds if not thousands of dollars. But on the flip side you'll get a big lump of money at the end of the year to pay down.... loans?

doesn't make sense.

 

[get_nick]

some people make more, some people make less. my old roommate made $60k as a dumptruck driver. got paid weekly. yet, he was ALWAYS broke. he only paid $350 in rent and had a truck payment. He needed his taxes every year for something.

the key is to get a lot better at managing money. get out from under debt and worry about investments later.

like jeff recommends, pay off debt. it's the same as getting a 15% return on money. sometimes higher with credit cards.

 

[reckedracing]

so he gets $1500 once a year instead of $28 bucks a week
who gives a fuck
if it works out better for him then let him be
shits a little different when you're living paycheck to paycheck, which I have a feeling those giving advice have not experienced

 

[get_nick]

so he gets $1500 once a year instead of $28 bucks a week
who gives a fuck
if it works out better for him then let him be
shits a little different when you're living paycheck to paycheck, which I have a feeling those giving advice have not experienced

i dont' think there is anybody on this forum that hasn't lived paycheck to paycheck at one point in time. we are all trying to help here. i don't see anybody personally attacking any one member.

i agree, what works best for everybody isn't the same. I personally like getting the big check at the end of the year. i don't really need the little bit each week. plus, with my deductions, i get a larger return than i would if i got more in my weekly check.

 

[jamesA]

I don't know how I missed this post.

Here's the deal, paying an extra 100 bucks a month on your credit card, can in a sense earn you money that would have other wise been lost.

Think of it this way.

If you pay $1500.00 at one time, you're making zero off that money, however $1500.00 paid on a credit card over the course of the year would in a sense earn you 5-10-15% (the rate of your loan)

Where else can you find a 100% safe investment that will earn you 12.9%? (whatever your current rate is)


To me what you're saying is if you live life paycheck to pay check it's better to get paid less. Rather then have more money to pay down loans faster in the end saving hundreds if not thousands of dollars. But on the flip side you'll get a big lump of money at the end of the year to pay down.... loans?

doesn't make sense.

What part of I don't have an extra 100 a month do you not comprehend? lol

You pull numbers out of nowhere that simply aren't feasible for me to grasp simply because...

YOU have extra hundreds in the bank you can pay towards something "just because", doesn't mean I can do that too, Jeffie.

This is the ONE TIME in the year that I will have an extra lump sum of cash to put towards bills. I'm literally draining my bank account on a weekly basis to keep my bills paid, whether I've got the rent from BDN or not at the moment.

I just spent 27 dollars at the grocery store out of the 55 in my checking. You should seriously live a day in my shoes to figure out exactly what I mean by my enjoying a large lump sum of cash, and why I think it's Christmas in March.

I spent last year trying to keep my house. It has so far been a bad 2009 with my mortgage unexpectedly jumping 200 bucks a month. My finances couldn't account for it, which is why the tax return is going towards that instead of a credit card.

 

[jeffie7]

What part of I don't have an extra 100 a month do you not comprehend? lol

I heart my sister in law. She's filing my taxes for me without cost to me, and having my federal direct deposited.

No cost + 1300+ back federal = me happy.

A couple of debts will go bye bye with this. I'll be two steps closer to becoming as debt free as possible.

Looks like you had a little over 100 extra a month based on your return.

In the end it went into paying down your credit card. Only difference is since you waited a year to touch the money you're now out 200-300-400 bucks (depending on your rate) due to letting the interest ride.

Since the money is going into your tax bill, then the point doesn't matter much, since you're just using that money as another loan in a sense. but its the little things in handling money that get some people out ahead of the game where others just dont care.

 

[jamesA]

I'm not toying with my taxes. Shit changes too much, last time I messed with them I owed one year and the next year got a whole lot back. It's more worth it to me to get a large sum to cover something that will always come up.

 

[Briansol]

It's that exact mentality that will keep you in this (or a similar) situation for pretty much your entire life.

As jeff points out, if you had that extra $100 a month in your pocket, one of your credit cards wouldn't even have a balance on it right now, and then some due to interest.

That would be one less payment every month from this point on. and by next year, another one will be done.

Ultimately, 99% of everyone lives paycheck to paycheck. Unless you have a significant amount of cash in the bank (like 50k plus), you're living paycheck to paycheck. The younger you are, the harder it is to not live paycheck to paycheck. When you first start out in life, there's SO much you NEED (not even want).
you want to eat? ok... you need a stove... a pan to cook it in.. a plate to server it on... and a fork to eat it with. assuming the stove came with the house, that first meal cost you at least $40 or so at walmart for a cheap pot/pan set and a silverware set.
as time goes on, you have everything you need and can start to save money instead of buying life items.

Whatever you do, DO NOT STOP paying on the house. let the credit cards go and kill your credit if you need to.... honestly, what do you need credit for right now anyway? you already have a house and a car... having a place to live is most important.

take all 3 cards you have and cut them up.

even an emergency right now is not worth charging. if your furnace blows up, too bad. get a kerosene heater if necessary... they are cheap.
if your car dies, park it. you got the work VAN to get around in.

$20 here, $10 there is how you will get yourself even again.

be frugal too. don't sleep with the tv on. turn off lights where you aren't, don't leave outside lights on when you're out for the night, take shorter showers to save on hot water, etc etc. there's probably $20 a month right there.

There's money out there to be saved.

 

[jamesA]

That is not the mentality that will keep me in this. That extra 100 a month wouldn't necessarily go into paying down credit cards; it may go into the "oh shit gas bill is 250 this month" or trying to stock up on groceries, or trying to put some money into the house, or I want a nice steak dinner tonight... or ok, an extra partial payment into the mortgage, or my registration is due, or I need a part for the car that stopped working, etc... One lump sum is better for me. I'm not worried about the credit card debt, it'll disappear. I'm trying to work on payments that are small but annoying to make and get those out of the way first along with the debts I'm not paying on, but will have to pay on it later.