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Do you use your tax refund to cruise.


dolittle
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Does anyone else use there tax refund as a vaction fund . This has been a good system for us, we have done this since we were married in 76 and most years we did get to do something. Over the years we have moved up in refunds and trips , we spend more than our refund but it is a good start .

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We wrote a nasty check to the fed also. Got some back from state, but not nearly what we paid the fed.

 

Mine was the exact opposite; got a little back from the Feds, but I had to pay a whole lot more to my State. It literally took away my vacation. I thought I had it balanced out, but the State didn't think so :mad:

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Because I do not particularly like the idea of making an interest-free loan to either state or Federal government, I am pretty careful to calculate withholding and estimated tax so as to wind up owing them a little each April - even adjusting estimated tax payments for the June, September and January installments. If you get any sort of substantial refund, you are being needlessly generous. Better to set vacation money aside through the year so you have it when wanted/needed.

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I would be pretty upset if my refund was big enough to vacation on. We have always tried to arrange things to minimize the amount of tax withheld. And then invest money that will grow. THAT is what we vacation on. I don't want to be giving my money to the government for what is essentially an interest free loan. I'd rather write a relatively small chque in April, than have hundreds or thousands tied up for a whole year.

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No, we don't. Being an accountant, I like to be as close to zero as possible. I would not use tax return for vacations - if I can't squirrel away a bit by bit during the year, I don't deserve vacations.

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Not being ugly but NO. If we had to depend on a tax refund to pay for a cruise, then we would not feel we were able to afford to cruise. :rolleyes:

LuLu

~~~

 

Not sure I understand this logic. A refund means you overpaid your taxes and you are owed the difference back. Whether you use a tax refund towards a cruise, or you do everything you can to minimize any possibility of a over paying and save the money in a savings fund instead, it's still money that YOU earned. There is no difference in the worth of that money. :confused::confused::confused:

Edited by boogs
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Thinking of a tax refund as a windfall to fund a vacation is really screwy thinking. It is your money that was overpaid, interest free, that you are getting back without interest. If it helps to think of it as a bonus for a vacation, fine. But in reality, you can either afford the vacation or not, regardless of a tax refund.

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But in reality, you can either afford the vacation or not, regardless of a tax refund.

 

I guess that depends on how much the refund is versus how much the vacation is. If you get back 1000 and the vacation is anything less than you could technically afford it. :)

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Not sure I understand this logic. A refund means you overpaid your taxes and you are owed the difference back. Whether you use a tax refund towards a cruise, or you do everything you can to minimize any possibility of a over paying and save the money in a savings fund instead, it's still money that YOU earned. There is no difference in the worth of that money. :confused::confused::confused:

 

All I was saying is that if you have to totally depend on a tax refund to pay for the cruise, you might want to consider if you can actually afford to cruise. Same is true for a savings fund ... if you have to go into it, you probably should not be cruising. :rolleyes:

Just my thoughts and my last post on this issue.

LuLu

~~~

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Does anyone else use there tax refund as a vaction fund . This has been a good system for us, we have done this since we were married in 76 and most years we did get to do something. Over the years we have moved up in refunds and trips , we spend more than our refund but it is a good start .

 

Not specifically cruises but as a vacation fund, yes, frequently. It's... oddly controversial but works for us and harms no one.

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All I was saying is that if you have to totally depend on a tax refund to pay for the cruise, you might want to consider if you can actually afford to cruise. Same is true for a savings fund ... if you have to go into it, you probably should not be cruising. :rolleyes:

Just my thoughts and my last post on this issue.

LuLu

~~~

 

Unless of course you are saving for a cruise. So, if not from savings I wonder how the cruise is paid for? Out of last week's paycheck?

Edited by ldubs
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Does anyone else use there tax refund as a vaction fund . This has been a good system for us, we have done this since we were married in 76 and most years we did get to do something. Over the years we have moved up in refunds and trips , we spend more than our refund but it is a good start .

 

We don't, but then our tax refunds are usually too small to be used for much of anything. I think it is a fairly widespread practice for people to view Fed/State tax refunds as mad money to be used for vacations or other special purchases.

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I guess overpaying taxes and then getting a refund is one way of saving for a vacation. It is just money taken out before you get to spend it on other things. I see nothing wrong with that.

 

Nothing wrong with it if that is what someone wants to do. I think what some are trying to say is withhold as close to the tax bill as possible. Instead of over-withholding, take that money and save/invest it elsewhere. The thing is I doubt anyone is purposely over-withholding a significant amount as a way to generate savings. I suspect a lot of taxpayers fill out the W-4, then keep their fingers crossed that a sufficient amount will be withheld and even better they might get a big refund. I don't intend this as a criticism. I think it is just the reality for most taxpayers.

 

I always get a kick out of folks who say "I didn't have to pay any taxes this year". What they really are saying is they over paid and got a refund.

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Nothing wrong with it if that is what someone wants to do. I think what some are trying to say is withhold as close to the tax bill as possible. Instead of over-withholding, take that money and save/invest it elsewhere. The thing is I doubt anyone is purposely over-withholding a significant amount as a way to generate savings. I suspect a lot of taxpayers fill out the W-4, then keep their fingers crossed that a sufficient amount will be withheld and even better they might get a big refund. I don't intend this as a criticism. I think it is just the reality for most taxpayers.

 

I always get a kick out of folks who say "I didn't have to pay any taxes this year". What they really are saying is they over paid and got a refund.

 

I overpay my taxes and usually get a nice refund this time of year. If people think I am being foolish, I really don't care. I have the maximum amount withheld each paycheck. I deliberately overpay. And I almost always get a refund, sometimes in the thousands like this year. But occasionally, like last year, I got a refund back from the state and ended up using almost all of it to pay extra federal taxes owed by cashing out old savings bonds.

 

For me overpaying is a convenient way to save for something special. It's my money that I earned, and it's in excess of what I own on taxes, so it is mine to do with as I wish. I have enough in my paycheck for day to day expenses, including many extras that make life fun. Then that refund shows up in my account and we can use it for something special, like a cruise, new furniture, or a down payment on a new car. That I let the government make a few dollars off if it in interest they earn instead of me is just my way of trying to be a better citizen. So what if I miss out on less than a hundred bucks of interest. It doesn't hurt me.

 

Sure, I could carefully calculate exactly how much I should pay in taxes so that I don't over pay, and then take the extra step to put that extra money in savings or investments, and then force myself not to spend it. But why bother when the interest earned is just pocket change? What I do works for me. So, have at it. Tell my how much of a fool I am. And while you are telling me that, also tell me why it's your business how I manage my money.

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All I was saying is that if you have to totally depend on a tax refund to pay for the cruise, you might want to consider if you can actually afford to cruise. Same is true for a savings fund ... if you have to go into it, you probably should not be cruising. :rolleyes:

Just my thoughts and my last post on this issue.

LuLu

~~~

 

I am at a total loss as to why you think it's any of your darn business how anyone else manages their money. Why would you even think it's appropriate to judge other people like that? :rolleyes:

Edited by boogs
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I would be pretty upset if my refund was big enough to vacation on. We have always tried to arrange things to minimize the amount of tax withheld. And then invest money that will grow. THAT is what we vacation on. I don't want to be giving my money to the government for what is essentially an interest free loan. I'd rather write a relatively small chque in April, than have hundreds or thousands tied up for a whole year.

 

Do you even know how taxes are collected????? They don't take all of it out of the first paycheck and hold on to it for an entire year. It accumulates gradually paycheck by paycheck. If they end up with $520 more than they should at the end of the year, they only take $10 more than they should out of each weekly paycheck. It will take months before the amount begins to add up to "hundreds or thousands". They won't have it all for "a whole year". :rolleyes:

Edited by sloopsailor
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I overpay my taxes and usually get a nice refund this time of year. If people think I am being foolish, I really don't care. I have the maximum amount withheld each paycheck. I deliberately overpay. And I almost always get a refund, sometimes in the thousands like this year. But occasionally, like last year, I got a refund back from the state and ended up using almost all of it to pay extra federal taxes owed by cashing out old savings bonds.

 

For me overpaying is a convenient way to save for something special. It's my money that I earned, and it's in excess of what I own on taxes, so it is mine to do with as I wish. I have enough in my paycheck for day to day expenses, including many extras that make life fun. Then that refund shows up in my account and we can use it for something special, like a cruise, new furniture, or a down payment on a new car. That I let the government make a few dollars off if it in interest they earn instead of me is just my way of trying to be a better citizen. So what if I miss out on less than a hundred bucks of interest. It doesn't hurt me.

 

Sure, I could carefully calculate exactly how much I should pay in taxes so that I don't over pay, and then take the extra step to put that extra money in savings or investments, and then force myself not to spend it. But why bother when the interest earned is just pocket change? What I do works for me. So, have at it. Tell my how much of a fool I am. And while you are telling me that, also tell me why it's your business how I manage my money.

 

Not me. I'm not accusing you of anything or telling you how to manage your money. Hope you didn't get that from my post. I sure didn't intend it that way. I was trying to clarify what I thought others were trying to say and to point out what I think the reality is for many.

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