January 24, 2010
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On The Fence
Okay, so. I did my taxes yesterday, and I’m getting about $1800 back with my federal and state combined. With the hours I’m working, my paychecks are between $580-$650 every week. With no overtime, my paycheck is about $460 a week. These hours are not going to slow down anytime soon though. They are actually going to increase because as the next couple of months come around, we are going to get busier.
When I first learned how much I was getting back, I sat down and swore to myself that I wouldn’t go crazy shopping. I thought of doing some shopping, but only spending about $200. Here’s the thing. I have had the same 19in old school tv in my bedroom for the last 12 years. I want to buy myself a nice new tv, like a 24in, or maybe a 32in. That’s about $600 or less. I want to buy one so bad. After working 10-12 hours a day, I would like to come home and enjoy a nice tv in my room and relax.
I don’t know. I wanted to pay off some of my debt, but I’m thinking I can easily do that when I’m making about $2400 a month. For rent, gas, car payment and insurance, I have about $950 that I HAVE to pay every month. The rest I can spend on debt, right? My goal, financially, for this year is to pay all my debt (except for my car, which I still owe a little over $7000) and save enough money for lasik. All of my non-car debt is about $6000. With some diligence and discipline, I think I can accomplish my financial goals and still buy a new tv for myself.
Hmm.
Comments (9)
Good luck with your goals!
Maybe use ur tax return to pay off some debt, and save for the TV for a couple months? I would honestly probably do the opposite lol. I also think you could probably get a really nice TV for less than 600, so maybe u could buy the TV, and still put some cash towards ur debt.
For me I would go for the debts. I myself would not feel right about it when I have that big of a debt to pay off. My mom always told me “Needs before wants.” Tis the truth. In the end, it is always best. She taught me to always pay bills first before getting my wants. And I guess if you could pay a bit off the bill and still get the TV with the tax returns that would be good. But, still..if it was me I would feel bad. G’luck in the goals you make for this.
you sound so organized – I’m jealous:)
Buy the tv. Put the rest toward your debt. If you have multiple debts like a few credit cards and a few loans or whatever your situation, start off by paying off your smallest amounts first. Send whatever you can on your current smallest amounts and only pay the minimum balance on your other accounts. This way you can effectively check off one debt at a time instead of focusing on *all* of your debt and getting overwhelmed. This method is a little more motivating to keep going and stay on track with it. I think you deserve the tv. If that’s the only big purchase item you’ve been wanting and you’ve worked hard, go ahead and get it! Just remember the task on hand afterward. $6000 isn’t a whole lot of debt compared to the rest of the country. I can’t imaging this taking you *too* long to pay off.
As always, good luck!! I’m still in debt because of school, etc, and the total scares me, but I can see a dent being made
I know it’s stressful and a little crazy sometimes, but you can do it!
wait, wait, wait…. you have around 1000 a month in bills and make 2400……. Crop your spending down to nessesity only. Spend no more than $400 on food and household stuff (I have a family of 4 and spend less than that per month… including diapers!) and you’ll have bills paid off in no time. Holy crap…. 1400 left EVERY MONTH after bills are paid. My head is spinning at how fast I could pay off my bills with that. Pay that debt! I guess when you’ve been poor for awhile you realize just how long you can go without buying clothes, makeup, entertainment, dinner out, getting your hair done, and buying fun stuff for your house. You do deserve a little fun money. If you decide to get the TV I’d stick with just that and no more spending money beyond it. It seems like you’re seeing this $1800 as a huge amount of money when in reality you have that much left over from your paychecks to put toward debt in less than 2 months! You could be debt free in 6 months!!
You’re making tons! I love shopping too, but sometimes there are just more important things. Sadly. haha. I think you could get a nice TV For much cheaper than $600. It’s a good investment, especially if your TV is that old! You can watch for sales from Best Buy (I think they have the best deals) and snag a 32 inch for like $350. If it looks fuzzy, buy an HDMI cable because the quality clears up SIGNIFICANTLY. You can save money that way instead of purchasing a TV from the store that already “looks” clear on display. Make sense?
But the sooner you pay off your debts, the sooner you have more fun money. Like if you put a huge portion of your “extra” towards debt each month…you would be done like BAM! Instead of waiting a year to finally have some fun money, you could have that much faster.
Even with buying the tv, you’ll still have over $1000 from your taxes. Just buy the tv and pop the rest towards debt. :)
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