Taxes Revisited

Well, we filed our taxes over the weekend. And it’s better (or worse depending on your thoughts on a tax refund) than I expected.

In my last post about our taxes I said it looked like we would be getting nearly $4000 back. Turns out it was more. We are getting over $4600 back. (Above and beyond out federal tax credit for getting solar.) This is our biggest tax refund ever. And it was beyond unexpected.

After the tax cuts of 2018, our paychecks increased to the tune of $200 per month. Right off the bat we were getting to keep more of our money. So when it was time to file taxes, I was sure we wouldn’t get much of a refund. But I was wrong.

Our refund is $4634. I still can’t believe it. It’s our largest refund to date. The Husband and I don’t try to receive a huge refund. In fact, our goal is to break even and we thought we would be pretty close to even this year. Actually, I think The Husband was afraid we might owe the IRS of the state and that’s why I think he was a little apprehensive to start our taxes. I’m pretty sure he was as shocked as I was.

Our plan for the money remains the same: The Girl’s airline ticket to Japan, renewing our theater tickets, and our summer travel plans, whatever they may be.

Although I don’t like giving the government an interest free loan for a year, I will enjoy all the benefits that loan will afford us. It will be nice to have the money to pay for these things as opposed to literally taking the money from our savings accounts.

Although we have debt (a lot of it) we also have savings. We are not living paycheck-to-paycheck per se. And although I put a lot of stock in Dave Ramsey and his financial teachings, we have a lot of liabilities that we need to be able to meet so, for us, money in savings is a must. What I am really appreciating about this refund right now is that it will allow us to keep the money in our savings while paying for things we need to pay for that we otherwise wouldn’t have enough money for.

Our tax refund is an unexpected, but appreciated, windfall.