At the end of the year many North Americans are fortunate to receive a refund of taxes from Uncle Sam, now these individuals are having to choose how they want to spend those extra funds. Here are some tips that may help. 1. Pay any debts that may have accrued. Most tax refunds are going to pay car loans, study, mortgages and credit card balances. In our view, the debt must be paid first are those pesky credit card debt. Typically, these cards carry high interest rates ranging from 19 to 29%, meaning a bit heavy payments for interest. Mortgages and other loans on the other side is more reasonable interest rates.
We encourage you to prioritize your debts and try to eliminate first those with a higher interest rate. A large number of individuals who are faced with heavy debts credit card opt to use companies that specialize in negotiating debt. These companies can reduce debt significantly, between 40-60%, which can be thousands of dollars saved. 2. Home repair and other improvements. The heater is not working very well? The roof has a leak? The car has a strange noise? The reimbursement of taxes is a great way to make use of this money to make these repairs so far had failed to include in its budget. We recommend you take those extra funds to make repairs that will not be fixed in the future might get more expensive or stop working altogether.
3. Investments. This is a great investment opportunity. Ordinary North Americans do not have sufficient savings that will last longer than 1 month. This means that an illness or unexpected emergency improvising can leave you bankrupt. We recommend you save some extra dollars for those rainy days. 3. Pamper yourself buying something you've always wanted. No accounts payable? No debt? There needs to be repaired? Has extra savings? It is among the lucky few. Then enjoy your good fortune and treat yourself to something. A new TV, a pool table, go shopping, holiday on an island. Indulge a little, because after all you live but once. Scott Wallitsch is IAPDA Certified Debt Negotiator for as DebtorSolution. He provides advice on (and) people who are seeking to become financially and economically independent.