paid for
One good thing that happened today:
I paid off my Christmas debt, as planned. Every penny of it. It feels good.
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Here is your 2008 IRS Withholding Calculator link, just in case you want to go to payroll and get more money in your paycheck each pay period: http://www.irs.gov/individuals/page/0,,id=14806,00.html
You won’t get a big refund next year, but if you hook it up just right, you can do smart things with the money you get to hold onto, like reduce debt, save in your emergency fund, save for a specific thing you’ve been wanting, or even put your tax savings in its own "mad money" pot. I did it myself for the first time last year, and I won’t know exactly how my taxes will come out this year. But I can say this - I put my tax savings into an automatic contribution to my savings. I felt really responsible and smart for doing it.
My only warning - don’t go doing this without finding a specific and positive place to put your tax savings. You don’t want to look at your money this time next year and not know what you did with it. I can point to my high yield savings (and additional interest earned) and say with confidence that that’s where my money went. (I can also point to my lower old credit card debt, ‘cause for a few months, I re-routed my automatic savings toward paying that down).
Happy withholding!
