Money Money Money

rcher912 · January 2015

I've never been so excited to sign my name! Contracts are finally rolling in and things are falling into place fabulously.

But putting down all of these deposits kind of makes me sick. I know that if we want to save money there are a thousand and one ways to do it (and trust me, we're doing more than a few!), and I am and will be happy with the resulting day (family and friends will be there, there will be good food and beautiful photos), but ugh. Funds.

I just needed to vent for a second. Can I hit the jackpot now? Pay off the house, the student loans, the wedding...

I'm going to go do my taxes now and see if I can get a good refund...

lyndausvi · January 2015

I have my w-2 and 1099's and started filling out my taxes. So far a good refund. But sadly that will not be the case once I put in DH's stuff.

I can't remember the last time I had a refund.

Sigh,

Cookie Pusher · January 2015

Yea, I doubt I will see a refund this year. DH and I will likely get hit with the marriage penalty. Our student loans and car payments are done, so yay! But I think my trust disbursement is done this year, so buh-bye extra income.

teddygirl9 · January 2015

Someone won hte $50 million lottery in my province last week. I was soooo hoping it was me. (it wasnt

)

theartistformerlyknownas · January 2015

Refund? What's that?

KatieinBkln · January 2015

lolo883 said:

Refund? What's that?

Something us poor folks get. (Only sometimes. Don't ask me about the time I took too many exemptions and got shafted despite taking home less than $24k; it's too painful!)

kmmssg · January 2015

I am so afraid we will be paying in this year. Congress, in their usual strokes of brilliance, changed the threshold for how much kids still living at home can make and be claimed by their parents. If you are 19, live in your parents home, aren't a fulltime student, and you make more than 3900.00 per year your parents can't claim you. Up until this year the threshold was 14,500.00. Hell, I spend 3900.00 a year on milk! NO ONE can support themselves on 4 grand and I don't think 19 is an excessive age to still be living at home.

Hopefully he will be back in school this Fall but I started withholding an extra 100.00 per month at the beginning of the year in anticipation of this. I hope it was enough.

Those Rat Bastards

JCbride2015 · January 2015

Our 50% deposit is due next week. Right now it feels great to have all that money sitting in our account and I'm about to kiss it goodbye! Ugh.

lyndausvi · January 2015

When I first moved to the islands refunds took up to 5 years. Yes, you read that right, 5 years. So after the first year I adjusted my withholding to be within a few hundred dollars +/-. That way if I own it's not too much, if I get a refund it's not a refund I'm crying about not having, but it was sure nice to get a few hundred dollars out of the blue.

Last year I think we owned $300. This year not sure. I switched from w-2 to 1099 half way through the year. I may have over paid estimated taxes. Hard to say since I now have other deductions I didn't have before, but I also have self-employement taxes. Plus DH took a new job, better pay, different benefits, different state. Basically I have no idea, but am prepared either way.

chibiyui · January 2015

I have no idea what we're doing this year. H needs to figure out if we're filing separate or jointly.

Not that I can do it yet anyway, stilol waiting on 1099

rcher912 · January 2015

KatieinBkln said:

lolo883 said:

Refund? What's that?

Something us poor folks get. (Only sometimes. Don't ask me about the time I took too many exemptions and got shafted despite taking home less than $24k; it's too painful!)

Only sometimes is right! Most of my refund is going to my state taxes and paying the ~$75 to file. I'm so annoyed.

And seeing the money for deposits drain from my account is just ugh. 50% is NOT something I'm looking forward to!

ashley8918 · January 2015

lolo883 said:

Refund? What's that?

Moneys for poor people! Hoorayyyy!

lyndausvi · January 2015

refunds are for people who over pay their taxes through the year basically giving the gov't an interest free loan.

I'm not poor, but even I could get a huge refund if I choose overpaid throughout the year.

theartistformerlyknownas · January 2015

lyndausvi said:

refunds are for people who over pay their taxes through the year basically giving the gov't an interest free loan.

I'm not poor, but even I could get a huge refund if I choose overpaid throughout the year.

Right... no matter how little money I've made over the years, I never got much of a refund. I usually owe a little bit.

ashley8918 · January 2015

lyndausvi said:

refunds are for people who over pay their taxes through the year basically giving the gov't an interest free loan.

I'm not poor, but even I could get a huge refund if I choose overpaid throughout the year.

Meh, I suppose so.

I get a lot of credits for being poor, which is a HUGE contributing factor into may getting a refund. It has little to do with what I pay in.

JennyColada · January 2015

ashley8918 said:

lyndausvi said:

refunds are for people who over pay their taxes through the year basically giving the gov't an interest free loan.

I'm not poor, but even I could get a huge refund if I choose overpaid throughout the year.

Meh, I suppose so.

I get a lot of credits for being poor, which is a HUGE contributing factor into may getting a refund. It has little to do with what I pay in.

And is, on the opposite coin, a big reason why I owe: DH makes LOADS more than me, so even though I claim 0 deductions, I will likely owe big time (since his income pushes me 1-2 tax brackets up...which my standard taxes taken out of my paycheck don't account for).

theartistformerlyknownas · January 2015

JennyColada said:

ashley8918 said:

lyndausvi said:

refunds are for people who over pay their taxes through the year basically giving the gov't an interest free loan.

I'm not poor, but even I could get a huge refund if I choose overpaid throughout the year.

Meh, I suppose so.

I get a lot of credits for being poor, which is a HUGE contributing factor into may getting a refund. It has little to do with what I pay in.

And is, on the opposite coin, a big reason why I owe: DH makes LOADS more than me, so even though I claim 0 deductions, I will likely owe big time (since his income pushes me 1-2 tax brackets up...which my standard taxes taken out of my paycheck don't account for).

H and I make about the same, but the brackets don't start at double one person's income - for example (not real numbers) 50 for single but 75 for married. So 100 for married pushes us both into the next bracket. H has a lot more taken out since he makes commission, and they calculate each major commission check's withholding as if that's what he makes every paycheck, even though it's monthly. It's super dumb.

pinkcow13 · January 2015

I feel you. Every time we have to put down a deposit on something, my wallet cries a little.

I have been working my ass off at work for months. Promotions and bonuses are in March and I could REALLY use extra $$$. Either that, or I'm going to have to hit the jackpot.

levieenrose · January 2015

lolo883 said:

lyndausvi said:

refunds are for people who over pay their taxes through the year basically giving the gov't an interest free loan.

I'm not poor, but even I could get a huge refund if I choose overpaid throughout the year.

Right... no matter how little money I've made over the years, I never got much of a refund. I usually owe a little bit.

One year I wrote the state a $4.00 check. Hahahaha.

@rcher912, I hope it gets to be smoother sailing for you!

JennyColada · January 2015

One year the Feds owed me $1.78.

I don't even think I ended up cashing the check, and it probably cost them more in administration fees than the check was worth.

lyndausvi · January 2015

JennyColada said:

ashley8918 said:

lyndausvi said:

refunds are for people who over pay their taxes through the year basically giving the gov't an interest free loan.

I'm not poor, but even I could get a huge refund if I choose overpaid throughout the year.

Meh, I suppose so.

I get a lot of credits for being poor, which is a HUGE contributing factor into may getting a refund. It has little to do with what I pay in.

And is, on the opposite coin, a big reason why I owe: DH makes LOADS more than me, so even though I claim 0 deductions, I will likely owe big time (since his income pushes me 1-2 tax brackets up...which my standard taxes taken out of my paycheck don't account for).

but you can adjust your withholding to take out more (or in ashley's case less) each paycheck to get closer to even.

That is always our goal. To get as close to even as possible.

JennyColada · January 2015

lyndausvi said:

JennyColada said:

ashley8918 said:

lyndausvi said:

refunds are for people who over pay their taxes through the year basically giving the gov't an interest free loan.

I'm not poor, but even I could get a huge refund if I choose overpaid throughout the year.

Meh, I suppose so.

I get a lot of credits for being poor, which is a HUGE contributing factor into may getting a refund. It has little to do with what I pay in.

And is, on the opposite coin, a big reason why I owe: DH makes LOADS more than me, so even though I claim 0 deductions, I will likely owe big time (since his income pushes me 1-2 tax brackets up...which my standard taxes taken out of my paycheck don't account for).

but you can adjust your withholding to take out more (or in ashley's case less) each paycheck to get closer to even.

That is always our goal. To get as close to even as possible.

This is likely what I will do when I get a new job. I'll just have them withhold an extra 10% of each paycheck.

ashley8918 · January 2015

lyndausvi said:

JennyColada said:

ashley8918 said:

lyndausvi said:

refunds are for people who over pay their taxes through the year basically giving the gov't an interest free loan.

I'm not poor, but even I could get a huge refund if I choose overpaid throughout the year.

Meh, I suppose so.

I get a lot of credits for being poor, which is a HUGE contributing factor into may getting a refund. It has little to do with what I pay in.

And is, on the opposite coin, a big reason why I owe: DH makes LOADS more than me, so even though I claim 0 deductions, I will likely owe big time (since his income pushes me 1-2 tax brackets up...which my standard taxes taken out of my paycheck don't account for).

but you can adjust your withholding to take out more (or in ashley's case less) each paycheck to get closer to even.

That is always our goal. To get as close to even as possible.

I could, but I don't really need/want to. The refund at the end of the year is way easier for me to dump into savings then putting a little in at a time. I suck at savings.

And anyway, I never know exactly what credits/how much i'm going to get, so i'm realllly not interested into adjusting my witholding and somehow ending up owing.

jenna8984 · January 2015

@kmmssg That's fuckin bullshit

lyndausvi · January 2015

A lot of people do not seem to understand what it means to own or get a refund on April 15th.

A= amount of tax owed for the year

B = amount of tax you pre-paid

A - B = C

If C is positive you owe more money because you didn't pay enough in pre-tax

If C is negative you get money back because you over paid pre-tax

You are not getting a refund because you are poor. You are getting a refund because you overpaid. A rich person can over pay too. Just like because you owe on April 15 doesn't mean you are rich. It just means you didn't pay enough.

Of course, tax credits and deductions change year to year. Also you might have had a life changing event to change credits and deductions. So it's not always easy to figure out how to come out close to even. But that should be most people's goal, to some how get A - B to equal as close to 0 as possible.

lyndausvi · January 2015

levieenrose said:

lolo883 said:

lyndausvi said:

refunds are for people who over pay their taxes through the year basically giving the gov't an interest free loan.

I'm not poor, but even I could get a huge refund if I choose overpaid throughout the year.

Right... no matter how little money I've made over the years, I never got much of a refund. I usually owe a little bit.

One year I wrote the state a $4.00 check. Hahahaha.

@rcher912, I hope it gets to be smoother sailing for you!

I had to write a check to IN last year for $1. $1 little dollar. I bet the electronic transfer cost them more than that.

ashley8918 · January 2015

No, I definitely understand how taxes work. I get credits because I am poor (and a single mother, at least until now), which in turn translates into a refund. That's all I was saying.

jenna8984 · January 2015

@lyndausvi I know. The friends' who taxes I do don't understand much about them. They never understand the standard or itemized deduction. They try giving me a $50 donation receipt and I'm like I don't need that- you are SD and they totally don't get it. So I'm like fine, give it to me and then I just don't enter it anywhere lol.

My friend made me double check hers last year because she just could not understand why she wasn't getting a refund. She's like I paid $xx in taxes! I'm like yea....you're single, no kids, in the highest bracket...it's not a mistake- that really is your taxes for the year.

luckya23 · January 2015

jenna8984 said:

@lyndausvi I know. The friends' who taxes I do don't understand much about them. They never understand the standard or itemized deduction. They try giving me a $50 donation receipt and I'm like I don't need that- you are SD and they totally don't get it. So I'm like fine, give it to me and then I just don't enter it anywhere lol.

My friend made me double check hers last year because she just could not understand why she wasn't getting a refund. She's like I paid $xx in taxes! I'm like yea....you're single, no kids, in the highest bracket...it's not a mistake- that really is your taxes for the year.

Ugh my friend insists she can't do her own taxes at 33 years old, single, no property, no loans. She has her uncle do them still. She had me take a bunch of stuff to Goodwill for her this summer, and of course I got the receipt in my name since she doesn't itemize. Now this year her uncle tells her that he's going to claim a $2000 charitable deduction, and don't worry they won't need a receipt. I'm like... wut??

kat1114 · January 2015

ashley8918 said:

No, I definitely understand how taxes work. I get credits because I am poor (and a single mother, at least until now), which in turn translates into a refund. That's all I was saying.

If you use the IRS withholding calculator, it will take into account credits and tell you how many exemptions to claim to avoid under/overpaying. Then you can have the money throughout the year and not give the government a free loan.

lyndausvi · January 2015

kat1114 said:

ashley8918 said:

No, I definitely understand how taxes work. I get credits because I am poor (and a single mother, at least until now), which in turn translates into a refund. That's all I was saying.

If you use the IRS withholding calculator, it will take into account credits and tell you how many exemptions to claim to avoid under/overpaying. Then you can have the money throughout the year and not give the government a free loan.

yep.

The fact you are poor lowers your tax liability.

How much you pay throughout the year compared to your tax liability determines if you are getting a refund or not.

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