Is it better to put tax ref. 15000$ for house loan or spend all on shoes, dress, electrnics, sofa, vacat. etc

Question

my wife suggests to spend it all in a few months:
to buy new tv for kids, ipods and cell phones for the whole family, new sofa, apple laptop, summer and fall shoes for her and the girl, buy her a new ring, earrings for the girl, some dress, baseball kit and ski package; go for a week to hawaii, buy new sport bike, upgrade my car rims, buy her navigation, a bike for a boy, more victoria secret things, send her to curves, use money for weekly massages, etc., etc., etc.;

I say we should put it into our house to pay off some loan balance;

any ideas on that?

thanks

Answer 1

You probably should buy a house. Real estate in many markets is down now so is a good time to buy. It is an investment in your future and for many people the only money they have at retirement. The other things will be used and forgotten in no time at all.

Answer 2

Well as long as your not going to charge Ipods, vacations, dresses sofas etc.. Then yes apply the refund to your house.
If you are planning on charging all the items mentioned then buy them as I suspect that your house mortgage (6%) is lower interest than a credit card (18%).
I'm a firm believer that I should get at least 10% to 20% for myself.
Take $1500 to $3000 and enjoy life a little and put the balance on the mortgage.
We all need a little indulgence.

Answer 3

WOW. Your wife is crazy. She wants to buy a bunch of crap that you'll forget you even have in 6 months.

I have no idea how you are getting $15K back-- I dont even PAY that much for the whole year-- but anyways, thats a moot point.

Compromise. Give her a set dollar amount to spend on whatever she wants-- like 20% of the return or $3,000. Use another 20% for a family vacation-- that you WILL remember-- and then the remaining 60% for paydown of bills. Doesn't she want to be debt free in retirement? That means being reponsible NOW, not later.

Answer 4

Here's what I did with a settlement check I got. I had the same delima. I could pay off some bills"what fun" or blow it all "not Fun would fell guilty

So this is what I did after talking it over with the wife. We put 1/3 into savings
1/3 on bills and the last 1/3 partied like rock stars.

And in the morning felt great. everyone was happy and I was responsible and care free all at the same time.

Hope this helps.

Answer 5

Part of the reason America is a country of debt is because we really think we need lots of material things.

Why the need for all the stuff?

What is wrong with your wife's current ring? Does a new ring signify you love her any more than her old ring? Wouldn’t it be better to make sure you own your home free and clear and retire sooner rather than working longer to pay off debt?

Does your daughter need new earrings? If she wants them so bad, maybe she should do something to deserve them? Save up money and buy them herself. I bet if she bought them herself she would value them and take better care of them than she would if you bought them for her.

Why do the kids need a new TV? You want to make them lazy little coach potatoes? Shouldn’t they be doing homework and playing/hanging out with friends? Spending time with the family?

Rims for the car? Isn’t that just kind of frivolous?

Let me ask you a question, how much do you have saved up in your savings should someone get sick or get laid off from their job?

If I had $15,000, I would take care of any outstanding debt first. Then I would make sure my family had enough in savings to cover our expenses for at least six months should some unforeseen event happen that would affect our income. Then I would prioritize what is important. Save some for the house and then save some for a little fun. Is a vacation more important or ipods or a laptop? Save some money for school clothes, baseball camp, etc.

This is just my opinion, but here is a little tidbit, if you have a 30 year mortgage and you make just one extra house payment a year, you will pay your mortgage off in 22 years. Remember the fast you pay off your house, the more money you have available to pay for college for the kids, a ring for the wife, rims for the car and a second honeymoon later on.

Good luck!

Answer 6

Is this a serious question? Why would you want to blow 15000 on stuff that will be old by next tax return? You need to put some away for a rainy day and invest some into your retirement. At least max out your IRA. All that stuff will be a distant memory if you're working until you're 80.

Answer 7

We got a nice refund this year too. We used $1000 for fun and saved the rest (for a house down payment). If you have debt, work on getting it paid off. All that stuff won't get your house paid off faster or help you in your old age. Consider putting at least $10k on the house. Its the best safe thing to do with your money. Or open a CD account and keep your money growing safely for years. She might want all those things, but they aren't necessary.

Answer 8

seriously if you need help in answering this question your have bigger problems to solve.

Theres one obvious answer here.

Look up all the money sites and that should help you out.
Money.com
msnmoney
just to name a few

Answer 9

If you decide to blow on things you will find that the money doesn't last very long.....the smart thing would be to pay off some debt.

Answer 10

put it wherever you can get the most value out of it.

don't blow all of it....that is not wise.

I would invest it in stocks for retirement. Or you can put it into your house, redo the bathrooms, whatever would up the resale value the most.