5 Refreshing Ways to Spend Your Tax Refund

It's everyone's favorite time of the year again: Tax season!  For the majority of us, this is the time we get to discover how much of our money Uncle Sam has kept all year.  What's not to love about realizing we could've had more money each month to pay down debt earlier, invest, or just flat out spend?  Okay, I kid.  But it is true that most of us will be getting a refund soon...somewhere in the neighborhood of $3,000.

Credit for Pic

Conventional financial advice includes having a plan for your tax refund.  What you do with the money should not be decided on the spur of the moment.  If not already, you will soon see financial article after financial article push this sensible advice (for your tax refund) on you:

1.  Pay down credit cards
2.  Add to or create an emergency fund
3.  Save for retirement
4.  Upgrade your home
5.  Invest in yourself

I'm here to give you additional and fresh advice on what to do with that soon to come windfall of cash.  And it goes a little something like this...hit it!  (Hip-hop music in the background)

1.  Fix your ride.  You can't go anywhere, metaphorically speaking, if you don't have a reliable vehicle to get there.  Better yet, sell your old hooptie and with your tax refund, put down a better down payment on a used car at the dealership.

2.  Revamp your wardrobe.  If you are like me, a person who has taken slacks to get re-buttoned and sewn at the pocket with the hole, it's time to toss out those tired outfits.  Getting new clothes will make you not only look good, but feel good.  And that may be exactly what you need to get your confidence back.

3.  Buy two bicycles.  One is for you, and the other is for your partner.  You and your better half can cruise around and come up with a new game plan on how to approach the next five years.  Do you want your relationship to stale?  No!  Are you content with settling for what you already have?  Hell no!  Then get on those bikes and talk.  Exercising together is exactly what the two of you need.



4.  Take a much needed vacation.  Americans work too hard and don't rest enough.  Vacations help us recharge our batteries.  So with that tax refund, take a three to four day vacation somewhere in Mexico.  Cabo sounds about right.  Margaritas, sun, and relaxation!

5.  Take up a brand new hobby.  Something completely out of your comfort zone.  For me, it would be taking guitar or piano lessons.  I've always wanted to this.  My brother, Mario, is a professional Mariachi.  He can play the guitar and the tololoche like nobody's business.  I can't play a tune to save my life.  Instrument lessons would probably completely stimulate a new region of your brain if you're not musically inclined and this is good for creativity.

My brother, Mario, is on the left of the guy clapping.

There you have it.  I didn't regurgitate the same trite information here.  When that check comes in the mail, if you're tired of doing the same thing with the money, consider these five suggestions as alternatives.

I am outta here!  Thanks.