Friday, February 18, 2011

Refund strategy: Hot & Spicy or Mild?

I haven't filed my taxes yet, but I'm already dreaming of what I'll do with my refund once I get my hands on it.


Perhaps because I'm particularly ravenous today, I'm thinking of chicken wings and taxes more or less simultaneously. And the "menu" for my anticipated $800 refund is looking like this:

Suicide: Gamble it. Potentially memorable, but pretty much guaranteed to cause heartburn...

Hot & Spicy: Spend it on something that's completely unnecessary – a trip somewhere warm, perhaps? I hear Barbados is lovely this time of year...

Honey Garlic: Buy an item I both want and could use right now, like some new clothes or an upgraded computer. A middling option, flavour-wise. Unlikely to satisfy...

Mild: Put it on my mortgage or invest it. May as well have a side of boring sauce and some wilted celery with that order...

Right now I'm wavering between "Hot and Spicy" and "Mild." A sensible Jane Eyre kind of purchase, represented by the Honey Garlic option, has little current appeal to me. I feel like I either want to spend the money on something really excellent, or just suck it up and save it. I could also consider divvying it up into different categories. Thoughts? What are you going to do with your tax refund?

4 comments:

  1. How is the Honey Garlic option like Jane Eyre exactly? Curious minds want to know. I don't recall her ever buying anything in the book, but it has been a long time since I read it.

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  2. Strangeattractor - good point. I guess I was trying to say that I could make a Jane Eyre - style purchase (aka sensible and practical), but you're right: I think she rarely bought anything. She owned about three dresses if I recall...As for chicken wings, I think Jane would choose "mild." But, was Mr. Rochester really the practical choice? In my mind that's more "hot & spicy" - with a long wait for gratification! :P

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  3. haha awesome! You are so creative :)

    You could get BOTH! That's the solution. Spend half of it on Hot and Spicy and half on Mild.

    I personally am going to use it for a TFSA or contribute to my RRSP for 2011. Super mild, along with wilted, yellow tinged celery.

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  4. Thanks! :) I think I'm going to start a vacation fund and put half the refund in there, and the rest onto my mortgage. As per TFSA, I still haven't figured out how to make use of one (prior to maxing out my RRSP, that is)...

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