Trying your forum: 12K in debt (groan!)

[autoxer]

So we're getting a 6k refund, but the house didn't matter so much. It helps, but we're still obviously quite in debt, and need to do major budgeting.

I was told to tell my employer "No federal tax withheld", and next year, we'll still have a 2k refund. My acct didn't charge too much b/c of my situation, and i'm happy to have him.

That's good, you can knock your debt in half with that refund. And if you can adjust your withholding down to only what you owe, that would give you an extra $500 per month.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

So you aren't paying a ton in taxes, i'd look at your spending more carefully. I bet you weren't expecting that since you thought otherwise. You are not in that category of people paying a lot in taxes but getting more back. That being brought to light it might worth looking at what you really have as income if you have a refund.

[rlk67]

...and part of mystery state got wiped out during Sandy.

I adjusted w4s to say No Federal Withholding. I'll know next week how that makes a difference.

I thought I was paying a ton of state property taxes. My mortgage is $2000, but if this were a really normal state (anyone figure it out yet?), my mortgage would be more like $1500 or lower.

[rlk67]

Nothing lasts for ever...except debt?

I was hoping by time this thread was finished, I would've paid off the debt. No luck, so onwards I go.

I'm transferring the 12K to another credit card (by the credit union which also has my car loan). It's a Visa, promotional 0% for 18 months, then 10% after (still lower than the 13% now). I don't p-p-plan (gulp) on using this card further. 4K of my 6k tax refund will go toward this debt, but I feel like I must have a better emergency fund.

Any advice? Thumbs up, or did I just ruin my life?

[samuelwright]

hi, rlk67. As others have noted here, one of the biggest problems (that you are working on, thankfully) is that you don't exactly know what you are spending your money on. The good news is that you can improve (as we all can!)

I do want to challenge you on the reported need for private schooling. I do this with the best of intentions - in an effort to help, not unduly criticize you. There are cases wherein children with certain special needs or ailments certainly require private schooling.

Is the private schooling a *preference* over public schools? This particular topic is of great interest to me as I've worked in higher ed for the past 15 years. The research in the area of private vs. public primary/secondary schooling is rather comprehensive.

Prior to a post-secondary education (i.e., College or University education), the research reveals that children that receive private schooling are not any more significantly likely to excel in post-secondary education than their publicly-schooled counterparts.

We do see a significant difference when we exam the post-secondary (College and University education) in select fields. But, alas, private schooling generally does not offer better educational outcomes than public schooling. Parenting, and other social factors, are more influential.

That all said, I recognize there may be some instances wherein private schooling is needed I mentioned previously. So, I'm not trying to make assumptions.

[rlk67]

thanks for the input

Schooling isn't an issue. I'm not offended, I appreciate what you wrote, but it's not an issue, and public school has never and will never be considered for personal reasons.\. Everything works around that.