Overall, this is sad, but in a couple of weeks I’ll be getting nearly a G in tax returns.  Yeah, that’s a crapload of money.  But when I look back at all the hours I worked in 2008, it also makes me realize… I made jack sh*t.  Still, this hefty lump sum couldn’t come at a better time for me, as I’m watching my credit card debt grow, next month’s rent is looming on the horizon, and summer (aka a full-time waitressing gig) can’t come quick enough.

In reality, I’d love to take my refund check and spend it in one go at the mall, especially since warm weather means I have to chuck my so-worn-they-belong-in-the-What-Not-to-Wear-dumpster sweater boots, and I don’t have ANY cute flip flops to wear in their place.  But, since I’ve been struggling all winter, I am going to use this money wisely.  And by use “wisely,” I don’t necessarily mean put it back into the bank.  We all deserve to splurge every now and then, and here are some of the best guilty pleasures your tax refund can buy.

1.  Upgrade your phone.

Am I the only campus coed who has never known the joys of an iPhone or Blackberry?  I recently lost my cell in a drunken stupor, and, though I had been waiting for the summer to upgrade, I figured it’s now or never.  Best buy of my life.  I got a refurbished 16-gig iPhone for under $250.  And it’s not just a phone– I can check the weather without getting out of bed or waiting for Weather.com to load on my slow-ass computer, I can check my email for last minute class cancellations while on my way to a lecture, and once I figure out these apps, I’m pretty sure I can load a calorie counter onto my phone to use in the dining hall.  How did I live without this baby? Read More »

Ok, so April 15th (Tax Day) isn’t everyone’s favorite day, but it is for those of us with a refund coming. Hollaaaa.

Personally, I have some big money coming my way. At first I was just planning on making it rain, but then I realized that spring is coming and there are lots of magnificent things out there that I can spend this new dinero on. Below are just a few of the things I’m drooling over right now.

Shop on, Tax Refundees. And if you’ve got your eye on a must-have Tax Refund splurge, share it in the comments. We’ve got money to burn, baby!

I am currently staring at four W2′s, which are piled neatly on my desk next to my laptop. My dad has informed me that two more are at my parent’s house, and I need to call the restaurant I worked at last spring because I’m pretty sure they don’t have my current address. Oh, and I’m expecting at least three 1099′s for freelance work.

It’s not that I change jobs like I change my underwear. Last spring, I waited tables and worked for a travel website on my days “off.” I also had one week in January where I was paid for work study from the Fall ’07 semester. Over the summer, I worked Summerstock at a theater. Last semester, I had a paid internship, and I did marketing work for a parent company, so each of the branches I marketed for are considered a separate entity.

What the hell am I going to do? You might be asking yourself the same thing, even if you’ve only held a normal number of jobs (one, two… three?) in the past year. I mean, all the pointless Gen Eds they make us take, and none of them are “Filing Your Taxes 101.” Don’t worry. If the IRS expected everyone to file their taxes on their own, well… it would be like George W. getting reelected.

Here are a few resources I’ve come across as I’ve begun my slow descent into the Hell that is my personal tax season. Feel free to share any other links that you’ve come across. We all want to make it out of college without being arrested for tax fraud. Read More »

[College kids are notorious for being poor. And why shouldn’t we be? We take out student loans to pay for private universities, can barely balance a part-time job with our full-time courseload, and the only “balance” we’re familiar with refers to the number of points left on our dining hall cards. Oh, did I mention many of us tend to splurge every extra penny on PBR’s at the campus bar?

If you disagree with everything I just said, you probably don’t need this column. But if you’re nodding along because you’re officially an adult and still don’t know how to manage your money, then you might want to pay attention every week, because I’m going to (try to) get you through this, and make you a successful saver and a wise spender.]

Congratulations! You’ve got a job! You can start making money… and the government can start taking money from you!

On your first day at a new job, you’re going to get slapped with a stack of paperwork: company handbook, sexual harrassment awareness statement, and, of course, the W2 form. How many of you have snuck into the bathroom to call your parents and ask them WTF to write in this form? Yeah, me too. Here is everything you need to know:

The W2 determines how much money in taxes will be taken out of your paycheck. Typically, dependents have the most taken out, independents are somewhere in the middle, and people who have dependents have the least. Usually, college students are either “dependents” or sole “independents.” If your parents claim you as their dependent, they are basically telling the gov’t that they support you; therefore, the gov’t sees your wages as extra cash, and will take more money from you. If you are independent with no one to provide you, the tax form says (in layman’s terms) that you are responsible for living expenses (rent, utilities, tuition, etc), but don’t have to spend your money on anything else. Read More »