… think about your adjustments.
Did you get a big tax refund this year? If so, that’s great… right now. But wouldn’t it be better to have that money all throughout the year?
I know that sometimes the answer to that is, “no”. If you’re a terrible saver, maybe it’s actually a good idea for you to let the government do your saving for you. But do know that, in that case, you’re saving without interest. And you also have to trust yourself to do something wise with that tax refund when it comes.
I’m a pretty good saver, and I have a ton of student loan debt. So it would be much better for me to have money throughout the year instead of a big refund. If you’re in that boat, here’s what you can do:
- Get your W-4. You may be able to access this online through your company’s billing software, or you may need to get a paper copy from HR.
- Change the number of allowances. Essentially, the higher your number of allowances is, the lower the percent of taxes that will be withheld from your check each week.
- Not sure how many allowances to claim? The W-4 comes with a worksheet that helps you figure it out, or you can use an online calculator to chose your ideal number if you think that 2012′s finances are going to be the same as 2011′s.
Remember that if you overshoot on your allowances, you may end up owing money next April. I’m certainly NOT a tax adviser, so you should get tax advice from an accountant if you’re unsure what number of allowances you’re allowed to claim.
It only took me about 5 minutes to adjust my allowances to the correct amount, and I’m looking forward to that weekly bump in pay. It’s going straight to my loans!
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I’ve fallen off the face of the earth lately, but just popped in and read a few of your back posts- good to “catch up”. I hope you had fun in Cambodia!
Cambodia was awesome; all the kids had a great time and really got something out of the trip. Are you teaching? That would account for disappearing from the internet. Honestly people who think teaching is a part-time job….
Yes! I’ve been doing the student teaching/full time grad school thing and it has been BRUTAL. I have worked hardcore manual labor jobs- we’re talking 12 hour days, 6 days a week driving a forklift- and been less tired at the end of a week than I am after a particularly busy *day* at school.
I’m glad the trip went well. It’s always good when you feel like the students get something out of it, with all the work you put into making sure they get something out of it
Teaching is hilariously exhausting. I do NOT miss having a classroom to manage – I mean, I still have a classroom, but it’s different when the students are adults who’ve signed up for the course, are only accountable to themselves, and are motivated by an external goal. Is your grad program just this year and you’re out in the next couple months? Hope so!
In 4 weeks I will finish my student teaching and I’ll have 27 grad hours plus a teaching certification. If I want, I can stop there. However, to finish the master’s I only have 3 more classes plus a thesis to write, so I plan on finishing it while I’m overseas. Right *now* though, coming off of a year long student teaching internship + full time grad school? Yeesh, I just want to quit and never see school again. I know that’s just the exhaustion talking though, so I’m registering for Fall semester anyway.