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I am so excited. I am going to go on a trip! I can't believe how big the return was.

Have you considered changing your withholding on your paycheck so you can get the money back into your cash flow during the year vs. all at once after the year? Consider you are giving the government an interest free loan...if you owed them money, they would charge you interest. Unsure how to change your withholding? Talk to your HR department, accountant, or use the calculator on SAM at http://www.smartaboutmoney.org/WhoW...fault.aspx

Good luck!

Have you considered paying down your mortgage with your tax return? Many people don't realize that you can cut a 30 year mortgage term in half simply by making a few extra payments a year. I've seen people use their tax refund specifically for this purpose. Not as much fun as a beach vacation in Cabo, granted, but it may just enable you to get to that beach permanently a lot sooner.

I found this article about tax return uses:
http://www.extension.iastate.edu/fi...d_uses.htm

Bottom line:
pay off bills, save for coming year expenditures, save for long term, special purchases

My friend is using it to pay the lawyer to declare bankruptcy. Lame. She needs to get on this site more!