Tax Time

Why do you care? 

Honestly, why do you care about how other people spend their own money? It's none of your business anyway.

As we all know, it's tax refund season. Some people are paying the government, some are neither paying nor receiving, and some (like me) are receiving a refund. Why does it anger so many people when they see others spending money on shoes, clothes or cars? If someone wants to buy material things with his or her money your judgment isn't going to change that.

I've even heard people say that it isn't fair that poor welfare queens are getting back thousands of dollars for working two months out of the year and being baby mills. I've heard people say that they should just work at Wal-Mart, then collect a fat refund check every year, since hard work doesn't pay off for the middle class.

I respect everyone's opinion.

I can't speak for any one else, but as for me, this year I dreaded tax season.

I was not looking forward to filing my taxes and receiving a lump sum of money. I was not excited nor was I overly anticipating my 2015 W2 forms. Why? Simply because this year, I'm transitioning into a different mind frame. I wasn't dead broke in dire need of a few thousand dollars to keep my head above water like the previous years.

Last year, I was in the process of a divorce, and my son was about to have his second brain surgery. I desperately needed the money to move out, and pay up my expenses for the months that I couldn't work while caring for my son. The year before that, I was living with my God parents. I gave them my portion of the rent, and then I blew through the rest of the money. This year is different.

This year, I know where I'm headed. I have my future in mind. I've already been saving money from my work/study job, so I know that I have to save some of the money. It's almost like a battle within myself. If I spend all of my tax refund on material things, I'll be disappointed with myself. I'm holding myself to a higher standard this year personally. That means having enough discipline to save more and spend less.

This year I don't need anything. I'm a college student living in an apartment off campus. My room and board is included in my tuition so I have no revolving debt associated with rent, cable, lights, or gas bills. I have an EBT card which allows me to buy food. I have medical insurance, daycare vouchers, and my son's father pays child support. I have no need to blow thousands of dollars this year. Plus, I'm not getting a car because I live on campus and my son has transportation to and from school.

I'm  not going to be ballin out in March, then broke in April this year. But that's a personal choice that I've made.

Yet, if I did choose to go to the mall and buy myself and my son a new wardrobe, so what? That's also my own choice and free will. If I were to buy a $1500 car and put Lamborghini doors on it, what's it to you? It's my prerogative. Expecting someone to exhibit the same habits as someone else is ludicrous. People are going to do whatever it is that they want to do, whether other people agree or not.

As for the people wishing they could receive a large refund like the poor people, let me say this: I wish I didn't have to wait until February to receive a fat check. Personally, I'd rather be making a few thousand monthly instead of once a year. I cannot wait until I get off of government assistance and hold my own. I cannot wait to get my first paycheck at my future job and it's in the thousands and not a few hundred. I don't enjoy being on welfare. I'm back in school at age 29 so that I can earn a degree that will get me out of poverty!

Yet and still, people will have their own opinions. Many financially stable individuals suggest that people should invest their tax money. Honey, trust me, that's easier said than done. I've taken business, economics, marketing, and management, and I am still unsure of how to invest and diversify my financial portfolio. Most people who are living in poverty have never taken a personal finance class. We haven't developed the self discipline to "pay ourselves first." We are too busy trying to survive from day to day. Some of us, after receiving our refunds, are trying to catch up on our bills, buy a car to get to work, or put a smile on our children's faces by putting Jordans on their feet, and new clothes on their backs..

There are so many factors that play into the whole refund season thing. Every person is not going to spend, spend, spend. Every person is not going to save, save, save. Some people think they know better than "poor" people because they are more educated, or more financially stable. From my experiences and dealings with people from the lower middle class, to the upper elite classes; I've learned that we are all struggling with something. I'm not worried about what anyone else does with his or her own money. Whether you are rich or poor, I hope you become wiser financially each year. However, I'm not a fan of judging the habits of others.

Even Kanye West has debt...