I have living expenses and a job that pays me enough to meet those expenses. (Weird, huh?)
I paid off my credit cards about 12 years ago, after consolidating them into a single payment plan and cutting them all up. Since then, I've reopened several and use them often, but always, always, ALWAYS, pay off the balance before it's due. (I basically treat them like debit cards and track purchases in my check-book, which keeps me from spending more than I actually have). It's not always easy, but I have distinct memories of being in over my head and I work very hard to not be in that situation again.
I paid off my car last November - throwing a bit extra toward the principal in addition to my regular car payment each month. This was mostly made possible because I made the difficult choice to once again have a roommate (after 3 years of living on my own in a 1-bedroom apartment). It wasn't an easy decision, but I feel great at the result and know that next year when it's time to revisit my living situation, I'll be in a good place to make the best choice for my pocket and my sanity.
I paid off my student loans just last month (same was as the car - putting either a double payment each month, or making the regular payment, but adding some to a savings account. When the savings reached the same level as the amount due, I made a final, big payment). I can't tell you how good that felt. Truly.
So the dilemma is: what do I do with my upcoming tax return? Many ideas are bouncing around in my head, including vacation, starting an investment account for a down payment on a home, throwing it all into a retirement account, going on a random shopping spree...and, yes, I'll probably take about half of my return and do some (or all of those things).
But I've also decided to put my tax return dollars where I think my actual tax dollars would and should be going. I'm donating to causes I believe in. I'm putting money into the hands of people with a proven track record for supporting causes I believe in. Very little of the Federal or State budgets get spent on things that I consider to be essential to my daily existence:
Art (do you even see this anywhere in the above graph?)
Education (we can do better than 6%, right?)
Social equality (women's rights, civil rights, LGBT equality)
Peace programs (if we can spend 55% on the Military, how about a little on what peace-time could & should look like?)
Human rights (food, housing, & medical services for those in our society who can't provide such bare necessities for themselves)
My first donation is being made to the Human Rights Campaign, as part of my commitment to social equality and also as a response to the RFRA recently passed in Indiana. Posts I'm seeing about this on my facebook feed have led to great feelings of rage & sadness on my part: I find it truly appalling that there is now the equivalent of legal cover for discrimination based on sexual orientation. I find it terribly disheartening that this is even an issue in the United States of America in 2015. The idea that one person's religious convictions can change the way business is conducted in our supposedly free market and free society scares me to death.
"HRC envisions a world where lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people are embraced as full members of society at home, at work and in every community."
I agree with this goal and I'm putting my money where my mouth is: $100 donated today