A Little Tax Day Advice

I’m getting ready to drop my tax return off at the post office. This may be the earliest I’ve ever filed, a good seven hours before most mailing centers shutter for the day.

I’m usually that last guy in the post office every time the 15th rolls around, so as I sip my morning Americano, I feel a bit more relaxed on Tax Day than usual.

There’s also that nice little feeling of knowing that as soon as the Feds get me ever-so-early tax return, they’ll begin processing my stimulus check. I may get a whopping $600 on top of my normal return. You’ll likely get one, too.

Consider the economy saved.

Thanks George W. for having the foresight to launch such a brilliant program that will surely fix our economic problems for years to come. Mr. President has asked that we go out and purchase that flat screen we’ve always longed for with the extra cash sitting in our now Big-Mac thick wallets.

On second thought, how about you stuff this “bonus” under your mattress for a rainy day. Or better yet, start whittling at those enormous credit card bills we’ve all racked up buying living room furniture with no payments or interest for a year. Perhaps you could make an extra car payment this month.

Basically, don’t listen to our president (like anyone does these days).

George Bush’s plan is a little shortsighted to say the least. Americans don’t need any more help buying useless crap (and yes, a 54-inch plasma can be filed under that heading). We are pretty good at buying everything despite overextending our finances.

We need help saving money.

If we, as individuals, pulled ourselves out of debt, then maybe we’d be more inclined to make a big purchase. But Bush can’t think one step ahead, let alone three or four or more.

When you get your Economic Stimulus check in a few weeks, do yourself a favor and save it—hold off on the big spends until you are out of debt and actually have some money.

And if you haven’t made the trip to the post office, what in the heck are you waiting for?

Slacker!