Advice on what to pay off first.

[sandrark]

Go to paycheckcity.com - they have a good estimator.

[porkpistol]

Go to paycheckcity.com - they have a good estimator.

Yes, I actually used that site. I am confused though as to what I need my wife to do. Currently my allowances are 1. It shows on my paychecks. Her paychecks do not show what her allowances are. If she is claiming 0 and we are married filing jointly with one child according to the worksheet I should increase my allowances to 3 and keep hers at 0. This just all doesn't make much sense though.

[sblatner]

Haven't gone back to review what others have said but I would only fiddle with one paycheck. You can have one paycheck adjusted to reflect the proper withholding for both of you so you don't loan money to the government without interest. I think this is the easier way to do it.

[porkpistol]

Haven't gone back to review what others have said but I would only fiddle with one paycheck. You can have one paycheck adjusted to reflect the proper withholding for both of you so you don't loan money to the government without interest. I think this is the easier way to do it.

Oh ok. I was under the assumption that we both had to adjust since we were married filing jointly. Do you think it would be a good idea to go to a tax advisor to see exactly what we should be doing or is it pretty simple to just adjust your own w4? Would I claim 3 then on my withholdings? Myself, my wife and my child?

[imvictorlee]

Excellent advice you have got. Just one little suggestion -- in the meantime, you can get rid of or keep away some of your credit cards from your wallet. This will bring down any unnecessary spendings without you knowing.

I too, will pay off the credit cards first, then the personal loan.

[porkpistol]

Excellent advice you have got. Just one little suggestion -- in the meantime, you can get rid of or keep away some of your credit cards from your wallet. This will bring down any unnecessary spendings without you knowing.

I too, will pay off the credit cards first, then the personal loan.

The cards are already cut up. We have one card with a $10,000 limit we keep in a safe for an emergency if need be. Haven't touched it in 3 years and it has no balance. All other cards have been destroyed

[porkpistol]

Federal return came in! Just sent payments off for the balances of 6 credit cards! Thanks for the tips everyone!

[corn18]

Federal return came in! Just sent payments off for the balances of 6 credit cards! Thanks for the tips everyone!

Fantastic.

[snafu]

Good on you, that's the fastest turn around...10 days and CCs are cleared. YaHoo I'll presume you'll 'snowball' payment for the loan to clear that quickly. I hope you'll help your wife create a meal plan to enjoy your favourite foods using the items at hand in pantry, fridge and freezer shopping with a list to make it happen.

PS were you able to get your withholding adjusted?

[sblatner]

Oh ok. I was under the assumption that we both had to adjust since we were married filing jointly. Do you think it would be a good idea to go to a tax advisor to see exactly what we should be doing or is it pretty simple to just adjust your own w4? Would I claim 3 then on my withholdings? Myself, my wife and my child?

As long as you pay enough in taxes, the government doesn't care whose check the funds come from. How much did you get back with your tax refund?

[porkpistol]

Good on you, that's the fastest turn around...10 days and CCs are cleared. YaHoo I'll presume you'll 'snowball' payment for the loan to clear that quickly. I hope you'll help your wife create a meal plan to enjoy your favourite foods using the items at hand in pantry, fridge and freezer shopping with a list to make it happen.

PS were you able to get your withholding adjusted?

I have not adjusted my withholding yet. I have a meeting set up with a friend of my parents who has been their tax guy for over 30 years. He is going to give me some ideas on how we should proceed with it. Yes, that is the plan to at least try to pay double on the loan payment. If not it will be the $230 or so extra that we saved on the CC payments. Thanks!

As long as you pay enough in taxes, the government doesn't care whose check the funds come from. How much did you get back with your tax refund?

We got back $5,022 between state and federal. Have only received the federal back but it was enough to clear the cards.