4 Ways to Stretch Your Income Tax Check

It's almost that time of the year mamas. All year you've been saying what your going to do with your income tax check. Well the time is here, and you know what happens next right. We get our income tax checks, get money crazy and buy a whole bunch of things we do not need!

Pay your rent or mortgage for 6 months

This is my favorite thing to do with my income tax check. I will pay our living expenses for up to 6 months. That way the first 1/2 of the year is easy breezy. I can catch up on my bills, purchase home goods that I've needed for months and I miss the income tax shopping rush. This means when I'm shopping no one is shopping. I can shop in peace

Buy an $800 gas gift card

Purchase your gas for the next 4 months. That's at least $125 extra you'll have in your pocket for the next 120 days. That's money to catch-up on a bill or put toward paying off your summer vacation. My motto with income tax checks is to make the first half of my year a little easier. I try to eliminate those bulk expenses that I know I will incur until summer time.

Make your home energy efficient

You can weatherize your windows, buy door shields, purchase that AC unit off-season (when it's the cheapest) or buy a rugs and curtains to keep the warm air in your house. Weatherizing your home as a family income-tax gift can stretch your dollars from now until the end of the next year.

Open up an investment or retirement account

Most of us end up buying summer clothes to get ready for the pending warm weather. But, what about buying school uniforms, or winter booths. By the time your income tax check is warm in your hand, all those things will be on sale. You can still buy spring/summer gear, but why not eliminate that expense that you know is coming every year.