Alright this is my first post, and I owe Kia a big THANK YOU for covering for me. I can’t begin to convey all my insights on our journey so far, only that it’s been a GREAT experience. Logging into our CommunityAmerica account, pay days and paying bills are fun, or at least as much fun as paying bills can be. We’ve become avid Dave Ramsey followers and are even beginning to step back from the day to day grind and start laying out our long-term financial goals.

Last month, I attended a “Budget Leaks” workshop at the Credit Union with the other Makeover families, that I thought was surely to be a hoot. To my surprise there were a lot of valuable lessons. One specific idea I thought I would share. Most of us enjoy loaning Uncle Sam money each pay day to build up a sizable return in the Spring. I thought this was the norm and rather enjoyed it myself. Come tax time, I would already have a plan for spending my refund. What I didn’t think about was what Charlie Walker informed us all of at the workshop; “Uncle Sam doesn’t pay interest.” Makes sense (cents) right? 

I began thinking about Uncle Sam not paying interest; “damn the man” I thought. Instead of giving up, I began researching what my deductions should be, but I was intimidated with the possibly of owing Uncle Sam at the end of the year. Finally, I found a great resource on the IRS website. Uncle Sam’s IRS actually has a tool to help you figure this out. On the IRS website (IRS.gov) there is a calculator you can plug in your information and figure out what dedications you need to claim to break even. I just made the changes and added over a hundred dollars to my paycheck.