Before you spend your STATE or FEDERAL REFUND CHECK, read this!

This morning I received an email from Walmart with the subject, "Tax Refund Online Specials Are Here". If I would have received that email a few years back I would have definitely opened it. Companies know that we are waiting for our state and federal refund check to spend it and they want us to spend it on them.

Some years ago, I felt that I was living paycheck to paycheck. Every month I felt as though I was the middleman for utility companies, credit card companies and my landlord. I became proactive and decided to track my spending. After two years of diligently tracking my expenses, I realized that now I was living paycheck to paycheck while spending certain evenings trying to calculate where my money went. In other words, I was a middleman trying to be an accountant. Then I realized something: not only was I living paycheck to paycheck, I was living refund check to refund check. Any given year would have looked like this:

Spring: Refund check time! Party time! So many choices. What should I buy first?

Summer: Shoot! Where did my refund check go? Well at least I still have a job.

Fall: How did I get so broke? Christmas is around the corner and now I won't have any money to buy presents.

Winter: Crap! Why did I buy all those presents? Now I'm in debt. How am I going to make it through the year? I can't wait to do my taxes. 

This became a vicious cycle that wouldn't stop for years. Sometimes I would even buy things before I received my refund check simply because I knew the check would be in the mail sometime soon. It was time to put a stop to it all. No more living refund check to refund check. 

This tax season, instead of spending your state or federal refund check in minutes, here are some suggestions on what you should do instead:

Think before you spend. Think before you act. Answer these following questions: Do you REALLY need to buy this? Do you REALLY need to spend your money on that thing NOW? Could your money be used for something better? If you don't really need the item you are thinking about purchasing, don't buy anything. If you feel as though your money could be utilized elsewhere, then don't buy anything. You might be better off holding on to the money instead.

Start a savings account. If you already have a savings account, put the money there. Give your self some time to really understand how the money should be spent. Saving your money is a great way to begin building your wealth instead of living month to month. 

Create financial goals and financial priorities. Be careful. Some people will automatically want to pay off all of their debt only to find themselves getting more loans or getting another credit card later in the year. Think about cash flow - the money you have or need in your hands. List out your financial priorities and your financial obligations. Begin calculating your expenses or use an app like Mint to do it for you.

Think about this check as new beginnings. This is a fresh start for you to make things right this year. Make better decisions financially and you will soon stop living paycheck to paycheck - or refund check to refund check. Any questions? Don't hesitate to ask.