Obama's Stimulus Package Passed, What Will You Do With Your $400 Tax Credit?

The house has approved the $787 billion stimulus package (even without Republican support), and the result includes a $400 per-worker tax credit for 2009 and 2010.  The tax credit means the government will take a little less out of your check each week toward taxes, and has been estimated to be an extra $13 in your check each week for the rest of 2009, and around $7.70 per check throughout 2010. If you are self-employed like me, you will be able to adjust your quarterly tax filings to account for the credit.

For those of us who are really struggling financially, the first thing we're all thinking is how much of a joke $13 a week is, right?!  After all, what can you possibly do with an extra $13 a week that you couldn't do before?  Not a heck of a lot, but let's see if we can make the most of it anyway. Here are some tips for using your tax credit to stimulate your financial situation:

You Can Pay Debt Off Faster

Again, I can hear you laughing at me.  How can $13 a week help you pay off your debt faster?  Well, $13 a week is about $52 a month. If you've got a credit card charging you 18% interest... add the $52 a month to your current monthly payment of $120 and the card that would have taken you 19 months to pay off will now take 13 months to pay off.  You can use Destroy Debt's Budget Tracker to see how extra payments will help you pay your accounts off faster.

Whatever you do, don't just act like the money isn't there, because you'll spend it and not realize it.  After all, it's only $13 a week!  But if you plan to use it toward debt repayments each month, your extra $52 will go a lot further.

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