Well, we changed our minds about what we are going to do with the tax return. We are not paying off the car, instead we are going to put that money in short term savings. My husband is concerned about the lack of overtime for the past few months, and if the recession comes (which I think it is, or it's already here) then overtime might be tight and the ultimate fall back of me getting a job might also be harder to do. So if we put basically the entire tax return in short term savings we will be covered even if he doesn't get any overtime for the whole year. Which won't happen, but now we don't have to worry about it.

This plan will only cost us $250 in interest on the car minus whatever pennies we make on the savings account. So that isn't really too much of a concern. Plus, if things start looking up we can certainly pay the car off later. So I think it's a good plan.

We are still paying $1,000 extra to the mortgage. When we bought our house we committed to pay an extra $50 a month and $1,000 a year out of the tax return. I am shocked at how much this has saved us in interest in just the three years we have lived here. Check this out...

4,950 paid extra has taken off 2 years and 3 months off the term of our mortgage. At $920 a month (principle and interest) that is $24,840 minus the $4,950 we paid leaves us with $19,890 in interest savings.

Isn't that amazing! I think it is, and we are about to pay an extra $1,000 again in a few weeks so that will add to our savings quite a bit. Plus, it will finally bring our loan balance under the 78% of the original house value so we can have the PMI removed. It's only $50 a month, but as you can see, $50 a month makes a huge difference in the long run. But first I have to convince my husband to continue making the payment with that extra $50 still in there.