Tax Refund Splurge for Many Americans Is Paying Down Debt
Households use this year’s bigger refunds to trim debt, pay bills — and treat themselves with what’s left.
Photo Illustration by Marisa Gertz; Photos: Getty Images (6)
There are plenty of things Astrid Bouverie could have bought with her $13,000 tax refund this spring. Toys for her three kids. Beauty products for herself. Maybe a vacation.
Instead, she used most of it — $10,000 — to pay down debt: a mix of car payments, credit card balances and a loan she took out to buy new windows for her Miami home. The rest went into an emergency savings fund. She has no regrets.