tax return

TAX RETURN INVESTMENT
Well, it’s about that time of year again. Those of us that made too much money are dreading tax return time since they are going to owe some money. Us serfs on the other hand usually make so little that we can get most of our Fed income taxes back. On principle I hate loaning the government money interest free under coercion but my fear of owing money and somehow magically extracting extra money out of my butt is such that I go ahead and let them withhold more than they need to. Better to have Uncle Sammy owe you than the other way around.
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So if you are part of the group that is going to see money coming back chances are that you have already spent it. The sports freaks already know how big of a flat screen TV that can afford. The computer geeks already know how many inches of neon tubing they can afford in their new desktop case. The gamers expect the PlayStation 3 consoles to be in by the time their checks are deposited and they already have a wish list of games to go with it. Me and you on the other hand get to have no fun whatsoever. We have chosen the responsible path and as such are forced to “invest” the money. Well, we are still wasting it really. If our investment pays off we are probably going to die anyway. The cosmic rulers are going to choose the best equipped survivalists and have fun by having weird and strange tragic events befall them, just for their own amusement.
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But still, we struggle ahead in spite of the odds against us and are busy thinking of ways to invest our own money that is being generously returned to us. More ammunition? More wheat? More silver bullion? Another surplus rifle ( yesterday Big 5 sporting goods advertised a $75 M-N rifle )? Here I wanted to stop you. It is all well and good to be able to want to increase your survival supplies. Bully for you. I am all for it. However. Stop and think for a moment. Are you investing wisely? A ten dollar item you can buy any payday. A twenty dollar item the same. Some of us might not even have a problem coming up with an extra hundred bucks on a whim. Some of you never see an extra dime and will take this opportunity to buy all the many and varied small expense items they have been missing. Buckets of wheat. Boxes of ammo. LED lamps. Rechargeable batteries. Some higher price items such as a Zip stove. This is your only opportunity to buy your supplies until next year.
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But if you are one that can spend about $100 a month on supplies than you want to focus on the higher dollar items that you can only buy now. Such as generators or PV panels or a getaway vehicle ( used of course ) or a travel trailer or land. Perhaps a chest freezer full of beef before the prices go up. I mean, don’t waste the investment. I for one see no need for a generator. I have back up lanterns for light as well as two trickle charged 12v batteries in my trailer plus plenty of propane. If my power goes out my only inconvenience really is lack of the Internet. I have plenty of spare paperback books for entertainment to replace that. But if you have $300 worth of meat in the freezer a generator looks like a much better investment. I know I need to eventually buy the PV panels. Before the prices go up and before I can move out to the boonies. But right now they are not necessary as I have a solar recharger for the smaller batteries.
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And this assumes you wouldn’t be better off just paying down debt. Sure, if you have twenty grand in credit card debt and receive a $600 refund check it makes more sense to invest in beans and bullets. But that same amount would do a lot of damage to a three thousand dollar credit card debt. For those of you renting, consider buying that crappy lot of land sold on E-Bay. A $1,000 trailer lot in the middle of the swamp down south near a town with twenty percent unemployment is not the place you want to live now but in the future if you are unemployed and have nothing to lose it might gain some charm. You can garden and fish and stay warm in the winter without heat ( after which you can dodge malarial mosquitoes and tornados ) for about the same cost as two months rent of your fancy apartment in the city.
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Consider Craig’s List, an Internet classified ad service. I don’t know if it is nationwide, but is head and shoulders above your local newspaper. I gave away my old trailer through them and it was spoken for hours later- and that was advertising off the Reno location for Carson City thirty miles away. Looking for another trailer after I got done living in the Hippy Bread Van I noticed quite a selection of very cheap trailers, listed by location and having pictures. I’m talking like $500 trailers while the local newspaper lists only $3,000 plus units. Do you need a trailer? If it is to be used as an escape pod, why not. You are making an investment here. The only sure thing is gold and that is not an investment but purchasing power savings. Any thing else is a gamble.
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A lot of junk land you may never see, a trailer you may never live in. A generator you may never use. A freezer full of meat that might be more expensive than what they are selling six months from now. It is all a gamble. But wouldn’t it be nice to invest at least some of your tax return and sleep a little easier at night?
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Feel better about your wasted life- send me some of your tax return so it goes to a better cause. www.bisonpress.com for books or just send cash for the hell of it through PayPal or through the mail. All contact information is on my web page. Trust me, it will be going me which is the best investment.