How to Use Your Tax Refund

Not sure what to do with your tax refund? Consider purchasing or upgrading your smart phone! Here’s how to use your tax refund towards a smart phone.

As a busy mom, I rely on my smartphone to help keep myself organized, informed, and updated. I use my smartphone on a daily basis for personal and business reasons. Because I use my phone regularly every day, it’s important for me to have a fast and reliable phone and service plan.

The tax season is here and my husband and I were thankful to get a tax refund this year. We used part of our tax refund to upgrade our smartphones and cell phone service. We were paying way too much for our previous plan.

Now that we are saving about $50 per month after switching our plan, we will be putting more money away towards our retirement accounts and our kid’s college accounts each month. The additional money left over on our tax refund went towards our personal savings, too.

As a busy mom and small business owner, I use my smartphone features often. Below are twelve ways I use my smartphone as a mom and how you can use them, too!

11 “Smart” Ways I Use My Smartphone

1. Photos and Videos:

I have three children. I take photos and videos on a daily basis so that I can share them with my family that lives hundreds of miles away. We have an eight month old baby and these photos and videos allow my family to watch my baby boy grow up, even though they are far away.

2. Calendar and Alarm Clock:

I use my calendar on a regular basis to schedule events and activities. I love being able to add important dates into the calendar and receive notifications. I also use the alarm clock feature during the week when I need to wake up my oldest daughter to get ready for school!

3. Music:

Going to the gym is a regular part of my routine. I try to workout at least 3-5 days a week. When I workout, I use my phone to stream music so that I stay motivated during my toughest workouts!

4. Weather App:

It’s the middle of March on the East Coast and it’s snowing today! I would have never known that it was going to snow without my weather app! We were able to prepare for a day of snow today and get outside to make a few snowballs. I use the weather app to see how we should dress the family most days.

5. Calling and Texting:

Keeping in touch with my family is important to me. My family lives several states way. I try to keep in touch on a regular basis either by calling or texting them. I text my mom and sister often!

6. Email:

I check my email several times a day on my smartphone. I have two email accounts, a personal account and a business account. I’m able to stay on top of my emails when I’m out and about.

7. Kids Apps:

When I’m out and about and need to keep the kids entertained, I allow my children to play educational kids apps on my smartphone.

8. Internet:

The internet is at my fingertips anytime I need to search for something online, read articles, or visit my favorite websites. I’m able to use the internet for business purposes, too.

9. Social Media:

I have all major forms of social media downloaded onto my phone including Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, and YouTube. I can keep up with family and friends via social media or schedule out important social media posts for the brands I work with during the day.

10. Banking:

I’m able to check in our bank accounts through my smartphone as well as deposit checks, transfer money, and keep up with daily transactions.

11. Shopping:

Anytime I need to shop, I can get on my smartphone, browse my favorite retailers, and checkout easily.

As you can see, I use my smartphone for a variety of reasons on a daily basis. I need the extra data for this reason! I would highly recommend using part of your tax refund to upgrade your phone!

What do you plan to do with your tax refund this year?