Tomorrow is the end of the tax season, which means unless you filed an extension on your taxes or decided to chance fate and not file taxes this year, it’s time to celebrate! And to celebrate the end of tax season, I will be hosting a giveaway for a Flip Camcorder, similar to the one pictured at right. This giveaway is sponsored by eBillme and TigerDirect.
About the Flip Camcorder
If you haven’t seen one of these bad boys in action, you are missing out. These little camcorders are probably the coolest little video cameras on the market. They are about the size of a cell phone and are designed to record video for web use. They are very popular with people of all ages and backgrounds because they are extremely easy to use (just point and click), and record high quality video. The best part is – you can upload your videos directly to video sharing sites like You Tube!
About eBillme
eBillme is a website that allows users to pay their bills and make free online payments to select merchants. To use their service, visit select stores or their new Debt Free Mall, make a purchase, and choose eBillme as your payment option. You will then receive your bill via e-mail, and you can pay it via online bill pay through your bank. Just send the money to eBillme, and they pay the merchant. Shopping through eBillme is a great option for people who don’t like to share their credit card information online, or who prefer not to use credit cards. Safe, fast, convenient. Nice combination. 
The Debt Free Mall currently has dozens of stores and is adding new stores all the time. You can also find more information about money saving tips at the eBillme blog, deals and savings on the Debt Free Mall Blog, and they are on twitter: @shopdebtfree.
About TigerDirect
TigerDirect is one of my favorite discount electronics stores. I’ve been shopping there for computer parts for a few years now and have nothing but good things to say about their service (I’ve written about them on this site before). I’m a big fan of saving money with refurbished electronics, and you can always find a great deal on those kinds of items at Tiger Direct. Not everything is refurbished though – there are plenty of new and top of the line items to choose from!
How to enter the Flip Camcorder giveaway
Entry is free and easy.* All you will need to do is a leave a comment that answers the following question:
- What do you plan on doing with your tax return if you are receiving one, or how much did you owe on your taxes this year? (You can answer in general terms if you prefer anonymity; this is only for fun!).
If you are like me and you are going to file an extension on your taxes this year, you are not eligible to participate. Just kidding! Just leave a comment saying you are filing an extension. If you want to, you can share why. In my case, my small business taxes were more complicated than I thought they would be and I decided it would be better if I paid a professional to do it!
Rules. Giveaway starts upon publication of this article and ends at Saturday, April 18, 2009 at midnight. Winners will be announced on the site on Sunday. The winner will be chosen via a random drawing. I am the sole judge of eligible entries, and the Flip Camcorder will be awarded by eBillme.
*Void where prohibited, one entry per person, and standard disclaimers apply. Good luck to everyone!
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Unfortunately I ended up owing around $680 this year… winning a Flip sure would make up for it though…
It’s all going straight toward credit card debt, and it’ll make a big impact toward my ongoing efforts!
Our tax return is beefing up our emergency fund and going towards a new roof which we’ll need in a year or so.
My refund is going towards student loan debt. Would sure like to win that Flip.
My refund is going to help pay for my honeymoon later this year. Don’t know if it will be in Hawaii, Jamaica, Dom Rep or somewhere else? What I do know is it would be great to have a little video recorder for the trip!
I used my refund to pay off two medical judgments. Happy that they’re over and done with! Now, if this state would come through after 4 weeks of waiting so far, I can replace my 12 year old living room set, or at least make a nice down payment!
Sadly my refund is just going towards paying bills and getting out of debt. I filed all the way back in February though, and I am thankfully out of that comparatively minor debt already!
We got a pretty sizeable refund this year for a few reasons, so we used most of it to open my husband a RothIRA (we’re 24/25-trying to get things in order now!) and put the rest into a CD, even though the rates aren’t great right now.
I’m using the refund to fund my RothIRA
We only had to pay $283.00 this year so we are going to celebrate! Today is my husband’s birthday so it gives us even more of a reason to celebrate!
My $300 refund will be spent paying down my debt on my credit card for materials I bought to repair my kitchen floor. Not exciting but I do spend time in there cooking so it is a lot more pleasant with ceramic tile.
We owed $600 to Federal and got $900 back from state. We are applying the difference to saving up to pay our 2nd mortgage off in a lump sum.
Awesome giveaway
This was the first year I actually owed taxes thanks to a fair amount of freelance work that I wasn’t expecting, but the amount wasn’t nearly bad I was expecting – only $450. My dad, on the other hand, received a $13,000 refund…or so he says anyway.
We are receiving a refund, plus the first-time homebuyers tax credit. We will be using the money to prepare the house for our new baby who will be arriving in the fall, and to cover some of our expenses while I’m on maternity leave. Even though I’ll get some short-term disability, we wanted to make sure to have the full 12 weeks of my take home pay saved up so that we have an extra cushion for any unexpected baby expenses.
I used my tax refund to save for vacation this year — my family trip to the Virgin Islands. Yay for a week on the beach!
I owe quite a bit, according to TurboTax, so I am thinking I will file an extension and give TaxCut a go. I hate this time of year…
We owe $2500, but we expected that and had the money sitting in our high yield checking earning 5%. It’s never fun to pay taxes, but my husband and I know because of his home business, we will owe at the end of the year. As long as it’s factored in to the budget, we don’t stress to much!
We plan to use part of our tax return to go on a paid for vacation. The rest is going into our emergency fund. Would love the Flip to record the kiddos!! Thanks.
I got a nice return back this year. We used it to pay off one of our smaller debts completely, then the rest was used to pay for bills and a portion of our rent while I waited for my maternity benefits to kick in.
We’re planning on using our tax return for expenses associated with a new baby. We are expecting a little girl in just over a month.
I will be receiving about $5k. This whole amount is going straight to my savings. I will divert 50% of it to my investment account. I have 40 years to retirement so Im hoping this market picks up soon! I would love the Flip
This year my husband and I got a total of $2100 back. $500 is going toward much needed car maintenance and the remaining is going to jump start our emergency fund. This is a huge step toward getting our lives on the right track financially!
This year we got way too much back from our interest free loan to the government. We spent about a grand on maintenance work for our furnace, another grand paying off our second mortgage, and just saved the rest of it.
I have three kids, make very little money and my wife stays home.
I get a refund which I typically use to “catch up” on our regular budget deficit. My wife is dying to have a camcorder . . . for our kids.
I’m not sure what our husband does with our tax refund. I wish he had purchased a flip camcorder with it.
Pick me!
Got just over 8 Gs back this year. Used it to pay down debt and build a small fund. Also took some and spent it on the wife and kids.
We got back a bit of money this year, and we desperately needed another car, so I got a minivan. No where near new or perfect, but its got the space that we need and it runs well so I cant complain!! Thanks for the chance at the flip… its one of those things that I wanted to buy with the tax return, but it didnt make the cut!!
We had to pay several thousand dollars this year, but it was a good problem. This was the first year I’ve earned any sort of part time income. This year I plan to make estimated payments each quarter, because that chunk at the end of the year was painful to send away!
Thanks for the opportunity to win the Flip Phone. Would love to get some video of my kids with it.
Somehow I owed this year and I am still trying to figure out why. But it’s enough that I won’t be able to buy a flip for myself
My refund is going into the bank. I am not working now so this is helping with the living expenses. But I will take a little and take hubby out to a nice dinner!!
I’ve already long received my federal refund and sent it straight to savings! I owe the state. And, my city return is going towards the traffic ticket I just got at lunch!
I received nearly 7k from my federal return, thanks to the 7500 homebuyer tax credit. I missed the free 8k by three months. As soon as the return was in my account, I moved it into my solo 401k. The tax credit allowed me to fully fund both my solo 401k and my Roth IRA.
I gor my refunds (fed and state) back in feb. I paid my car insurance for 6 months, bought a few small things for my house and put the rest in savings… Would love the flip, I have 10 nephews that are hams!
I used my tax refund to pay my bills while I have been going to school and not working much – it’s all gone now, unfortunately!
Thanks for the opportunity to enter this drawing!
This year I’m paying aroun $300. Not bad considering last year it was 10x that.
With the impeccable timing of the birth of our second child (just before the end of the year), we were able to secure a nearly-$3,000 refund. We’ll be using that money as a down payment for a new kid-safe vehicle and possibly a new dishwasher since ours is on its last legs. I would have rather used it to pay off some of our new debt, but we must have a new vehicle now that we have this second child.
I’m getting about $800 that will probably go to building my savings, but I may hold on to a little of that for fun money. I also owed Oregon $32 since I didn’t know about withholding when I signed up at the student newspaper in college. Not too shabby!
We bought a headboard with our tax return and are planning on saving some and using the rest for vacation and tuition. Thanks!
Is this Flip Giveaway Canadian friendly????
If it is, my refund went towards my car loan and I’d love the Flip as I have grandchildren now and it would be great to use to keep memories of them.
Thanks eh!
already received it. spent it on wedding.
I had my refund deposited into my emergency fund.
With my tax refund money I am finally going to research and open up an IRA account so I can begin to contribute to a retirement account because I could not afford to earlier in the year. I want to get going early with establishing an IRA and contributing monthly, even if it is a small amount.
The plan is the same for all extra money coming in, half to pay off Mr M’s CC debt and half for a wedding hopefully to be held next year.
We used our refund to update our family room with new carpet (from this century), new oak stairs, and a new ceiling. I did most of the work myself and used the refund for the difficult carpentry work on the stairs and the new carpet.
Taking refund and going on a paid for vacation to Vegas – get to drop the kids off with in-laws for the week. First vacation that wife and I have had alone in quite a few years. Love to videotape the experience, to remember the times we have that don’t involve the kids….
Owed about $2k federal and $700 state (filed an extension) — but the good news is it was because I had about $10k in entrepreneurial income that I hadn’t accounted for along the way.
I filed my taxes in January. I got back a little over $3k on my federal and socked it all in my ING savings trying to boost up my e-fund.
I’ve delayed filing my state bc I owe them around $400 , so I will be filing tonight.
First time in my life that I owe Uncle Sam. It’s not as bad as I thought $88.00.
Most of our state refund went to pay the federal bill, so it balanced out well! We did have a little left over from the state that went into our vacation fund.
Ended up owing the IRS a little under $600 (greatly reduced because of a credit for Micah’s tuition) and the same amount for the state. This was better than I’d planned and there was mixed rejoicing. It was the first time we’d owed, so it felt a little crushing, even if it wasn’t nearly as bad as I’d planned for. Much chips & salsa was consumed.
We used our return to help pay cash for partial ownership of a ski condo this year. It made the difference in scraping together the last bit or comfortably being able to do it with readily available savings.
We’ve been thinking about getting a flip for awhile now. Think it’s a great product!
I filed my taxes long ago. Back in January actually, when I got my W-2. I promptly added it to my investment pool and bought some mutual funds through my brokerage account. I think I still had a bit left over after that, which went into starting up my IRA. I anticipate I’ll do the same next year, hopefully maxing out my IRA contributions for next year, since I didn’t get a chance to this year.
I took my tax refund of $600 this year, and quickly turned around and sent it back in to Uncle Same as part of my quarterly estimated taxes. fun! Maybe I should have just told them to keep it!
I am getting back about $200 total this year and this is after depositing $3,250 into a SEP IRA — otherwise, I owe money. The refund is going directly back into savings.
Good luck everyone.
We owed $682 this year.
I’m wondering if this camcorder can be used as a webcam. I just got Skype working with a Bluetooth earpiece for a cell phone, and was so amused by being able to see the person I was talking to, as he has a webcam.
I plan on paying bills. A lot of bills. UGH!
I received a $2500 refund this year and I put 75% of it towards my debt and the remaining 25% into my emergency fund!
Would love to win the flip! Thanks for the opportunity!
Booo…… I owe money this year. I took your advice and started a blog (actually a few), and since I usually just get a small return anyway, with this new untaxed income I ended up owing. The flip video camera would be a nice consolation prize
I had to pay $703 Canadian which I think is about $575 US. I’m assuming you need the US$ value in order for this to be a legal entry.
Mike
We’re taking advantage of the combat zone extension because I’ve given in and hired an accountant this year. It has gotten so complicated (and I’m a trained tax preparer
I saw one of the Flips at a conference last weekend and it was very, very cool. We haven’t had a functional video camera for years and my younger kids complain that we don’t have any videos of them. Plus, I’d love to upload some stuff to Troop Tube for my husband!
Sadly my return is already gone and spent on bills. We went on vaca last year and our van broke down. We had to pay my mom back for the fixin’. No fun! Thanks for the contest!
My tax refund is going toward the new baby fund. Going to decorate the nursery!
I’m applying the money that we’re getting back towards our first quarter estimated payment, since it’s due tomorrow : )
We owe about $800 net ($1200 to Feds, and we’re getting back over $300 from State). When it comes down to it, we prefer to have to pay a little more rather than give the gov’t an interest-free loan.
I am splurging on things for me with my refund. It’s not a lot, but it will be fun. A haircut, some makeup, a few pieces of clothing I really want and some new workout clothes. Yeah!!
I’ll be spending ALL of my refund and I’ll be spending it frivolously as soon as possible! Of course, I’m only getting $3.00 back from Federal and $1.00 back from State. *note, those are *single* dollars, not hundreds.
Maybe I’ll spend it on a Double Double from In ‘n Out.
I am getting $3 back! Woohoo!! I plan to put it into a savings account and watch it grow exponentially.
I’m getting $1,200 back, and its going to my emergency fund. =D
I plan to add my refund to my efund and then look into re-investing my efund to diversify it.
Hi,
I owed more on my taxes for 2008 than I spent on my last two cars combined!
I’d love a Flip camera, and would put it to good use.
-Erica
If I get a return at all (won’t know for a while since I’m filing an extension), I’ll just apply it to my next quarterly estimated tax payment. Not very exciting, huh?
I am taking a majority of our refund and investing it back into our business. Stash some into savings and fix up the car!
Plain and simple – our entire tax return will be dedicated to reducing our debt.
I broke even this year, thankfully.
I put half of my refund toward paying off the rest of my car payment (5 year loan, paid off in 2.5 years) and the other half went towards the emergency fund.
We paid off a few of our credit cards with ours and then gave our soon-to-graduate son a little cushion money to help him move to New Orleans in July to start his teaching job for Teach For America. He graduates in May and this Flip would be perfect for filming his ceremony because he’s giving a speech for an award he received.
I would spend a little but put the rest in the bank!
I owed $1220 in federal and $2 in NYS. No free loans to Uncle Sam for me! Thank you save harbor
The extra money I had set aside for taxes but didn’t need (I’d saved 1/2 my freelance earnings) is helping fund a 2-week vacation in the British Isles.
To pay taxes on a surprise sale of equities…drats
We are using ours to replace some of the drafty windows in our home. We are using windows that will give us a tax credit for 2010
We already received our return. Went right into our ING account! If I had to give a purpose beside savings I’d say the money will go towards selling our home and purchasing a new one.
As many others, our return is going 100% towards debt. It’s going to pay off our wedding expenses which occurred in December. A flip camera would be a great wedding present! =)
We did not get a refund. What a great giveway.
We owed federal $500 but received $80 refund from the state…..the small state
refund will go into our ING tax fund.
Nice camcorder, I like it!
i wish i would get a tax refund, boy could i put it to good use, my kids needs clothing, and some good dental care. that would take care of what i have to do. thanks. hope i win.
Thanks I hope I win!
I got a large refund coming due to a lay off package and over-withholding combined with a first full year or mortgage interests. Then my car found out I had a huge refund coming, so naturally it demanded some attention….that and I just got laid off again! So I am paying my mortgage and repair bills with my tax refund!
Could use a Flip to help ease my mind on my woes!
I’ve already filed and received my return back. One-third went directly to savings, it never even touched my checking account. Another third went to reducing my credit card debt, which at the time, was over half the debt. The last third went to my pocket to be spent as I saw fit… so I got work done on the car, and caught up on medical care for my critters. It was a great relief to have those things done, even if it didn’t get me a new wardrobe!
I expect to get a very small refund, and it’s going into the general fund to pay for everyday living expenses.
Owe Owe Owe – Seems hard to not owe when you are not rich.
We got our refund check of $2400 two days ago and will use it for housing costs when my daughter transfers to the university and will be in on-campus housing. She’ll get Bright Futures which will pay for tuition and books. I had to file the FAFSA and we had to do our tax return first to have the figures for the FAFSA. The Flip camcorder would be a nice one since it would easily fit in a purse.
We owe, but I knew it was coming, so not a surprise!
Wish I were getting a refund – I owe them this year
We treated our family to dinner out at Montana’s, then the rest of our refund went onto bills! I would be thrilled to win this awesome prize
went to dinner the rest goes to savings
I already got my tax return and it went towards the purchase of my first flat-screen HDTV. I went from a 25-inch CRT to a 52-inch LCD! Buyer’s Remorse, a little, but movies look awesome.
I am putting it into savings.
-Nate
I am getting new windows
Our tax return will be going towards our dentist bill. Wish we could use it to go on vacation.
I owe the Federal over a $1000 and the State $587. So, I cannot afford to buy anything in this economy. I had to ask my boss to give me new W2 forms so I have more deductions from my check. This way I won’t have to suffer as much next year when I file.
We’re going to use our First-Time Homebuyer’s credit as a means to pay for some furniture for our new home.
I really like this cool flip camcorder, hope I can be the winner. LOL~
I missed my tax return deadline this year, but I don’t think I own any $ to gov at least… I need to file my return ASAP.
Paying the mortgage!
Sad story; I ended up owing about 1500 this year. The camcorder would be a nice consolation!
No refund-owed lots of money…sigh…but it’s paid off now!
I paid down some debt with my return!
Yes! no pay in, but no money back.
i usually pay off my credit card with my tax return. this year, however, i’d been laid off for 4 months. My return helped pay my bills for 1 month! i was EXTREMELY grateful!!
I didn’t have to file taxes this year. I am on disability. So, hopefully, I will get the $250 stimulus package later on and use it to take my 8 y/o son to Florida over the summer. He wants to go to Universal Studios, since he is a big Spiderman fan. The Flip Video Camcorder would really come in handy for that trip! Thanks for the great giveaway!
we just about broke even between feds and state this year; owed $62 to the feds and got back $112 from the state. so we came out ahead 50 bucks. and ironically enough we are due to have a baby any day now, so i was planning on using the money to buy a flip camera!! to take video of the baby for our family out of town
so pick me! please
I am disabled & do not file taxes so I won’t be getting a refund. Winning this would sure make my day.
We recieved a small return that went straight into savings…for now
We are buying a foreclosed home and close in 8 days! Our federal refund is going toward a riding lawn mower since we’ll a yard of our own to mow now! Unfortunately, our state refund was cancelled out by the bill we got resulting from an error I made on our 2006 return. Oh well, win some, lose some. Would love to win this awesome prize to document our renovations on our new house!
im going to pay my rent and utility bills, since i just got laid off from my job
at least i didnt owe. this phone would be great since i dont have a phone
thank you
Due to the lack of any fund distributions this year and lower interest rates, I received a reasonably large refund from the feds, yet still managed to owe just a little bit to my state of NJ.
Where did my net refund go? I dunno – darn fungible money. I bought a new computer recently and we also took a nice long weekend trip, but we probably would have done those anyway, so perhaps the best answer is ‘savings’. Although it was nice to have an excuse in the back of my mind that the refund was making up for some of it.
The sad reality is that I plan to pay bills with my return!
I got $150 back, and it paid a hydro bill.
I owed…..Would LOVE to win this!
My return is going into the ING savings account (link at the top) for a future house purchase – hopefully before the market fully rebounds.
I am paying for my kid’s summer camp with our refund.
I owed, a lot! Like $6K. Clearly I need to adjust my withholding. I’ll feel a little better if I win though
I guess I should get mine done.
Pay off bills. We do not owed taxes this year.
Went towards bills
I will be putting 1/3 in savings and 2/3 towards a very high interest credit card.
I applied my tax refund towards my estimated tax payments for 2009
Thanks for entering, everyone! The winning comment was comment #7, Eric. It was randomly chosen using the random list generator at random.org.
Thanks for reading Cash Money Life!