tax money

I save spend a little, save a little. I used part of my tax refund to have the outside of my house painted, and I'm thrilled with the freshness and new colors. The rest I'll save or at least keep aside until the next emergency arises. I like the idea of the Disneyland trip - something you can all enjoy.

Karina Bland is raising her 9-year-old son in Tempe with a lot of love, humor and support from her friends and family. A longtime journalist covering child welfare and education issues for The Arizona Republic, she blogs about raising good kids.

We are going to Seaworld with our tax refund right when school gets out. We are also saving more than half of it though to pay help pay for my 4 year olds pre-k next year.

Jennifer is a discussion leader for arizonamoms.com and mommy to four beautiful girls who range from 9 to 4 years of age.

Great idea - why not do something everyone enjoys together - Disneyland. Whenever we get a refund it has gone in many different ways. However, each year we make it a point to try to at least take one family vacation together (so I guess maybe some of the refund goes to that.) It's those times together that are the memories you and your family will recall years from now.

LisaMommy is a discussion leader in Paradise Valley/Scottsdale area for arizonamoms.com. Her two boys are ages 5 months and 3 years old.

I vote for a trip...things break, memories are forever!

I vote a family trip too. You realize after you grow up that there just isn't enough time anymore.

Lisa - Mom to her spunky little Scarlette

I'm putting some away toward a Disney cruise. We want to do that within the next year - before my son thinks he's too old for Disney. That's something I can't imagine, though. I loved it there when I was young, and I still love going, even it ultra humid Orlando.

The rest will go toward home improvements even though I'd love to splurge on a new wardrobe. :)

Arizona Moms Editor Yvette Armendariz shares stories about raising her kids and tips for busy parents in her Time-starved (goddess) Mom blog. She and her husband are raising two children, ages 8 and 11.

Lucky you! My husband and I are both self-employed so we end up hating April every year!

Brooke Romney is an unbalanced mom of three young boys who constantly has too much to do, and too little time. She writes the Mom Beat column for The Gilbert Republic.

I really like the travel idea; however, to be honest, I thought the splitting it up among the family sounded really fun. And, truly, I would have to lay down the same rules with our oldest as he would be inclined to chow down on candy. (Sidebar - I never in my life realized how much candy cravings boys have during puberty!)

I have a separate (and probably a boring) idea. How about putting some of the money in their college education funds? Or save a portion of it to pay for sports activities (team fees, equipment).

Mouse_tales is a discussion leader in the East Valley for arizonamoms.com. She is a business owner, community volunteer, and aspiring runner (whew!), who most enjoys her roles as wife & mom. Her children range in age from 4 to 13.

I would vote for some kind of family trip. Since your children are young, how about the Polar Express in Northern Arizona around Christmas. You need to call and book now and the weekends are probably all taken, but that is what a little vacation is about, taking some time off of work. 1 800 the train - is the number. There is also a reindeer park (other animals too) that you can stop and feed close to Williams. Keeping the money here in Arizona is a good idea if I do say so myself :)

Not sure what we are going to do with our refund. We are taking a niece to Hawaii when she graduates from High School so I am sure it will help nicely with the expenses. (Even though that doesn't help Arizona!) Let us know what you decide.

KarilouMomof2 is a discussion leader for arizonamoms.com living in Tempe. Her daughters are 9 and 6.

I agree with most of the posts...have some fun! But, don't be in a huge rush to spend it. Set it aside for awhile and decide what you really want to do. It's kind of fun to have a big cushion sitting there for awhile. Give yourself some time to decide.

Hobbymommy, 38, is a discussion leader from Mesa. She is a happy stay-at-home mommy to a 3-year-old daughter and a 1-year-old son.

In our family, we all sit down and make our own "Top 5" lists of things we'd do with some money. Then we read aloud our lists and talk about them. For little kids, obviously, they can dictate a list to you - that you write down for them.
But you'd be surprised what the kids might come up with!
Plus it is so fun for everyone - we all like to dream a little!

Often, everyone has something big (out of range), but often something quite small and do-able too. My husband wanted to pay someone to come once to do one day of yard work/weed clean-up!

Everyone ends up feeling appreciated and valued when we try to pick either something off each list or - lo and behold, we find we have the same thing on more than one person's list!

This way - you are not dividing money equally (e.g., $20 to each kid), b/c who knows, maybe one kid only wants a $10 Transformer....but if we all see one of our little "dreams realized" the price becomes less important.

We love to do up these lists before big Powerball drawings too! Of course, then we have "bigger" items on everyone's list! But still surprises...last fall for the $300+Million PowerBall... my 6 yr. old's top item? She wanted to go, for Fall Break, to Paris. Who knew? Not us!

Happy2BMommy, is a stay-at-home mom who just turned 40 (argh!) with a 6 yr. old daughter and a 4 yr. old son, and is a discussion leader for arizonamoms.com living in Scottsdale.

I liked the splitting it up idea. We have our summer trip planned so maybe some extra spending money while there...

Elizabeth is a discussion leader for arizonamoms she writes about everything from her needing mommy advice to crazy and silly stuff that happens. She lives in the West Valley with her husband and 3 children, Joshua 12, Brooke 2 and Mason 10 months