Sharing is caring!

Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links. Meaning at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase. Don’t worry though. I only recommend products that I believe will help you on your journey.

Check Out Related Episodes & Resources

---

• Please Stop Doing Money Dates
• Why You’re Not Budgeting Even When You Know You Should
• 4 Simple Things You HAVE To Know To Run Your Books Correctly
• Why You Need To STOP Saving For A Rainy Day
• FREE Cash Flow Calculator

---

Episode 246: Before You Spend Your Tax Refund, Ask Yourself This

There’s a moment when money hits your account – like a tax refund – where everything feels a little lighter.

You can breathe. The pressure softens. And almost immediately, another feeling follows: What should I do with this?

Spend it? Save it? Fix something? Finally get ahead?

If you’ve ever made a decision in that moment and then found yourself right back in stress a few weeks later, you’re not alone. It’s not that you’re bad with money—it’s that no one taught you how to make these decisions from a grounded place.

This episode offers a different approach.

Not rules. Not restriction. Just a way to slow down, ask better questions, and use your money in a way that actually supports you – now and in the months ahead.

LISTEN OR SUBSCRIBE FOR FREE IN YOUR FAVORITE PODCAST APP:
Apple Podcasts  |   Spotify   |  Other Podcast Players

Resources:

• Bookkeeping Simplified – https://aimeecerka.com/bookkeepingsimplified
• Instagram – https://instagram.com/aimeecerka
• Podcast Links – https://aimeecerka.com/podcastlinks

What to Do With a Tax Refund (Without Creating More Stress Later)

Getting a tax refund can feel like a breath of fresh air.

For a moment, things feel lighter. There’s space. Relief. Maybe even a sense that you can finally catch up or move forward.

And then comes the question:
What should I do with this money?

If you’ve ever made a decision in that moment—spent it, moved it around, tried to “be responsible”—only to feel right back in financial pressure a few weeks later, you’re not alone.

This isn’t about discipline.
It’s about how the decision is being made.

In this post, we’re going to walk through a more grounded way to approach a tax refund (or any lump sum of money), so it actually supports you—not just temporarily relieves pressure.

Why Tax Refunds Feel So Big (Even When They’re Not)

A tax refund isn’t just money.

It’s emotional relief.

For many entrepreneurs, money has been tied to:

• Stress
• Inconsistency
• Pressure
• Shame or avoidance

So when a larger chunk of money shows up, your nervous system responds first—not your strategy.

That’s why the instinct is often:

• “I deserve this”
• “I need to fix everything right now”
• “Let me finally feel caught up”

None of those reactions are wrong.

But if they’re driving the decision, they often lead to short-term relief instead of long-term support.

The Real Problem: Emotional Decisions With Money

Most people don’t have a money knowledge problem.

They have a decision-making environment problem.

When decisions are made from:

• Stress
• Urgency
• Excitement
• Relief

They tend to prioritize immediate emotional payoff.

And that’s how money disappears.

Not because you’re bad with money—but because:

Emotional decisions solve short-term problems and create longer-term pressure.

The shift isn’t about restriction.

It’s about learning how to pause and choose from a grounded place instead.

A Better Question to Ask (Before You Spend Anything)

Instead of asking:

• “What should I buy?”

Shift to questions like:

• What do I actually need right now?
• What would reduce pressure in my life?
• What would make next year feel calmer?
• What would future me thank me for?

This is where your decision starts to change.

Because now you’re not reacting—you’re choosing intentionally.

4 Grounded Ways to Use Your Tax Refund

Instead of one “right” answer, there are four supportive directions your money can go.

You don’t have to choose just one—but these give you a framework to work from.

1. Stabilize Your Finances

If your foundation feels shaky, this is where to start.

This could look like:

• Building a contingency fund (instead of an “emergency fund”)
• Setting aside money for upcoming expenses
• Creating breathing room in your accounts

The goal here is simple:
Reduce pressure.

When your finances feel stable, everything else becomes easier.

2. Reduce Debt and Free Up Capacity

Using your tax refund to pay down debt isn’t about punishment—it’s about creating space.

This might include:

• Credit cards
• Medical debt
• Smaller balances you can eliminate

When you reduce debt, you:

• Lower monthly obligations
• Increase flexibility
• Create momentum

It’s one of the fastest ways to shift your financial reality.

3. Upgrade Your Systems or Support

Sometimes the best use of money isn’t saving—it’s removing friction.

This could look like:

• Getting help with bookkeeping
• Hiring support in your business
• Investing in something that frees up mental energy

Ask yourself:

What is currently draining me that money could support?

This is where money becomes a tool—not just something to manage.

4. Make Strategic, Long-Term Moves

This is where you think beyond right now.

Examples include:

• Investing in your growth
• Joining a program or container
• Starting an investment portfolio

This category is about:
Alignment + future expansion

Not urgency. Not pressure.

Just intentional movement forward.

You Don’t Have to Choose Just One

One of the most supportive approaches is allocation.

Instead of putting your entire refund into one place, you can divide it based on what you need.

For example:

• A portion toward stability
• A portion toward debt
• A portion toward future growth
• A small portion for enjoyment

Yes—you’re allowed to enjoy your money.

In fact, when done intentionally, it can be part of the healing process.

The Most Important Step: Your State Matters

Before you decide anything:

Pause.

Your nervous system state matters more than the strategy.

If you’re:

• Overwhelmed
• Anxious
• Overexcited
• Pressured

That’s not the moment to decide.

Instead:

• Ground yourself
• Regulate your emotions
• Give yourself space

Especially if you’re an emotional authority, clarity comes with time—not immediacy.

This Isn’t Just About This Refund

This isn’t about getting it “right” this one time.

It’s about changing your relationship with money long-term.

So that next time money comes in, you don’t feel:

• Panic
• Pressure
• Confusion

You feel:

• Calm
• Clear
• In control

---

Want Support With the Systems Behind This?

If you’re realizing that part of the stress comes from not fully understanding your numbers or systems, this is exactly what I support inside:

👉 https://aimeecerka.com/bookkeeping-simplified

You’ll learn both the how and the why behind your finances—so you can make decisions like this from a place of clarity.

Full Podcast Transcript

(For those who prefer to read or want to revisit specific sections, the full transcript is below.)

---

What to Do With a Tax Refund (Without Creating More Stress Later)

Getting your tax refund can be a relief. Like, yeah, you finally got some breathing room, right? Like something went right, but before you decide what to do with it or you go blow it on one thing, let’s talk about what the most grounded use for it is not telling you what to do, but helping you walk through the decision so you can make a grounded choice, not an emotional one.

So before we get into it, we’re talking specifically about tax refunds because it’s tax refund time, but this is an excellent strategy to use anytime you’re getting a larger chunk of money. So let’s get to it.

This is Money Simplified, the podcast where I help female entrepreneurs go from stress and struggle to unstoppable with money. Money is more than just budgeting and P&Ls, and we’re gonna take you through all of it here.

We blend proven financial strategy with mindset work and energetic alignment, so you can create unstoppable finances, build an unstoppable business and truly enjoy your unstoppable life.

It’s time to take my wisdom and my expertise to help you simplify money and go beyond the numbers.

I’m your host, Aimee Cerka.

Welcome.

I’m so glad you’re here.

Why Tax Refunds Feel So Emotional

Welcome back to Money Simplified. Today we’re gonna talk about tax refunds, and we do this episode probably about once a year, you know, every tax season because it’s important.

So like I said in the intro, we’re talking specifically about tax refunds, but this applies to any time you get a large chunk of money.

All right, so first thing though, let’s talk about the emotion, like. We’re not dismissing the fact that like you feel relief. That’s good. That’s valid.

Being excited about it is normal. The anticipation, wanting to go spend it makes total sense, right? Like there’s nothing wrong with feeling good about it.

What we have to be aware of is when we go into the, I deserve this and you might deserve it.

Like the there, there’s a gray area here, right? There’s a degree of like, yes, own it, receive it, embody it. You deserve this.

But we’re still gonna make grounded choices with it.

Okay?

Emotional Decisions vs Grounded Choices

So like feel the emotion without letting it overrule everything. Because emotional decisions usually solve short term problems.

And then we just create bigger problems later on.

Before we get into what we’re gonna do with it, right? Wait until you actually have it to do these things.

We’re not spending if come that we like, it shouldn’t be here.

It should.

I should receive it.

I should get that Christmas bonus.

Um, oh my goodness. I’m going blank on the name. The Christmas, y’all are probably like shouting it at me.

The Christmas vacation movie National.

I’m gonna Google it ’cause this is gonna drive me crazy.

National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation.

There we go.

Okay?

That movie, right?

He spent the if come, the Christmas bonus that he thought he was gonna get, that he should get, and then he didn’t get, and it caused so many more problems.

Ask Better Questions About Your Money

Okay?

So I’ve got four different categories here of strategies like that are smart to do things with your money.

Before we dive into those, let’s sit with like asking yourself the right questions.

It’s not like, what should I buy?

It’s what do I need right now?

What would make next year calmer or what would reduce the pressure now?

What would strengthen my current system or what would future me thank me for?

Like what feels most aligned?

4 Grounded Ways to Use Your Tax Refund

Okay, so the first category of things here would be to stabilize if you don’t have a contingency fund set up.

And if you haven’t heard me talk about this before, a lot of people call this an emergency fund.

I don’t wanna plan for an emergency, so I plan for a contingency.

Okay?

So if your contingency fund needs a boost, great time to do that.

Setting the chunk away.

This could be the contingency fund.

This could be like a vacation fund if none of the other things apply.

A vehicle fund, house fund, whatever.

Setting the money aside intentionally for a purpose.

Okay?

That’s the stabilize, kind of simple, right?

Reduce Pressure by Paying Down Debt

And we’ll get to that in a second.

Okay.

Second category of things that you could do would be, I had it in my notes here as cleanup, but I don’t really feel like it’s cleanup.

I feel like it’s like a leverage thing.

Okay, so debt snowball, like throwing a chunk of money if you’ve got a debt, maybe a medical debt, credit card, something that you could knock it out, pay it off, reduce your monthly expenses, that could help.

That’s a smart strategy.

Upgrade Your Systems and Support

This could also be getting, this really goes to the third one.

All right, we’re gonna leave that there.

Okay.

So leveraging there, knocking out debt, probably the most, like, that’s the easiest thing.

Okay.

So we can stabilize, leverage it, take care of a chunk of debt, get rid of it.

Third one would be using it to upgrade a system.

Whether this is getting support with your bookkeeping, whether this is hiring somebody to do your website, whether this is having somebody come deep clean your house so you’re not like mentally spending space on these things.

Like what system could you upgrade, what could you spend chunk on getting support.

Make Strategic Money Decisions

Okay.

And that’s the third one, the system upgrade.

And then the fourth would be like making strategic moves.

Whether this is investing in your personal growth, maybe you’re using this to jump into bookkeeping simplified.

Maybe you’re using this to jump into the unstoppable experience.

Maybe you’re using this to invest, like in a marketing program.

Maybe you’re using this to invest in investments, like financial investments, starting your investment portfolio.

That’s probably the better way to put it.

How to Allocate Your Tax Refund Intentionally

So that would be like the strategic.

Okay.

So we had stabilize funding, contingency fund, other funds, leveraging, knocking out a chunk of debt.

Third would be upgrading systems, you know, bookkeeping, website, hiring an assistant, like those type of vibes.

Fourth one was strategic investment.

So investing in yourself.

Investing in your investment portfolio.

Okay?

And depending on where your refund sits, what we normally do might be able to guess it because you know that I love percentage-based budgeting for both your personal and your business.

You can percentage base a lot your tax refund.

So there’s nothing wrong with saying like, I wanna take 5%, or maybe it’s 10%, whatever it is.

If you have been in a very tight, like, we’re not spending, we’re not doing those things, take 10% and go play.

Go have a wonderful night out.

Go buy yourself new clothes.

Whatever it might be like, that’s still perfectly acceptable and possibly even encouraged.

Make Decisions From a Grounded Place

When you’re making the decision because you’re from in a clear space, not like the emotional space, you are gonna know what to do with it.

So maybe it’s the 10% to play and you’re doing 20% in the contingency fund and investing.

I can’t, that’s 30, investing 50% in the strategic move, and then 20% in the system upgrade, I think.

That was a hundred.

I did that math on the fly.

But you can allocate it in different places like what’s gonna feel good to you.

Going back to the questions, right?

Like what is gonna reduce pressure?

What is gonna feel the most aligned to you long term?

Don’t Make Money Decisions From a Low Place

And if you need to, this would actually probably be a really great strategy.

Go make sure you’re in a really grounded, centered place that you feel good about you like we talk about.

You can go create dopamine, dopamine hits, oxytocin, like all of those things for yourself.

Make sure you’re feeling good about yourself and where you’re at when you’re making that decision.

Don’t make these decisions from a low place.

Not the time to be making financial decisions.

And when you make the decision, especially if you’re an emotional authority in human design and it’s not clear, sit with it so you can make the decision before you have the money, but don’t spend it before you get it.

Okay?

Not spending the if come.

Change How Next Year Feels

This isn’t just about like getting through tax season, it’s about changing how next year feels.

Okay?

But Bookkeeping Simplified is now open.

We officially begun, so if you have not joined us and you want to understand how to do the things that you need to within your bookkeeping, either tactical how-tos or the whys behind it.

We do both.

So if you’re going to outsource, you still need to understand the whys.

We also talk about like what’s deductible.

We talk about what to look for in a CPA.

A lot of those things.

Okay, high level CEO and the tactical.

It’s got both.

All right.

That’s https://aimeecerka.com/bookkeeping-simplified

I wanna hear if this one was helpful for you.

Because next year when tax season rolls around, I don’t want you to feel the same pressure.

I want you to feel prepared.

So send me a message on Instagram.

Let me know what’s resonated the most.

You can find me at @AimeeCerka.

That’s it for now.

Remember, you’ve got this and I’ve got you.

We’ll see you next time.

---

Final Thought

You don’t need to rush this decision.

You don’t need to prove anything with this money.

You just need to choose in a way that supports you—not just today, but in the life you’re building.

And if this resonated, I’d genuinely love to hear from you.

You can find me on Instagram at @AimeeCerka and share what shifted for you.

You’ve got this.

Sharing is caring!