How should you spend your tax refund? We asked Vox readers.

The concept of tax refunds is, in some ways, absurd; even though nearly 250 years have passed since the founding of the United States, the United States still does not have a system in place to ensure that each citizen knows exactly how much they owe the government. It reminds us of the fact that there is no. Every spring, Americans worry about whether they’ll commit a federal crime if they accidentally check the wrong box.

But without it, you won’t have the joy of suddenly receiving a check from the IRS because you accidentally overpaid. Even if the amount is laughably small, that’s not the case. do not have fun. We asked Vox readers about their favorite things they bought with their tax refunds. The answers ranged from the practical (travel trailer) to the unfortunate (wedding from hell) to the fun and random (xylophone).

Pilates Instructor Certification Program

I took my first Pilates class when I was 14 years old and have been practicing ever since. Last year, I was in a really tough group class, and towards the end, when I was about to die, the instructor came up to me and said, “You have great form. How long have you been doing Pilates?” I told her, “For as long as I can remember.” She asked me if I was an instructor and I said no, but it was my dream job. She said, “So please do that!”

A week later, I received my tax refund. The cost to him was $4,180, exactly the same as the instructor certification program. There are 18 hours left in the 400-hour program. If all goes well, it will be officially certified next month. —Emily Negersmith, 35, New York, NY

Give your pets a vacation too

I’ve never made a big purchase because I’m behind on my bill every time I actually get a refund. He intended to pay off his debts this year, but after winning a small amount of money gambling, he realized he could put the money together and buy an old, used travel trailer for $3,000. For the first time since our honeymoon, we can actually go somewhere. After we went on our honeymoon many years ago, our dog at the time came back from the boarding house in such bad condition that I thought he must have been abused. Since then, we have never trusted anyone to watch our pets.

With this travel trailer, you can bring your dog or cat to visit your family. Some of the families I haven’t seen in about 10 years. We also see it as an investment. Even if something happened and we couldn’t afford the house, we would still have a roof over our heads. —Larissa Rand, 32, Erie, Pennsylvania

Adele tickets

Last year, I got a sizable refund that I used to buy tickets for my mom and I to see Adele in Las Vegas. Tickets were very expensive, costing $750 each. And we were sitting on the way home. However, we were lucky to be able to upgrade to the third row during the show. [It was] It’s so special because my mom flew in from New Zealand for the show! —Ben Fitchett, 24, Los Angeles, California

destination wedding from hell

In 2016, I spent about $1,500 of my entire tax return on the worst wedding ever to Morocco. (The groom was a childhood friend of my ex-boyfriend.) On the surface, going to Morocco sounds great. In a sense it was. However, the couple who held the wedding ceremony was completely confused. Nothing happened on time. They made us pay for everything, even the food for the rehearsal dinner. Plans were constantly changing and running two to three hours late. I ended up getting sick. I once spent another $900 on a wedding guest dress at a market in Marrakech. The couple wanted their guests to come dressed in authentic costumes. The $900 dress was beautiful and handmade, but I definitely went into debt to buy it. I bought it just to avoid having to deal with another logistical nightmare. To make matters worse, I had just been laid off from my job before the trip, so I was in a pretty negative headspace about spending money. —Rachel Brodsky, 37, Los Angeles, California

xylophone

I played the xylophone and marimba in the marching band and Drum Corps International in college, but always wanted to own one of my own. I bought my xylophone in 2020, during my first year of employment, when I filed my first tax return and moved to New York. It was $1,100! I had to sell it when I moved my apartment last year, but it was a lot of fun to play. —Jackson Weimar, 25, New York, NY

Great trip to New York

At the beginning of 2018, I was on a national tour with Children’s Theater as an actor and director, and I was planning on moving to New York as soon as my contract ended. This decision was scary because I’m from Florida and my entire family lives there. I wanted to make sure I made the right decision, so I spent $2,200 of my 2017 tax refund on a weeklong “vacation” in New York during the week I wasn’t touring. The next time I get on a plane, I’m moving, so I thought this was my last chance to play tourist in this city, and with all the dinners, drinks, shopping, shows, etc., he literally used up his entire refund in a week. I did. So much fun and incredibly silly! —Lexi Inks, 30, Jacksonville, Florida

button!

I used my recent tax refund to spend about $1,000 on buttons for my clothes. I used these buttons to create some new works of art for my upcoming retrospective “Beau McCall: Buttons On!” The refund came at the perfect time as we needed the funds to create these pieces for the show. Sometimes strangers donate buttons to me, but I still need to buy buttons to fill my material inventory. So he was able to purchase Swarovski crystals, rhinestones, mother-of-pearl, horns, custom his ceramic buttons, and unique decorative buttons from a local button store. What people don’t realize is that the price per button can range from 25 cents to over $100. When I look at my work and see these buttons on it, I know that I was able to get my money back on time to create a piece that will be preserved and displayed forever as art. appreciate. It’s an investment well spent. —Beau McCall66, Harlem, New York