Income tax season is never a fun time when you owe money to the Internal Revenue Service. When you owe cash to the IRS, you need to make paying that money a priority in order to avoid getting hit with huge interest fees and penalties. Not paying the IRS could also lead to liens, wage garnishment, and even criminal charges depending upon the circumstances. Because of the importance of paying income taxes, many people will struggle to send the IRS cash even if that ends up cleaning out their bank accounts and leaving them with nothing to pay other bills. 
If this is the case for you and you are broke after you have paid your income taxes, you need to find some solutions to get you through until you have built up your financial cushion and once again have the money to pay the bills. Here are some tips to help you get through until you get your finances in order if you are broke after you have paid your income taxes.
Tips for What to Do If You Are Broke During Tax Season If you have no money left for bills and expenses after paying your income taxes, here are some things that you should think about doing:
- Take a car title loan. You can use a website like TitleMax.com in order to obtain fast access to cash on the basis of the equity in your vehicle. Taking a car title loan is a great solution when you need money because you do not have to worry about having bad credit- anyone can be approved provided they own their car and have equity in it. You can also get the money very quickly when you take a title loan so you can take care of pressing financial expenses.
- Sell things that you don’t need. If you have home furnishings, clothes, electronics or items in your house that are just sitting around, you may be able to sell these items in order to tap into the extra cash that you require. There are a lot of different places that you can sell items including your local Craigslist or online auction sites like eBay. It’s also getting warmer outside and you could even think about having a garage sale in order to generate extra cash from the stuff you just have sitting around your house gathering dust.
- Look for ways to cut your budget. For many people living paycheck to paycheck, there really is very little to cut, even on a temporary basis. However, if you have unnecessary things you are spending money on like a really expensive cable or cell phone package, you might be able to reduce your services in order to find more wiggle room in your budget. Temporarily giving up eating out and instead cooking at home or packing a lunch to take to work are also solutions that you can consider if you are having a short-term financial crisis and just need a little bit of time to get back on track. These budget-savers may just be the answer to finding the necessary wiggle room in your budget.
- Consider temporarily earning extra income. You may be able to ask for extra overtime at work or to pick up extra jobs like babysitting, shoveling, gardening or lawn mowing. Getting a second job could also be a possibility on a part time temporary basis. For example, maybe you could deliver pizza after your work day is done or work for a shipping company to load boxes on the evening shift. It might be hard work and undesirable to take on a second job for a period of time, but if you do it just for a few weeks or so, you could go a long way towards getting out of your financial difficulty. Don’t want to leave home? Maybe look into an online venture like www.demandmedia.com.
- Consider other options available for a loan. While a car title loan is usually the simplest and fastest way to get you money to get through a financial crisis, there may also be other solutions too. Think about the different options available to you and find the best one.
Josh Mach is a stay at home blogger. He’s been hit during tax time on a few occasions and knows how to deal with the hard times. Follow him for great advice!
xoxo, M.
