I have struggled for years trying to pay off my student loan that I had gotten behind on years ago after my divorce. I was supporting two of my sons without any help from the father, and the interest kept adding up on the loan. I just couldn’t pay on it because feeding my children came first.

Then came the dreadful letter that informed me that my paycheck was going to be garnished each week, and also my income tax return was being withheld in order to pay off the loan. By my calculations it would take three more years to pay off the balance.

A coworker had listened to ‘The Secret’ on CD and told me about it. She was so excited about it and told me to listen to it also. After listening to the CD I decided to take my bills that I got in the mail one day, and add them up and add a zero to the total and pretend that this was the amount of money that I would receive. The total was $4,264.00. I didn’t know how or where this money would come from, but I believed that it would come.

Then just two days later I was talking to my coworker about TS, and the subject of taxes came up. She said she had just filed her taxes online and was getting her return in about a week. Taxes have been a sore spot for me for so many years that I just wanted to change the subject, but she said, “Marly, you have been supporting your granddaughter and taking care of her for the past year, you can claim her on your taxes this year.” I asked, “Can I do that?” She said, “Yes”. I had filed ‘single’ over the past several years with no dependents. Ouch! Now that I could claim my granddaughter I would get back most of what I paid in, or at least the money would go towards my student loan.

In the end my refund was $3228.00 on my federal, which paid off my student loan. My state refund was $79.00, and I’m getting $900.00 back from the tax break that the president enacted… total being $4207.00! That is close enough for me. I believe!