The IRS reports that 75 percent of taxpayers get a tax refund check each year, and that the average income tax refund is currently about $3,100. Getting a refund check after a year of hard work often feels like a bonus, but isn't a tax refund more like giving the government an interest-free loan?

The reason why you are getting a refund in the first place is because you ended up paying more taxes than you actually owed over the course of the year. That money could have been left in a high-interest savings account or put to some good use.

Consider the following 8 reasons why getting a tax refund check is really not a good idea:

As a Money Coach for nearly a decade, and as someone who once owed $100,000 in credit card debt, I know that becoming debt-free isn't just about using proper money-management techniques and effective debt-elimination strategies. It's also about having the right mind-set to get out of debt.

Here are four insights to help you create the right mindset to get out of debt.

A tragic financial story involving an elderly widow recently had a lot of people shaking their heads -- yet it had all the red flags and signs of a financial scam.

It turns out the woman, a senior citizen named Mary Kubalak of Pembroke Pines, Florida, sent $370,000 to a con artist in Jamaica who lured her with promises that she'd won the lottery, but needed to pay certain fees in order to collect a supposed $7 million lottery jackpot.

Unfortunately, this unsuspecting retiree isn't alone in falling victim to such scams.

A recent Associated Press article suggests that a "new digital divide" is emerging between blacks and Latinos and their white counterparts in the United States.

This so-called digital divide boils down to a single, telling statistic: About 46 percent of blacks and 51 percent of Latinos are using cell phones to access the Internet versus 33 percent for whites, according to data from the Pew Research organization.

One conclusion of the AP article is that minorities are relying heavily -- too heavily -- on mobile technologies, which could be detrimental.

Are tax deadlines making you anxious or is the thought of having a big IRS tax bill leading you to procrastinate in filing your taxes? For many people, tax season is filled with worry and anxiety.

If you're still waiting on your W-2s or just haven't found the time to put together your tax return, you may have a few questions about whether you'll owe -- or whether you'll get a tax refund check. Getting stressed out about taxes can make it hard to get anything done, so it's important to educate yourself on some basic facts and get answers to your tax worries and questions.

Here are just five of the most common tax worries, solved:

If you say the phrase "Uncle Sam" to members of the military, chances are thoughts of patriotic duty -– and not paying taxes -– spring to mind. But even military personnel who are actively defending our country have to pay their fair share of income taxes, no matter how much or how little they make.

Fortunately, those in the U.S. armed forces do enjoy some special tax breaks, and rightfully so. Here are three tax tips anyone in the military should know to help lower their taxes:

1. You get tax benefits if you were in an active combat zone.
If you are an enlisted member, warrant officer, or commissioned warrant officer, you can exclude certain forms of pay from your income, provided the pay was earned during a month when you were in a combat zone, such as Afghanistan or Iraq. Some of the income that can be excluded includes: active duty pay, imminent danger/hostile fire pay, a re-enlistment bonus, and pay for accrued leave.

Every year in America, 600,000 inmates are released from prisons and jails. One of their biggest challenges is finding jobs as ex-cons. With unemployment now hovering at around 9%, it's hard enough to land a position in the U.S., even for those with spotless records and impeccable career credentials. So imagine the difficulty of getting hired if you have a criminal conviction in your past. Unemployment among the ex-inmate population is a staggering 50%, various studies show.

Despite popular thinking, it's not just hardened criminals like murderers or rapists who have trouble re-entering the workforce. More frequently, those seeking a second chance in the employment market after a felony conviction are non-violent offenders who were incarcerated for drug-related offenses or financial crimes, such as theft, bad-check writing or embezzlement.

Even though most people consider tax season to be a major pain, there are some basic ways to ease your tax frustrations -- lowering the amount you fork over to Uncle Sam, and warding off potential tax problems in the process.

Here are 3 quick tax tips to help you accomplish all these things for the 2011 tax season:

1. Don't delay -- even if you can't pay:
So many people fail to file taxes (or even request an extension) simply because they can't afford to pay their tax bill. That's a big mistake.

When you owe the IRS, the penalty for failing to pay is 0.5% of your unpaid taxes per month, up to a maximum of 25%.
However, the penalty for failing to file is 10 times worse: it's 5% of your unpaid taxes per month, up to a cap of 25%.
So it's far less costly to go ahead and file, even if you don't have the cash on hand to satisfy your tax bill in full.

Besides, those who owe the IRS have options: like payment plans or an offer-in-compromise. So at the very least, you should file on time or file IRS form 4848 to get an automatic six-month extension if you can't file your taxes by the April 18, 2011 deadline. Even with an extension, however, you still have to pay what you owe by the April 18 deadline. Otherwise, you'll get hit with interest and possible penalties. An extension gets you more time to file, not more time to pay.

Most small business owners will tell you that they face two constant struggles: finding financing and getting the word out about their enterprise -– especially in a crowded marketplace or amid a sea of bigger competitors.

Gaining access to capital can be a time-consuming, often complex, process. But when it comes to getting much-needed media publicity and consumer awareness of your products or services, the task can actually be quite straight-forward. So in honor of National Entrepreneurship Week, which takes place from February 19-26, 2011, here are 5 simple tips to publicize your small business.

These tips come from Davina Coard-Martoral and Michelle Jerrier, co-founders of DavElle Consulting, a boutique media relations firm that specializes in product launches, social media programs, and media events:

You might not know this, but this week is Military Saves Week, a time dedicated to raising financial literacy and boosting the savings levels of members of the military. Even the Department of Defense has gotten in on the act, officially recognizing the need to get military families to save more. The DOD is participating in the fifth year of the Military Saves campaign, and is now observing Millitary Saves Week, which runs from February 20 to February 27, 2011.

One reason it's especially important to get our servicemen and women to save more money is because many of them -– particularly privates and specialists in their early 20s –- only earn very modest salaries. In fact, "If they have a wife or child, many of them qualify for food stamps. So they're really paid at a low level," says Christine Truhe, founder of Bonds of Courage, a New-Jersey based organization that assists active troops and post 9/11 veterans with getting the financial, career and educational resources they need to succeed.