If you have any money left, grab yourself an ice cold Coke and sit down. Catch your breath! You sound pissed!
What "refund" are you talking about? You said you and your mom got "refunds" that you have to pay back? Are you talking about your annual tax refunds? You don't have to pay those back; they're not loans. Tax refunds are like Unemployment benefits. They are not loans, they are money that you already paid to the gov't and are now getting back for your use. A payment that you receive from a loan or a scholarship is not a "refund" check. Now if you are trying to say that you paid for school up front and then you were reimbursed by the loans or scholarships, still--that's not the same as using taxpayer money for personal gain. Is that what you're saying? For example, you paid $1,500 to the school out of pocket while you were waiting for the loan to come through; then the loan sent you a check for $1,500 to reimburse your school costs. Is that what you're saying? If so, you still spent that $1,500 on school so it's legit.
Everybody's troubles are a little different. If you used your tax refund to buy instruments then you DIDN'T use "tax payer money"--you used YOUR money. If you got a subsidized student loan or Pell Grant or something and bought instruments, then you used tax payer money. If you won money in a scholarship and the rules of the scholarship ALLOW you to use the money for musical instruments, then it's no problem. If the rules DON'T allow that and you did it anyway...well...you get the idea. Using student loans and scholarship money to repair your car WHILE ENROLLED AND ATTENDING COLLEGE is usually acceptable because that's considered a living expense directly related to you pursuing your education. Sounds like you need to find easier ways to get money for school. Do you have a job? Sorry to keep bringing that up in this thread but my parents didn't help me out with one single cent. I didn't even live with my parents from the time I was 10 years old, but since my dad was a architect, the FASFA office decided that "my family" made too much money for me to get financial aid (for a few years anyway). So I ended up working 2 or 3 jobs to pay for college when I was a student. My advice, get a job and try not to borrow more than you need.
The bottom line is that all that money comes with rules. Read the rules and you'll know what you're allowed to spend it on and what you can't spend it on. I know one girl who got a big, whopping college scholarship because she was a minority and she used the money to take her mom & sisters with her to Vegas to go gambling (she told me all this!). After that, she withdrew from school because she never inteded to attend college anyway. That was illegal. She could face heavy fines, law suits, maybe even jail time. Now she's in debt up to her eyeballs and since she didn't finish college, she can't earn enough to pay it off. Sucks to be her.
