HOUSTON – If that $1,400 stimulus payment is burning a hole in your pocket, take a minute before you blow it all in one place. If you have any cash left over, put it into an interest-bearing savings account. You can then look at paying down high-interest credit card debt. You don’t want to lose money to interest payments. Advisors say going on a shopping spree for items you don’t need is the worst way to use your stimulus money if you haven’t already paid for essentials, set up an emergency savings and paid off high-interest debt.

Stimulus checks: When you can expect to get your moneyHOUSTON – If you know you qualified for the most recent stimulus payment but you never received it, the IRS says you will receive it when you tackle your taxes. Input the amount of money you received for the second economic impact payment, plus any amounts you received for dependents. If you don’t normally don’t file taxes, but are owed stimulus money, fill out the “non-filers” tax return form. Good newsIf you received a larger stimulus payment than you should have, the IRS will not take it back. You will get your refund back quicker than if you send your return in by snail mail.

HOUSTON – The newly approved $600 stimulus checks started depositing in Americans’ bank accounts on Dec. 30, but many said they have yet to receive payment and are still waiting. The IRS launched its Get My Payment application Monday to help those who haven’t received their stimulus check track their status. According to the IRS website, Get My Payment will let you confirm the following:That the government sent your second Economic Impact payment, also known as a stimulus payment. Some people received their first Economic Impact Payment in partial payments. If you received partial payments, the application will show only the most recent.

HOUSTON – The IRS started sending the very first stimulus payments in mid-April, but they are still millions they haven’t sent out. Even if you’ve checked it before and it gave you an error message or a “payment status not available” message, check it again. If they don’t have your bank account information, the IRS will hold your payment until it received your current mailing address. (800) 919-9835(800) 829-1040Will there be another stimulus payment? A second round of stimulus payments is possible, but it will be at least a month before that would happen.