if you are only paid twice per month then you aren't getting paid 80k. I would double check with your boss on the pay frequency. Edit: what days are you paid on?

All that was doing was serving as a savings account. You were overwithholding (i.e. you got smaller paychecks) and then the government gave you the money back at the end of the year. Just start putting a few hundred dollars in a savings account each month.