What Would You Do With $1,000?

I'd do like I will with my economic stimulus check. It would go into my ING Direct savings account. Could the money help to pay for something like a new house or car later on? Sure. But for now it would go into savings, growing until I need it.

Tough choice

Hmm to save or spend. Part of me is inclined to stash it away in my savings account and pretend it doesn't exist, but in reality an extra 1000 dollars out of nowhere would allow me to pay off a good portion of my 1661 dental bill and I would not have to pay 139 dollars a month for the next 12 months. I could either pay a lesser amount per month, as the loan is interest free for 12 months, or pay it off in about 5 months. Either way, it would free up some money to put towards a night at the movies every now and then.

In the short term, it would go where all of my spare money goes: into my Vanguard Prime money market fund. I call that the "house down-payment fund" but in reality it does triple-duty as an emergency fund and the source of my annual contribution to my Roth IRA (which is also with Vanguard). It's really just "the fund where all the extra money goes."

Does that mean I'll carry on exactly as before? Realistically, probably not. Knowing that I'm in a $1000-better position will probably make me "feel rich," at least for a little while, and I'll be more likely to treat myself to a little extra spending - an extra course at dinner here, a new pair of pants there, that sort of thing. Not enough to blow the whole windfall (at least, I hope not), but enough to ease up a little bit with my tightwaddish ways. And I've been especially tightwaddish lately, because I've been "feeling poor" ever since I realized last month that I owed Uncle Sam and the state of Maryland a lot more money than I expected to.

Rationally, there's no difference whatsoever between spending $100 out of a windfall and spending $100 extra out of my paycheck. A hundred dollars here is exactly the same as a hundred dollars there. And thinking about it as spending $100 extra out of my paycheck (which is something I can easily afford to do, but generally choose not to) would, I think, keep me from going too far overboard.

Third choice: Donate it

It can do a lot more good for people with far less in poorer countries, or even in this country when combined with the generosity of others.

Of course, it's not easy to give away a windfall, but personally I'd find it easier to give that away than my hard earned cash, and I try to give some of that away already.

Future Trip for the Kids

I'll keep my answer brief and to the point: a $1000 windfall would go towards our family's savings for a trip to Florida in four years.

At least once and probably only once, I will take my wife and kids to Disneyworld.

Of course, I know it'll cost more than $1000 - that's why I said I'd add it to saving for that trip!

I know the answer to that...

Every time I expect money to fall into my hands whether it be 20 dollars or 1,000 dollars, I always budget it ahead of time.

If I had 1,000 dollars falling into my lap without me having to break a sweat:, I would:

1. give my tithes and offering to the church ($150)---I know this is a touchy topic, but I always do this.

2. place $200 into my bank account---for emergency funds

3. give my grandma and brother $50 each---for their expenditures

4. place $200 into my education fund---I love studying, and I'm coveting that $495 immigration law advanced paralegal course in WOLI

5. spend $150 for that camera my boyfriend would love to have---he's been working hard this semester

6. give myself $50---to spend on for things I want/need (I'm already spending on myself through the education fund, I want and need that paralegal course)

7. $100---retirement fund

8. $50--- pay my internet bill! I also have a prepaid modem for travel purposes.

That's how I budget my money...The other bills aren't so important...they've been paid for.

Same as all other extra money

I would do the same thing I do with any extra income over our monthly budget -- apply it towards our savings goals (or extra payment on the mortgage, we are debt free).

As others have mentioned, the same as with the economic stimulus package.

It's very boring, but that's how building wealth is sometimes...

I'd save more money

The first thing I would do is buy a decent bicycle so that I could bike to work (on non rainy days) since I only live 6 miles from work.. This would cut down on my gas costs, especially if I start now.

I would also convert a dog pen we have into a greenhouse to grow my own veggies, and sell the rest at the local Farmers Market down the street)

I would also probably put in between 400 -500 into our emergency fund also

Add it to my house downpayment

We are in the process of buying a house so an extra $1,000 would be a very welcome addition to the pot. That is where our economic stimulus payment is going.

Hmmmm

I would pay off the majority of my credit card debt. And this time I won't run them back up again. Seriously. I have two, and I'm going to cancel one of them, even if it's bad for my credit score.

I know it's a good investment. In a sense I'm "earning" whatever the interest rate is on the credit card, which is way higher than my savings account, for example. But by that logic, shouldn't I keep running them up so I can keep "investing" money in paying them off?

Emergency Fund

I am struggling to get an emergency fund started so I would definitely put it in my savings account. That would help me out alot.

Auto Insurance

I had my tax-refund earmarked for auto insurance, but since it direct deposited into my savings account, I'm hesitant to withdraw it. It pains me to withdraw money from savings, even if it's already been budgeted for something else.

If I had an additional $1k, I could pay off my auto insurance policy, which just came due, and leave the tax refund (and stimulus check) for other savings goals.

Student Loans

I would put the $1000 toward my student loan debt. I've already gotten rid of my credit card debt and built an emergency savings in less than 5 months. Getting rid of my student loans is my next step, so I'm throwing every penny I can at them.

Best laid plans

Interesting year I've had. I paid off the last of my HELOC last month ($18k in <2yrs); finished saving $5k as a minor emergency fund; broke my left leg on Christmas Eve and just finished physical therapy; and just found out that I have a torn rotator cuff that also happened when I fell and broke my leg.

So...being fiscally responsible, I'm saving my incentive refund, but if I had a surprise surplus of $1,000 I would see a doctor about this ding-dang wimpy arm, and either get some physical therapy or get it repaired surgically.

And then, with the leftovers (and there would be some, since I have excellent insurance) I'd take my sweetheart away for a long weekend for taking such good care of me during my recovery.

Moving Fund

Much like any "extra" money from the last few months it would be briskly redirected to my savings account. I have moved multiple times in the last ten years and have been extremely dependent on credit. This hasn't helped my overall debt burden. Since I started taking a closer look at my habits and tendencies I suddenly "discovered" an extra 400-600 a month to put in the moving account. Suddenly the same salary and expenses no longer seem difficult to manage

So, if someone told me that I would get $1000 I would immediately remove it from my immediate grasp and add it to the savings account. It would allow be to purchase the things I will need in my new apartment without depending on a credit card. Depending on how you look at it it is almost like double the money. Since I won't have to use a credit card to purchase I decrease my debt by simply not adding to it.

$50 toward grocery luxuries like almond butter and really good tea

$250 into my high-yield savings account

$400 toward my credit card balance

$300 would go into my checking account and allow me to increase my student loan payments by $50/month for 4-5 months and be slightly less frugal.

Realistically, I would be better off paying off my entire credit card balance, but it wouldn't have as positive a psychological effect as seeing all of these different areas improve.

I hate to be so boring - really, I do - but I'd throw it all into an IRA.

There are some material things I'd like to have. There are some places I'd like to go. I already have enough money saved to buy most of those things and go most of those places, but instead I'm continuing to pinch pennies. That's because my long-term financial goals are #1.

I want to be financially free. I don't want to have to work for somebody else. I'm a pretty independent sort of person and I have some things I like to do that nobody will pay me for and I want to do those things every day. I want a lifestyle in which I'm financially dependent on nobody except me.

Like JD, I used to spend my entire paycheck every month, but I've stopped that. I now regard any additional money as fodder for my long-term plans. It'd be the same if it was $2000, or $3000, or... okay, if it was $1,000,000, I might go on a shopping spree, but don't tell anyone I said that.

A trip away

My husband and I are graduate students and our vacations have just happened not to overlap at all. So we are just aching to get away, just the two of us, to a sunny place without homework, stress, or 'to do's.'

So honestly, I'd splurge (despite student loans) on a trip to the Carribean at an all inclusive place where we aren't allowed to bring any serious books, only pleasure ones.

I would do the same thing I do with every dollar not sent directly to a bill, it would go to debt for the moment. once the debt is clear (~3 months) it would go to fund my ROTH for 2008.

Small price for long term Cash Flow improvement

My wife and I are new this year to Dave Ramsey's Baby Steps, so if I got a windfall like that I would apply it to whatever step we were on at the time. In our case, we have just completed step 1, the Baby Emergency fund, and are beginning step 2, the Debt Snowball, this month. So normally I would apply the $1,000 to the snowball.

In the case of our Tax Rebate, though, I have a slightly different plan: first, part of my snowball is to sell a truck I have on payments, but I still need something to drive so I am spending $800 on a used car (my "get out of debt" car). This will free up over $300 per month in cash flow and reduce my outstanding debt, so $800 spent now will reap many rewards long term.

Second, we are planting a vegetable garden, so I am spending several hundred dollars on materials, soil, compost, fertilizer, plants, etc. Most of these are one time expenditures, but we should be able to save quite a bit in the future on produce. Also, there's just nothing like eating just-picked fresh vegetables.

I think that these are both wise expenditures that will pay great dividends.

Buy a toilet

And probably tile. We are in the middle of a bathroom addition in our house, and a $1000 windfall would be $1000 less that I have to take out of the HELOC. Doesn't sound exciting, perhaps, but it will add to the value of our house, and if you've ever lived with a family in one bathroom, you have an idea of how much it would add to our quality of life!

Laptop

Since we already are saving for emergencies and retirement, I would probably buy a laptop- this is a purchase I've postpone for three years now in order to have a good emergency fund on hand ,and to pay for our kids school. If there's anything left I would buy dry food( with a long shelf life) - my savings account gains just 3 % , and with inflation sky rocketing, that sounds like a better investment, even in a $100 range.

Mix it up!

An extra $1000? This is what I would do with it:

1) I would use $100 to buy a 'healthy' game for my Wii or Nintendo DS, something like Wii Fit or Brain Age. I'll be having fun and doing something good for my body at the same time. I would treat myself to a nice lunch with the leftover change after purchasing the game.

2) Donate $100 to my charity.

3) $500 would go towards reduce my credit card debt

4) $300 would be divided up to my savings and Roth IRA.

Invest in my business

I recently went into business with my mom, selling imports. The business is doing fairly well, considering we've only been selling for about two months. However, there are a number of items which need to be paid for; in particular we could really use some money to put towards advertising. Word of mouth has been great, but the little bit of paid advertising we've started doing seems to be paying off much faster. Also, there are some improvements to the space that need to be done, and there just isn't any money for it currently.

I'm tempted to say I would save the money, or pay off debt, but right now I think investing in my business has the greatest chance to show major returns. Plus, the faster our product sells, the sooner I get to go back overseas for another buying trip :D

Baby!

My wife and I have maximized our ROTH IRA and have 5 months of emergency cash in our Vanguard Prime $ Market Account. We pay off our credit card bill every month, otherwise, we would put our $1000 in one of those options.

We are expecting our first child in August. One of my worries is having enough $ to save for both our retirement and her college fund. I will use $500 to start a 529 plan for her, and use the remaining half towards a plane ticket for my mother-in-law to come from Thailand and see her grand-daughter!

10% for Me, 90% for Debt

I would use $100 and treat myself to video games or fancy foods. I'd like to use it all to pay for debt but I know I would end up indulging myself so better to set a limit. The rest then would go to pay back my credit card debt.

destination heloc

When we bought our house, unfortunately at the height of the bubble in 2005, we took out a heloc in order to have a 20% downpayment and also to pay for some deferred maintenance that needed immediate attention.

Finally the end is in sight for the heloc and we are becoming impatient to pay it off, which will definitely happen this year. Our rebate check will definitely go to the heloc along with any extra pennies we can squeeze out. An extra $1000 would bring us that much closer.

After the heloc I will work on my Roth IRA contribution for 2008. And after that, building up the emergency fund. And after that, a little boost to our son's 529. And after that, we have home improvement plans for the kitchen, bathroom and living room. So whenever an extra $1000 falls into our laps, we have lots of plans for it.

If I received an unexpected $1000, I know it would be split into two places. $500 would go into my son's college savings plan, and the other $500 would go towards the principal on my mortgage. Paying down my principal and saving money for college are the two biggest financial concerns for me right now. Of course, if the mortgage was paid off, my answer would change to $500 for college and $500 for retirement. That will have to wait until another unexpected $1000 comes my way. =)

I'd spend $990 on booze, cars, and women... and then I'd just blow the rest.

Windfalls = Half to Bills, Half to Fun

I was raised that with any "gravy" (unexpected income) money, you allocate half to stuff you don't want to pay and the other half you get to spend however you want.

You use half off it to pay bills/debts and then have fun with the rest. This way you don't feel guilty about spending money on things you want, and at the same time you don't get burned out on sticking to a budget.

I already max out my Roth IRA annually, and since this isn't a payroll entitlement, I cannot add it to my 401(k).

So, I would pay $500 to my HELOC, or buy some index funds.

Then, I would spend, or save in a High-Yield Savings Account, the other $500 towards the purchase of some solar panels for my house. After I tinkered around with the solar panels for a bit, I would look into providing installation for renewable energy products in my area. I figure I could start with installing solar panels, and move towards wind generators or other alternative energy sources, to do my part to help reduce our country's dependence on foreign oil.

An extra $1,000?

I just heard about a way to send money directly to Burmese monks for cyclone aid--allowing the donor to bypass the government--so I'd probably look into that and send them $100 if it seems feasible; otherwise, I'd donate that money to another charity. My boyfriend, who's Tibetan, wants to set up a non-profit organization to build an orphanage school in his hometown, so I'd donate $100 toward that, and I'd spend another $100 on an online course, such as grant-writing, that would help me help his future non-profit and would also be useful in my post-grad-school career. I'd put $300 towards my credit card debt, and save the remaining money (ideally toward a research trip--it would be helpful to do fieldwork overseas for my dissertation--but more realistically/immediately, in my currently non-existent emergency fund).

Groceries or CD + Student Loan

I would either:

A) The grocery stores are doing a deal where if you buy a $1200 gift card, they add $120 to the value on the card. I'd add $200 to the $1000 and buy one of those. The 10% immediate bonus is better than any savings account can give, and we'll use that money on groceries before the year is out anyways.

If I didn't do that, I'd

B) Buy a 1 year CD which expires right before we start paying interest on our student loans. Then in a year, I'd use that money to pay off the student loans.

Either way, I'd be trying to maximize its usefulness

Groceries or CD + Student Loan

I would either:

A) The grocery stores are doing a deal where if you buy a $1200 gift card, they add $120 to the value on the card. I'd add $200 to the $1000 and buy one of those. The 10% immediate bonus is better than any savings account can give, and we'll use that money on groceries before the year is out anyways.

If I didn't do that, I'd

B) Buy a 1 year CD which expires right before we start paying interest on our student loans. Then in a year, I'd use that money to pay off the student loans.

Either way, I'd be trying to maximize its usefulness

$1000 and me

Whenever I receive a windfall of any amount, I put it into a high yield savings account. If the savings account reaches a certain amount, I will move a portion of that money into CD's to earn a higher rate.

Currently, though, I am making a few life changes and am working to make some of my dreams into realities. One of those dreams is to sell my own artwork. Since I'm just testing the waters, I would not run out and purchase gallery space or spend all the money on supplies. Instead, I would do some research and make a few informed decisions on the best way to invest a portion of that money into this goal.

I would probably take 20% of the money to invest in supplies and an additional 10% for marketing (such as setting up a web site) while saving the rest and looking for free avenues to market and sell my work. I would set aside an additional 20% into a separate high yield savings account to be used if I felt spending that money would be beneficial in the long term.

A Windfall

Seeing as how we're now nearly debt-free (only a student loan and the mortgage) I think I'd treat a windfall a little differently than I would the stimulus check, or my regular earnings.

My stimulus check will go straight to savings, and for my regular earnings, I put 30% into savings (20% to my 401K and 10% to ING) with the rest applied to bills and daily expenses.

For a $1000 winfall, I think I'd put 30% to savings and surrepticiously apply the remaining 70% to my parents' credit card debt. Mom had a major surgery about a year ago that wasn't fully covered by insurance. They wouldn't accept it if I tried to give them the money directly, but the bills are eating them up. This way I can say I kept some for myself, which will make them happy.

Down Payment

My Husband & I spent all last year getting out of debt. We're working on getting our down payment for a house. So 90% savings for the house. 10% Give Give Give.

What I'd do with $1000

I am an author and I regularly contribute each month to Make a Wish, and I intend to contribute a percent of my book sales to Make a Wish also. I would donate the full $1000 to Make a Wish in my area, which would be Albany, NY. elaine

what would I do with 1,000 dollars?

I would buy $1000 worth of Metro cards and get 200 free rides on public transportation here in NYC

What would I do with $1000?

Currently, the student loan market is in a terrible state due to the credit crunch. There are lots of college students that can't get the loans they need to continue their education because investors fear to buy any debt. I would take the $1000 and lend it to college students via prosper.com. It’s a small start but perhaps it could make the difference between continuing or not for a student.

-Rick

What I would likely do...

is splurge a little, then use the rest as if it were just extra regular income, with an emphasis toward savings.

I think it would be important to use this windfall for a small luxury. Karma has given me something out of the ordinary and I should use it for something fun and cool and possibly not the smartest thing to do. I would use the $100/day rule before picking this item. If I wanted to get something for $300, I would have to wait 3 days then I could buy it. I would limit this to up to 1/2 of the money.

Then, whatever is left, I would do whatever I would be doing with extra money in my paycheck. If I was paying down debt, i.e. in the Ramsey baby steps, I would use it for that. If I was saving for a particular goal , like a house or school, then it would go there. Or to retirement.

Key for me would be to use some of it for a pure want to celebrate my fortune and perhaps the item will remind me of that, and then also to use some of it practically to make my financial life better.

As a grad student, I get paid significantly less during the summer than during the academic year (don't ask me why that is -- I have just learned to accept it). Unfortunately, summer is also the time when I like to visit college friends who are scattered around the country, since the weather is nice and they are usually less involved with their own grad programs. Even though it might do better going toward my student loans, an unexpected $1000 would likely go into my travel fund. What can I say -- I miss my friends!