What Would You Do With $1,000?

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.

cristina irimie of MI @ May 08, 2008 10:40:25 AM

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!

Miriam Hill of DC @ May 08, 2008 10:17:45 AM

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.

Joel of VA @ May 08, 2008 10:14:42 AM

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.

ryan of OH @ May 08, 2008 09:52:23 AM

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.

Alison of MA @ May 08, 2008 08:48:58 AM

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.

Mike of CA @ May 08, 2008 00:41:54 AM

$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.

Narinda of CA @ May 08, 2008 00:01:25 AM

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.

nikki of AZ @ May 07, 2008 23:49:19 PM