Help me out fellow boardies, have some cash...is it time to tuck it away or play?

[HeatherAnn23]

Ok, so here's the situation. Unfortunately we lost my father in law in an accident this spring. Insurance has paid us some money (around 20,000, in two checks). Traditionally we have struggled, and lived paycheck to paycheck. We have a bankruptcy in our past due to medical bills, and have really modified how we look at and spend money. We immediately put the bulk of the first check in a CD (and 2 months later our bank crashed.....ok....was bought by Chase) and used some to pay some medical expenses, catch up on some home repairs, and pay off a vehicle. We don't have credit card debt, and we own a home that we have about 100,000 in equity (in theory). Traditionally, as soon as we start planning a vacation my husband loses his job , so you can see how we're a little nervous to go down that road. Help me see the best choice for this cash. We would like to look at a vacation next summer, but we certainly won't tour the world or anything like that. (Unless you count EPCOT!). We would like to redo the floors in our house at some point, but it's not really pressing. Our yard looks like nobody lives here, so maybe paying someone to get that into shape would make sense. Help me out oh wise budgeteers!!!

 

[Pixie Dust for Me!]

Do you have a retirement plan? If not, get in one ASAP!
Do you have children? What about college?

 

[HeatherAnn23]

See, I knew this money just had my head spinning. I'm a teacher, so I have a great retirement plan, my dh - not so much. The kids' college accounts could use the boost too! Keep it coming folks!! For some reason, the current economy just leaves me paralyzed!

 

[C.Ann]

Right now I would definitely stash it away.. A few months down the road you can take another look at what's happening with the economy and see if things are improved.. Things are too unstable right now to be spending a bunch of money on "wants" when you could be facing "needs" 6 months down the road if things continue to be as shaky as they currently are..

Just my opinion though..

 

[CC104]

I'm always a sucker for save, save, save! My husband likes to play, play, play!

I vote for save 75% and play with 25%.

Max out those IRA for this year!

 

[lttlmc3]

I would save half and play with half. I would like to say I would save all, but I'm just not going to lie.

 

[Pixie Dust for Me!]

One thing a financial planner said to me that stuck is this...your child will generally be able to get loans and scholarships for college....but you WON'T get them for your retirement!

Glad things are getting better for you. Wishing you the best!

K

 

[prncess674]

do you have 6 months of income in savings? If not, put aside that much aside and splurge with the rest. Tough economic times are ahead, a WDW vacation could be fun, but not having enough to house and feed your family if the unfortunate were to happen could be devastating!

 

[T. Lynn]

I say...tuck away...

 

[CajunDixie]

I would most likely put around $3,000-$4,000 in a easy access account such as just a basic savings account and use it for your vacation. When the time comes you can tell the kids the vacation is grandpa's gift. The rest I would safely invest.

As for your floors maybe wait until the money has made you a little interest before you do them. If you were saving for a vacation put that money toward the flooring. For the landscape you can do this so much cheaper yourself if you just look around at other yards and get ideas of what you like. Ask your local garden center for advice such as what grass is best for your area, start your own grass program...the whole weed and feed, fertilizer, debugging..... As for bushes and flowers again your local garden center should be able to suggest good plants for the area you live in and consider shade plants vs sun plants. Check your local library for a few landscaping books and magazines.

 

[Cindy F]

...For the landscape you can do this so much cheaper yourself if you just look around at other yards and get ideas of what you like. Ask your local garden center for advice such as what grass is best for your area, start your own grass program...the whole weed and feed, fertilizer, debugging..... As for bushes and flowers again your local garden center should be able to suggest good plants for the area you live in and consider shade plants vs sun plants. Check your local library for a few landscaping books and magazines.

I absolutely agree with CajunDixie! I knew nothing about gardening at all and had never grown a thing in my life until we bought this historic home to restore. I found a bunch of help online, plant databases, forums, pamphlets, and just got in there and started planting. Now people comment all the time on how beautiful our yard is! My picky brother even said "It looks like a resort oasis back here by the pool!" I was really proud of all the hard work when it was done. Good Luck!

 

[StitchandPooh'sMom]

Is the money you put in the CD your emergency fund? Do you have 6 months of living expenses put away as a PP suggested? Since you have dalt with job loss in the past, you know firsthand how important it is to have som money to live on.

That's great that you have paid off your medical bills and have no credit card debt. I'd be inclined to use some of the money remaining to take a trip as a gift from your kids' granddad. I'm not sure how much you have left - have you used the bulk of it for paying off debt and getting a CD? If you have used 75% or so of it for debt reduction/emergency fund planning, I'd take a trip, but not a big blowout that puts you back in debt.

 

[SnowWtch]

I'd put away most of it and maybe take a weekend trip somewhere that doesn't cost much. Sometimes you just have to relax a little.

 

[bellebud]

First, so sorry about your fil!

Second, as for the money, I'd save it -whether you need to max out retirement accts, add to college funds, and/or have 6 months expenses available.

Do your yard yourself - make it a special family project you work on long-term all together. Paying someone to do that is a REAL luxury. It can also be family-bonding time. Have everyone draw up ideas of how you'd like the yard to look, and incorporate everyone's ideas and have fun w/ it.

Don't do your floors. You said it's not pressing, and now is just not the time in our economy for things like that.

You can certainly take a vacation that doesn't cost too much. What about camping? Or somewhere sort of local that you haven't been? I wouldn't blow thousands right now on a vacation if I were you. If you got $100,000 then a few thousand on a vacation would seem more in line to me, but not from $20,000. I wouldn't take more than $1000 from that for a vacation right now.

Good luck deciding what to do w/ it.

 

[pearlieq]

Unless there's a pressing need for something, the "windfall rules" in our house is that taxes come first, and then of whatever is left over, 10% comes off the top for fun and the rest gets saved and invested.

That way you can have a little fun without feeling deprived and still better your overall situation.

I'm sorry about the loss of your FIL.