If you were given $6,000 what would you do??

[sara74]

Lucky you! We were given $5000 in January by the IL's and we gave it back! There is nothing that comes from them that doesn't have strings attached. We were told to use it on whatever we wanted, and then told in the same phone call to have our fireplace changed. 1)we like our fireplace the way it is (FIL doesn't like the raised hearth) 2) we are selling in 2 years most likely and if we are spending $ to change the house, it is to do things like hardwood (which we just did in a room), new kitchen counter, etc.

So, no advice on what to do with the $ but kiss your IL's for being so generous and for letting you do what you want with it.

It hurt so bad to tear that check up when we did, but in a good sort of way...

 

[MayMom]

My friend just bought a hot tub off of WALMART.com!!! It sounds funny, but it was only $3500.00 for delivery and everything. It was the same EXACT hot tub that they went to a retail store and looked at and the store wanted $6,000.00 for!! I have seen it and it is beautiful! It has a stereo and all the perks that you would want in a hot tub....if I had the extra "splurge" money - that is what I would buy!!!!

 

[Grendalynn]

My friend just bought a hot tub off of WALMART.com!!! It sounds funny, but it was only $3500.00 for delivery and everything. It was the same EXACT hot tub that they went to a retail store and looked at and the store wanted $6,000.00 for!! I have seen it and it is beautiful! It has a stereo and all the perks that you would want in a hot tub....if I had the extra "splurge" money - that is what I would buy!!!!

Thats what DH wants to do as well, or one of his suggestions anyway! But selfish me - isn't to "hot" on the idea as I cannot go in a hot tub til AFTER the baby is born, unless we keep it cooler than 90' or so.... I guess a cold/cool tub would be a nice idea for the summer months anyway.... Great food for thought! Thanks!

 

[barkley]

i would pay off anything that is costing you money to pay for in installments or monthly vs. semi/yearly (credit cards, loans, car insurance, homeowners...). take the money saved (both what was previous payments and what was saved by virtue of interest and fees) and set up a direct deposit of those funds on a monthly basis to a savings account (or if you have a deferred compensation plan through an employer up the contribution to that amount-you will end up even further ahead by virtue of the tax savings).

you will "have to show"-less debt, lower monthly expenses and a growing savings account that eventualy will exceed the amount of the original gift.

a couple of years ago we got a $2000 gift out of the blue from my mom (we along with other sibs helped her move out of her home into a retirement community and then prep to sell her house). our debt was not such that we would have greatly benefited from paying anything off or in advance. we chose to use the bulk of the money on (for us) a "once in a lifetime" excursion for an already planned vacation. we did a realy great helicopter excursion to the glaciers for our alaska cruise. we and our children will remember this for all of our lives and we have photos and a dvd of the flight that bring the memories flooding back. but, had i been pregnant (having had another pregnancy that left me off work longer than i expected and requiring dh to take some awop time to help out) i likely would have banked it in something "liquid" (not locked with a penalty for pulling it out in an emergency) as an emergency set aside fund (i could have "shown" for it great peace of mind).

 

[KristinU]

As someone who just re-claimed a huge portion of our patio by freecycling a hot tub, I'd recommend thinking about that to be sure that you'd really get use out of it. It seemed really awesome, but in actuality we used ours very little. We certainly are using the extra patio space a lot more than we ever did the hot tub. I guess it turned out that we weren't that big of hot tub folks after all.

Personally I'd go DVC! We're already members so for us it would be an add-on, but with $4000 you'd have a great down payment or could go with a smaller re-sale contract.

Good luck with the decision.

 

[KirstenB]

I'd love to replace our upstairs carpeting. Also since I'm the "maintenance supervisor" at home, I'd love to replace our deck with Trex (or something like it)decking. Is there anything high maintenance about your home? Or does it need painting or anything else?

 

[mickeyfan2]

I second the two IRAs idea. In retirement you will be glad that you did it.

 

[Dorisk3]

I'd put the extra money in college funds for the kids- better than buying material possessions any day!

 

[puffkin]

I don't know what your insurance is like, but with the recent birth of my son, I have about $2000 in hospital/doctor bills to pay. I was able to go on a payment plan for them with no interest, but it would be nice to get rid of that extra bill. Plus, you would have a lot to show for the money

I have a whole list of things I would like to do at our house, so I would have no problem spending $4,000. My list would be shed, refrigerator for garage, patio, patio furniture, landscaping, above ground pool, deck around pool, swing/play yard for son. I also would like to get a bigger TV for our family room, but that is way down the list.

I would probably first pay off my extra bills and then start saving up to work on my list. I have learned my lesson, and except for cars and my mortgage, I am through financing things. OH, and the ING savings account has a GREAT rate if you are keeping the money for any extended time period.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

If I had to have something to show for it--we would probably invest it in the home. However with things we have wanted to do recently--$6K wouldn't be enough .

But for us--floors or yard fence or a debt contribution.

If I could really spend it on whatever I wanted--half vacation and the other half responsible.

 

[ainmama2001]

Bank it.

 

[Bunchkin]

Good question! And some good answers too!!

We are coming into a nice chunk of money soon.
Luckily for us we have no credit cards so we don't have any debit like that to pay off. We only have a mortg and a vehicle loan.
We're in a new house. So our loot will go to a retaining wall and patio in the backyard along with additional landscaping. New dining room set, and dinette set for the kitchen.
A trip to Disneyland & Vegas this Christmas to see family.
And possibly a new bedroom set for DH & myself.

Money is nice!!

 

[littleprissboutique]

My inlaws gave us money last fall.

Here is what we did


We used it to fence off our property. We wanted our back yard to be a private play land for our DD. This way when we are out playing no one can see us.... It also keeps out anyone or anything we dont want in. It added value to our property, and it made our house look great!!

We had a couple grand left over, we put half back to purchase our DD swing set, and the other half for our hospital deductable for our soon to be baby!( not preg yet, but plan to be soon.)

 

[Grendalynn]

Thanks for all the great ideas and suggestions!

Since we just built our house about 2 tears ago, the carpet and tile are not in need of replacing. We have spent some money already on landscaping, a fence that borders our property and our neighbors. As a PP said - it looks goos, keeps our back yard just that - OUR back yard and makes the value of our land go up. We put down loam and grass seed, lots of shrubs and perennials, not to mention DHs toys - a new weed whacker, wheel barrow and thngs of that nature. It isn't anything hugely tangible, but has definalty made our house look great and the value of our property go up. That will be good for when we decide to sell in a few years once we have out grown this house.

I think the rest we will sit on or invest in a higher interest bearing account. Its already in our Money Market account, but we can still get at it...

DH has found a boat he is interested in. That would be fun, however, the price of gas is scary! A hot tub is a great idea, but will be use it enough? A camper would be fun, too, but we can only use that a portion of the year...

HHHmmmmmm........ descisions - descisions!!

 

[daksmom11]

Do you have a playscape for the kids? How about a playhouse? I like anything that keeps kids busy and safe.

 

[LuvOrlando]

Money goes like water in a house with kids no matter how much you make. It sounds like you guys are in a sililar situation as us so here is what we did. This year I promised myself to not touch DH's bonus and invest it somewhere liquid until we had made a permanent choice so I found a local bank with an 8 month CD rate of 4.5%. It's FDIC insured and I can get to it by just dropping by my local branch. Of course, we could always have used the bonus to pay off debt but its a good practice to have 6 months income tucked away in case of an emergency. Since I'm a stay at home Mom with a WDW addiction we've never been able to save a dime since we had kids and I left my job as an Accountant (I know its appalling but its an ADDICTION I tell you). It feels kind of good to be a responsible grown-up (I REALLY wanted the DVC).

 

[lovesmurfs]

When my grandmother died, I received her recipes. I spent 6 months (while I was home with my newborn) typing them all up and making recipe books for everyone in the family for Christmas. Out of the estate, my parents paid me $250 for the work (unrequested).

I took the $250.00 and bought a lovely cameo necklace of a mom with a baby. I plan to hand it down to my daughter if/when she becomes a mom. Something along those lines would honor your MIL and also have something "tangible."

 

[Sonno]

Hang onto it until next Feb/Mar and build myself one badass computer!
(Which I'm going to do anyway and it will end up costing me that much money to do so. Thankfully I only do a total rebuild once every 5 years or so.)

 

[stemikger]

I would need to know more about your finances, but here is a couple of scenarios and options:

1. You already stated that you have no credit card debt, but if you did, that is where the rest would go.

2. Do you have an emergency fund. If not, put the $4,000 in some sort of liquid savings, try to shop around for a good rate. I put mine in United States Savings Bonds. But most experts suggest ING or a high yield savings account. The ideal emergency fund should be 3 to 6 months of expenses, but a year would be fantastic.

3. If you have no CC debt and an established emergency fund, send extra toward the principal on your mortgage.

4. If you are not keen on sending to your mortgage, send it to a mutual fund.

Well those are the things I would do. Good Luck on whatever you decide.

 

[susan1]

hi
i would rent an r.v. with it and tour as much of america as the money would allow, probably not very practical if you have children but they would have a wealth of educational experience to show for it. but then i.m just a gipsy at heart!!