How I Spent My Stimulus

Category: Invest/Savings

• Backing up my Mac just took a huge step backward

  

  "I spent a third of my check to get a Apple Time Capsule so I can backup all my data from my MacBook without having to remember to do it. If I lose any of my data, I can just go back in time to retrieve what I lost. The rest I put into my savings."

  Sam, 25
  Madison, Wisconsin

  12th Jun 2008 in Electronics, Invest/Savings | Discuss (0) |

• Changing Our Family's Tree

  

  "We placed all of our $2,400.00 in an emergency fund. (Thanks Dave Ramsey) We were fortunate that the same day our check came my husbands paycheck had tripled due to overtime. So we paid all of our monthly expenses for the next two months and placed the stimulus check into an emergency account. It feels good knowing it's there. BTW, aside from our mortgage we are DEBT FREE! And people, you CAN live without credit cards!"

  Michelle, 30, SAHM/CATERER
  Kansas City, MO

  10th Jun 2008 in Invest/Savings | Discuss (6) |

• Straight To Savings

  

  "The check went straight to the bank and into our savings account. Eventually the money will find its way into our son's college fund. "

  Fred, 45
  New York, NY

  10th Jun 2008 in Invest/Savings | Discuss (3) |

• Invest in your survival before it's too late!

  

  "I bought a full roll of Silver American Eagles with my "stimulus payment." The US Dollar is going to continue to decline, meaning the dollar you have today will be worth, say, 90 cents (or less) in a year. The only way to avoid losing your hard-earned money is to convert it to Silver (or Gold) metal. And have that metal in your hand (not in a "safe deposit box"). Gas is going up, food is going up, pretty much everything except your wages is going UP. Silver and Gold will also rise as the worthless paper "money" (Federal Reserve Notes) goes down."

  John Keller, 37
  Talmage, CA

  8th Jun 2008 in Invest/Savings | Discuss (5) |

• House

  

  "My wife and I put it in our savings for a down payment on a house."

  Steve, 27, Architect
  Philadelphia, PA

  6th Jun 2008 in Rent/Mortgage, Invest/Savings | Discuss (0) |

• Our (potential) new home!

  

  "My husband and I put our money straight into the savings account for our first home that we are planning to buy towards the end of the year. I may not be stimulating the economy now, but I will be pouring some money into it later! "

  Elizabeth, 23, Banker
  Spring, Texas

  6th Jun 2008 in Invest/Savings | Discuss (1) |

• What did I do, nothing fun!

  

  "$450 into savings for a new apartment, the rest to pay off new night tables. Still doesn't help the $30000 some odd debt that we have. Sigh. I hear it's nice in Europe..."

  Marshall Levin, 23, Will be unemployed at end of June!
  Tampa, FL

  5th Jun 2008 in Invest/Savings, Other | Discuss (0) |

• Therapy

  

  "I invested in the peace-of-mind that I won't need a government bailout any time soon. If I ever find that I need a government bailout I will be happy knowing it's not because I took $1200.00 and blew it."

  Jonathan, 27, Self Employed
  Denver, CO

  5th Jun 2008 in Invest/Savings | Discuss (0) |

• Lee and Chloe

  

  "I put it straight into a college savings plan for these two little monkeys. It's not a sexy purchase, I know, but I don't see the government doing much to defray the rising cost of education..."

  John Dingfield, 44, Commercial Editor/Cutters
  Chicago, IL

  5th Jun 2008 in Education, Invest/Savings | Discuss (3) |

• Medical bills for our healthy son

  

  "We paid back to savings some of the money that went to pay for the birth of our son. Even with really good insurance his birth cost us a large chunk of cash - a shock since our daughter was born in Holland and we did not pay a single cent for anything."

  Laura, 31, Mother
  San Francisco, CA

  4th Jun 2008 in Health & Medical, Invest/Savings | Discuss (6) |

• Charles Schwab...?

  

  "We decided since we didn't necessarily need the money, My wife and I would, at age 22, invest the $1200.00. It starts a new annual investment of $1200 or more. We are new to the investment world... any suggestions?"

  Dustin, 22, Audio Engineer
  Richardson, TX

  4th Jun 2008 in Invest/Savings | Discuss (32) |

• Saving for our upcoming move

  

  "We will be saving our check for when we move in a couple months. Gas prices keep climbing, so we have bought a house closer to our jobs. We are also expecting our second child in December, so this check could not come at a better time!"

  Nick and Annie VW, 25, Engineer and Nurse
  (soon to be) Rock Valley, IA

  3rd Jun 2008 in Rent/Mortgage, Invest/Savings | Discuss (0) |

• For the potential of the future

  

  "Our $1200 barely saw the light of day in our checking account before being transferred over to our (ahem)high yield savings account, or atleast it used to be. We have greater aspirations than a shopping spree and hope to some day see a similar living room in our house with the help of an addition. You've got to start somewhere."

  leah, 24, marketing
  suburbia, minnesota

  3rd Jun 2008 in Invest/Savings | Discuss (0) |

• 4 Years of Dried Mango?

  

  "The check went into my savings account. I could arbitrarily assign the money to some particular purpose (dried mangoes cost maybe $3/package--if 1 package/week, $600 is 4 years’ worth). But I’m not careful with money anyway, so a little bit extra has no appreciable impact on my consumption."

  Rachel, 34
  Seattle, WA

  2nd Jun 2008 in Invest/Savings | Discuss (0) |

• This Is For Them

  

  "We bought another savings bond for our grandchildren, who will need it to pay for this stimulus. "

  Bruce Burnett, 65, Retired
  Sun Prairie, WI

  1st Jun 2008 in Invest/Savings | Discuss (2) |

• One laptop per second childhood

  

  "Part of it went for my second childhood toys, and part or it into my retirement savings."

  Herman Krieger, 81, Retired
  Eugene, Oregon

  1st Jun 2008 in Invest/Savings | Discuss (3) |

• *Fast Money - Emerging Markets*

  

  "Hours of due diligence focusing on the emerging markets in Brazil, China and India, listening to the very informative crew and guests on “Fast Money”, I purchased equities and options in several growth sectors related to metals, energy, oil infrastructure and global transportation. To date 6/1, I am up 26%... If America continues to be complacent with a sedentary lifestyle, continues to allow illegal aliens to stay, continues to live beyond their means of income…to put it blatantly you will die young; all your taxes will go to entitlement programs and you will be in-debt for the rest of your very short life. Wake up America the truth is ugly… "

  William, 53, Free Market Capitalist
  Ski Country, Colorado

  1st Jun 2008 in Invest/Savings | Discuss (1) |

• Stimulate the Housing Market

  

  "We are moving to a new city with new jobs and just bought our first house. We love low housing prices! The stimulus check is being used as a bridge between paychecks, or was used to increase the down payment, whichever way you want to look at it. "

  A & B, 26, Engineering
  Pittsburgh, PA

  1st Jun 2008 in Rent/Mortgage, Invest/Savings | Discuss (1) |

• I Gave My Package To The Teller!

  

  "I walked up to the teller and told her I wanted to stimulate the bank and asked who I should give my package to!

  With gas and food prices rising, and the state the econonmy is in, I thought it would be best just to save it. I may end up spending it to help pay my mortgage if things don't improve. $1200.00 is a drop in the bucket. Next year give me $30000.00 and I'll stimulate the econony!"

  Tony Wickland, Sales
  Mound, MN

  1st Jun 2008 in Invest/Savings | Discuss (1) |

• It was a pleasant extra for us

  

  "We went to Cape Cod for a weekend. We drove, ate at great restaurants and shopped. Just in case you are curious why we did this, it is because we live within our "means" We have no credit card debt, our car was recently paid off, we do not owe a mortgage. Do we make a lot of money, NO! We live in a very expensive area, Hartsdale NY, and make a combined income of about $85,000 (not a lot for this area) We have always waited until we had the money to spend the money. That is the key. We received $1,200 total in tax refund, but we didn't spend all of it on this little trip. Some went into savings, some towards our longer vacation scheduled for early July. "

  Mary, 54, insurance & education
  Hartsdale, New York

  1st Jun 2008 in Invest/Savings, Travel & Vacation | Discuss (2) |