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  • How I was stimulated

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    “Originally I thought I would save it for a rainy day. Then I thought I would add a lower cost guitar to my collection. I did buy one, but sold it to my friend at the same price I paid for it. I think the stimulus check really touched my heart and prompted me to start the 401K here at work and I am adding 6% a week to it. (100% company match, so why not?) I did go out and but a tire for the motorcycle, some work clothes and treated myself to a few nice dinners. Thank you U.S.A. I am proud to be an American”

    Jay G, 47, Management / Electronics / Ft Worth
    Hurst, TX

  • Thanks for (officially) nothing George W. Bush

    “I bought a white 3G iPhone BEFORE I found out that although the government sent me a letter saying I could expect my $600 soon- I’m not getting a check after all. Turns out my parent’s accountant claimed me as a dependent even though I filed my own tax return and don’t depend on them financially. Also, I’m 25. Now I have a $300 bill to pay for the phone. The other $300 I was going to use (like many others on here) to help pay off my medical debt. I’m uninsured, struggling financially through graduate school, and can’t wait until things get better. The good news is the iPhone is amazing! “

    Marta Hernandez, 25, Journalist
    New York, NY

  • Gnarly, the best $600 I ever spent

    “I bought the cutest puppy ever. I’d been wanting a dog for a really long time and I was going to wait until 2009, but the extra money in my pocket let me get him this year. I saw this little guy and had to have him – say hello to Gnarly. I know it seems kind of selfish and not really stimulating the economy, but you’re forgetting about the extra $200 a month I spend on: – Dog food so he can eat – Treats so I can tell him when he’s being good – Toys so he doesn’t eat my socks – Potty pads to save my floors – Training classes so he can be well-behaved – Car washes because he slobbers on the windows – Bitter apple spray so he doesn’t eat my furniture – Leashes because he chews through them so fast and last but not least… – Printed pictures of him so I can show off my mutt Gnarly was a great addition to our family and I don’t regret one bit using that money in a selfish way, b/c my seemingly selfish decision, actually really is stimulating the economy, whether I meant it to or not ;-)”

    Kolleen, 28, Marketing
    Chicago, IL

  • New skates for roller derby!

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    “I bought myself new skates for roller derby! For the last year I’ve been loving life as a Rat City Rollergirl Sockit Wench. (pictured above in blue) www.ratcityrollergirls.com My first pair of skates were awful, they hurt my feet and were two sizes too big. I spent all but $1.98 of my stimulus check on a brand new pair of pretty white skates with shiny aluminum plates. Now that I have top of the line skates that fit appropriately, I can skate better, faster and kick a lot more butt! *Photo by Crash Zone Photography”

    Anya Heels, 28, Rollergirl
    Everett, WA

  • Solidarity tattoo

    “I really wanted to support local artists, rather than buy a bunch of made-in-China junk, so I had an artist make a ring for me and I got this tattoo. It starts as barbed-wire and becomes a vine. The barbed-wire symbolizes solidarity with all people who do not live freely, and the vine shows hope that new life and freedom are possible. I figure that’s just what George Bush had in mind…”

    caitlin strokosch, 34, arts administrator
    Providence, RI

  • I Got Nothin’.. Absolutely NOTHING

    “Thanks to our wonderful President and Government, I was NOT eligible for the money! I’ve worked hard all my life, but on July 1, 2006 I had a stroke and can no longer work. So, while I wait the 2-3 YEARS for my Social Security Disability appeal to come thru, I have to sit on Social Services (aka WELFARE). Wanna know how much I get? $155 food stamps, $230 cash (doesn’t even cover 1/2 the mortgage pay’t), and they pay the gas and electric bills. And, of course, when (hopefully) I DO finally get the SSD benefits, this all gets paid back, but I still get SCREWED by our Gov’t out of the incentive $. I haven’t had a new pair of underwear in over 2 years! Frankly, its getting to the point of All my clothes won’t be wearable soon… maybe when I show up at the Welare Office naked someone MIGHT just try helping me more!!”

    Karen Delphard, 50, I used to be a legal assistant til I had a stroke, now I’m disabled
    Buffalo, NY

  • To be stimulated or not to be stimulated – that is the ?

    “We didn’t buy anything – – yet 😉 Just put it in our little old measley savings account to earn – -.000% – HA! I work in the software industry and my husband works in the banking industry. My company has laid off over 400 employees this year; my husband’s company is actually fairing quite well through this economic down turn (they didn’t get involved in the sub-prime mortgage fiasco). If my job isn’t eliminated yet this year, then we’ll probably spend the money on our trip to CA for our 10 year wedding anniversary next year :-)”

    Edith, 38, Software
    St. Paul, MN

  • Gas to get to my Sister’s Wedding

    “A trip to my sister’s wedding. We’re packing up and taking a 2-week National Lampoon’s Vacation-style trip across six states to be there in time for my sister’s wedding. My entire check will be for gas for the trip, and I’ll be blogging about it as well, to see just how much far my stimulus check will take me on this trip. stim4gas.blogspot.com”

    Bruce, 38
    Santa Clarita, CA

  • Thanks, we’ll add it to savings

    “When we got our money-we could have cared less…We’re not spenders-we’re savers. We put our money into our savings account along with all of our other savings. This way when we really start getting screwed we’ll have the money to fall back on. Having a nice chunk of change in the old savings account is nice!”

    alisa, 28
    you’dlike to know, NM

  • Arts Education and Volunteering

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    “I spent my stimulus check on airfare to Nicaragua; I traveled to the city of Granada to teach art classes. I am a volunteer for a non-profit, Building New Hope (www.buildingnewhope.org), based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and Granada, Nicaragua. To read more about our new arts education cooperative, please visit http://g-arts-ed.blogspot.com/ “

    Mauren Antkowski, 26, Art Educator, Photographer
    Pittsburgh, PA