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Something Light: How’d you spend your stimulus check?
By now, many of us have received our government stimulus checks. Here at my house, we got ours several weeks ago and promptly used it as part of our down-payment on my new mom-mobile.
If, like us, the extra cash is no longer burning a hole in your pocket, how’d you choose to use it? For those of you still contemplating how to spend your mad money, here are a few tips.
Topic: Just for Fun, WorldMagBlog
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back to top50 Comments to “Something Light: How’d you spend your stimulus check?”
We’ve been trying to save it towards fixing the leaky basement, but a big chunk of it (more than half) has just gone toward car repairs.
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We hired someone to tear off lots of yucky wallpaper in our home. Then I painted like a crazy person for days.
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Replacing the laptop that got stolen.
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We used part of it to pay bills and part of it to buy some furniture for the living room and home office
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I reckon it went to a partial payment on my new (to me) truck.
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Haven’t received it yet — it’s “in the mail” as of 27 June.
But when we do receive it, it’s going into our short-term emergency fund.
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It’s in the bank.
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We actually still have it in savings
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I teased my husband that I was going to spend it all on quilting materials and related stuff. One can never have enough potential projects to do.
But, with two in college next year, I suspect it will be used more in that area.
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Mine is in the bank waiting for the next bill to come in….
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Being a college kid for most of last year I didn’t get one.
What was the requirement to receive one of these handouts?
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Mission trip to Canada!
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Keebler, You never can have enough projects and you never know what you need until you walk into that quilt store!:)
Our check went to pay property taxes. Thought that was rather ironic!
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$220 towards camping gear and a camping trip
$200 for the church’s building fund
$180 right to savings
So much for my libertarian ideals of not spending the money because the government shouldn’t be handing out money…
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I’m finishing up a month in Scotland. Sorry, GW, the UK got my economic stimulus.
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It got put in with the rest and spent on who knows what. We are hoping to recover an antique sofa later this summer, so perhpas I could say it’s in the sofa.
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Keebler,
I can help you spend that money on quilting stuff.
I make these seam presses for a local quilt shop.
Want one?
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The last two digits of my SSN are far down the list. We still haven’t gotten it yet, and I don’t think it’s due until July. But, when it comes, it’ll make a tiny dent in the amount I had to send in for last year’s taxes.
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I bought a gun! It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside!
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How do we know when it’s supposed to arrive? I need a tank of gas.
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Mine hasn’t come yet, either, but such a year I’ve had, it’ll be gone in no time — let me count the ways:
There’s the $2,600 ER veterinarian bill for my border collie Tess from last month (she’s fine), the $200 tree trimming job and $130 wildlife trapping company fee to discourage the raccoon(s) homesteading in the rafters, the $280 speeding ticket I got while rushing a hospitalized friend’s sick cat to the vet before they closed … Oh yeah, and the Jeep Liberty that I bought in January after my 200,000-mile-plus VW Jetta finally just had to be replaced. Was that brilliant, or what?? Full tank of gas = $80.
Aiy-yai-yai.
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Donna J,
If you bought a gun and some ammo, it could save a lot on future veterinarian bills.
Seriously, when does it end? At what point should a pet owner say, “send it to pet heaven?” Is it financially responsible to spend $2,600 on a pet in one year?
I suppose I’d prefer not to have to deal with this at all. That’s partly why I don’t have pets. I know someone at work who has spent more than $6,000 on his dog in less than a year. Ridiculous? Talk amongst yourselves!
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The government gives money back to you that they took in the first place and call it a stimulus check.
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#20, here is a link to find out about your check and expected delivery. I’m not entitled to a check, so I didn’t get to stimulate anything!
https://sa2.www4.irs.gov/irfof/IRServlet?app=IRACTC
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Wiglaf (22): If you bought a gun and some ammo, it could save a lot on future veterinarian bills.
Frank: Several years ago, one of our cats was on the way out. But fast.
I don’t recall the exact details of our financial situation, but we decided we needed to save the money we’d spend on putting him to sleep. So I, umm … took him for a little ride in the desert one night.
What the hell was I thinking? I should have just put the $40 or $50 on my credit card.
I’ll never do that again.
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unseenjoy (14): So much for my libertarian ideals of not spending the money because the government shouldn’t be handing out money…
Frank: On the one hand, I’m right there with you. I hate that our government actually thinks it is helping America by printing still more money and putting it out into circulation.
On the other hand, another libertarian principle is “thou shalt not steal.” So just consider the Stimulus check to be a small refund of what your gummint has stolen from you over the last several years.
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#24: Scott, apologizing in advance if I sound nosy, but why aren’t you getting a check. You have at least stimulated my curiosity, though that and $75 might buy you a tank of gas.
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Thanks Scott. They said there was a delay in processing. That may be because I had an amended return this year.
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Wiglaf, 22. It happens gradually, a couple of hundred here, a couple of hundred there. You think one more vet visit and your old friend will be okay. We had a cat a while back who got his neck ripped open in a fight. The got him sewed up and he did it again. WE tried to keep him inside but with a clingy, toddler, a laundry room that can’t be reached from the inside, he got out again. We had him patched up again and put him in a cage. Then my mother got sick, while my husband was on hte road for 18 days out of the month. I couldn’t take good care of him and he got infected. Before it was over we had spent enough to have bought a much better cat. Sadly he died on his own the night before we planned to have him put down. IF I had known the finally toll I would have put him down much earler.
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Wiglaf, 22. It happens gradually, a couple of hundred here, a couple of hundred there. You think one more vet visit and your old friend will be okay. We had a cat a while back who got his neck ripped open in a fight. The got him sewed up and he did it again. We tried to keep him inside but with a clingy, toddler, a laundry room that can’t be reached from the inside, he got out again. We had him patched up again and put him in a cage. Then my mother got sick, while my husband was on the road for 18 days out of the month. I couldn’t take good care of him and he got infected. Before it was over we had spent enough to have bought a much better cat. Sadly he died on his own the night before we planned to have him put down. If I had known the finally toll I would have put him down much earlier.
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Chas, go to irs.gov. The date is based on the last two digits of your SSN; like Frank, mine is due to be mailed June 27 (my birthday) or earlier. I haven’t gotten it yet; I’d planned to put it toward June taxes, but now it will go toward the June mortage if it comes by Monday, or the June Visa statement if it comes after that.
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We put ours into oil futures. Return is 18% so far.
Why should the big players reap all the rewards in oil speculation?
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JohnV #11: To get a stimulus payment you must file a 2007 tax return, even if you are not otherwise required to do so. See http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=179181,00.html for eligibility requirements.
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We just used to today to help pay our daughters’ tuition at our local Classical Christian school! Thanks Dub!
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I converted mine to Euros!
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TJ, #27 my income was over the limit.
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It’s still in the bank, but only because it’s not enough to cover all the things my home needs and I can’t decide which one takes priority [all are upkeep items, none are safety issues].
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Luke (35): I converted mine to Euros!
Frank: Better to go w/metals, IMHO … Indicators are good for a serious launch in Gold & Silver prices over the coming months and years.
But converting from one fiat currency to another? Good luck to you …
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My husband transitioned from one career to another–we lived on ours so we didn’t have to deplete all our emergency fund (which frankly also doubles as the braces fund for daughter #1). Divine timing, though I have a problem with the whole principle of redistribution. We decided to just be grateful for the blessing!
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Debt relief (we have a colege aged one)
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I haven’t figured out yet if I qualify for one. Missionaries make too much money, you know. Just kidding. Since all of my income is exempted as foreign earned income, I don’t know if I qualify. I have received the notices, but I think I’ll just be pleasantly surprised if I get one and go on as normal if I don’t. Since I go on furlough next year and will need a car, I will probably put it into my car fund if I get it.
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Ajisuun,
If you file over here, I would think you’d qualify, since I doubt your income is over the limit! That’s the only restriction I’ve heard placed on it. But you do have to file. If you did, check out the site listed above for clarification (when the internet is behaving!)
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Wow. I was surprised that no one on the blog (that i briefly skimmed over) mentioned that they went on vacation. I thought there would be a lot more. Now i feel a twinge of guilt-but just a twinge. We took our 4 kids on a long overdue trip to see the beautiful Rocky Mountains in Colorado via Big Thompson Canyon and Estes Park, coming from Kentucky. Possibly the last one as a complete fam with the 4 kids…2 in college 2 in high school. Tough to schedule as life gets more complicated. Highlight of the trip was driving up to the Continental Divide and looking at the majestic mountains that “melt like wax” in the presence of the Lord. It was a Rocky Mountain high and humbling at the same time. Trusting that we made a memory that will be cherished for a lifetime.
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Scott, that’s a good problem to have.
Seriously, why is there a cap on so-called stimulus. You can spend cash just as well as anyone else, imho.
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My husband is self-employed, so the day after we got our $1200.stimulus check, we had an ES 1040 tax payment due within a few days for $1190.00. That’s what we did with the stimulus check!!
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OK, regarding the $2,600 vet bill — not that I’m feeling defensive here, but here’s the deal: this is a young, very lively dog (under 2 years old, and I’d had her all of 3 months) who became very suddenly lethargic and then violently ill (2 words, projectile vomiting) over a weekend (of course, when else to they get that sick?). Quite honestly, I figured we’d get some antibiotics and be on our way, but noooo, 3 days of hospitalization (if I’d had a gun, I may have just used it on myself after I saw the estimate!)
Pet insurance is going to become a necessity for many of us. But that being said, I completely agree that pet owners need to learn how to say ‘no’ in this day and age of human-quality, sophisticated medical care that’s now available for our pets.
Ellie, my beloved shaggy dog of many years whom I adopted from the city shelter — healthy all her life — was diagnosed with lymphoma in January and I chose not to treat. She was nearly 14 years old, the treatment would only buy her time, not a cure. I had her euthanized 2 weeks later. I miss her terribly still, but I don’t regret the decision. But only the owner can make that call. And it ain’t ever easy.
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I’m amused — the american gov’t borrows money from the Chinese to give to Americans so they can purchase cheap goods made in china — who’s economy is being stimulated? Also when did the Republican party adopt Kenysian economic principles?
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We actually got one at our address that had someone else’s name on it. After 8 years living in this house, I’d never seen this name before. No one listed in the phone book with that last name, so I found our local IRS office and turned it in. Was worried that perhaps ours had gone elsewhere, but thanks for the above link; looks like we’ll be among the last to get ours.
Government efficiency. There’s an appropriate oxymoron.
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We just moved into an “fixer-upper” home, and used the money to buy a few much-needed tools.
The cash was a blessing, and our house is a little better for it.
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HRW- Excellent point. I wish the GOP had as much sense instead of doing short term fixes that could have negative long term effects!
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