June 4, 2008
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Always Sunny In The Rich Man’s World
After filing in three states, spending time with my new BFF Mahendra at H&R Block and paying the government a boatload of money, I got my stimulus check yesterday. I assume this means that I will not be audited, which is really all you can ask for when it’s your first time filing on your own. The idea of having to sit down with an IRS agent and go over my taxes is inexplicably terrifying to me, you guys.
Anyway, because I was in school for half of the year and was making $nothing/hour, I got $300 back instead of $600 like most of America got. I am fine with this.
Thus begins, however, my foray into What Do You Do with Three Hundred Bucksville . . . so I’m hoping for suggestions as to what to do with the cash.
Let’s brainstorm what $300 can buy . . .
- almost a whole flight from NYC to Columbus (seriously . . . it used to be $250 and now it’s skyrocketed up to about $350 – gag me!)
- 45 used DVDs from Blockbuster’s 3/$20 deals
- 3 lifetimes of Xanga Premium
- six months’ worth of Special K Red Berries cereal (I go through an average of 3 boxes a week)
- a whole bunch of karma if I were to donate it to charity
- 25 NYC movie tickets
- 150 Frosty Floats
- 194€ (ouch)
or, the most likely of the outcomes…
- 1/60th of the remainder of my student loans
I also thought about cashing it and seeing how far I could stretch it, but I know I’d end up spending it on bagels and eating for almost an entire year on the treasury’s dime.
What did you do with your stimulus payment?
Comments (38)
get a xanga tattoo.
You could buy 300 $1 DVDs! Those are always worth the money, right?
How many scented sneakers could you buy?
I put part of mine towards my car and the other part I am using to visit Beth and make a side trip to visit YOU guys!
I got $40 and bought 3/4 of a tank of gas.
you could get a…crap 300 aint that much outside of food and gas these days. anyway you remind me of my friend dana and are as busy as her.
reason being youre an information junkie. is fun times
i got the $600, but it was put toward paying off credit card debt from purchasing my flyers season tickets for next year.
vacaaaationnnn.
Or take me to a show when I come visit.
If it was my $300, it would be going towards milk goats. And if it was $600, the other $300 would go towards some angora rabbits (so I could spin their wool) and a spinning wheel (so I could spin their wool).
You might think I’m kidding.
I was a “student” through all of 2007 with no income so, no check for me.
I am giving it to my church so that they may truly appreciate that the gold of man is temporal, but God’s love is forever.
@sonnetjoy - actually, i’ve always joked about wanting a pet goat to feed tin cans . . . hmmmmmmmmmmm
@Natalia - They’ll fight for your banana peels, but will probably pass on the cans!
Huh?:/ What the heck is a stimuli? Stimulie? Stu?
My parents claimed me as a dependent, so no check either. Darn.
you could buy 75 gallons of gas. yippee!
Ok…here’s an Idea:
Take 10%, and donate it to a local charity (tax write off…)
this would mean $30 off to the side (so $270)
Take 30% and buy something nice for yourself.
This would mean about $90…(new outfit…some cd’s…whatever)
This leaves about $180 left. Put another 30% into savings for later (high yeild savings)…who knows what for.. another $90…
With that last $90, you could invest in a stocks/bonds/mutual funds…or at least a short term CD… (if you put $90 in a short term CD @ %5, lets say for 5 years…you’d have $22.50 profit…and your CD would be worth $112.50….)
ok, just a thought.
(I was going to say to give 3 people xanga premium, I’m available for that…but you could do that without paying out the big bucks).
Good luck deciding what to do.
well, i don’t know if ours will ever arrive. but we are going to pay our family dentist bill. no fun.
one bummer is since we claimed our 17 year old dd, she doesn’t get the stimulus AND bigger bummer, since she turned 17 and made fair money WE don’t get the kid credit for her. bogus is what that is…..
but ya gotta love the gov’t right?
Well a stimulus check is money that you didn’t have to work for….nice….
I got my $300 check and it pretty much went to gas for that month. Gas is way too expensive here in the bay area!
I would just save it if I were you, but if you really want to go to Colombus, go to priceline.com. I was able to get $350 tix for a roundtrip down to $150 roundtrip…so it’s possible.
I will not get mine until July, so instead I will tell you what I would do, if I were you. I think it is no coincidence that you received that check the first week that most of the country is experiencing summer weather. I think this is surely meant as a signal that you must go buy new summer clothes, and shoes!
We haven’t gotten ours yet, but I’m pretty sure it’s already set aside for bills or savings.
I’m yet to get it. However, I wish I had as few loans as you do…
Save it for a rainy day. But if it were me, I’d upgrade my computer.
@tlm0000 - i like the way you think
@LydJaGillers - i’m gonna message you on the priceline thing . . . i’ve never done it before but would love to hear your take on how to make the system work for me
Dear Natalia,
The survey game is a very old gimick to get your E-mail address, Why would you be involved in the sales of my name and E-mail address. I don’t like that at all. The whole name of the game is to get your nams on a list,then sell the list, after saying what your interests are. iIwould have thought this practice to be beneeth your standards. I am very disappointed that you would be involved in such betrail. I am very displeased and my have to take what friends I have Elsewhere. To offer a reward to betray your friends is Judas. I grow tired of this target group crap and angry that you would participate !!
@gr8balls - . . . I’m not sure what you’re talking about . . . if you message me and explain what you mean, i’d be happy to listen and respond…
I too recieved $300 and figure with the increase in heating bills this year I have alreardy paid it, and it went to some foreign, American hating country. $300 is not only a joke, but a bad joke at that..
@Natalia - I am talking about 1000 points for taking a survey.
was there a choice? we paid bills.
excrutiatingly boring.
Lets see my oldest son spent my entire check on gasoline. He has been traveling from Fla to Arkansas, then this week he travels from Arkansas to New York. His tan holds 25 gallons and that is roughly $ 120 to fill up each time. Then he spent a couple hundred buying tires for his van cause of one went flat and of course he wanted a full size spare. All gone.
my mets sunday plan/season tickets
hey whats up i have new xanga songs up
How’s that book?!
@Viewtiful_Justin - it’s not my favorite book of his, but it’s still fun . . . i might do a post about it once i finish the last six pages
Haha, my stimulus package went right back towards paying student loans (i.e. not back into the economy like Bush wanted it to)
still haven’t filed my taxes, because i am exempt for the time being. but i probably should on the chance that i would get one of those checks as well. wonder if it’s too late….? if i got one i would pay off 1/7868768959685th of my student loans.
@gr8balls - tell me this was a deadpan joke. cuz betrail is a lonely path to walk down…
edit: my guess is from the subscription page, person thought the survey link was part of your entry, when in fact it’s not. too funny.
@slamjoe - Please take a moment to clear the matter of the surveys up for me. Thanks