What to do with my windfall
So my settlement check (between $7K-$8K) will be arriving soon and I’ve been pondering receiving this unexpected windfall. I knew I’d probably get something out of this lawsuit, but never planned on receiving the money, nor expected anything out of it. I am doing fine on my own, paying down my debt, keeping to a budget, and minimizing extraneous expenses. There’s a part of me, and quite a sizeable part, that wants to use $7K to go straight to my debt (which would bring it into the $19K range!!!), and then use whatever was leftover to splurge. On something.
But what? I’d like to take mr. maven out for a nice dinner in the city. Maybe this amazing tapas restaurant with a good stiff single malt scotch (or two) and their el diablo chocolate desert (it looks like the borg cube). With a movie and popcorn afterwards. Or maybe a dinner at Jazz Alley? Jazz entertainment up close and personal, a bottle of wine, dinner… For me, splurging on a meal is like spending $100 for 2 people. If I make it something special, I could see spending $150-$200. But beyond that? I have no idea what I’d want to use the money for! I’ve gotten pretty much all the stuff I really need.
What do I not have that I’ve been salivating over? I have all my expensive cookware (le creuset pots ain’t cheap!) and kitchen motorized tools. I did talk about getting a $350 ice cream maker, but since I’m now in dietmaven mode, I’m not really wanting to have a machine that makes fatty non-nutritous, weightgain-inducing indulgent food! How about some nice new clothes? Um, I have enough jeans and shirts for work and home. I have all the exercise clothes I currently need that I am willing to purchase, and to be honest, I expect to be losing 5+ lbs a month for quite a while. Clothes are a poor investment right now! I could use some expensive workout bras ($50 a pop), but I have 2 that I am currently not using since they are just a “tad” too small. I will lose weight and fit into them soon, so spending more is a waste.
I do need some new sneakers. That’s $100, but there’s room in my budget for that. Hmm. Art? Nothing that I currently want by my favorite sculptor (she’s between clay firings right now anyway). A trip somewhere? I suppose I could afford a trip up to Whistler up in BC for several days of snowshoeing and hiking. I need to renew my passport though, it expired on my birthday last year.
So the things I am already planning on spending money on in the next few months:
Renew my passport: $75-100? (no idea on cost, but need a new photo, too)
New sneakers: $100 (in March)
New jeans: Planning on going to the thrift store this weekend ($30 or so) – I just got rid of 2 pairs that were serviceable but fit me poorly and didn’t look all that attractive. They are hanging a little too much now that I’ve lost about 10 lbs, and it’s time to get rid of ’em!
Fixing up my old all-purpose bike: $60 (new tires, new inner tubes, probably nothing else but elbow grease) – I’m comfortable on this bike, and I want to go for some big rides this summer. If I have something I’ll ride, I’m much more likely to go out for a 2 hour ride on the weekend than without it. It’s part of my exercise goals to have more non-gym activities to do.
Fixing up my “new” roadbike: I got my first roadbike (used from the ’80s) 2 years ago and have been too scared to ride it! It needs new handlebars + moving the brakelines up to the handlebars from the riser (reaching down to shift gears when I’m really not very stable or comfortable on the bike is really scary – it’s an oldschool bike!) – this will make me able to use it safely and confidently. Whether or not I can adjust to the position of a road bike is yet to be determined. But once I get in shape and lose some in my belly area, I hope it that hunched over position becomes more comfortable. We shall see!
New tires for my truck (2 front ones) – already in the budget; I’ve saved $300 for it already, need to do in the next few weeks
Hmm. It’s wierd. When I don’t have money, I want all this STUFF. If I wait and think about it (since I don’t have money for it, as all my income is already earmarked until the last week of the month), eventually the desire wains and I realize that I don’t really need it. But then when I have money, I can’t figure out what to use it for. If I can think of something, I feel like I’ve been working at trying to spend money I don’t need to spend! Does that make sense?
What would you do if you came into a windfall?
Milestone, taxes, and general ramblings
Today is a great debt day! I paid off my second to last debt and only have the SBA loan remaining. Whoo hoo! It’s an exciting moment to finally get to that point.
On top of paying the final $654 on my last remaining credit card/loan, I also just got my $880 tax return back, which I immediately paid towards my *last* debt, the SBA loan, bringing the total under $27K! Fabulous day indeed!
February is a bad income month, since it is so short. I also forgot to put in my hours for one day so my check from Monday is short a day! I wasn’t too horribly upset, since the next check (after the end of February) is only 9 days!!!! So an extra day of pay (a paycheck late) will be more than welcome when it comes time to pay rent and bills.
Still maintaining bringing lunch every day to work! I have gone out once this month, but that was a planned-in-advance activity, so I am going to include that in my restaurant spending.
I also have a very sizeable check coming my way in a week or three from a settlement. I’m involved with a 2-part lawsuit due to a bunch of accidents I was recently involved in the last few years. I haven’t ever spoken about them, but I should be getting about $7K, which I am going to pay towards my debt. Even though I’d love to go to Europe. Even though I’m bemoaning the fact that my truck has such sh*tty mileage and I want to get another Subaru outback. Nope. Not going to do anything but pay debt. Even though I really really want to do something else! I may have a big splurgy dinner out. Once. But that’s it.
Nothing else to report from the maven household. Working. Going to the gym (a lot!). Cooking at home (a lot). Not much else!
Stay warm everyone!
Goals, Stats, Accomplishments, and Struggles
I’m 38, have a BFA and am employed in the arts
I make $45,760/year plus overtime ($6K-$8K)
I started with $45,117 in debt
I have $28,452 left to pay off
I contribute 6% to 401K
I pay $895 in rent, and then get paid $400-$450 from my boyfriend for his portion
My boyfriend is unemployed
I pay 100% of the internet, water/sewage, gas, & electric bills (ie, all utilities/necessities)
My job location/hours don’t really allow me to use public transportation, so I drive
My truck gets pretty bad mileage (15 city, 19 highway), and it’s the only running vehicle in our household
I spend a *lot* of my money on food, but
I eat very good quality foodstuffs
I ate within and below my January grocery and restaurant budgets, for the first time EVER
I brought food to work every single day in January (except for 1 paid lunch out)
I didn’t buy lunch ONCE in January, for the first time EVER
I went to the gym 5 days a week every week in January
I think I lost 5-6 pounds
I do not own a scale
I have not decided yet if I am going to buy a scale (TBD)
I will be fully paying off my second to last (penultimate) debt this month, February!
After that I will only have one doozie of a debt left, my SBA loan
My SBA loan is at 5% interest rates
I am done chasing the 0% interest credit cards
I am going to pay $925 minimum towards debt every month, minimum (this includes both interest & principal)
Paying debt off has become a high for me every month
I have 4 credit cards outside of my debit card
All my credit cards will be at $0 by end of February 2011
I do not plan on opening any more cards, in fact, I may close some
I have calculated that I should be out of debt by November 2013
I have over $55K in retirement savings
My emergency fund (EF) is almost zilch (I just used it up in December)
I have no other savings
I have chosen not to save up 3-6 months of living expenses until my debt is paid in full
I plan on increasing my 401K contributions 1% a year
I do not currently contribute to an IRA and will not, until my debt is paid in full
I have not been on a major trip for about 10 years
I have not been on a plane in over 6 years
I have no plans for any big trip or travel plans in the foreseeable future, and don’t expect to save up for one, until my debt is paid in full
I will never live beyond my means again
DebtMaven 