Consumerist
The first of the economic stimulus rebate checks were planned to be distributed this week and it seems as if it's created a bit of a feeding frenzy. Retailers such as Kroger and Sears are offering financial bonuses while Wal-mart is offering free check cashing and a few price breaks on food items. Of course you could take advantage of offers like these, but what should you do with your rebate? Well, luckily, there's plenty of advice to give you food for thought. Newsweek suggests the following:
- Kill the [credit] card debt
- Add to it by getting a retailer bonus
- Buy an item that's good for the environment
- Save it in a retirement account
- Sock it away for college expenses
- Have needed medical work
- Take a vacation
- Give it away
CNN Money has similar advice:
- Spend it on environmentally-friendly items
- Get a retailer bonus
- Pay off debts
- Invest it in career development
As does Smart Money:
- Don't get a refund-anticipation loan
- Save it for your emergency fund
- Contribute to an IRA
- Pay off debt
- Save it for college expenses
- Pay bills, mortgage, or rent — 24%
- Save it — 22%
- Pay down debt — 20%
- Spend it on food, gas or other essentials — 13%
- Spend it on non-essentials — 11%
MSN Money takes a different course and suggests you invest your rebate. But with all this advice, what will people do? As of this writing, an MSN Money poll of almost 150,000 people listed the following as what respondents planned to do with their rebates:
That said, responses to the issue are very widely varied.
In the end, the prudent choice seems to be to pay down debt or save the money. The fun thing would be to blow it on a big screen TV or some other sort of purchase. There are certainly lots of choices — but what do you plan to do with your rebate?
— FREE MONEY FINANCE
Comments
hmmm, perhaps I'll fill my car a few times and buy some groceries ... that should use up my check fairly quickly.
you lucky bastards. I earn too much so I can't get my government handout.
Buy bricks of nickels to resell in the future
Used a tip from Consumerist 'deals of the day' to finally get my first flat screen TV. $599.00 for a 42".
And since my cable company provides one free converter box and will not sell more (only $10.95 monthly rental x 2 TVs), in less than 3 years, the savings in rental fees will pay for the TV,
Thank you Consumerist!
No rebate for me either. But if I got one, I'd probably go on a shopping spree as I don't have any high interest debt and hate the thought of investing it only to watch it die the slow death of stagflation.
I'm doing the patriotic thing and buying an Escalade with 24" rims. I figure the stimulus check will get me at least 3 tanks of gas, which will help the ailing oil companies. They will naturally pass on the profit to their respective community programs, and thus the economy will be reinvigorated.
about 50.00 of mine will go to a bill, the rest will be saved for an emergency.
"# Buy an item that's good for the environment"
Not buying anything is better for the environment, unless you're replacing something that is worse for the environment.
a new bed! and its about time too
Roth IRA contribution.
mine's going toward legal fees from defending myself against an abusive ex-spouse bent on either bankrupting me or harassing me right into the loony bin.
We're paying off the rest of the very inexpensive used car we purchase, so vote 1 for debt.
The rest is going to pay for our trip to Albania and Greece in 4 weeks. Too bad America we're going to go help another country's economy!
Seriously though, as nice as it is to get free money, this stimulus check really isn't substantial enough to make a big impact.. in my opinion.
School tuition!
I will get done with this degree...
goes right into savings.
@ironchef:
Yet we are the lucky bastards. Because you make too much.
[bp3.blogger.com]
@ironchef: sounds to me like your the lucky bastard!
anyway, hookers and blow all the way!
We bought appliances at Sears in January with their 0% financing for 12 months. We're going to take our $1800 and pay down that bill. The entire balance will be paid off by the end of the year...I will not be paying 24% interest on the unpaid balance.
I can guarantee most people will use these checks to pay down bills or buy groceries or gas, not buy fancy new cell phones or big screen TVs.
Paying off a couch we bought with %0 a few months ago and then saving the rest.
I'm going to use to get the new iphone... when it finally gets released that is
I already bought a freeweight set and it needs to be paid off.
So I will be paying off my credit card debt!
Since I had to pay roughly $600 in taxes this year, it's going in the bank to make it even out.
If the powers that be would, ya know, think ahead a little bit, they'd realize that paying off debt WILL help the economy.
Let's say I owe $1,000 (I wish!). If I'm like lots of people and have high interest on that debt, a substantial amount of my monthly payment is paying that interest and not making much of a dent in my debt. If I go ahead and pay the damn thing off, I've got that extra money each month to spend on things like flat screen TV's. :)
New wristwatch (I'm a leftie so it's hard to find right-crown watches but I finally found one I like that isn't too small) and the 3G iphone.
I only have a car loan debtwise and I'm already massively overpaying that to pay it early, so I'm not going to use my stimulus check for that.
I already set aside savings each month.
Shame on all of you miserly debtors that aren't spending. My wife and I will be doing the right thing. We're taking almost all of that $1200 economic stimulus and doing with it what it's meant for: stimulating the economy ... the Canadian economy. Yeah, it's for our trip to Canada.
@Buran: Oops. LEFT crown watches. I found a mens' in 43mm (about the largest I'll wear). Much better than the tiny 24mm Dakota southpaw I have now. Plus it's black and looks mean.
I'm going to use it to increase my carbon footprint. Not sure if I'm going to indefinitely leave my water running, leave my AC set at 55, or drive my car in such ways to increase gas consumption. I'll figure something out.
Just need to cancel out at least 3 other people using theirs to help the environment.
I kid I kid.
@MissPeacock: Me too. I'm evening out!
I'll just save them because next year I will have to pay them
@Bladefist: Thank you, for the laugh. :D
I'm paying off the deposit on a dog for my daughter, bank some, pay-ahead some bills, take $1 and "go nuts" stimulating the economy.
New computer! I should have paid off our last commercial student loan (knock on wood!) by the time it arrives, and our computer is sputtering and dying. (And we have no other "bad" debt.)
Although I might use the actual checks to go get the Kroger gift cards and just mentally shuffle the money around. :)
@Bladefist:
You're a sonofabitch, but that was hilarious.
It's going to pay down the credit. We're almost there.
My July bonus is going for a new HDTV however. No More Credit. If we can't buy it with cash and it's not an emergency we don't buy it.
Since the amount I owed on my taxes was about equal to the amount of my stimulus check, I think breaking out even means no extra spending for me.
@Starfury: Be careful -- if you don't pay it off, you get dinged for interest on the full amount for the full 12 months, not on just the amount you have left to pay.
i had to write a check to the IRS and the Colorado department of revenue this year. This money is earmarked to return to savings.
Me and my fiance are using ours to help with the first/last/security on an apartment. This is the last year we will be renting before we buy our house! Woohoo! We have a little credit card debt, but that is already on a set payment plan (that my fiance came up with) and will be paid off by summer of '09. A lot of people I work with are using their check to help pay off debt.
I already blew my return on a huge TV, my rebate will probably go to something more reasonable...Savings, rent or school loans, most likely.
It's all going on black baby, NO red! Dammit!
Show the Bush Republicans you're not their patsy and give some of it to one of the Dem Presidential candidates and some of it to the Dems' Congressional race people.
Heh.
Vegas baby...
Trip to Cuba!!!
Drugs.
$1200 Tax Rebate
-570 Car Repair (5 months overdue)
-200 Gas Grill for house
-100 Dress for Wife (gotta keep her smiling)
-100 Gas Weed Eater
-230 Savings
------------------------------------
$0.00.
I'm using it for a vacation.
I've got a plane flight that's paid for by my tax refund (about $300 round trip) and a car rental that's paid for by my stimulus check (about $600 for 18 days). I'll still need to pay for hotel, but I prefer to stay in hostels when I'm traveling alone, so that cuts that cost down.
(As to why I'd fly if I was going to drive around -- I calculated that the impact against the total cost of ownership of my car would be almost break even -- especially once you consider $4 / gallon summer driving.)
I'm already putting away several thousand dollars on top of my retirement plan ($100 a week auto-transfer from checking to savings), so I don't feel guilty about treating myself.
I'm not worried about job loss, at least not for this year, as the place I work is still growing instead of shrinking.
And by the time I get back from vacation, the only debt I'll have will be and credit card expenses incurred during the trip plus my student loans. I consolidated the loans down to 2% interest rate, so I'm in no great hurry to pay them off.
Pay rent.
After being unemployed for six weeks (laid off) and having the State of California and/or the US Postal Service screw up two weeks' worth of unemployment (so I don't get it), the "stimulate this" check is going to pay most of our rent for May.
How is this supposed to stimulate the economy if only 24% of people are going to spend it on anything?
I'm converting it all to euros!
Donate it back to the Treasury.
I'm going to get 600 $1 Best Buy gift cards, buy a flat screen and pay for it with all of those gift cards.
Into savings for when I go back to school. Then I won't have to work to pay off the tuition.