What would you do with an extra $100 bucks?
By Donny Gamble
Donnie helps his readers learn to invest and teaches them the values of financial independence at his site Invesmint.com. In this post – Donny shares what one person could do with an extra $100 in their pockets.
Have you heard all the cash incentive awards you get just from listening to the radio. But let’s say you did win $100 or you just found it lying on the street. What would you do with the extra cash. Invest it? Go on a shopping spree? Pay a bill? Purchase new software? How would you spend your free money?
Well before you answer, here’s something to ponder. How you spend your money says a lot about what you value. I know people (I won’t give names) who drive around in nice cars but are couch surfing week to week. I also know several people who purchase used clothing, used house wares, used cars—used everything, but these folk seem to have more money than they know what to do with. Personally, I think their buying habits are smart.
Resistance to instant gratification pays off in the long run. I won’t debate that ignoring temptation is tough. As I look around, I can see where I always haven’t made wise buying decisions. Now I take my time before reaching for my wallet. Basically that’s the rule of investing. Don’t rush. Explore, investigate. Consider your options and look for better alternatives. Think about whether your purchase now will be better in the long term. Will what you spend today really serve a need or will it just make you feel better just for the time being.
Imagine you just got $100. It’s yours totally free and you can do whatever you want with it. What have you learned about investing that would enable you to make that money gain more value?
I just encountered this situation, receiving an additional $180 on my bimonthly pay. I bought myself an early Christmas present – a sweet little inexpensive Gretsch guitar, for my Beloved. The best investment I could ever have made – honestly.
I would just stick the money in my wallet so that it would take a little longer before I had to go back to a bank machine. I doubt that it would affect my spending at all. I’m not sure what that says about me.
I would just keep it in my wallet too.
“Tuck a Benjamin” as Larry Winget says. “I like them, I like them a lot”
I think most people who are smart enough to be reading this website are also the type of people who would simply add the $100 to their wallet or their savings. The opposite is the type of person who runs out and spends every $ they get. For example, they run out and spend a tax refund as if it were “found money”.
It is a bit harder to answer this question right now, because Christmas is coming up, but I would probably put it in my short term savings account, which is used for gifts, vacations, unexpected car repairs etc.
By spending it on Christmas I might reach my goal this year of not carrying over any holiday purchases from Dec to Jan.
I probably would use it to buy gas. $100 isn’t a lot of money where you can really gain from it. You could put it in a long term CD and forget about it, but to be honest the few extra bucks you get may not be worth it. For something that small of money, I would put it towards gas or grocery money or take someone out for a night out.
Craig
www.budgetpulse.com
I am not tracking my budget well enough yet, it would likely end up in my wallet, and not even consider if it is found money or just other money, it would really not have enough change on me. Back in college I know where it would have gone, and that is not savings.
The $100 would definitely go right into the wallet, and be used for day to day expenses. Gas, food, etc.