I just got one on my last paycheck from the company performance incentive program. The choices are to either pay off the last little bit of my car or to make a larger than usual credit card payment. The credit card is at a higher rate of interest but it would be so nice to have one piece of debt completely off my back by paying off the car. I really can’t decide.
I’ve had some small windfalls. I usually spend half and save half.
When my parents left me a lot, I paid off my mortgage and changed to part-time working.
I won five grand in the Ohio Lottery last year. Sadly, it was in late November, so we spent it to go to Glendale to see the Buckeyes get trounced by Florida. sigh At least the hotel was nice.
Once my grandfather’s estate gets through probate, I’ll be getting about $50,000 before taxes. Most of that will go toward a down payment on our next house, which is exactly what he would have wanted us to do with it.
Got a nice four-digit check from FEMA when Hurricane Charlie came through. Fortunately, my condo wasn’t wrecked enough to not live in, although it was missing nearly all its drywall and insulation. And the repair of that was [going to be] on the condo association’s dime, since it was part of the outer structure. However, were they ever going to deliver on it was a question.
Since I had just lost my job too, in addition to the hurricane, I saved the money. The FEMA money combined with my unemployment checks combined with the rising stock market at the time meant that when I got another job a half a year later I had more money than when I lost my job. And I continued to live in my broken condo. Which I am paying for, in a way, since insurance refused to pay the association for it and we took out a loan from the SBA, but even those not hit by the hurricane have to pay down some of that.
But I consider my FEMA money well earned since I recently moved closer to my job (which was a 63-mile commute from Winter Park,) and since my condo hadn’t been repaired yet (after 3+ YEARS!) I had to have a mortgage AND rent. (Update, now the structure has been repaired, but I haven’t repaired the inside of it in order to sell it yet.)
I just won about $4000 at a bad-beat jackpot playing poker.
I plan to spend some of it on furniture, save some, and the rest on my upcoming bachelor party.
I decided to quit World of Warcraft cold turkey and opted to sell my account. I got $500 for it. It went against car insurance and the rest into savings for the holiday.
When my mother died I invested all the money safely and never spent a penny of it, just in case my father ever had hard luck and needed it. I figured it was rightfully his anyway. When my father died I also invested the money safely and still haven’t spent a penny of any of it because I don’t need to. If all my kids go to private colleges and/or start with private school before then, I’ll need it. If not, either my wife, my kids and/or The Manhattan Institute gets it all.
The father of my children received a settlement of just about 2 million dollars back in 88 or 89. We’d already had a son and continued to have an on again/off again relationship until the 1st birthday of our second son (in 1992) when it ended for good. Since he was so young when he received it, almost half of the money was put into an annuity that he’s lived off of his entire adult life and continues to do so to this day (he receives a very, very comfortable monthly sum and lump sums every 5 years of increasing value, his next lump sum is due in about 2 weeks - $50K.)
Some of the things he spent much of the cash settlement on while we were together:
A 25th Anniversary Lamborghini Countach (put into storage)
3 Porsches (2 for him [he wrecked them], 1 for me [sold])
Honda CRX (for me)
Cruise from NYC to Bermuda
Nearly 2 carat diamond engagement ring (He sold it after we split.)
His and Hers Movado Sapphire series watches (Loved that thing, mine was stolen last year when our house was robbed.)
Countless trips to Atlantic City sometimes by limo, a few times by a Rolls Royce limo, and who knows how much lost at the roulette table.
Even more trips to clubs and restaurants in NYC.
Drugs. I don’t even want to know how much he spent on drugs. It was my suspicions of his drug use that ended our relationship for good. Once we were done, the drug use became incredibly obvious, and I’m certain he spent thousands, possibly hundreds of thousands, before he finally cleaned up 4 or 5 years ago.
No matter how many times I suggested he purchase a home, he flat out refused, but we did live in some nice apartments and we spent almost $75K at Ethan Allen furnishing one of them.
I look back on those days and literally feel sick. I distinctly remember buying clothes and household items in boutiques in NYC or AC without even looking at the price tag. I was not without fault. He spent hundreds of thousands, but I spent thousands. We lavished our family and friends with expensive gifts every holiday. We spent money like it was water. Shameful.
I did save a bit, which proved useful when we split as I was only working part time when we did.
In 1993 my uncle passed away very unexpectedly and had named myself and my sisters as beneficiaries to his life insurance policies. The 2 older of us each received about $45K, while our youngest sister received about $75K.
With that I purchased a car (93 Honda Civic), a trip for myself and my children to Louisiana to visit family and New Orleans for 2 weeks, a few more dinner and club trips to NYC, tuition to a Catholic school for my kids, and living expenses for about 2 years while I raised them and did not hold any kind of job outside the home.
Not exactly a windfall, but I recently got promoted at work with a decent increase. Since then, however, nearly every additional cent that I’ve made has gone to my cat’s vet due to recent health problems :smack:
I paid off two student loans, built a huge deck, put in a pool, and bought a Harley. WHEEE! Savings? What the hell is THAT??
I’ve never gotten a windfall, but my brother and his wife bought a houseboat when his mother in law died. It was used every weekend the first month, then twice more that summer then sold the next summer at a big loss.
Every windfall in my life has coincided with either a bad decision on my part or some bad luck or major life changes. We bought a car and a house, and without the new job I started and the $10K raise that came with we would have been hurting, espcially when my son was born prematurely the next year. I got a big bonus in 2000, and we spent it on some home repairs. We got a big tax refund in 2001 (imagine that) it got swallowed up in increased expenses (with some bit going to savings). I lost my job a couple years ago and got some nice severance, too. And my car got totaled just before Xmas. But I started a new job just after Xmas that was a very big increase in salary, so we could pay off a bunch of debt and still live with no worries.
Some better decision making in there would have resulted in more money in the bank which always makes me happy. And there were a few impulse buys and instant gratification purchases that, well, made me happy, too. Just not as responsibly.
My biggest was when AT&T paid me a bunch to take a better job. We went to Europe with a bit, and saved the rest - it paid for college for one kid.
Bonuses go right into savings.
During the bubble we used some to take a cruise to Alaska and buy much needed new cars. In that case I should have spent more, since it went away in the crash. Our next big windfall is when our youngest gets out of college. We’re going to use the money we’re not spending on college to fix up the house.
I got a nice inhertence when an aunt passed away. We got a good used car, our first even though we’d been married for over 10 years at the time. Moved to a bigger apartment-- the kids needed their own room for 2 years by then. Paid all of our debt. All of it. That was the best. Saved the rest. The twins are now going to college on it.
college. grad school. fendi.
I’d pay off debts, and if a significant amount was left over I’d pop it into the savings account. If the remainder wasn’t significant (less than $100), I’d probably spend it on a book or two.
Paid the month’s rent, applied the rest toward my debt, then spent that month’s paychecks on food for once. It was nice. (I’m doing a lot better now, thankfully.)
Got one this year, used $1500 for a new laptop (old computer was limping badly) and the rest went to the retirement fund. Just about all extra, unexpected money goes to retirement. I can make my monthly nut and have no debts other than a mortgage, and it seems foolish to pay down a mortgage with a 5.75% interest rate when I can invest it at 7% or better. All it would do is shorten the life of the loan, and if I can make my money grow at a higher rate of interest than I’d save by paying down a lower interest mortgage, I’m better off in the long run. I plan to retire early enough to be able to enjoy spending my money, so retirement is my primary goal. College funds for the kids are secondary (there are plenty of opportunities to borrow money for college, not so many for retirement funds), house/home/car/fun money needs are tertiary.
We just got one last week, from the State of Florida. I had an eye exam and bought a new pair of glasses (no-line bifocals. Getting old.) and a pair of prescription polarized sunglasses.
The rest went to bills.
Won a five-figure casino jackpot (Caribbean stud). Gambled some of it back, but most went into augmenting my collection of first edition books. The money was gone within a year, but I figure worst case I can liquidate the books and have cash in hand.