# What would you do if you had $100,000 cash right now and had to spend it? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 24, 2001, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-if-you-had-100-000-cash-right-now-and-had-to-spend-it/51597 "2001-01-24T19:16:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Tiburon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e36b37/32.png) [@Tiburon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tiburon)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2001, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-if-you-had-100-000-cash-right-now-and-had-to-spend-it/51597/1 "2001-01-24T19:16:01Z")
Because I’m paying back school loans, I often dream about what I’d do with a large sum of money. **What would you do with $100,000 cash right now, tax free - and you have to spend it; you can’t invest it or stick it in the bank?** If I had $100,000 right now, I’d pay back the $86,000 I have in loans. (Ack, that makes me ill to see in black and white.) Then I’d get a new (used) car with the remaining $$. Then the money I’m using to pay back loans could go to investments and more enjoyment! I picked $100,000 because you have to think about how you’d split it up. Tibs. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2001, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-if-you-had-100-000-cash-right-now-and-had-to-spend-it/51597/2 "2001-01-24T19:20:01Z")
Easy. Used **Schweizer 300CB** helicopter. (If you don’t know what that is, there’s a picture of me landing one on my webpage: Biography/Photo Album) ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2001, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-if-you-had-100-000-cash-right-now-and-had-to-spend-it/51597/3 "2001-01-24T19:25:34Z")
I see that paying off loans is OK, so I’d probably pay off my car and put the rest on my mortgage. If I didn’t have loans, though, I’d probably use it to buy a bigger and better house, with a kick-ass kitchen. Brick oven, 6 burner professional range, convection ovens, big ol’ sinks, granite countertops… yup, that $100K would be gone in no time. ---
**Author:** ![Silver\_Fire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e4f/32.png) [@Silver\_Fire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_Fire)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2001, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-if-you-had-100-000-cash-right-now-and-had-to-spend-it/51597/4 "2001-01-24T19:26:50Z")
I’d head out to Vegas. (Hey, if it was originally _my_ money, I wouldn’t _have_ to spend it. So I had to have gotten it from someone else, right?) ---
**Author:** ![The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Devil_s_Grandmother)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2001, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-if-you-had-100-000-cash-right-now-and-had-to-spend-it/51597/5 "2001-01-24T19:28:12Z")
No doubt in my mind, it’s a down payment on a house. I don’t have any school debts, so for me it’s an easy decision. If a house is too investment-y for the OP, I’d buy a new car/bed/wardrobe, pay off all my debts, my parent’s debts, and take a long vacation to Europe this summer. ---
**Author:** ![Palandine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/958977/32.png) [@Palandine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Palandine)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2001, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-if-you-had-100-000-cash-right-now-and-had-to-spend-it/51597/6 "2001-01-24T19:32:30Z")
Pay off my credit cards (which aren’t **too** bad but I’d like to have that monkey off my back, pay off my student loans (which I have 4 more years to go on), pay off my car (which I only have 8 more payments on anyway), help out my recently divorced brother, and put a down payment on a house (houses are relatively cheap here in St. Louis). Either that or make **Crunchy Frog** my kept man–I haven’t really decided yet. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2001, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-if-you-had-100-000-cash-right-now-and-had-to-spend-it/51597/7 "2001-01-24T19:33:55Z")
Pay off house, car, and credit cards. With the other $50,000, I’m guessing that Mr. Scarlett would be with me on paying someone to finish the house and landscaping the way we want it (he’s tired of working on it himself!), then take a long-overdue kick-ass vacation. Australia or someplace. ---
**Author:** ![vix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/a88e4f/32.png) [@vix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vix)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2001, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-if-you-had-100-000-cash-right-now-and-had-to-spend-it/51597/8 "2001-01-24T19:43:06Z")
Another vote for down payment on a house… ---
**Author:** ![Tabeitha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b3f665/32.png) [@Tabeitha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tabeitha)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2001, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-if-you-had-100-000-cash-right-now-and-had-to-spend-it/51597/9 "2001-01-24T20:03:56Z")
I would pay off my credit cards, buy a new car and go back to Cancun for a month. That should just about kill 100,000. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Zero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c4cdca/32.png) [@Saint\_Zero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Zero)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2001, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-if-you-had-100-000-cash-right-now-and-had-to-spend-it/51597/10 "2001-01-24T20:38:26Z")
1. Loans, Bills, Ect… 2. Fix my van, get wife her Beetle of her dreams. 3. Kick Butt Home Network (Awesome computers, Wireless Networking…) 4. Downpayment on House Easy 😃 ---
**Author:** ![RickQ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/35a633/32.png) [@RickQ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickQ)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2001, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-if-you-had-100-000-cash-right-now-and-had-to-spend-it/51597/11 "2001-01-24T21:18:55Z")
If I had £100,000 I would do several things. First I would give my rents half to pay off some of their mortgage, then I would give my brother and sister a few grand each. Then I would sell my car and move to the US (I am moving later in the year when I can afford it anyway) and prolly use the rest of the money to get set up and put down on a house. Rick ---
**Author:** ![Gunslinger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4491bb/32.png) [@Gunslinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gunslinger)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2001, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-if-you-had-100-000-cash-right-now-and-had-to-spend-it/51597/12 "2001-01-24T22:00:33Z")
Buy some old muscle cars (Shelby Mustang GT500 and Plymouth Roadrunner Hemi to start with) ---
**Author:** ![Tymp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Tymp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tymp)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2001, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-if-you-had-100-000-cash-right-now-and-had-to-spend-it/51597/13 "2001-01-24T22:24:11Z")
$100K would buy a lovely little sloop. Or, it would make for a down payment on a lovely large sloop. ---
**Author:** ![Hokienautic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/73ab20/32.png) [@Hokienautic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hokienautic)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2001, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-if-you-had-100-000-cash-right-now-and-had-to-spend-it/51597/14 "2001-01-24T22:26:58Z")
Hmmmm, $100,000 … let me see. Okay, take $8,000 to pay off my student loan and the one big credit card bill (hey, I’m only 28 – haven’t had time to get it TOO big ;)), then $17,000 as a down payment on a house. I can swing the mortgage that’d go with that, I think. The other $75,000 I think I’d actually donate back to my school, Virginia Tech. Free football and basketball for me forever! LOL. ---
**Author:** ![Medea\_s\_Child](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8baadc/32.png) [@Medea\_s\_Child](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Medea_s_Child)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2001, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-if-you-had-100-000-cash-right-now-and-had-to-spend-it/51597/15 "2001-01-24T22:36:07Z")
House. House, house, house. Little happy house. Singing lessons. Pottery classes. Some nice furniture. A couple of pure bred cats, Siamese, Russian Blue… Some really pretty daggers. A sewing machine. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Raven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dbc845/32.png) [@The\_Raven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Raven)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2001, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-if-you-had-100-000-cash-right-now-and-had-to-spend-it/51597/16 "2001-01-24T22:38:04Z")
If I could get my hands on that much cash, I’d move into a nice two bedroom apartment all to myself (use one room as a studio of course), paying the rent well in advance as well as the bills…hm. Then I’d pay off the bills and such on my car and college (ack!) and if I somehow had more, I’d give everyone I know all the cheese they could ever want. Dang, now I wish I did have that much cash on me. ---
**Author:** ![Jeannie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e480ec/32.png) [@Jeannie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeannie)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2001, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-if-you-had-100-000-cash-right-now-and-had-to-spend-it/51597/17 "2001-01-25T00:32:37Z")
First, we would pay off our student loans ( I think it’s around 30-35K total for me and hubby). Then we’d pay off the rest of the loans. There would be enough left for a reasonably priced new car. The rest would go in the bank for a down payment when we decide to buy a house. I know, I’m really exciting. ---
**Author:** ![Kat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b19c9b/32.png) [@Kat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kat)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2001, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-if-you-had-100-000-cash-right-now-and-had-to-spend-it/51597/18 "2001-01-25T01:38:11Z")
I’d pay off my mortgage, my car loan and my credit card. Then, buy a new computer. Then, new furniture. Finally, spend what was left at the nearest bookstore. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2001, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-if-you-had-100-000-cash-right-now-and-had-to-spend-it/51597/19 "2001-01-25T02:04:27Z")
Pay off debts and buy wetlands. Hey, check the user name. ---
**Author:** ![Ziactrice](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@Ziactrice](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ziactrice)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2001, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-if-you-had-100-000-cash-right-now-and-had-to-spend-it/51597/20 "2001-01-25T03:15:58Z")
First, buy the best tax/investment attorney I can buy. After his fee, and the IRS share… divvy the rest between the following. 1/5 Yahoo Stock 1/5 best electric utility I can find to buy into at a good rate 1/5 Red Hat (hey, you gotta live sometime!) 1/5 Coca Cola (balance your risks, eh?) 1/5 down payment on a big nice house in this booming market, so I can get a great low rate on a 30 year mortgage.After all I probably can’t stay here 30 years, and I can always sell it later. Payments I can handle on my usual salary. Vacations I can take on my dividends. :0 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-if-you-had-100-000-cash-right-now-and-had-to-spend-it/51597.md?page=2)