What to do with generous gift
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| Tue, 07-26-2005 - 7:52pm |
Well, my very generous aunt has done it again. She has sent us a check for $1000, unasked for, for no particular occasion. Just out of generousity. There is no chance of refusing the gift, as she has already begged me not to cost her the additional expense of purchasing a cashier's check. Anyway, her gifts are always appreciated, and she likes doing it, so we thank her profusely and cash the checks. :)
We always put 10% of any money we receive toward charity (although we're not at 10% of our salary yet--we're working our way up, and will bring it fully to 10% as soon as our debts are paid), and 10% into an opportunity fund.
As for the rest, I thought about splitting the money in half and putting $400 each into the boys's college funds. That's one option.
I also thought about using it to pay for much-needed new floors. We want to replace our very dirty, very stained, gross carpet with hardwood. Dh however is reluctant to do so until the youngest has passed the stage of frequently drawing on floors with whatever he can get his hands on.
The other, obvious option, is to pay extra debt with it. Here is my dilemma: we have one credit card left (woo-hoo!) on which the interest rate is 0%. We also owe my dad about $8000, on which we pay 7.5% interest. Then we owe my parents another $2500 interest-free (from our wedding--much to my shame that was nine years ago and still not paid--but it will be within the next two years). Finally, we owe dh's parents another $2500 which they have already told us they will not accept repayment for--instead, we are going to treat the entire extended family on that side to Christmas in the mountains together (or maybe the beach--beach houses are cheap at Christmas, right?).
Temptingly, I also have money set aside from my business that, combined with the money from my aunt, would completely pay off that one last credit card.
So, my question is, where do I apply the money? Of course, the highest interest is to my dad. But it's tempting to wipe that last card out entirely, even if I'm not paying interest on it. If we pay the money to my dad, I will probably *not* send as much as I would to the credit card--not logical, I know, but it's the satisfaction of wiping out an entire debt, and the last one that shows on our credit report, that would drive me to spend my business money on our debts (btw, it's a sole proprietorship, so legally there is no difference between it and me, and there are no legal or tax ramifications of doing this).
What do you think? What would you do?
Thanks!
Heather

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LOL Yes, the sharpie pens. And the sad part is, I can't keep them away from him entirely, because his four-year-old brother gets them down (which he's allowed to do because he doesn't write on the floors and walls--well, he does occasionally, but he knows better! LOL), and then forgets to put them away, and the one-year-old gets them... So it's a losing battle, and one I don't really care to fight too hard, as I'd spend all day at it and have no time for anything else.
So, yeah, I guess the hardwood can wait a couple more years. Sigh. I'd just love to have an expanse of floor that didn't look like it's had breakfast dropped on it and then ground in every day for the past year.
And, yeah, I married a pretty wise guy. I mean, man. LOL
Thanks for the feedback,
Heather
Thanks Heather, you hit the nail on the head with things I have been thinking about lately with my kids... and how I would rather save money them buy them junk.... and I wish my mom and dad would have taught me some money management, don't get me wrong, we never wanted for anything, and we had great parents, a roof over our head, good food and lots of love, but I wish they would have taught me how to save, and how to be frugal. I think it is in my blood but when life comes at you and you have a mortgage and two kids etc and all that goes along with that, you get thrown off track a bit. That's my job right now, to get us back on track.
Best of luck,
Shannon
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