dont know what to spend refund on now

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-28-2007
dont know what to spend refund on now
12
Wed, 01-21-2009 - 11:57pm

at first it was a no brainer, we would just spend it all on our debt. but now its like but we need this and we need to do this. now we might even have to spend a little on bills bc DF missed a couple of days at work and then ofcourse we want to put SOMETHING into savings. i just dont know the best way to divide this all up

 


laurenaugust.gif picture by wowen<

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iVillage Member
Registered: 11-17-2007
Thu, 01-22-2009 - 1:22am

I would do 25% on the bills if it is snowflaking, 50% into saving since your husband is missing hours. It could be worse later and you will need the saving more. Then blow the other 25% on things you really need not want.


Mary Ann


iVillage Member
Registered: 04-28-2007
Thu, 01-22-2009 - 1:53am
well he missed a couple of days of work but thats rare. he was sick. its just our budget is so tight that any missed work causes a stumble. so i doubt we need to put THAT much into savings right now. i definitely want to spend atleast 50% on paying down CCs im just having a hard time figuring out which cards to pay off, pay down, or not pay anything at all. its not as easy as just paying the highest interest rate w us. i think ill sleep on it then go over things again

 


laurenaugust.gif picture by wowen<

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-10-2003
Thu, 01-22-2009 - 8:21am

Wow I wish I had this problem ;)


Its hard to give advice without knowing the specifics. If your DH being short on hours was due to illness and this is not something that happens regularly then I wouldn't worry too much about it.
Not sure what the size of the refund is, but here is what I would do.


1) If you're not already, make sure you are current on everything


2) If you don't have an efund use it to create one with $1000 in it


3) Divy the remainder up (after efund is funded) 25% fun money and 75% debt.


This way you really hit everything!


Good luck!


Bex -


"Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is a gift -thats why its called the present."


Bex -

iVillage Member
Registered: 07-05-2006
Thu, 01-22-2009 - 8:22am
I've been confused lately as well. At first I thought we would spend it all on our debt, but then I was thinking that our Emergency Fund is pretty sad and if I could fully fund my EF with 1,000 dollars, it would probably help me out in the future if anything major happens. So, I'm thinking that I'll fund the EF and use whatever is left over on debt. Of course I have no idea how much I'm getting back, but I should at least get a thousand dollars.

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iVillage Member
Registered: 03-25-2003
Thu, 01-22-2009 - 10:43am
I like this approach, Bex. We're expecting a good-sized refund (I hope I'm not wrong), so my plan is to put $1000 aside for the EF, then pay off our "90 days same as cash" card we had to get for brakes on both cars. Of course, there are other things that keep coming up, like DD is outgrowing her car seat, so we need to get her a new one, etc. I like the idea of 25% for fun and 75% for debt. That way we won't feel deprived by having a lump sum of money and not being able to do anything with it.


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iVillage Member
Registered: 04-28-2007
Thu, 01-22-2009 - 12:35pm
wow that sounds great to me! pretty much what i was wanting to do i just couldnt organize it all down to specifics. thanks so much! the reason i didnt post exactly what we had is because i dont mind showing a few people what our debt and stuff is i just for some reason feel weirded out about having it on the internet for anyone too find it for years to come. im not ashamed of it at all just the whole having it on here creeps me out lol.

 


laurenaugust.gif picture by wowen<

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-28-2007
Thu, 01-22-2009 - 12:36pm
ours is pretty sad too. im talking $0!

 


laurenaugust.gif picture by wowen<

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-28-2007
Thu, 01-22-2009 - 12:38pm
thats exactly what our 25% will go to is stuff for DD. she needs an extra carseat, new baby gate, stuff for her room etc.

 


laurenaugust.gif picture by wowen<

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-23-2007
Thu, 01-22-2009 - 1:52pm

Do you have any kind of savings? I'm watching around me as so many people are losing hours. Fortunately, they aren't losing their jobs, but losing hours keeps them from keeping up with bills and can have quite a snowball effect. With some savings set aside, you won't be in such a pinch in the future.

I'd put at least 50% into savings.

Dee






iVillage Member
Registered: 04-28-2007
Thu, 01-22-2009 - 2:16pm
DF isnt losing hours hes actually gaining hours. His industry is booming. He was just out for 2 days sick which with all our cc bills puts us in a tight bind bc we have so many payments. I think thats why it would be more wise for us to put more towards getting some CCs paid off

 


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