We received the remaining of our bonus at work. Not only that, but my manager recommended me for extra money that was available, and I got part of that too! All to the tune of
$2430 (after $700 in taxes. What the heck?).
So, what did I do with that money?
Buy things I've always wanted of course! Like the Kindle Fire HD tablet, the new Blackberry Q10 smartphone, decent work clothes, and a professional Nikon camera.
... No, not really. The Blackberry Q10 is not even out. You get brownie points if you caught that. My habits have become me, and even though I won't lie and say that spending it all on fun goodies is not what I'd like to do, it really isn't. I have better ideas.
I've been thinking and thinking of ways to use this so that I get to keep
some of it... then I realized this: it is ALWAYS going to benefit me, one way or another. If I use it all to pay down balance on my debt, I am giving myself more money in the future to pay for my move years down the road. If I fund my 2013 goals now, I'm releasing money from this year that I can use it in other things. If I buy things for myself... well, that's an easy one.
That said... my primary choice is to ease my 2013 burden by aiding some of my financial goals for the year, right now. That'd mean $700 would go for my Christmas fund, $230 for my certification exam, $250 towards fixing my car windows, $1,000 to open an IRA. Then as a bit of a 'fun' fund, I'd take $250 to put towards a new phone. That would only cover between half or 1/3 of the cost of the phone, as I am sure it'll cost $500+ out of contract. The rest, I have to find elsewhere.
I opened my IRA this morning (hurray!), filed my federal taxes (yay!), need to send a check out as MD wouldn't let me eFile or send in electronic payments (boo), and moved most of the remaining money to where it needs to be (or so I hope). All before even getting ready for work.
What do you think of that plan? Should I put some extra towards debt, even though I'll be putting approximately $600 every month now that taxes are paid for? As much as I covet a tablet, I'd rather not get one now. I see a new smartphone as a bigger reward. Sometimes I hate being disciplined like this. I am going to my dad's for the weekend, so maybe I'll spoil myself there (not really spoil, but buy food stuff that I dont need to cook).