This is in response to the daily prompt http://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_prompt/gone-with-the-windfall/.
Money (Photo credit: 401(K) 2013)
You just inherited $1,000,000 from an aunt you didn’t even know existed. What’s the first thing you buy (or otherwise use the money for)?
I’ve played this game since I was a child. It has been a fantasy and offered many hours of fun, a suspension of belief for a moment.
First of all, I’d pay off the bills. We had refinanced our house right before a freak “retire now, or quit, or be fired” incident happened. We were forced to declare bankruptcy to keep our home. When the salary became one-fourth of what it had been, the house payment became a huge burden despite the help from the bankruptcy. Seeing that we might not live long enough to actually pay of the mortgage makes this first on the list!
Buy a new car! Typical, right? A cliché? I’m driving a 1989 Mercury hatchback. It has been a wonderful car without many major repairs or problems, but it is still old enough to be a classic! A newer model would be exciting. And that’s another fantasy…paying cash for a new car and thumbing your nose as you walk out. LOL.
Help out the kids. It’s always something, isn’t it? School loans, or a broken heater, or plumbing repairs. There always seems to be a money pit waiting to happen no matter how hard you work or try to expect the unexpected. So, depending on the day or the month, I’d have to help both kids climb out of whatever pit they’ve fallen into at the moment.
What is rich? I always said it was just having enough to not have to worry about paying the bills and still having a little left over so I can buy music, or a book, or a movie. Sounds like a fantasy. Bills are always relative to the available income and sometimes the money seems to quit before the bills do. Wiping out debt would be fun.
I give a small amount each month to The Disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ http://dljc.org …a community of charismatic nuns who are my friends and have ‘had my back’ praying for me since I met them in 1990. I’d love to be able to give them a big check.
Of course, since we are aging, and I am accumulating new medical bills, having the money to pay those off without worry would be a great gift.
Now, I’m floundering. I don’t collect shoes, or go shopping for clothes so I’m not sure where to go next. I’d probably help out my sister and brother and then see what’s left. Tomorrow I’ll wake up, but for now, it’s fun to dream.
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