of you had money...

[Marianne]

Not talking about winning the lottery here.
Our government allows every working citizen to save €51 every month out of our salary before taxes.
So basically we save money on taxes if we participate, but there is a catch, we can't touch the money for 4 years. So if you started saving more than 4 years ago, the money you put into the savings account then plus a little interest, gradudually becomes available to you now.
But since the government wants us to spend more money to keep the economy afloat, they decided that this summer (September), we are all allowed to spend whatever money we saved in the last 4 years.
This is about €3000 for most Dutch citizens that participated.

I already know what I'm gonna spend my money on, but just curious, if you got an unexpected amount like that, what would you spend it on?

[PinkMascara]

I wouldn't know what to spend it on, I'd probably leave it in the bank lol.

[Paranoid Glitter Cat]

As dull as it sounds, I'd probably just clear a credit card and keep the rest for day-to-day spending.

If I had no debts, I'm not sure... Maybe driving lessons or something equally as practical.

[Christopher]

I would definitely invest it in some sort of savings bond.

[ancazur]

I'd probably keep it in my bank account, too. That's what I basically do with my tax refunds. This year I bought some tea and some books, and stuck the rest in checking. It's nice to have a little cushion in there. (Not that it's still there, but hey.)

[Becca]

Not to turn this into a financial topic but what is the best thing to do with money you don't plan to touch for a few years?

I have over 3000 in my savings account and I would love to do something with it to earn more money as I do not plan on touching it for a few years. But my parents are as financially uneducated as I am so I have no idea what to do!

[Jon]

I've been really tempted to spend some of my extra money on building a new desktop or buying a DSLR camera, but I keep talking myself out of it in the end. Some of the machines I've made wish-lists for on Newegg have run upwards of $3,000. Unnecessary, of course, but so powerful and amazing. Similarly, photography, one of my other few hobbies, has been trying to soak up some of my money. Since I already have a nice point-and-shoot that is SLR-sized, I might just look into a pocket camera for trips that I don't want to lug the big one around on.

So instead, I've got a fair amount of money saved away right now for the wedding, as well as hopefully buying a house or using some money to rent an apartment or condo. I'd love to invest some of the money right now, but I've been so busy with work that I haven't had time to watch the market to know what to buy.


Becca - I would strongly recommend looking at online banks with Savings/MMA accounts. Rates are terrible right now, but online banks are offering much higher rates than any other bank out there. For example, the bank I work for offers 0.15% on its basic savings. I have an account with Sallie Mae online, collecting 1.40% interest. $10,000 saved at .15% is $15 per year, but 1.4% is $140 per year. Not bad in this economy. If you want some liquidity, I would steer clear from CD's. CD rates suck right now and there's penalties for early withdrawal. I'd suggest taking a look at bankrate.com for an online savings account to open up and get some of that money put into it.

[B-Lyn]

Becca, if you are sure you aren't going to be using the money, a CD (Certificate of Deposit) is a viable option. Another is a Money Market account, which you can draw from if necessary. If you want to force yourself to save it, I'd go with the CD where you have no option to withdraw the money.

As to the topic of this thread, I've been wanting a DSLR myself, so that would be at the top of my list. Although we've now earned enough points on our AMEX card to cash in for a Nikon D5000. In a few more months, we should have enough to cash in for the Canon T1I, which is what we're holding out for. So I'd probably use the money towards remodeling our master bathroom, or painting the house.

[ancazur]

In terms of saving: I have a CD and the rates are crap, so I'm pulling the money out as soon as it matures. I have one online saving accounts that has a better rate than my CD (and I can take money out if I ever need it), so I'll probably transfer everything over to there. I use ING. I'd look into it; they have pretty good rates, considering.

[Marianne]

me, I'm spending it the sensible way, an extra payment into my mortgage. The interest rates on mortgages are higher than on savings accounts so it seems like a sensible thing to do.
I don't think we'll have any more big expenses this year so we can probably put a nice amount into our home. I want to be done paying the mortgage well before it is due to end and have a nice, debt-free old age.

[Christopher]

Do you guys have fixed rate bonds in the US? I have various sums of money which I won't need to touch for a few years, and so I've put them into fixed savings bonds. I can deposit as much money as I want, as often as I want, but I cannot make any withdrawals. In return, I get about 4%-5% interest on the money. They're normally 2 or 3 year bonds.

[Jon]

Yes, we have fixed rate bonds (corp., muni., etc.), but they are definitely not yielding 4-5% - more like 1-3% for short-term, and 4-5% for long-term. Maybe I'm not looking in the right places, but bonds are looking similar to CD rates right now, which are by no means good.