Unexpected Christmas Bonus

Scubabe

At our work's Christmas Party last night we were all given a gift and a Christmas Card. I was happy to receive the gift, and didn't open the card until this morning... and wow!! There was £500 in it!!!! Totally unexpected and soooooo generous!

Although we have no assets, and we're pretty much living pay to pay these days, the only debt we have as a couple is my credit card with £2400 on it. It was clear but when we moved house we bought a few things for the house so it's now up again. We're slowly plodding through paying it off, and I don't consider it to be a problem, it's not an unreasonable amount of debt for 2 people on good salaries.

Now I have no idea what to do with the lovely bonus I was given. I don't want to mention it to my hubby as he'd want to go and spend the whole lot on toys for himself - he got into a financial pickle a few years ago and although we've dug out of that huge hole, I'm not sure if he's learnt his lesson We were going to have a very quiet Christmas with not many gifts, but now we have a little "play money" I'm not sure what to do with it! We've been dreaming of a Nintendo Wii & Wii Fit pack, but we decided we couldn't afford it this year.

Do I buy us the game machine and have £200 left to save or put on c/card debt?
Do I put the whole lot into savings or c/card debt?
Do I buy things for the house which we really need, like a clothes drier and curtains and sheets and a new duvet etc, and forget luxuries?
Do I put it all into a savings account and use it for a summer holiday for us both?

Aggghhhhhhh!
So many options, and I've no idea what to do!
Should I just write them all down and put them into a hat and draw out the answer?

It's such a wonderful gift and so unexpected I'm not sure what to do, which is strange considering I am usually so good with money.

What would you do if you had a small windfall like this?

Boomdocker

It depends. If that £2k debt is accruing interest I'd be tempted to throw most of it that way as you will save even more in the long run by reducing that as quick as poss.

A small treat would be nice but I'm not sure I would want to blow most of it on a game system, I guess that depends on how important it it is to you. Perhaps making your new home more comfortable will be of more value??

You are going to get loads of variations so just think of what will give you long term value and make you happy.

BTW, it was a very generous gift, nice one. :beer:

sallyx

Very Hard one. The credit card you have at the moment what is APR? If this is a 0% how long is there left on it. Do you have good credit i.e. if for example you need to get a new CC will you be able to get a 0% deal?

When you say your living pay to pay then I would say that even though you say the debt is small its obviously having an effect on your day to day living. I personally would pay 500 off the credit card and the extra you save each month you could use to buy those household essentials. When you become debt free sooner then you can splash out and buy all those luxuries

HTH, probably not

lilian1977

Firstly, that's brilliant

I would probably throw the majority at the debt (depending on the interest) and just use a small amount to buy something special - a bottle of champagne and a better option for Xmas dinner than you were intending to have?

Ames

I think I'd split it, some off the card (at least half) and the rest on the things for the house. A new duvet and clothes airer wont be too expensive, and I've had gorgeous curtains on ebay for next to nothing still in the packet.

Idiophreak

Tbh it would go straight off the CC if I got it, based on your four options

1) I'm no fan off wii/wii fit really, so I could live without that.

2) No point saving when you've got debt (unless, I guess, if it's at 0% and you just wanna grab some interest)

3) If you really need it, you're going to buy it at some point. (don't confuse *needing* something with *wanting* something...When you do, it seems this will most likely go on the CC - so your balance will be growing. Paying your bonus off the CC now and you've effectively "prepaid" for any of these things if you really need to buy them. (of course, if your CC *is* at 0%, things get a little more complex as you don't wanna spend on the card...in that instance, maybe it's worth sticking the cash in a "rainy day" pot anyway)

4) As above, saving with debt is not ideal, so I'd be inclined to knock it off the debt now, then put the holiday on the card later if you want to.

Doesn't sound very exciting, I know - but if you just pretend you never had the money, you'll end up clearing your card faster overall and having more money to spend for a few months down the line.

Smamfer

Treat yourself................


BUT buy the WII after xmas and get a better deal... then put the rest towards your cc


x

penniesgrowintopounds

Whoo hoo ~ Happy Christmas! :j I'm so very pleased for you ~ very generous of your employer

Personally, I would put the bulk of it towards debt. But I would also treat myself to something, in the spirit that it was given. And to stop myself feeling deprived!

Enjoy the money, whatever you choose to do with it.

slig

What a lovely surprise! I think the sensible thing is to put most of it towards your CC, and perhaps use £50ish on something nice for you all, like a day out or some Christmas treats. If the home stuff is quite desperate then perhaps throw a bit less at the debt, spend a tenner or so on something for the family, and get the things you need. If you got a drier off freecycle, curtains off ebay, and bed linen in the sales it wouldn't cost too much.

How about getting the Wii as a reward once the CC is paid off?

Penny2myName

Great surprise, Think I would take 10% £50 to treat us, and use the other 90% £450 on CC. from what I remember £50 Christmas bonus seems a much more average amount and the OH wont go wild with that amount on toys for himself.

bathgatebuyer

Personally, I would throw it all at the credit card apart from £100 or so which I would keep behind for small emergencies (It makes such a difference to how vulnerable I feel financially if I don't have albeit a small safety net).

Think of it like this, if you bought a Nintendo wii and wii fit (which, lets face it will end up costing you money as you'll only buy more games for it too!), it will actually cost you more than the few hundred you're spending on it, as it's the same as the actual prize plus the interest you're paying on your credit card by not paying off that amount from your card.

I really fancy one of these too, but I can't justify spending that amount of money when I have credit card debts. The best treat you can give yourself is a reduction in your debt overall.