Hey I’m doing an update episode on the Economic Impact Payment from the IRS. Mine landed today. Has yours arrived?
Are you using it on…
rent?
Groceries?
utilities?
back taxes?
investments?
charity?
fancy earrings on etsy? (me)
a comfortable office chair for working from home?
I would really welcome voice messages, they make the podcast way more fun to listen to. You can leave us a voicemail in the U.S. at (503) 877-4338, or you can email us a voice memo to questions@ohmydollar.com
Or…if you’re having any issues with your $$$ corona check, it isn’t arriving, etc, let me know!
Haven’t gotten one yet but ought to based on 2018 and 2019 AGI.
I’m honestly probably just tossing mine into savings, because I have the Great Privilege of paying my medical deductible this month.
ETA: If I didn’t have medical bills, probably half would go to my student loans and the other half to a combo of charity and supporting artists/local businesses.
I’m currently moving from a furnished room to an unfurnished apartment, so I am using the check to buy a mattress, bed frame, and sit+stand desk to work from home.
I bought a painting off Etsy I had been eyeing for a while but couldn’t justify the expense at the time. I did this a few weeks ago once I knew the stimulus check was for sure coming. It’s been stuck somewhere in the USPS network since April 1st. (“In transit to the next facility.”) How is it possible for the post office to lose a 2’ x 3’ package?? Anyway, I supported an artist with part of the money. Who knows if I’ll ever get my painting in return!
As for the rest of it, I’m sticking it in savings for right now. I may eventually give part of it to the climbing gym, since I know they’re struggling to stay afloat and I would like for them in be in business again once they’re able.
We both got ours today and are saving them, since we don’t know how long it’s going to take for Boyfriend to find work or when he might start receiving unemployment payments.
Our rent is $1,520, so those checks will help cover rent, if we blow through all my other savings and I lose my job too. Or medical bills, if one or both of us ends up with Corona and on a vent.
I know we’re supposed to spend it on the economy but I’m too scared.
I sell on Etsy. One of my orders just took almost 2 weeks to travel 1 neighborhood away from me. This is, sadly, the new normal, it appears. Had 2 more orders after that and both still say “pre-transit” days after I mailed them.
Pro tip: find the tracking number on your Etsy order, go to usps.com and sign up for tracking update emails. Oddly, often this helps them “find” a package. It’s like they go, “oh shit! Someone’s keeping track of this package! I guess we had better deliver it then!”
ETA: Thanks for not yelling at the seller about it. Lots of folks think we sellers are privy to some super secret tracking information as to where your package is. Nope, we see the same thing as you do and are equally flummoxed.
My husband and I share finances and both got a check. We put $1200 toward our credit card debt (at 0% interest and set to be paid off before that interest rate expires) and $1200 toward our emergency fund since who knows what is about to happen to the economy. I wish I could donate it or spend it supporting artists, but I don’t feel secure enough financially to do that right now. Things I thought about spending it on: fancy silk headbands, perfume to feel like a fancy lady lounging around my house, gold eyeliner.
Nope you are supposed to spend it wherever needed most, which can include saving it because of job loss. There is no “supposed to”. It’s your stimulus money.
I’m pretty sure I’m going to buy a farm share from a friend’s farm. I did CSAs every year for over a decade, but stopped last year because I was traveling so much it didn’t make sense.
I still expect (hope) travel to pick up again in August or September, so I didn’t want to commit to a 22-week CSA, but my friend has 8-week early summer CSA shares! And the pricing works out to about $13.50 per person per week for produce,.
So she gets a little cash up front, and I get produce for 8 weeks without having to fight people at the grocery store. It’s pretty win-win.
I’m getting $1,200–already pending in my checking account as of this morning–though it sounds like I’ll get a little more next year at tax time for the 2020 dependent child that is still gestating?
As for the current amount, $500 is stimulating the stock market by finishing off my 2019 IRA contribution, $500 is going to stimulate the local hospital where said gestating dependent child will be born and will generate 0.75% interest in the mean time, and the last $200 is replenishing my sinking fund to make up for the anxiety-stimulus I’ve already done the last few weeks. I’m so patriotic, I stimulated the economy before I had stimulus money!
All of these transactions have already been set in motion because I like moving money around. Thankfully each will take a couple of days to process, so by then there will actually be money in my account to move.
I would have spent part of it on the iPhone secondary market to upgrade my phone, but I’m also getting birthday money from my mom, so I’ll be using that instead.
I’m lucky.
It’s your stimulus money.
It’s nice to have, not going to lie.