Over-"Stimulus"ed

I was reading a post over at the Whatever earlier about the stimulus program working its way through Congress right now that will, in a nut shell, give all of us tax-paying adults a check for $600 some time before Summer.

The question was raised about what people were likely to spend their money on, and I got to thinking about it, and I just don't know! It's so rare that we get that kind of money (especially since Scott and I owe $300 in taxes AGAIN this year… grr…) in a lump sum. So below were some thoughts on how I would spend "my" $600 or "our" $1,200:

* I need a new car, but could only put my own $600 towards it in good conscience. Of course, the new car will probably happen before the money comes in, but that's still almost 3 payments I could pay at once.

* $1200 could be spent a few different ways on our summer road trip. (Oh yeah - Did I mention that Scott and I are planning a road trip up north this summer?) That could extend our stay in NYC… in a decent hotel... pay for our theater tickets… maybe even pay for lunch at a fancy restaurant!

* Scott wants a laptop, and $1200 could pay a good chunk of a sweet new Mac Book Air. However, we're not Mac people. And I know if "we" got a laptop, one of us would bring it to work with him every day and the other one of us would never see the thing! But Dell has laptops starting under $500. So maybe that's an idea for one or both of us.

* Stick the money in our ever-rolling 6-month CD (which earned a whopping $82 in interest last year!): $1200 could be a nice addition to the buy-a-house fund.

* Stick the money in checking to be wasted on entertainment, eating out, etc.

* Buy furniture! Do you KNOW how much you can get at IKEA for $1200? Sadly, what I want most is a sofa, and I just don't want to spend that much without first de-clawing the cats. And I think they're both a little old for that now. But I could certainly use a new dresser!

* Two words: vacation fund! The trip to NJ/NY/PA this summer is already budgeted for. But that money could pay for a nice long cruise to somewhere we haven't been before, or a flight to England to visit Alicia, or a trip out to Disneyland!

Scott and I haven't even spoken about this. It just popped into my head, and I thought I would share. Anyone have any good ideas to share?