I put this up on facebook recently.  I didn’t get a lot of responses but I figured I would share them anyhow.

Someone recently said “You can just give me $1000”.
Jokingly of course, but it got me thinking
$1000…
$1000…
What could you do with that $1000?

Now of course, the trick in all this is who is the you.
For some, it’s nothing, for others it’s everything.
For some it’s not enough, others too much.
For some it’s a temptation, for others a miracle.
For some it is less debt, for others an investment.
For some it is a opportunity to act selflessly, and others will be selfish.
What could you do with $1000.
I wonder.
It’s not that much.
Or maybe it is?

So what would you do if $1000 was given to you?

It came out a little more Dr Seuss-ish than I had intended but that’s ok I suppose.  There were a few comments that came back and here they are

One said that they would invest it.  But not quite in the way that you might expect.  Her idea was to use it to print fundraising materials for www.childrensmuseumofblacksburg.org.  Pretty cool idea I think I wonder how well it would work.  Considering that this person is a professional in a marketing related field, likely a safe bet!

The next couple said that they would put it toward a debt.  It was a bit of a lament though because it wouldn’t really make much of a dent.  That’s always a pain, and I have been there for sure.  It takes a lot of zeroes to make a significant change sometimes.  But when you think about the way that interest works out, $1000 put down now makes more impact than you might first think.

Two more went towards savings.  Rainy day funds are a good thing.  Especially if you live in a rainy world.  It’s tough to spend when you know that there’s going to be a something coming.  Not something I really considered when I was thinking about it myself.  But $1000 in the bank is definitely a nice way to invest in some piece of mind.  Also, piece of mind is a weird thing to say if you ask me.

The last one I received was the most interesting so I am going to just post it (slightly modified).

How very random that you should pose your $1000 question, because I am in this very situation. Long story short, I am receiving $1000 for “pain and suffering” or something like that, due to being rear-ended a while back. Obviously it all worked out ok, but the other driver’s insurance company contacted me last week to say they were sending me $1000. This was neither expected nor requested. I’ve been debating what to do with these funds and haven’t reached any grand conclusions. There isn’t anything I’m particularly coveting right now that can be bought. We have an enormous project on the horizon that this won’t even put a dent in. If I absolutely HAD to do something with the money, I’d probably put it in the boys’ college funds. I’ll probably just put it in the bank and justify some future “splurge” with it. However, I’m curious about the responses you get – I may be inspired to go another route!

I find it interesting that those that don’t have the $1000 had a plan and the one that did, didn’t know what to do with it.  I suppose you can argue that she did as well since she decided to invest in a college fund.  Also, I don’t know that many people would respond at all if they didn’t know what they would do with it 😉

So there you have it.  Several different takes on it all.

oh… you want to know what I would do with it?

That’s a good point.

A very good point.