What could we do with an extra $6.84/month?

[Deleted]

I stole this from YM. The best they could come up with was latte. I figure we can do better.

[BeenThere...DoneThat...]

...I still vote EF or Breyer's...

[Deleted]

Well I'm thinking that the first month pays for like a years laundry, or Thanksgiving Dinner or something.

[Deleted]

Ah....first post at the new site....Good to be back!

I think the $6.84 could be sent to one of those charities where they send you a picture of some random child and it could feed the child for a year or whatever it is. Then Sally Strothers will eat the child after the year is over.

Seriously....should an extremely obese woman be on commercials with starving children? Help with your money....not your appearance! As my head is shaved I wouldn't be touting the wonders of some shampoo thickening my hair!

[bobbysgirl]

6.84. hmm There's lots to be done with this. In one year it totals to 82.08.

That's a good amount to invest in food EF. Or 8 gifts for Christmas (with frugal finds) Or my vehicle registration for 2 years.

[Tiny]

An extra 6.84 a month... let's see
That's a McD's egg/bacon/biscuit and 2 medium cups of coffee.

That's 2 shows at the $3.00 first showing of the day at the local "mom and pop" cinema (usually showing good movies a couple months after they've been released).

That's some fancy cheese and fancy crackers from Aldi's for a fancy "appetizer".

That's a bottle of wine from Aldi or Trader Joe's.

That's a small ring of shrimp and dip (also from Aldi's).
It's a box of brownie mix, choco cookies, and milk so you can make a pan of brownies and have some milk with them (All from Aldi).

I can do alot with $6.84...

[Opti]

That's 3 cheap chocolate bars at Target.

4 16oz. store brand frozen veggies at a Grocery store.

1 1/2 lbs. of organic chicken on sale or other decent meat.
1 cheap makeup splurge.
Start of a small EF.

I like the Trader Joe's wine idea too.

[❤ mollymouser ❤]

Our local food bank can take $10 and buy $80 worth of food with it (they were just discussing this on the news.) A donation of $6.84/month could let them buy $82.08 worth of food for the hungry.

[djmj3284]

Minutes for an emergency cell phone

two pairs of quality tennis shoes a year if you combine with sales

a snowflake in my debt reduction story - probably this one for me

a turkey dinner if you save and buy the turkeys in Nov (I usually get turkeys for $4 or so and then add green beans, potatoes. I could eat for 3 days before needing to add more money for vegetables or starch

[marvholly]

The feds giveth.

The state taketh away (IL).
The temporary reduction in FICA (shich I assume this is) is wiped out for me by the increase in state income tax (which is also supposed to be temporary-LOL).

[kadee]

Invest it in wild bird food....

entertainment for DAYYYYYYYYYYYSSSSSSSSSS!

[Apple]

Gather your coupons and scan the sales and start making money with it. Get free shampoo, lotion, toothpaste, cereal, etc. while you're at it.
For me, a year of 6.84 a month would pay two of my winter electricity bills.

[Value Buy]

$6.84 A MONTH? I am confused.
If this is the fica decrease, surely it is more than $7 a month.

Sidenote-
my federal witholding increased. What is up with that?
Obama gives and takes away the same week.

[jsjjkelly]

Wow! Look at all the spending ideas.... my initial thought was putting it towards a debt we have. Every $6 counts!

I also put those "found" amounts aside for Christmas the next year. I love ING for that.

I'd also think of putting it in my "dog" fund... it's never funded enough for my 2 boys.

Guess I'm just the odd man out.

Shawn in FL

[mrslynch]

i have been thinking about this thread since i saw it this morning. all of the ideas have been awesome and i've had a hard time figuring out what i could contribute. here's what i came up with:

my 4 year old seems to have forgotten how to listen. in an effort to teach her, we give her a sticker each time she does something the first time she's asked. every 4 stickers=1 quarter (yes, we bribe her with money. we will eventually phase this out and transition it to her allowance). $6.84 each month will buy me $5 in quarters and $1.84 to buy stickers. so, $6.84 gets me less aggravation and a child who listens.

i can buy the ingredients to make a month's worth of soup which equals a month of lunch to bring to work.

i could use it for toll money to drive to my in-laws for free babysitting (the drive to their house fits into our gas budget. i live in a very small state).

if i save the money for 4 months, it buys a year's pass to all the state parks, with enough money left over to buy a brand new reusable waterbottle to bring with me. our state parks have boating, walking trails, playgrounds...one even has a water park!

[Tiny]

Jan 14, 2011 11:09:08 GMT -5 Value Buy said:

$6.84 A MONTH? I am confused.
If this is the fica decrease, surely it is more than $7 a month.

Sidenote-
my federal witholding increased. What is up with that?
Obama gives and takes away the same week.

Not sure where the $6.78 came from - I got my first check of the new year and I couldn't compare "take home pay" from last year to "take home pay" this year to determine the difference. I had to do some Calc-U-MA-Lating because of changes in my health care costs, FSA deduction, an some other benefit (I don't quite understand) that my company gave me to figure out the "true" tax difference in pay.

Well, yeah, paying less of one type of tax means you have more income that gets taxed by the other payroll taxes... your income went up. Obama didn't do anything sneaky or take anything away from you.
You didn't think the decrease in one tax would magically become "tax free income" did you?

Sorry if I didn't read your post as sarcasm... a co-worker was just arguing that the Fed Withholding tax RATE must have gone UP! He's paying more...

[Deleted]

Jan 13, 2011 22:34:57 GMT -5 ❤ mollymouser ❤ said:

Our local food bank can take $10 and buy $80 worth of food with it (they were just discussing this on the news.) A donation of $6.84/month could let them buy $82.08 worth of food for the hungry.

WOW! I wish I could do that with my budget!

[constanz22]

Jan 14, 2011 11:09:08 GMT -5 Value Buy said:

$6.84 A MONTH? I am confused.
If this is the fica decrease, surely it is more than $7 a month.

Sidenote-
my federal witholding increased. What is up with that?
Obama gives and takes away the same week.

When this question started on YM, the OP said they were getting 6.84 a month after some other increases, such as health insurance, etc. Yes, most people will see much more than 6.84 a month JUST from the FICA 2%.
Keep in mind that the "making work pay" tax credit expired, so, this may be what you are seeing as an "increase" in your federal withholding too.

[Value Buy]

Jan 15, 2011 10:15:02 GMT -5 constanz22 said:

Jan 14, 2011 11:09:08 GMT -5 Value Buy said:

$6.84 A MONTH? I am confused.
If this is the fica decrease, surely it is more than $7 a month.

Sidenote-
my federal witholding increased. What is up with that?
Obama gives and takes away the same week.

When this question started on YM, the OP said they were getting 6.84 a month after some other increases, such as health insurance, etc. Yes, most people will see much more than 6.84 a month JUST from the FICA 2%.
Keep in mind that the "making work pay" tax credit expired, so, this may be what you are seeing as an "increase" in your federal withholding too.

Thanks. I did not know the Federal tax cut was only a one year thing.
I am on a fixed salary so it is easy to compare everything with just a check stub from last month. Our health copays do not change until later in the year, so I can compare everything easily

[Value Buy]

Personally, I would have preferred to leave the Federal taxcut in place, and not mess with the fica. I assume it will effect everyones, eventual payout in a negative way.
Less pay in equals smaller payouts, but then, this is supposed to be a temporary reduction, so maybr it is too little to effect the total picture.

[Deleted]

Value Buy, this thread is about how to spend the $6.84. What are you going to blow it on?

[desertmover]

I am going to splurge on namebrand coffee instead of generic. The $6.84 should cover the month.

Mover

[toservewithlove]

$6.84 would cover a large Ronocco hot cocoa per week from the gas station that's less than 1/2 mile from the office. It's soooo much better than Swiss Miss, Carnation, McDonald's, or Starbucks!!

By the time my numbers shook out from the changes in tax rates and a 1% COL raise, I'm thinking/hoping it's enough to start a retirement account and take advantage of the full match my employer offers.

[stantonjane]

A newspaper subscription.

[donnafreedman]

This is a good example of how stuff like Pepperdoo's "spare change challenge" adds up. The $6.84 (or whatever) per month plus spare change (or dollar bills, if you can swing it) plus birthday money plus manufacturer rebates....Pretty soon your EF is growing, as Been There...Done That and Bobbysgirl point out.
Or how about paying that extra $6.84-plus-whatever-else-you-can-scrounge against consumer debt?
I also like the suggestions to stock up on non-perishables and/or free-after-rebate toiletries.
This is a very inspiring thread.

[❤ mollymouser ❤]

I think the "it's only a few dollars" mentality works both ways ~ for good, and for our detriment.

For some people, because things like Starbucks only costs a few dollars, it becomes a regular thing that really adds up over time. If you've got the cash for this, great ... but if you've got high-interest credit card debt, this really is a slippery slope.

For other people, they've figured out that a "few bucks" times 12 months in a year starts adding up to "real money," ... and money that they can use for other things. They've learned the lesson that pennies turn into dimes and dimes turn into dollars .... and that money, like snowflakes, starts forming an impressive pile once you start collecting it.