Bonus Tomorrow!!

[muttleynfelix]

Woohoo! The boss confirmed yesterday that we are getting a bonus tomorrow essentially equivalent to 2 weeks pay. So the question is what to do with it (no, I'm not giving it to you, i need the money)?

Current debt:
$500 for DH's PT, currently paying $100 a month (no interest)
$525 for DH's dental; min payment of $25 per month (no interest for 18 months)
Also a car and house payment, but I have no desire to pay those off early.

We have 2.5 yo DS that DH stays home with and #2 due around the first of the year. Insurance has a $2k deductible. Budget is extremely tight; but we have $20k in general savings.

So, should we just put the whole check (about $1900) in savings and continue making payments? Pay off both the bills or only one?

Anything else? My boss expects to give out another bonus of equal value sometime before September (lots of outstanding bills that are expected to get paid in the next month) and if the year continues to go well, probably a month's pay for a bonus at the end of the year. My maternity leave is unpaid except any PTO I take. Barring unforseen circumstances, it will be very short (my boss is going to africa in January and I'll have to at least be available to take phone calls).

[NastyWoman]

Unless you have a change of heart and want to give it to me, put it away for your insurance deductible. With the new baby on it's way you'll be glad you did.

[movingforward]

Since there is no interest on your debt then I would probably just put the whole check into savings as long as everything will be paid off before accruing interest.

[muttleynfelix]

LOL. No change of heart. I was thinking of putting it in savings for the deductible/maternity leave, but I just thought I would get some second opinions.

ETA: DH has a list of things I'm sure he would like to buy (he won't), but if I ask him his preference, that is what it would be.

[zibazinski]

That's what I'd do with it.

[Deleted]

Yay for your bonus!

[Deleted]

You wanna rethink the part about giving it away? I really need to have the timing belt and water pump changed on my car and it's taking forever to save enough. When that's done, I need new tires. I can PM you my address ;D

Congrats. A bonus is a good thing. Maybe just sit on it for awhile and think about what to do with it?

[Anne_in_VA]

Ya wanna give it away? We just got a contract on the KY house and are underwater. That $1900 will go a ways to lower the amount we have to bring to closing!

Just sayin!

[muttleynfelix]

Thanks for the congrats. Business has been good this year.

LOL...Heck no on sharing. We found out we were expecting this baby, had the muffler fall off the car, the AC in the house break, and had my health insurance change all in the same a week just over a month ago. Our wallet needs all the help it can get. The muffler on the car wasn't a huge deal (Dh fixed it fora bout $30 and it passed inspection since he had to renew tags last month), the AC cost $400, and the health insurance is about an additional $70 out of pocket each month plus higher copays. Sigh. Anyway, I'm trying to focus on the positives (like everything was easily fixed). ;D

[steph08]

I would take 90% and put it in savings for your insurance deductible. I would take the remaining 10% and split it 5% for you and 5% for DH and do something or buy something for yourselves. Don't buy a toaster for the house or anything like that - get a manicure/pedicure or buy yourself that purse/shoes/coat/dress you've been eyeing! We should all get to have a little splurge once in a while, and it isn't that much money. A bonus is a reason to celebrate!

[muttleynfelix]

steph - We are going out of town next weekend. So, we'll probably take a little more spending cash than originally planned. But the trip is already mostly paid for - a cabin on a National Scenic River with my brother, sister, their families, and our parents. I'll talk to DH. This year it has been one thing after another financially, so having some good financial news for once is nice.

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

Purchase a rasised escalade!

[muttleynfelix]

OMG. Thank GOD I hadn't taken a drink before I read Drama's comment. It would have been ALL over my desk.

[Peace77]

I would celebrate by going out to dinner. Every couple needs a date night now and then.

Then, I would pay off the $500 debt. You said your budget is very tight. $50 additional per month to the budget should give you some breathing room. Add the remaining $50 per month saved to the savings account.

Put the remainder into savings to cover the insurance deductible.

[muttleynfelix]

Well sh!t. It turns out we have 2 bills for $500 for DH's PT. They cover different dates. Dang it. So we have approximately $1500 in outstanding medical bills ($1000 in PT and $500 in dental) that we can either make payments on or pay off. We have just bled money this year. And since we switched insurance May 1, none of DH's PT count towards any deductible or max OOP for the new insurance. Great!

Back to focusing on the positives. In one week I get to tell my brother and sister in person that I'm pregnant. ;D

[skubikky]

Jun 7, 2012 21:03:50 GMT -5 muttleynfelix said:

Well sh!t. It turns out we have 2 bills for $500 for DH's PT. They cover different dates. Dang it. So we have approximately $1500 in outstanding medical bills ($1000 in PT and $500 in dental) that we can either make payments on or pay off. We have just bled money this year. And since we switched insurance May 1, none of DH's PT count towards any deductible or max OOP for the new insurance. Great!

Back to focusing on the positives. In one week I get to tell my brother and sister in person that I'm pregnant. ;D

If you already have $20k in savings, maybe just pay off the PT and dental bills and be done with them. Then, take the $400 left after that and put it in savings. Don't spend anymore on vacation as I'd guess you already have money budgeted for that.

Usually I'd agree that you might consider spending some of the bonus money, but you've got a lot going on. And, besides, it seems that you have a good chance of getting two more bonuses in the coming months so maybe you can do a little splurge then.

With a baby on the way and being a one income family, I wouldn't screw around.....just pay off the short term stuff and get things in order.

[yogiii]

I'm also in the camp of pay off all the PT and dental bills just to have them out of mind. Do what you want with the extra $400. Maybe take $50 each for splurges and save the other $300.

[muttleynfelix]

Hmmmm.... I think at the end of the day it isn't going to matter what we do with it because our balance is going to be the same no matter what. I don't know. I'll talk to DH and see what he thinks. When I told him about the bonus, he just asked if he could buy more stain for the built-ins he is building in our office.

[giramomma]

With each bonus, I would put $500 to medical bills, 1K towards maternity costs (leave, Drs bills, etc.) $100 for fun, and $300 towards buffering baby costs when #2 comes.

That way, you've got some money saved up for maternity stuff and baby stuff, and you've paid off a bill. If you pay off all your bills, you'll still need to dip into savings for maternity leave and extra baby costs if the other bonuses don't come through. I'm personally too jaded to believe that there will be extra compensation from an employer until I see it in my checking account.

[muttleynfelix]

Well, funny story. The company received payment for 2 big outstanding jobs between the time my boss talked to us and today (so basically yesterday). So, we got 1 big bonus (instead of one now and one in September). So, my bonus was $3900 net. DH and DS are going to come into town and go out to lunch and I'll talk to DH then. But I'm thinking to definately pay off the 3 bills.

Giramom- Looking at what we have, we think we only need $300 worth of baby stuff total. My boss wants to buy us a stroller for this baby, my parents want to buy DS his new bed (if my one of sister's kids don't want to trade their twin for Full bed), and then just some new cloth diapers. We have 2 "wants" with this baby, but even those I can buy used at a minimal cost. I agree on the bonus thing, but not because I don't trust my boss (I've worked for him for 6 years, he is the owner, he's shown me the type of person he is over the last 6 years), but because I know how quickly business can go from booming to bust and back. We had a good first half of 2010 and the second half was terrible. We had a bad first half of 2011 (like we might not be in business in a year bad) and had a good second half. 2012 so far has been fabulous and we have contracts for several months worth of work, but we've also had contracts yanked out from under us before too.

[muttleynfelix]

Alright, the checks are in the banks (I'm still not sharing). On payday we typically get $40 in fun money for each of us and then $20 in the date night/family night fund. So, this time for fun I did $100 for each of us in "fun money" and then $100 in the date night/family night fund.

The rest....Iguess we'll pay off those lingering bills and put the rest in savings. DH didn't have an opinion. I joked with him not to spend his money all in one place and he said "oh I probably will because I'm going to buy a new tool". Boys and their toys.