I Love Money

NaBloPoMo November 2013

You all know I'm not a really the daily blogger type.  I have never attempted to nor have I really ever wanted to.  First of all I'm just not that creative.  I don't feel like I have that much to write about.  I value quality over quantity as a blogger and as a reader.  Secondly, I don't want you all to get sick of me.  Some people think that if you write every day then people will want more, comment more and your page views will go up but what if the opposite is true?  What if readers get sick of seeing you pop up in their feed every month, stop reading, stop commenting and then unfollow you in disgust?  Maybe I'm being a little dramatic but you get my point.

Anyways, I've been good with blogging once a week for the last month or so but I freakin' love to write so I really wanted to give this NaBloPoMo thing a shot.  Especially since I can't do NaNoWriMo.  For those of you that don't know November is National Blog Posting Month and National Novel Writing Month.  I remember last year I was like what the hell is all this nano stuff people are writing about?  I had to google it to figure out what the heck NaNoWriMo stood for because I couldn't find a single blog post that actually spelled it out.  I have saved you the time if you didn't already know.  The good news is that my novel is well past 50,000 words.  The bad news is that means I can't really participate in NaNoWriMo unless I lied about how far along my novel is and I'm not going to do that.

With each prompt I'm going to sit down, put my fingers to the keyboard and and see what comes out.  So here we go with prompt #1


If you found one million dollars in the morning and had to spend it by nightfall, what would you do with the money?  
 
This is a really hard one.  I love money.  Not for the things it buys but for the peace of mind and freedom that it can bring.  And I'm not one of those people who would screw it up either if I ever had a lot of it.  I hear all of these horrible stories about people who blow their windfall of money and end up homeless on the street.  I also hear about people who get murdered over it.  Now if someone wants to put a hit on me because they saw on the news that I won the lottery there is nothing I can do about it but I don't associate myself with questionable types so ideally that wouldn't happen.  Yes, I spend money but I'm also a saver.  I need to know that I have more money available to me then what's coming in my paycheck every week.  For me that's just being smart and it's peace of mind.  Money doesn't buy happiness but last time I checked neither does poverty.  I don't make the rules. Money is the currency that gets us the things we need in life and therefore I would like to have some of it.  Preferably more of it than I currently have.  I don't consider myself to be materialistic.  It doesn't rule me and I value people, relationships and experiences over money.  I realize it's not the only thing but I also realize that it is necessary. 

Let's just assume it's tax free.  My first thought is to try to buy something that could potentially hold value so I'd have something to show for it after the money was spent but to my knowledge I don't know that you can close on real estate in less then 24 hours.  Can you?  I'd certainly check into that first so that if nothing else I've spent money on something that I can get a return on later because when I think about spending that much money in one day it seems that whatever I spend it on is here today gone tomorrow with really nothing to show for it.

I'd pay off our mortgage and Mj's car so we would be 100% debt free which would be totally awesome.

I'd book our trip to Europe for next year and get that out of the way and paid for.  I'd also book whatever other trips we'd like to take for the coming year.

Well, I guess I better go shopping.  I think I'd go to a place like Nordstrom's and buy quality staple pieces that I would have for a long time to come since I don't normally shop there except every now and then in the less expensive Brass Plum.  I would also let Mj buy some things if he wants to.  He's not that big on shopping but if you dangle free money in front of someone's face that could really be a game changer.

By my rough calculations I still have about $602,000 left.

I'd do some renovations our bathroom.   We want to get our shower, tub and floors re done.  We have decided not to spend the money on it since Mj has this theory that we will be moving someday but if the money fell into our lap I'd do it in a second.

I'd pay off my little sister's student loan debt. She went to college and got an education and now the student loans are making things difficult.  The evil student loan people expect her to pay way more then is reasonable and I would love to get her out of that mess so she can tell them to take their money and go to hell.  Then she can focus on saving for the future and getting ahead in life.  I'd book a trip for her and her boyfriend.  I'd also buy her some stuff.  Whatever she needs whatever she wants. 

I'd call my parents and my older sister to see what bills and debt they need paid off.  My sister would probably want her house, student loans and the debt they racked up moving paid off.  My parents may have some debt they want to get rid of and I'd book them a trip.  My sister and husband are weird and really not into traveling but if they change their mind and want to go some place besides Vegas I'd send them there.  Since I have money to burn I'd still send them to Vegas if they simply cannot come up with any other place to see.  I'd buy them some stuff too.  Whatever they need whatever they want.

After all of this I'm thinking I might still have about $321,000 left.  The thing I hate about the question is that it says spend by nightfall not just do with all that money.  If it just said do then I wouldn't spend so much on things in the first place and invest off the top.  The $321,000 that I have left and actually more would be invested in a trust fund for my nephew, squirreled away for retirement and as a nest egg fund for whatever future expenses that may arise.  Since I have to spend it fast I would figure out a way to buy some real estate.  If I have that much cash there has to be someone willing to take it that day to close the deal and then we could rent out or sell and use the cash to invest.

I almost hate thinking about things like this.  I love the daydreaming bit.  That's the fun part.  I would love to help my family and give myself that peace of mind that money brings.  I put my chin in my hand and stare off into space and my mind goes wild with all of the if only's and what if's.  The bummer of it all is that after the daydream I am left with what actually is.  I do not have one million dollars and I may never have one million dollars to spend in my lifetime so I'd almost rather not think about it in the first place.

What would you do?   

10 comments

  1. That much money would definitely be a blessing and it is fun to dream about different ways to spend it! Student loans would be the first thing in my list

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  2. 24 hrs is alot of pressure for so much money. However, I'll pay off all debts from my immediate family and myself, buy an apartment building for future income and I'll donate some to the church and a disability charity, preferable something to do with children.

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  3. Who doesn't love money girl. 1 million is a lot of money but like you I would pay off all of our debt, pay off my mom and brothers debt, buy a house for my mom and yeah, that would probably be it.

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  4. What a fun idea! Where do you get the prompts?? I want to do this! I love that you said money doesn't buy happiness but the last time you checked neither does poverty! That's so true. And you are so sweet to think about your family and want to do things for them.

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  5. That was a fun post! I would probably also take a trip to Europe and then pay off my school loans! The rest I would invest and save :) & you are right- money does give us freedom in this world and makes us more comfortable!

    xoxo,
    -A

    www.truesoulandspirit.blogspot.com

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  6. I feel the same way about blog challenges - I always get burnt out and post just to post by the end and question myself. I'm sure you will be fine, though! I think if I had a million and had to spend it in a day, I would pay off my current house and then go buy a new one. All the money I would save on not having a mortgage anymore could go toward paying off debt and having extra fun money, right? At least that's my simple answer!

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  7. Girl, we'd never get annoyed or disgusted and unfollow!! So post every single day if you're still up for it by the end of the month ;)
    That's a tough question to answer! Of course I have plans and dreams of what I'd do with the money... if I had to spend it by nightfall I'd probably spend it on stupid, stupid stuff just to get rid of it in time. I'd like to say I'd buy some investment property... of course my own home and vehicles. Probably a vacation (or 5). Actually, a million bucks probably wouldn't cover everything on my list, ha ha!

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  8. Tired of your posts? Never.

    A lot of the things you mentioned I would do as well! I'll pay off all our debt and help my family with some debt. I'll def do some shopping and traveling. And some put towards investments and savings. If only .... Nice to think about it though.

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  9. You are such a good sister...I hope your sister reads this! So amazing how much you want to help her out.

    I love Nordstrom...didn't realize that until I moved east and realized there is no Nordstrom here. Crazy.

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  10. I would buy gold. I could buy it all in one day, save some for investment, and then take my time selling it off and buying what we want/divvying out the family members we like ;)

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