OT: Stimulus checks
I know that about 95% of the people on this internet message board make well over $200,000 per year and will not be receiving a check; however, for those who are going to receive one, what are you going to spend it on?
Regular household bills? A $1200 MDen shopping trip? Still employed so throwing it toward the mortgage or splurging on a Macbook? Booze and drugs (joking)?
Anyone wake up to a deposit in their checking account?
I plan on using it to start a chinchilla ranch. I want to be the first in my family to be a chinchillionare. If that doesn't work out, however, I'm very fortunate to not be one of the many who live paycheck to paycheck, and will put it in savings.
Moving to Montana, buying into dental floss production.
April 13th, 2020 at 10:05 AM ^
Gonna be a dental floss tycoon?
April 13th, 2020 at 11:31 AM ^
That $1200 will make a nice down payment on a pygmy pony!
Come on over. The lot next to me is open!!
If any money ever does appear I'm going to bank it & consider it lost income, thanks to the "tax breaks" that magically turned by $800/year return into an $800/year debt.
Or I'll just pay some bills or something.
I expect nothing but disfunction & being screwed over from this government, and they do deliver on that.
How the heck or why the heck does 80% of America get a refund? I always try to make sure I pay a small amount so the government doesn't hold my money any longer than necessary. Unfortunately, this is going to screw me so I don't get my money until August..
I suspect that I will need to upgrade my car situation soon. I paid off my 2010 escape in January and while the thing runs ok it has a lot of annoying cosmetic issues. The other day the rear window hinge crumbled as I opened the glass liftgate. Kind of want a Cadillac as a tribute to my grandfather who always owned 70s-80s fleetwoods and devilles. Thinking of getting an ATS in black, blue, or gray. The check would go towards the down payment.
My wife and I are still working albeit on a reduced income thanks to salary reductions. We're going to pass it on to a family in worse shape than us. We're fortunate to live with no debt and some savings, so it doesn't feel like something I need to sit on. A couple of my wife's clients are small groups so will likely find someone there who was laid off and pay it forward. Haven't gotten the deposit yet though.
I'm fortunate enough to work through the stay-at-home order, so my regular paycheck is unchanged. I'm considering using it on student loans since it will go 100% to the principal.
Has anyone received theirs' yet? Still nothing on my end.
April 13th, 2020 at 10:00 AM ^
I haven't received it yet, but from what I've read it seems like most of the payments will be going out this week (to those that have direct deposit info on file with the IRS).
April 13th, 2020 at 10:09 AM ^
Yes. Less than $1,200 for me, but still appreciated. Excited to pay it forward to some local restaurants we've been craving.
April 13th, 2020 at 10:43 AM ^
I bank with Chase and they say expect it on April 15 or the few days after if you have direct deposit.
April 13th, 2020 at 12:02 PM ^
Received mine this morning
April 13th, 2020 at 10:01 AM ^
If I got one I would donate it.
I think the cutoff is as follows:
Filing status AGI amount Stimulus check amount
Single $75,000 or less $1,200
Married filing jointly $150,000 or less $2,400
April 13th, 2020 at 10:10 AM ^
It phases out from $75k-100k AGI for singles as well.
April 13th, 2020 at 12:46 PM ^
For every $100 you make above the value, you lose $5. There is also a $500/kid that is added to the stimulus. If you and spouse make $150,000 or less and have two kids, you would get $3,400. If you and spouse make $175,000, with two kids, you would get $2,200. I am assuming this means youd not get anything if you made $220,000 with two kids. There are calculators out there to help figure out what people should expect.
Also, I believe this will be considered income in your 2020 tax filings, so people be aware that this is most likely untaxed income. This means if you are taxed at 20%, you'd owe $480 more next year on your taxes.
It'll actually be considered an advance tax credit from 2020 and not taxable income. When you file your 2020 returns the credit will be reassessed and could go up, if your situation has changed for the worse. Meaning maybe based on your 2019 return you didn't qualify for all or a portion of the payment, but based on 2020 numbers you qualify for the full amount, you would then get the difference included in your 2020 refund. But it won't go the other way, so there's no worry about anyone having to pay anything back if they ended up making more in 2020.
April 13th, 2020 at 10:02 AM ^
I know that about 95% of the people on this internet message board make well over $200,000 per year ...
Just curious: what color is the sky in your world?
April 13th, 2020 at 10:12 AM ^
Maize & Blue?
April 13th, 2020 at 10:15 AM ^
Green with all the dolla bills.
April 13th, 2020 at 12:14 PM ^
He was exaggerating, but as far as UM is concerned, it's kinda like that. This is from 2017 data, but:
-Median family income of UM students in 2017 was $154,000, the highest of 27 public colleges rated as "highly competitive"
-66%of students come from the top 20 percent of the income distribution, while
-9.3%of the student body comes from the top 1 percent of the income distribution
-3.6% percent of students hail from the bottom 20 percent of income levels.
April 13th, 2020 at 10:03 AM ^
I’m gonna put most toward the credit card and save some for myself. I haven’t received it yet.
April 13th, 2020 at 10:03 AM ^
Definitely getting a new AR pistol + ammo. Maybe start my left arm full-sleeve tattoo I've been putting off for a couple years.
Funny when I just type it out like that I sound like some redneck dude when I'm just your everyday white collar middle-class dude.
I'm kind of torn though. I live in one of the biggest tourist/vacationer areas of the country and have strongly been considering starting up a small AirBnB company to get some more streams of income. Should be able to get some good properties at a great price right now, but I'm just not sure how fast the hospitality industry is going to come back and if I can weather the storm for long enough.
April 13th, 2020 at 10:47 AM ^
May want to wait. Here is a nugget from our Gov:
"No one shall advertise or rent a short-term vacation property except as necessary to assist in housing a health care professional or volunteer aiding in the response to the COVID-19 crisis."
So if you advertise of the summer of 2021 you could be subject to a fine.
"All other travel is prohibited, including all travel to vacation rentals."
I know people that are having mass cancellations so you might want to give it some thought - but I am guessing there are some bargains to be had.
April 13th, 2020 at 11:59 AM ^
If you're considering an AR pistol, I'd highly recommend a Sig 556. I did a SBR conversion on one of my Sig pistols a while back and prefer it with a collapsible folding stock to it's pistol set up . It's my favorite for taking to the range (assuming your local one let's you use .223.)
I got a $500 gift certificate from my tattoo guy. He just opened a new shop in December, so obviously this is a bad time for him. Trying to help him out as much as possible. Don’t want him to find another line of work.
April 13th, 2020 at 10:06 AM ^
Summer taxes for us. Nice to have it in the bank now just in case anything happens. Made sure to file 2019 taxes so we got our money back and hopefully stimulus includes that 4th kid.
April 13th, 2020 at 10:08 AM ^
Going to put it in a fund so my teenaged daughter can buy a car one of these days down the road.
Which raises a question: how much money does a kid need to spend to get a decent set of used wheels these days? I took a poke around the internet and saw a couple of articles that suggested five thousand, but they were all a couple of years old.
We're thinking of being very demanding and saying she only gets the money if she buys a Civic or Fit or something truly dependable, but then. . . my first car was a 1956 Buick Super without working windshield wipers. . . Model suggestions appreciated, too.
April 13th, 2020 at 10:11 AM ^
Corolla or Civic. If you wanted something a bit bigger you could look at Camry or Accord, but I wouldn't consider anything else if you want the best combination of safety and reliability in the < $5k range. Just make sure on the civic it's a regular 4 cyl and not a turbo-charged model.
April 13th, 2020 at 10:14 AM ^
Civics aren’t as reliable as they once were. Hondas in general aren’t.
The 10th gen civic platform has below average reliability and everyone hates the 9th gen. My 8th gen, circa 2010, civic has been rock solid, but it’s an old car.
April 13th, 2020 at 10:52 AM ^
Yes, my daughter's 2010 CRV with 100k miles uses a quart of oil every 1000 miles and does my sister in-law's CRV. My wife has a newer CRV with no problems yet. Know what has been bullet proof is my son's 2008 Pontiac G6 with 100k plus miles.
Not sure Honda's are what they once were and are still more expensive to fix than much of the american iron.
April 13th, 2020 at 11:01 AM ^
Recently, Honda has gone below VW in terms of average new car reliability. That’s partly VW getting better, but Honda has gotten worse.
civics are notorious for ac failures right after warranty. They also use the same shitty plastic water pump like all modern disposable cars. The 1.5t motor has issues with fuel dilution in cold weather as well - like all modern DI motors seem to.
April 13th, 2020 at 10:46 AM ^
I would say $4,000 - $6,000, so you're right there. I would recommend looking for an older model year with low miles so you know it will last her awhile. My wife bought a 2004 Malibu with 90,000 miles on it for $4k in 2014 and we've put another 90,000 on it since then. You can typically get a solid older vehicle with low mileage for $5,000 and depending on how much she drives, that should be able to last her 5+ years.
April 13th, 2020 at 12:32 PM ^
Highly recommend Nissan Versa or Sentra! Great little cars! They’re not too expensive and easy to maintain!
Bought my then 16 year old a '14 Nissan Sentra about a year and a half ago for $7,000. Has 100k miles on it, in February the Transmission dropped and needed a new one, a $2,000 job, however, I purchased a warranty for about $250 when I bought it, so I ended up with only a $50 deductible. Have also put new tires on, starter and that is it so far. If you go this route, def get a warranty.
Was it that “non-shifting” transmission? If it was, yeah, I believe that. Stay away from the ones with that transmission.
'14 Nissan Sentra ... Transmission dropped and needed a new one
Yup, the Japco CVT's they put on many Nissan vehicles in that time frame were really prone to failure right around 100k miles, if not before. Supposedly they're better now, but no way I'd ever consider one with the record they have. At least Renault had to sell down their huge stake in Nissan. They're still fine overall outside the tranny thing, but they were much better in terms of longevity before Renault came in and jacked stuff up IMHO.
April 13th, 2020 at 10:12 AM ^
I’m getting one since I was still a student for a large portion of the year they’re basing it on.
I’ll be using mine to pay a small portion of my federal tax liability for the year after I stopped being a student.
April 13th, 2020 at 10:13 AM ^
Going to make it rain at the strip club!
April 13th, 2020 at 10:28 AM ^
sounds like the money will stimulate more than just the economy!
April 13th, 2020 at 10:20 AM ^
Investing in stocks, son.
April 13th, 2020 at 10:59 AM ^
I wish I wasn’t so bad at stocks. Seems like I always make the wrong moves.
April 13th, 2020 at 10:27 AM ^
Well, as it turns out, I owe almost exactly $2400 in federal taxes this year, so with my wife's and my combined Stimulus all I can say is, "The government giveth, and the IRS taketh away."
April 13th, 2020 at 10:28 AM ^
If you put The IRS together you get “Theirs”
April 13th, 2020 at 12:24 PM ^
So it does.... I never noticed that before.
I am still mad at my kids for growing up... I miss the child tax credits.
April 13th, 2020 at 10:30 AM ^
We aren't getting anything because us coastal elites with kids still make too much, but if I did I'd pump it back into the economy. So maybe we'd put it into a new fence or some local restaurants. While I know everyone is hurting financially and there's a preference to save, but a lot of places really are hurting now and if you want them there when the country opens back up we have to keep them going.
April 13th, 2020 at 10:33 AM ^
I suggest the OP rephrase the first paragraph in better humblebrag format:
As I leisurely sip tropical cocktails on the deck of my super yacht currently anchored off the soft white sand beaches of Anguilla amidst this horrific pandemic, I'm mildly curious how the masses will spend their $1200 stimulus checks?
April 13th, 2020 at 10:45 AM ^
Thought it was clear that I was being sarcastic but I guess not. Yeesh. Some Very Serious People on this blog.
My 2019 AGI was below $150k so I will be getting a check. Not sure what I'm going to use it on. Probably some boring for my house.