Dealing With Sudden Windfalls

by Miriam Caldwell | More from this Blogger

11 Jun 2007 07:41 PM

When you receive a sudden windfall of money, it is important to use this money wisely. Well, it is important to plan on how to use this money. Often people will receive a large sum of money from bonuses, tax refunds, inheritances or settlements and the money will seem to magically disappear. Often people will spend more than they received and end up worse off than they were before. Here are five tips on how to handle a sudden windfall.

1) Before you do anything with the money you should sit down and plan what you want to do with it. You can take this time to dream of all the things that you want to do with the money. You can list anything that you might possibly want to do with the money. Then sit back and decide which things are most important to you.

2) You should briefly take a look at what your financial priorities are. Then look at where you are in achieving them. If you are debt free and have a good amount in savings, you may decide that you can simply spend all of the money. Otherwise you should put at least half towards your financial priorities.

3) You have been given the gift of money. It is nice to donate some of this to your church or favorite charity. Taking time to help others is always nice. It is easy to pass on a portion of your windfall to bless others.

4) Decide what your splurges will be and then set budget limits for each of those splurges. Then make sure that you stick to your budget. You can get more for your money by taking the time to shop around and make sure that you are getting the highest quality for the lowest price.

5) Once you have spent the money on the things you chose, stop spending. This way your blessing will always be a blessing. You will not have negative feelings towards it, because you handled it responsibly.

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Thoughts on Inherited Money

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Learn more about Miriam Caldwell

Miriam is a SAHM mom of three children. She has a daughter who is seven, and two sons, four and two. She loves being a parent and spending time with her children.

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