stimulation
Here’s what I think of the stimulus package:
If someone wants to give me some money, I’ll take it. I like receiving money. I am a resourceful ant - I know what to do with it.
My goals remain the same. I am getting out of revolving debt (my credit cards, plus a line of credit I used to pay off old credit card debt). I am saving money so that I can have a down payment and other expenses for a home. I am also saving money for emergencies, retirement, and for some other items that I want to pay for outright. These are my priorities, in this order. So this is how I’ll apply any money that comes into my hands, including any tax refund, or stimulus package money, should I receive it. (Let’s not forget, this stimulus package is not a done deal - it’s merely in the works, and even once it’s passed, some estimates say Americans won’t be receiving any checks until summer.) I figure that if I do get money, my revolving debt balances will probably be paid by then, so my house fund is next on the list, and the probable destination of the money.
But that’s just on a personal level. So far as my country is concerned, I have no idea if this stimulus package will really do what it is supposed to do. I’m not sure if the government even knows. And because I am still not an economist, there’s no point in even attempting to come up with the outcome of a stimulus package off the top of my head. But this I know for sure - basic rules still apply, you can’t count chickens before the eggs hatch, and you can’t tell the future. The Fed is still concerned with balancing between the threats of recession and inflation. People are looking at their 401Ks and groaning. With all the talk about the economy swirling about me, my job is to remember my goals and do what it takes to reach them. Shoot, my apartment’s ceiling was leaking today from the upstairs neighbor’s bath water. I need a house. My contracting position is only supposed to last me until summer, at best. I need a healthy savings. So yeah, I’ve got my ear to the ground to know what’s going on around me, but I’m staying mindful of getting from my own personal point A to point B.
Sorry to say this fellow countrymen, but if you give me any money, I’m not stimulating anything but my own personal net worth.
I’ll take the money with a smile and I’m hoping I’ll get the sum for my yet to be born child.
Not sure what I’ll do with it. I’m thinking maybe all sums will go toward the babes health insurance premiums. I like to pay our insurance in lump sums. I like this co and have stock in it, so I feel like I’m stimulating my stock when I have to pay the insurance.
Comment by c2a — January 25, 2008 @ 12:31 am
I’m with you Sistah Ant. My credit card balance will be paid in full by the time any refund would come my way. I could probably use it to pay my car insurance premium in full. If not, to the online savings it goes.
Comment by K. — January 25, 2008 @ 10:26 am
It fascinates me to listen to read some of the comments in PF blogs regarding this payment–there seems to be a lot of confusion. For example, there is a whole lot of carping about poor people who haven’t worked getting any money. But if spending money is what will stimulate the economy, then really, ALL of the money should go to the poor. Why? Because they have the greatest immediate need, thereby insuring that unlike you, dear Sistah, they will not be saving the money.
This is part of the reason why I’m wondering why the income cap is as high as it is. I would think it would be something as low as $50K or less. But this still assumes something important: that people with incomes over $50K are going to save their money because they can afford to, because their needs are not immediate, or because they’re more fiscally responsible. But I’ve read enough about American consumers to know that people of all incomes spend money like it’s going out of style, and I figure the government wants as many potential spenders as they can get.
Comment by Grace — January 25, 2008 @ 7:21 pm
I always tell my friends to bank or invest any check issued by the Bush Administration because something WILL come up to eat it up (fuel, for example).
Comment by TJ — January 26, 2008 @ 5:52 pm