<p>I am a good shopper. </p>
<p>I shop every two weeks. Tuesday was my shopping day and I spent $168 (including fresh veggies/fruit at the farm stand.) S is even home now. Once he goes back to school It’ll probably go down to $125 every two weeks. </p>
<p>I buy very little processed food. And I don’t use any coupons.</p>
<p>Since so many of our decisions have been based on having kids I don’t know if we’d be where we are in life if we didn’t have them. I would have stayed in a small place, not moved out here, probably not worked as hard to make my business successful. So who knows, maybe the kids caused me to make more money.</p>
<p>But half a million tax free? I’d pay off the house, finish the college funds, put the rest to retirement. But of course I’d have to do something, either redo my bathroom or go on a vacation.</p>
<p>If someone dropped a half a million in my lap today…I’d invest $350,000 in something conservative that will throw off decent fun money, replace a 1991 and 1993 vehicle with one newer one and buy a little condo to spend winters in. If someone would have given me that money when i was forty and having the last kid, I would have invested the entire amount because we HAD money and decent vehicles before we started making tuition payments. Now our kids have left the nest but we don’t have any cash. Cash would be good.</p>
<p>Kinda reminds me of the Robert Palmer lyrics
“[kids] so fine there’s no tellin where the money went…”</p>
<p>I would have a couple of really nice trips for the entire family, put some in nest eggs for each kid, and breath easier know I could help my mom if necessary, pay off the mortgage, or help fund a second home if I wanted to.</p>
<p>a friend of mine came in to some extra money in about that amount (an inheritance). He makes decent money, will never be rich. He is divorced and has four children, and while he pays child support he doesn’t get to see them as often as he would like. He is a tenured professor, and his ex-wife lives at the opposite end of the country where she, too, is a tenured professor–each went where they had the opportunity. She also has inherited some money.</p>
<p>They are expecting their childrens’ education costs to be lower than average because the parents are faculty at good schools, and of course there are often exchanges available. The divorce decree states each parent pays half of the faculty family tuition amount at whichever eligible school a child chooses, or at half the the parent’s home institution tuition amount if the child chooses a nonmember school (ie., the student needs to come up with some money too if a nonmember school is chosen)</p>
<p>There is a lot of bitterness and hard feelings between the parents–it’s really sad.</p>
<p>Our friend has used a big chunk of his money to buy a large amount of life insurance to be paid in to a trust for each of his children with distributions of certain amounts at certain ages–</p>
<p>Can’t help but think of one of my many favorite scenes from The Three Amigos where they discuss what they’ll do with their share of the big fee they’ll be receiving. </p>
<p>[Three</a> Amigos - Your share of the money - YouTube](<a href=“Three Amigos - Your share of the money - YouTube”>Three Amigos - Your share of the money - YouTube)</p>
<p>I often think of what I would do with such a windfall. Having been a single parent for the past 17 years, times have been tough. I would make some much-needed home repairs and updates. I would also give some away to people who have been kind to me. When I was first divorced, I had a neighbor who noticed ex’s vehicle was no longer in the driveway. He knocked on my door and asked if there was anything he could do. He insisted that I allow his teenage sons to mow my yard, and they did so regularly for a year or two. They have moved away, but I would find them and give them each (including Dad) a pretty large check. </p>
<p>I would also make a donation to a church near the college my D attended. This church had a program where it paid music students to sing in the choir. They also fed the college kids lunch (home-cooked!) every Sunday. Some of the church members attended her recitals and performances at school. Although we are not deeply religious, I appreciated the support and would like to give back in some way.</p>
<p>And I would buy a new car to replace my 10-year-old one, pay off my house, and invest the rest with hopes of retiring early.</p>
<p>Id pay off our house, pay off the kids school loans and get H a new car ( he drives a 50 yrold truck & a 21 yr old car- both Fords) </p>
<p>Then Id see about remodeling the house to add dormers in the attic & a 2nd bathroom & a back deck! There is actually so much we could do to the house if we were going to stay here…
Get windows that open for the front, have interiors painted, new flooring in the kitchen…
Id also add to our retirement funds and maybe plan for a honeymoon since we never took one - (talk H into going to Europe-& remind Pearl Jam they havent played Italy for a couple years;) </p>
<p>Id donate at least 10% to my favorite charities as I do that anyway, but Id also put money aside for the girls to have a nest egg for emergencies. </p>
<p>Id also buy a new wardrobe- or at least about $5000 worth. That would keep me busy for a while.</p>
<p>My cousin won almost a million dollar jackpot from a California Indian casino slot machine a few years ago. He blew every dime of it in only about a three year period. From Champagne to back to Old Milwaukee beer in almost nothing flat!</p>
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<p>That is pretty funny considering what I would do. First, I have a car with 150,000 miles and a couple of issues, so I would get a new car. Second, I would do a little traveling (with the new car), not Paris, but to see family members and friends I haven’t seen for a while. And third, I donate a few extra dollars to St. Jude Hospital.</p>
<p>I would spend most of the money on a condo in downtown Chicago and give the rest to charity.</p>
<p>I would pay off my house, pay off my niece/nephews student loans (S1 had none, S2 isn’t done yet). I would set aside a large amount for S2’s future healthcare costs. </p>
<p>I would buy a condo and be the world’s nicest landlord. </p>
<p>And then I would give the rest away to a medical charity or a children/youth charity</p>
<p>Greenb</p>
<p>The world nicest landlord is letting the tenant stay free, is that your wish? :)</p>
<p>I feel like I may be the only person who seems some of those numbers are actually pretty low… 8% of 241,000 for ~misc~ like sports is like $1070 a year on sports. Idk, maybe it’s just the sports I did that make this seem so low! I asked my mum how much she thought it cost to raise a child until they were 18 and she ball parked at $35,000 a year per child. We also live in a very expensive area, so that might skew the housing costs for us</p>
<p>Renovate the bathroom. Travel. Possibly buy some original artwork.</p>
<p>I’d put a down payment on a piece of real estate that would then produce a significant positive cash flow.</p>
<p>I’d donate this cash flow towards tuition scholarships at D and S HS.</p>
<p>Occasionally I’d treat myself to something like one of the watches discussed on a different recent thread, or maybe if things go really well…a fancier car.</p>
<p>I’d leave the real estate asset to the kids.</p>
<p>So really… I would quit my job and go back to college. 
Not kidding… study what I want to study this time. Maybe all the way to a PhD. Maybe at a state U (my alma mater has some kind of deal for 2nd degrees where I think I would not have to go thru admissions again). Or maybe one of the women’s colleges who are welcoming to “older” students.</p>
<p>Would be still paying Med. School tuition but instead of taking $$$ out of retirement funds, would use these extra money. I am not inspired at all to ever quit my job, I will wait until I am kicked out, I will not leave on my own, it is way too boring otherwise, even having occasional day at home, I feel restless, I have no idea what I would be doing. If I have about 50 mln, I would have a better chances at other activities, $500k is simply not enough to fill my day, not anywhere close. $500k is not much money at all, they devalue our money so fast…</p>
<p>I would buy a pied a terre in Vienna.</p>