1 post tagged “money”

I got a bonus. A meager $300 bonus (that's the post-tax amount). But that's $300 more than I would otherwise have, so I'm not complaining (much).

That said, now I'm in a small conundrum: what to do with this 'found money'?

My self-imposed options are:

Make an extra payment on a credit card.     

Pros:

• I will be that much closer to being out of debt.
• I'll save on paying that interest.

Cons:

• I won't be that much closer. A month sooner, tops.
• The interest saved wouldn't be much more than I'd earn by sticking it my online savings account.
• That's no fun.
  

Upgrade to Flash Professional 8.

Pro:

• I'll be able to go far deeper with ActionScript. That would make me a more valuable web developer, and probably a higher-paid one.
• Flash is fun.
  

Cons:

• It's not like I don't have Flash 8 Professional at the office.
• Flash 9 is due out sometime this year.
  

Save it.

Pros:

• I'd have more money in case of an emergency or if Tariq decides to act up (Tariq is my trifling a** car.)
  
• I'd earn some interest.

Cons:

• The lack of a fun factor.
• It could go to other things.

Buy a ticket to New York for sometime in mid-to-late February.

Pro:

• I'd get to see and say goodbye to  my childhood home one last time before my parents sell it and move out of state.
• Big fun factor.

Cons:

• This isn't the most responsible thing to do.

Part of me thinks I should do something relatively sensible. And part of me thinks that money I otherwise wouldn't have to spend, isn't really needed for anything, and isn't accounted for in my budget is free money for me to blow in whatever bad idea of a way I so choose.

So um, help me decide what I should do.