9 Things To Do With a Bonus

Put it towards a new car purchase, because it’s going to come eventually. I guess this could go under the emergency expense field but you probably have some saving goals that could use a boost, go for it!

Invest
This is always a good option if done properly.  I personally am not investing right now, not anything more than what my money market account can give me (which is not much). I believe that investing needs to come after you have established emergency funds, paid off debt, and just have a mortgage left or so. It is then that you have the financial room to invest safely and wisely. If you are at this point, use the extra cash and get ahead in your investments. Here is a good article on the subject.

Give some or all to a charity
You can’t go wrong here.  This is something that we have not talked about yet, but giving is a big part of personal finances.  If you don’t give money already (to a church, charity, non-profit, family member or friend without expecting it back) do so. You will not only benefit who ever you give to, but it is good for you to give, it does something for you.  Take some or all of your bonus and give it to someone or some group that could really put it to good use. You can check out this website for a listing of non-profits and other charities that may interest you.

Make your home/apartment more energy efficient
Energy is a huge cost today and will not go anywhere but up in the future. It is important that you take the high energy cost into consideration when making improvements to you home/apartment.  While apartment renters will not have as much as they may like (or not like) to do with their unit’s energy efficiency, home owners do.  Put this money towards home improvements that will increase your efficiency and decrease your energy bills. Renters, put this lump sum of cash away and use it for your energy bills this winter! For either situation, this is a great opportunity to plan for the future.

Get a head start on gift buying
One category that always seems to get missed when creating a budget is the “gift” category. You know, that one that has money in it for buying gifts for friends and family members? Yeah, I forgot about that one too for a very long time.  Birthday’s always seem to come up at the last minute, anniversaries, graduation parties, talk like a pirate day, you name it. These events that require gift giving always get missed. What ends up happening here is a unexpected purchase which most times throws the budget off and causes you to loose track. So, since you’ve forgotten about this part of your budget, use this money to get a head of the game. Write down all of the events coming up for the remainder of the year and what gifts you may have to get for them. Go buy them. It will save your budget from being wrecked in the future.

Put it TOWARDS a vacation
I want to emphasize towards. Do not 100% finance a vacation with your bonus unless you already have emergency funds set up, debt paid off, etc…For those of you that have these steps complete, go ahead and use it for the vacation, but for the rest of us who are still getting rid of debt and are adding to our savings account slowly but surely, just put a percentage of the bonus towards the vacation.  Not the entire thing. Towards. Maybe take enough from the bonus to cover meals, or gas, or other small expenses that always seem to add up quick. Then put the rest into emergency funds and debt repayment.