Anyone have money burning a hole in their pockets?

[ShokWaveRider]

We have not purchased much since Covid started. Only a couple of "Blow that Dough" Moments when we replaced our whole AV system with an OLED TV, New Top of the Line HDD Equipped Media Player, and a High end AVR.

I am getting to the point where we have too much spare cash that normally gets spent on general stuff we do normally and holidays.

Bottom line it is mounting up, we do not need it for day to day expenses and I feel the need to splurge ..... on something.

Current thinking is a new Canon EOS R5 Camera and a couple of good "L" series Lenses. Also a new Motor Scooter for pottering around our Island could be in the cards. These would still be less than what we spend on a good Holiday. I would not normally splurge this much on such discretionary items, but as the title says, it is burning a hole.

Anyone else feel the same?

 

[Montecfo]

Yes in fact. Just smoldering at this point.

But keep trying to think of worthwhile alternative uses.

Also have a huge tax refund coming... Eventually.

 

[Car-Guy]

Bought a new truck back in May but that's about it this year. Nothing particular on the radar screen at this time...

 

[mountainsoft]

I am getting to the point where we have too much spare cash that normally gets spent on general stuff we do normally and holidays. Bottom line it is mounting up, we do not need it for day to day expenses and I feel the need to splurge ..... on something.

We haven't spent much on travel or recreation this year, but we have compensated by spending much more on home improvement. While we don't have unspent cash building up, I have been surprised how much we have spent without really affecting our finances. We've paid for everything out of pocket and still had money to add to our retirement savings.

We just finished a $3000+ concrete driveway project, built a few new pieces of furniture, bought a computer and various related items so my wife could work from home, bought a new EGO battery powered lawn mower, a new EGO battery powered chainsaw, and more.

It feels like we have spent a lot of money this year, but it's nice to take care of many of these items before we retire in a few years. It's also surprising how much we must spend on recreation normally to have so much cash on hand now.

 

[davebarnes]

Anyone else feel the same?

Yes, but waiting.
1. Waiting for a sale at BigAssFans. I want Haiku fans.
2. Waiting for a garage organizer contractor to be available. He is booked thru November.
3. Waiting until a broader selection of BEVs is available. 2023, I think.

I am going to do some more Roth conversion. That will take $30K out of our funds.

 

[Fermion]

New expansion coming out in World of Warcraft and last night in raid I was only getting 15 to 20 frames per second. This gaming laptop is only ~2 years old...dang does this stuff just not stay current that long?

It has a GeForce GTX1060 and SSD...ACER Helios 300

Should I get another gaming laptop or go back to a full size machine? I have been using just laptops for the past ~5 years but would like to get more than 2 years use out of them.

 

[braumeister]

1. Waiting for a sale at BigAssFans. I want Haiku fans.

You just missed a huge Labor Day sale. I bought one for 30% off.

 

[Chuckanut]

I had planned to burn some cash with my first overnight trip since CV hit us, as well as a number of day trips in my area. Alas, the fires and smoke are keeping me home.

No point in spending money for the sake of spending money. Besides I have a family member who is still out of work and could use some help.

 

[idledancer]

It’s a real one-two punch for us. We’re not traveling OR doing home improvements! Our usual extensive travel is on hold for obvious reasons, but we were also planning to move this year, so we don’t see a reason to undertake any renovation projects. Moving is postponed because traveling to see places is just too much hassle.

On top of that, we bought a new car last year so we don’t need one of those. We were planning to buy a home theater setup, but we’re surprise gifted one a month into the pandemic.

I have bought quite a few new tools using the excuse that it’s currently better to do X specialized task at home instead of farming it out. I’ve also been buying fancier liquor.

 

[mystang52]

Same here. Bought a few running apparel items, gave grandkids some extra money, got a patio dining set. Other than that, like OP just added to bottom line.

 

[ShokWaveRider]

OP Here. We do not really have a budget, but various retirement withdrawal calculators say we should be spending XX,xxx amount per month (XXX,xxx amount per year). so far this year we are at <20% of it. Just seems we ought to be spending more, hence the "Burn".

We will downsize our home sooner or later, so only doing maintenance items as needed, no more improvements for us, unless things break, then we will upgrade.

 

[skipro33]

My kids do a wonderful job of helping me with the excess cash this year. My eldest just contacted me about a 'Bank-Of-Dad' project. He wants to refinance his home to take advantage of the low interest rates. However, he's needing about $20,000 more in equity to get the lowest tier rate and wanted to know if I had it to loan for a year. He will pay me back $1,000 a month plus a $6,000 one-time payment with his tax return coming up. I will be completely recovered in 14 months. He's financially good for it and we have worked deals like this before. Two years ago I funded his built in pool. What an unseen blessing that was! 4 kids, ages 5 to 14 when the virus locked everyone down and they now had a built in pool. Whew!! That was also around $20K and paid back in 10 months.

My other son has two kids and this year enrolled them in a private Christian academy. Their class sizes are 6 student to 1 teacher ratio and they are able to have in-school sessions for half a day. Kinda like how kindergarten used to be with a morning and and afternoon session. Half the day at home study, the other half in a classroom with social distancing accommodations. No common lunch periods, recesses, etc. so this is very much a viable compromise to stay-at-home schooling offered by the public school system. It is expensive however. Around $7,000 a month for two students. I am thrilled I'm able to help, especially since I can't go anywhere or do anything anyways. I know the tuition sounds pricey, but this is in Napa, California and anything like this in the Bay Area is beyond expensive and usually right there at the ridiculous. But that's where his job is, he works for the Golden State Warriors at Chase Center in downtown San Francisco. Napa is as far as he's able to physically live and still have a reasonable commute. He takes the ferry most days from Fairfield to San Francisco wharf, then public transport to Chase Center. Recently he's been able to work from home most of the time, but still needs to go in every week.

 

[kgtest]

My kids do a wonderful job of helping me with the excess cash this year. My eldest just contacted me about a 'Bank-Of-Dad' project. He wants to refinance his home to take advantage of the low interest rates. However, he's needing about $20,000 more in equity to get the lowest tier rate and wanted to know if I had it to loan for a year. He will pay me back $1,000 a month plus a $6,000 one-time payment with his tax return coming up. I will be completely recovered in 14 months. He's financially good for it and we have worked deals like this before. Two years ago I funded his built in pool. What an unseen blessing that was! 4 kids, ages 5 to 14 when the virus locked everyone down and they now had a built in pool. Whew!! That was also around $20K and paid back in 10 months.

My other son has two kids and this year enrolled them in a private Christian academy. Their class sizes are 6 student to 1 teacher ratio and they are able to have in-school sessions for half a day. Kinda like how kindergarten used to be with a morning and and afternoon session. Half the day at home study, the other half in a classroom with social distancing accommodations. No common lunch periods, recesses, etc. so this is very much a viable compromise to stay-at-home schooling offered by the public school system. It is expensive however. Around $7,000 a month for two students. I am thrilled I'm able to help, especially since I can't go anywhere or do anything anyways. I know the tuition sounds pricey, but this is in Napa, California and anything like this in the Bay Area is beyond expensive and usually right there at the ridiculous. But that's where his job is, he works for the Golden State Warriors at Chase Center in downtown San Francisco. Napa is as far as he's able to physically live and still have a reasonable commute. He takes the ferry most days from Fairfield to San Francisco wharf, then public transport to Chase Center. Recently he's been able to work from home most of the time, but still needs to go in every week.

Very generous and supportive! Nice work Dad/Papa! Ole man offered up covering private tuition costs but we decided to do the public route anywho. His neighborhood cronies will be on different days but some of the others will be new to him friends.

Funny how in anyother year that pool might not have seemed so logical. We used the in-laws pool A LOT this summer. Fun seeing the kids swim confidence grow.

 

[OldShooter]

... Bottom line it is mounting up, we do not need it for day to day expenses and I feel the need to splurge ..... on something. ...

Thousands of people have lost their homes in the wildfires, the derecho, and the hurricanes past. The Red Cross is pleading both for volunteers and for donations. I'm sure other disaster relief organizations like Salvation Army and Southern Baptists are also in need.

(I didn't know about the Baptists until I deployed on Hurricane Michael with Red Cross. They came in with specialized semi-trailers stuffed with equipment and they prepare meals. I visited one site, one trailer, that could deliver more than10,000 meals per day. Amazing!)

 

[Pscott2019]

I believe that my wife & I have been single handedly stimulating the economy.

I purchased a used 2019 Tahoe a couple of months back to replace my old Tahoe that has over 300k miles on it.

We are also doing a number of DIY home upgrades throughout our home starting with painting the entire interior. We are having wood floors installed upstairs and new larger baseboards throughout the home. We are doing most of the work ourselves minus the flooring. Yes - my wife and I are hard at work during our early retirement. [emoji3]

 

[jebmke]

Thousands of people have lost their homes in the wildfires, the derecho, and the hurricanes past. The Red Cross is pleading both for volunteers and for donations. I'm sure other disaster relief organizations like Salvation Army and Southern Baptists are also in need.

(I didn't know about the Baptists until I deployed on Hurricane Michael with Red Cross. They came in with specialized semi-trailers stuffed with equipment and they prepare meals. I visited one site, one trailer, that could deliver more than10,000 meals per day. Amazing!)

Food pantries in my state are overwhelmed - and the state is in pretty good shape all things considered.

 

[brett]

Nice problem to have.

Keep your powder dry.

We are in the same situation. Fridge just conked out so there goes $2-3K. No doubt there will be other expenses. We have significantly increased our giving to our local food bank. There are people who really do need our help.

We are not shoppers. Saving our money for post covid travel blowouts!

 

[harllee]

Thousands of people have lost their homes in the wildfires, the derecho, and the hurricanes past. The Red Cross is pleading both for volunteers and for donations. I'm sure other disaster relief organizations like Salvation Army and Southern Baptists are also in need.

(I didn't know about the Baptists until I deployed on Hurricane Michael with Red Cross. They came in with specialized semi-trailers stuffed with equipment and they prepare meals. I visited one site, one trailer, that could deliver more than10,000 meals per day. Amazing!)

Thanks for the reminder OldShooter. I have made a donation to the Red Cross for the wild fire victims. I have also made some contributions to the local food banks. There are many people out there hurting because of the pandemic, wild fires, unemployment, hurricanes, etc. If you have extra money consider helping others in need.

I am also helping some local small businesses who are about to go out of business by buying take out and contributing to Go Fund Me for them.

 

[cyber888]

Thousands of people have lost their homes in the wildfires, the derecho, and the hurricanes past. The Red Cross is pleading both for volunteers and for donations. I'm sure other disaster relief organizations like Salvation Army and Southern Baptists are also in need.

(I didn't know about the Baptists until I deployed on Hurricane Michael with Red Cross. They came in with specialized semi-trailers stuffed with equipment and they prepare meals. I visited one site, one trailer, that could deliver more than10,000 meals per day. Amazing!)

I agree - people in the West coast needs donations. If you got plenty, you will feel better giving it to them.

 

[Christine]

Yes a small burn at least.

I'm having my car serviced and ordered a few smaller upgrades to it. That helped a little...


OldShooter - good ideas. I will start googling now.

 

[Dtail]

Just some Roth conversion tax monies.
Nothing we really need which is expensive at this time.

 

[davebarnes]

You just missed a huge Labor Day sale. I bought one for 30% off.

You bought a Haiku L. I want Haiku.

 

[tmm99]

My travel budget is small to start with (~6K plus some), but I am planning to get my basement shower replaced and add one of those vertical shower systems, but I think I'll pull the money from my entertainment budget (as if home renovation is somewhat entertaining!)

But who knows when that will happen, as my bath guy says that he's been so busy since the start of the pandemic. His take is that people are staying home more now, and are getting tired of looking at worn-out bathrooms.

 

[Ronstar]

I'm having a small burn so far. With spending at about 60% of normal and just starting ss, I have some catching up to do. I bought an e-bike and camera lens within the last couple of months, but I can't think of anything else to buy now. I did put a reservation in on a 2021 Ford Bronco, but it probably won't be here until 2022. Paying for the Bronco will take care of any excess $ that I may accumulate.

 

[CardsFan]

We did our snow bird vacation to FL in February, and have since bought a new car for DW. So, Our spend this year will likely be 50% more than past years (but still less than 3.7% of current investments). Maybe I will buy a new car too, and send spending way over the cliff.