Post by cinderbella on Jan 13, 2020 20:28:12 GMT -5
I got my substantial first bonus ever last year (paid out in June) - we got a new sectional/washer/dryer/water heater which wasn't fun stuff but very necessary. We also put some towards cc debt and savings.
This year it should be significantly more (and H is also set to collect his first real bonus next month) so the plan is to pay off all debt besides mortgage and my car and also plan an epic kid-free trip for my 40th birthday/our 15th anniversary which is in 2021.
For the years after that, I'm guessing it will be split between savings/retirement/house projects with some fun/trips mixed in.
Post by UMaineTeach on Jan 13, 2020 20:34:25 GMT -5
I would have liked H to put his in savings for a down payment on some land. What he did was buy more company shares, because they were running some sort of ‘cash back sale’
I get his point about investment, but wish he would keep a year’s bonus in cash just once.
We’ve never really gotten bonus’ before, and when we did they’ve been +/-$1K, so they usually just got thrown in the budget. H got $1K for Christmas so we paid off 2 small credit cards and a nice dinner. Last year I got $4500 (before taxes) and we used that to redo our shed. I’m hoping to get the same this year and it’ll probably got to house projects again - paint, new floors, boring stuff. If it were a bigger bonus I’d probably allocate sone towards vacation as well. We’re trying to actively pay down debt while still living, so instead of saving for house stuff we use the bonus and then throw a chunk at debt monthly.
Post by newnamesameperson on Jan 13, 2020 20:47:32 GMT -5
I always did $1k in fun money and threw a ridiculous amount at my mortgage/or anything I hadn't funded yet (such as 529 etc.). For what it's worth, personally I would have to pay the kitchen remodel. Mentally it would just bother me not having paid it off.
I always did $1k in fun money and threw a ridiculous amount at my mortgage/or anything I hadn't funded yet (such as 529 etc.). For what it's worth, personally I would have to pay the kitchen remodel. Mentally it would just bother me not having paid it off.
What I'd advise others is the 50/50 split.
Ha. This is what I’m struggling with. I told H that I was getting the bonus (in year’s past I haven’t cleared more than $1k after taxes, or nothing at all), and that my plan was to throw it right at the home equity loan. He’s the one asking me to at least consider taking a little bit of money for something fun and putting the rest there. So I’m trying to figure out a reasonable split that gives me something toward a fun item/trip, and still makes me feel like I’m doing the responsible thing too. I’m leaning towards a more inexpensive local trip like a cabin rental or something for a weekend, so I can still mentally deal!
Save. I’m currently saving to hopefully someday buy the building where I work. It can’t be sold until the elderly owner passes away and who knows when that will be so I’m socking away what I can.
Save or invest the majority. For a $10k bonus I'd probably allocate $1k for fun and be responsible with the rest. Actually for anything bigger I'd probably do the same, unless we had a particular idea for a trip. Except actually we're at a phase with @@@ kids where travel with them is miserable, so not worth spending $$$ on.
We never splurge but last year I convinced H to use his bonus to take the kids to Disney. It was great! It wasn’t a vacation but it was nice family trip. The kids talk about it all the time.
This year we are using it to beef up 529s, new flooring, house taxes and pay off small consumer debt. Boring but necessary. If we buckle down and hit all of our goals I’ll push for us to do something else fun next year.
I guess it would depend on how much debt I had left from the kitchen. I’m usually pretty MM, but not doing anything fun with at least some bonus money kind of sucks the fun out getting one at all, LOL. I mean, obviously if it was needed for necessities or we had crushing debt, I’d do that, but I like to do or buy at least something for each family member, even if it’s small.
$10k pre- or post-tax? Just take that into consideration because bonuses get taxes like whoa.
Mine this year will primarily go to a vacation for this summer. I may put some of it toward my Roth IRA contributions for this year. There's also just a couple of smaller things on my wishlist that I'll probably get. DH will get a bonus too and I'm thinking most of his will go toward retirement savings since our vacation is basically covered with mine and other funds we're putting toward it.
Our only debt is in the form of student loans, car loans, and mortgage, so we're not in a big rush to pay off any of that. We don't have any credit card debt.
eta: We never count on bonuses. They are always extra. If we didn't get bonuses this year, we would do a smaller/less expensive vacation.
I don’t technically get a bonus but I get a stipend every year. DH gets one too. In the past we have bought furniture, saved a potion or used for a vacation.
Back when I got them, I usually increased my 401 contribution right before to tax shelter some of it, and then split what came in above my normal check. Usually the majority went to something responsible but I always did at least a nicer dinner or a massage or something as a treat with part of it.
Bills, bills, bills Money has been pretty tight the past couple years. My Christmas bonus usually goes to gifts/travel costs. DH gets his in January and we are going on a weekend family getaway he really wanted to do which coincides with it this year. I get another larger bonus later in the year and a big chunk of that pays for summer camp and I splurge a little on work clothes. For your amount, it would be like $500-1k splurge and the rest to bills/needs/savings.
It depends on the bonus. I don't get them, but husband gets 4/year. We haven't rebalanced everything for the year yet because we don't get raises until April, but we know the big bonus is going to refill our e-fund that we dipped in to for a retaining wall that failed this fall and towards our trip to Italy this spring. In the past it's been used to pay off the remainder of my student loans, for our first sabbatical trip, a new roof, and house down payment.
The medium one gets split between investing and our travel fund until the travel fund is full. Then it gets split between investing/fun/house projects.
The two small ones used to fund our backdoor Roths, but husband can do his through work starting this year and will have his taken out of his check automatically. One will still be used to fund my Roth this year, and our tentative plan is to use the other to set up a college fund (529??) for our new nephew. After that, we plan to use the other small bonus as a donation to whatever we feel is most important to us or use it to add to any future niece/nephew college funds (we're planning a one time $5k for each kid was additional for Christmas and birthdays or something).
Post by mrsukyankee on Jan 14, 2020 6:01:20 GMT -5
My H gets a bonus every year. We never know exactly how much (depends on how the bank is doing), so we don't budget for it. What we do is figure out beforehand what we'll put it toward (regardless of the amount), so usually it went toward vacations, buying a new car, renovations, building back up our e-fund. Since I paid off my student loans, we've not been carrying any debt except for our mortgage, so we haven't needed it for that. If we did have debt outside of the mortgage, we'd put it toward that.
Post by emilyinchile on Jan 14, 2020 7:32:27 GMT -5
Having the home equity loan/remodel debt would make me uncomfortable, so I would want to get rid of that asap. Sounds like I'm team you - an inexpensive weekend trip to enjoy family time would be nice and also not take so much of the bonus that I'd lie awake at night after the fact wondering why I spent a lot of money on a vacation and was now still having to pay off debt.
I would say put most of it toward the debt and take an inexpensive long weekend somewhere within driving distance. Like maybe a $9k / $1k split, or 8k/2k if necessary. But - how much is the debt? That might affect my answer.
In the past, I've gotten about $5-6K for bonuses after taxes, so I'd keep 10% for whatever, DH would get 10%, the other 80% would go towards mutual house stuff/debt/savings/vacation fund (whatever the most pressing need for the year). I'm due to get a bit more than that this year - I will likely reevaluate the % we get, because I don't think either of us need $1K+ fun money.
I get my bonus in March. DH gets not exactly a bonus, but a payout around $5k from his job each November, so we treat his the same. 10% to me, 10% to him, 80% towards mutual stuff. It's been a good balance of being able to splurge, but still be responsible.
Post by lightbulbsun on Jan 14, 2020 9:29:46 GMT -5
My company doesn't do annual bonuses, but I've gotten a couple of spot bonuses for when I've put in a lot of work on a project, or worked a lot of unpaid overtime. Usually they're around $1k, so not too exciting, but since they're unexpected and not part of our normal budget, I put them towards a vacation or fun money.
That being said, our only current debt is our house and a small loan with a 0% interest rate, so if I had CC debt or something I would probably want to pay that off instead.
Post by ChillyMcFreeze on Jan 14, 2020 9:36:10 GMT -5
I've only ever gotten one bonus, and I made one larger credit card payment and used the rest for a trip we had already planned. It was less than $1000, so basically just a little fun money.
With $10K, I would use 80% to eliminate whatever debt I could and put the other 20% toward a trip or something fun for myself.
We split it into categories. For example, H gets one in March and we plan to split it up to #1 pay off his car then divide what is left between savings and some sort of home improvement.
Post by farmvillelover on Jan 14, 2020 9:56:02 GMT -5
We’ve always done an indulgent dinner (Mastros is my fave), the rest goes into brokerage and the kids savings. We’ve always earmarked about 25% give or take to set aside for the kids, used to be for 529s but now just their brokerage accounts.
If we were carrying high interest debt I’d put the majority to that. But treat yourself a bit bc tomorrow isn’t guaranteed.
I work PT now and get a bonus in Dec equivalent to one paycheck-it's nice to get but nothing to make a huge difference. I use it on bills and some Christmas shopping. I miss my sizable bonus from my old job- we always used it for a combo of things like debt, vacation or home improvements. DH gets his bonus at the end of Feb. It will be used for some new furniture, plane tickets to Mexico for fall break, repairs for our deck and the rest will go in savings.
Mine usually goes primarily to savings (much of which is currently being used to build a new garage). But I don't deprive myself much regularly. In your shoes I'd go maybe 75% kitchen/25% fun thing.