Comments on: How do You Spend a Bonus Check?

By: Personal Money Tips » Blog Archive » Plan Your Savings

Personal Money Tips » Blog Archive » Plan Your Savings — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 11:21:43 +0000

[...] How Do You Spend A Bonus Check by Money $mart Life [...]

By: Mr. Debtbeater

Mr. Debtbeater — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 09:19:01 +0000

I just got my letter stating we’re getting bonuses next month, and it’s got a nice little spot in my budget where it’ll get applied just like it came from a regular payday.

If I weren’t in debt and had a bunch of investments already going and all, sure, I’d probably splurge on an unexpected bonus. However, any other circumstances and I’d say a huge majority of the check should be put to work toward debt reduction and pre-defined goals.

By: keri

keri — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 15:39:22 +0000

What funny timing, I just got a bonus check last week and I put it all towards my CC debt which along with a great week of also receiving my tax refund allowed me to pay off a large chunk and almost reach my milestone of zero cc debt. We receive bonuses semi-annually so I know at the end of summer I’ll be getting another. That one is already going straight into the emergency fund.

5 Years ago I probably would have splurged big time, now I know better.

By: dong

dong — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 01:46:28 +0000

I think it’s true for most people that bonus income should be treated the same as regular income. For some people i.e. investment bankers and the like, bonus checks outstrip the annual income for the rest of the year. This creates specific problems when it comes to investing and cash flow management.

By: No Debt Plan

No Debt Plan — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 03:39:00 +0000

Any additional income — bonus or not — should be treated in the same way as regular income. If you are using a budget, it should just fall to the bottom (free cash flow, which I discussed today). You might take out 1%, 5%, or 10% for ‘free spending’. The rest should be used as any other free cash flow — applied towards debt, savings, or retirement/investment.

By: Jerry

Jerry — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 15:07:18 +0000

@ Minimum Wage, you work at a company that pays bonuses. I worked in the mortgage banking industry before insurance and they paid bonuses twice a year. Of course, our salaries were a bit lower to compensate for the bonuses. It was nice to get them but they just barely brought us up to a living wage. I have a master’s and you’d think that would lead to a high paying job. It doesn’t always work out that way.

Jerry

By: Minimum Wage

Minimum Wage — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 03:17:27 +0000

I’d use it to start an emergency fund.

But a more fundamental question might be,

How do you GET a bonus check?