I really do love this song and catch myself singing it all of the time, but, during one of my recent impromptu bursts of song, it suddenly got me thinking,
What if I really had a million dollars? What would I do with it?
I thought about it for awhile and I am ready to answer that question so that I can be prepared, just in case someone decides to finally drop off my million dollars!
7 Things I Would Do If I Had a Million Dollars:
1. I'd Pay Off My House
The mortgage, the true ball and chain! If I had a million dollars, I think that would be the first thing I would attack. I feel like doing that gives me a long term gift of money every single month when I don't have to make that payment anymore! How exciting is that?
Without question that is the first thing on my list. Gladly, that still leaves me with quite a chunk of change, so let's move on...
2. Home Reapirs
Well, now that I'm keeping it, let's use some of this money to make it just the way I'd like it! This isn't a case of just sprucing up the place, this house needs some very serious help - we have not yet recovered our basement from flood damages, we have broken doors and doorknobs on every entrance, one dog had lots of fun ripping out window panes when upset and while one bathroom is in the midst of a remodel now, the other is just plain frightful.
Wrapped in this portion of my spending would be fixing up my backyard. There is so much potential back there for gardening, recreation and relaxation. Someday, with my million or not, I hope to help it realize that potential.
3. Renewable Energy Updates
Once the house has been brought up to date and is sturdy enough to hold up some additions, I would like to add solar panels on our roof and see if there is a possibility of adding a windmill anywhere on our property. I seriously don't understand why all houses and buildings aren't equipped with these (I know a lot of people are financially restrained, as we are) now. My husband and I keep crunching the numbers on these and hope that someday soon it will add up for us!
4. Pay Off Student Loans/Medical Bills/Debt
Should this be higher on my list? Eh. Maybe. The medical bills probably make up the largest chunk of change and the ones I need to pay off first. All three of these are getting chipped away at bit by bit, so it would be nice to be freed of them once and for all. Kind of like the mortgage, paying these off would be kind of like giving myself a little extra money each month.
5. Get a Cabin in the Woods
My brother and I have been talking about this a lot lately. When we were younger our grandfather had a cabin in upstate New York that the whole family would use multiple times a year. It's where we learned how to shoot rifles, fish, swim in lakes, climb mountains (OK... they probably weren't really mountains), chop and collect wood, build fires, sleep on cots and survive (EASILY!) without television. We want this back. We want to get a cabin together so we can continue the tradition. This is definitely on my million dollar list!
6. Donate at least 1% to Worthy Causes
There are so many causes that deserve support and need it. I, of course, would send some money to the Intracranial Hypertension Research Foundation (www.ihrfoundation.org) for all the help they've given me, to Crohns and Colitis Foundation of America (www.ccfa.org) for all the help they gave my mother and then I think I would like to explore other charities/nonprofits to see who and how they help out to decide who I would help out even more. In the end, I'm leaning toward more of a 5% give rate for this sum of money, but, since I haven't run that by the hubby I feel safe committing to at least 1% (because anything less than that, then HE'S going to have problems!).
7. Invest & Save (With Purpose)
I think this is by far the most important part of my million dollar spending. Every single investment made is a vote for a company's products, principles and policies. I would have to become a more hands-on type of investor. I would have to learn about various businesses and companies so I could make more educated decisions about whether or not I wanted my money to back such ventures.
I would invest in local companies to ensure that jobs are created and sustained in my community. I would invest in environmentally responsible companies to make sure my money is where my mouth is. I would invest in companies that I believe in and I am proud of. I would invest in companies that understand that there is more at stake than their bottom lines. I don't expect that this type of investing would be easy, but with a large sum of cash and the type of influence it could potentially have over a business or two, it is worth the effort.
So... What would YOU DO???
7 Things I Would Do If I Had a Million Dollars:
1. I'd Pay Off My House
The mortgage, the true ball and chain! If I had a million dollars, I think that would be the first thing I would attack. I feel like doing that gives me a long term gift of money every single month when I don't have to make that payment anymore! How exciting is that?
Without question that is the first thing on my list. Gladly, that still leaves me with quite a chunk of change, so let's move on...
Well, now that I'm keeping it, let's use some of this money to make it just the way I'd like it! This isn't a case of just sprucing up the place, this house needs some very serious help - we have not yet recovered our basement from flood damages, we have broken doors and doorknobs on every entrance, one dog had lots of fun ripping out window panes when upset and while one bathroom is in the midst of a remodel now, the other is just plain frightful.
Wrapped in this portion of my spending would be fixing up my backyard. There is so much potential back there for gardening, recreation and relaxation. Someday, with my million or not, I hope to help it realize that potential.
3. Renewable Energy Updates
Once the house has been brought up to date and is sturdy enough to hold up some additions, I would like to add solar panels on our roof and see if there is a possibility of adding a windmill anywhere on our property. I seriously don't understand why all houses and buildings aren't equipped with these (I know a lot of people are financially restrained, as we are) now. My husband and I keep crunching the numbers on these and hope that someday soon it will add up for us!
Should this be higher on my list? Eh. Maybe. The medical bills probably make up the largest chunk of change and the ones I need to pay off first. All three of these are getting chipped away at bit by bit, so it would be nice to be freed of them once and for all. Kind of like the mortgage, paying these off would be kind of like giving myself a little extra money each month.
My brother and I have been talking about this a lot lately. When we were younger our grandfather had a cabin in upstate New York that the whole family would use multiple times a year. It's where we learned how to shoot rifles, fish, swim in lakes, climb mountains (OK... they probably weren't really mountains), chop and collect wood, build fires, sleep on cots and survive (EASILY!) without television. We want this back. We want to get a cabin together so we can continue the tradition. This is definitely on my million dollar list!
There are so many causes that deserve support and need it. I, of course, would send some money to the Intracranial Hypertension Research Foundation (www.ihrfoundation.org) for all the help they've given me, to Crohns and Colitis Foundation of America (www.ccfa.org) for all the help they gave my mother and then I think I would like to explore other charities/nonprofits to see who and how they help out to decide who I would help out even more. In the end, I'm leaning toward more of a 5% give rate for this sum of money, but, since I haven't run that by the hubby I feel safe committing to at least 1% (because anything less than that, then HE'S going to have problems!).
I think this is by far the most important part of my million dollar spending. Every single investment made is a vote for a company's products, principles and policies. I would have to become a more hands-on type of investor. I would have to learn about various businesses and companies so I could make more educated decisions about whether or not I wanted my money to back such ventures.
I would invest in local companies to ensure that jobs are created and sustained in my community. I would invest in environmentally responsible companies to make sure my money is where my mouth is. I would invest in companies that I believe in and I am proud of. I would invest in companies that understand that there is more at stake than their bottom lines. I don't expect that this type of investing would be easy, but with a large sum of cash and the type of influence it could potentially have over a business or two, it is worth the effort.
So... What would YOU DO???
This post is written as part of the What IF? Project hosted here on the Rivera Runs Through It Blog. Each week a new "What if?" question is presented and I do my best to respond to the query. You are invited to as well. This week's "What if?" was
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