What To Do With Extra Money
This article is posted under Life Lessons, Mindsetting.
I was checking the pockets of the clothes that I’m about to bring to the laundry one day and I found a P50 bill in one of my pants.
Ain’t that always a good feeling to find money unexpectedly?
And as I reach for my wallet to put away the bill, I can’t help but already think of what to do with the extra money I just found.
It’s not that big but it’s also not that small. I asked myself, “What can P50 buy me nowadays?”
Not wanting to linger on the thought, I just decided that I will buy myself some dessert later after dinner, a caramel sundae perhaps at McDonald’s.
As I went on with my chore, I began to wonder what if it was not P50 but P500 instead. How would that much extra money change my decision? I certainly wouldn’t spend it all on dessert.
A number of possibilities came into my mind. But then I noticed that all my plans were simply to spend that extra money on something nice for myself.
At that point, I began to shift my thoughts from the things I could buy towards the things that we could generally do with such unexpected windfalls. To put it simply, what are the things that we can do with extra money?
SPEND IT
This is usually the first thing that comes to our minds and I believe there’s actually nothing wrong with spending that extra money for yourself. However, what’s important to note here is that one should spend it wisely and not impulsively.
Assess first your needs and if all those “bases” are already covered with your current budget, then have yourself some guilt-free shopping. 
SAVE IT
Of course, it’s always a good choice to just keep the money for now. It pays to feed your piggy bank with something extra once in awhile actually.
If you’re planning for a big purchase soon, regardless if it’s a necessity or a luxury, the extra money you just saved only brings you closer to that goal.
INVEST IT
The best thing with having extra money is that it’s technically money you can afford to lose. Which means you can do moderate to high risk investments with it. Depending on how much extra money you have, there are a number of ways you can make it grow.
And what if that extra money is just P50? Still possible. Just read this past article of mine about doubling your money.
SHARE IT
Perhaps the most noble of all the choices, one can always choose to share the blessing to others. Why should you give your money to charity? We all have our different reasons but personally, it just feels good to help.
And even in the world of business, charity has always made good sense.
And so, those are the four general things you can do if ever you find yourself with some extra cash. Choose whatever you want, there’s really no right or wrong decision; but only good, better and the best option for yourself – which entirely depends on how you are financially.
And as for me, later that night. I never get to buy that caramel sundae. Instead, I bought french fries to share with my friends. 
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Photo courtesy of Stefan
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Hi, my name is Fitz and this is my blog entitled, Ready To Be Rich.
Nice inputs Fitz! For me, I would either save it or invest it if it’s a huge windfall. I used to get such big windfalls before when I was working with an asset management company for a vulture fund client. I remembered I invested it in a bond fund the first time I got such a windfall and the second I think I invested in an balanced fund.
that’s a good way of sharing the extra money you have kuya. i;ll also do that one or I’ll just save it for future purposes
Now, when I have extra money all I could think of is something to buy for the new house. Be it paint, wood, cement or plywood
Right now, all of my extra money goes to 1) retirement fund 2) prepaying our mortgage and 3) my 7 month old daughter’s college fund.
A dessert would be good too but not only will it make me fat, it won’t get me any closer to my financial goals!
I’m glad to find a money blog by a fellow Pinoy. I’ll be back for more reads.
The piggy bank thing works for me. After a year, I am always happy to see how much i saved in a piggy bank. It’s good for short term goals.
Thanks everyone for the comments. I’m glad that all of you would either save or invest that extra money.
Thanks for the inputs…I’ve got sufficient extra money actually which I saved for the last 10 years working in a company in the mid-east. I could have saved more but more money means more money to spend. The money is just there in the bank waiting to be be spent or invested. With your input, I’ll find ways to use that extra money for investments. Thanks a lot for your inputs…I’ll be reading more from your article.
i know i do and i am guessing we have
that dream of finding a money suitcase
i even imagined my escape root tactic
after finding such a prize