Updated: July 31, 2021
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.
Several 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 a while 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. This means you can do moderate to high-risk investments with it. Depending on how much extra money you have, there are many 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 noblest of all the choices, one can always choose to share the blessing with 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 credit: Stefan
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.
[…] What To Do With Extra Money […]
Thanks everyone for the comments. I’m glad that all of you would either save or invest that extra money. 😀
[…] I have been an avid follower of Fitz Villafuerte and his writings. In one of his posts on What to do with Extra Money, he wrote ; “one can always choose to share the blessing to […]
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 🙂
Haha. I remembered finding 2000 pesos in my drawer. I was already short on budget due to overhead expenses. I nearly touched my savings for that cut-off. It was a relief I still have extra cash. I ended up spending it. The next payout will be next week and I’ve just started spending the cash on hand money because I was still spending the sudden 2k budget. ^_^
We love to plant seeds and not always in the garden. Sometimes there is an opportunity to grow your money that sits idle and perhaps only earns a little from sweep funds. When cash piles up in my trading accounts, i have my list of stocks and ETFs that I am interested in. On a pullback, we write (sell) put options at strike prices below the current market price. We may wind up owing the underlying if the price continues even lower. If the price stays flat, dips just a little more or rises, I keep the premium received for selling the options then rinse and repeat. Only if there is a larger move to the downside do I wind up owning the new underlying and then we sell call options plus collect dividends on the newly assigned stock. For me, this is the greatest way on earth to compound those extra funds. BTW, forget about finding any lose coins lying around in our home. My beautiful bride really does believe in the motto: “a place for everything and everything in it’s place. ” All lose change and small paper money is resting in piggy banks or cans waiting transport to the savings accounts.