Thursday, July 13, 2017

Girl Chat - If I Had a Million Dollars

Cue the music – if had a million dollars, if I had a million dollars! 

Now I’m going to have that song stuck in my head all day.

Ah, to have a million dollars.  I used to always say that I never really wanted to win or inherit a big sum of money like that because I am always afraid that somebody will try to kidnap my kids or hold me hostage for ransom money, but now that I’m beyond ready to quit my job, I wouldn’t turn it down!  Ha!

If I suddenly came into $1 million smackeroos, here is how I would use it… and keep in mind, this is assuming that taxes have already been paid.  Otherwise, we would have to call this post If I Had $600,000.  Hehe.

Quit My Job

I bet you guys didn’t know this was coming.  ;o)  And yes, I’m aware that $1 million is not that much and that it wouldn’t last very long in the scheme of things, especially after I buy all of the things that I’m going to discuss below.  However, I figure it would be enough money to allow me to quit my current job for a few years, and that those years would hopefully allow me the time to focus on growing my blog and learning how to make an income working for myself. 

I’ve wanted to do that all along, but working full-time, raising two children, making time for B, and tending to all of the other duties that come along with being a wife/mom/employee do not allow me enough time to really pursue it.  Shoot, all of my extra time right now is consumed by creating content (and half the time I struggle with making time for that) so I have zero time right now to focus on growth strategies, affiliate marketing, social media, and all of the other tons of things that go along with blogging for a living.

Give Back - $100K

After happily submitting my two weeks’ notice, I would set aside about $100K to give to others.

First up would be our church and school family.  They have done so much for us over the years and we are so thankful to be a part of that community.  It would be wonderful to be able to donate a large sum of money to help out with their current expansion.

There are also several family members who could use some extra dough right now, and I would love nothing more than to write them each a big fat check!

Splurge a Little - $1K

Remember all of those adorable tops that I posted about yesterday?  Yep, I’d go ahead and allow myself a little shopping spree.  Nothing too crazy, but I would definitely pick up a few new pieces for my closet.  Yes, I love fashion.  Yes, I love clothes.  And yes, I know I don’t need them.

I’d also love to get a few new things for B and the kiddos since fall is coming!

New Vehicle - $40K

My SUV is a 2011 model and it was purchased before dashboard screens, back-up cams, and Bluetooth were all the rage.  Brian’s SUV has all of those fancy things now and I’m always incredible jealous every time I get back in my basic SUV after riding around with him all weekend, so I would definitely get something new that included all of that. 

And I really don’t want anything fancy or flashy like a Mercedes or BMW or anything like that… just a Honda Pilot or a Toyota 4-Runner would fit the bill!  I would definitely go for all the bells and whistles, though!  ;o)

Custom Built Home - $400K

We built our house back in 2009 and I still love it, but we’ve lived in it long enough to know that there are a few things that we wish we had done differently.  If we had the money I would love to build again, but this time I would love to build a completely custom home and I would also love to be in a neighborhood where the lots were a little further apart… and with lots of trees.  I have no desire to live on a gigantic piece of land in the middle of nowhere and I love being in a neighborhood setting, but having a little more privacy would be ideal. 

For our current house we worked with a builder who already had set floor plans to choose from, and then we were able to customize some of the details.  The next house I build will be custom from the ground up.  I love the size of our house, but I would like for the kids’ bedrooms, our main living room, and our laundry room to be a bit bigger as all are pretty small.  I would also love to add a mudroom and one more large closet for storage.  Hello, old high chair that we don’t know where to put!!

New Things for the New House - $9K

I love all of our furniture so I wouldn’t want to replace any of it, but I’m sure there would be a few things we would need for a new house, especially if it was bigger. 

Swimming Pool - $30K

I’ve always wanted one in the back yard, and since I wouldn’t be working anymore I would actually have time to use it and actually get our money’s worth!

Vegas, Baby!  NYC, Baby!  Other Travel, Baby! - $20K

B and I have been dying to go back to Vegas as we haven’t been in quite some time, so I think a vacation (or vacations) would be in order.  I would also love to visit NYC again and then also head somewhere we have never been… San Francisco, maybe?  Wine country?  The possibilities are endless.

Savings/Invest - $400K

The rest would be turned over to B for saving and investing in whichever way he saw fit.  He is the financial guru in our house, so I trust him completely to make good money decisions.  I’m sure some of it would go into college/wedding funds for the kids, some into general savings, and then I’m sure B would have a ball investing some as well. 

Well, sounds like I’ve got it all figured out!! 

10% for giving back
50% for spending
40% for saving and investing

That sounds like a pretty good balance to me! 

Now, where’s my money?!

*Linking up with Home of Malones for Thoughts for Thursday.



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19 comments:

  1. Love all your answers because mine would have been the same. :)
    Hope you have a great day!

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  2. You really put thought into it since you have the numbers broken down. Wow! I'd do many of the same things.

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  3. My answers are very similar! I want an inground pool sooooooo bad but our climate just doesn't justify getting one (plus they are EXPENSIVE!!) but if I had a million bucks? You bet I would get one!!

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  4. Makes total sense to me... although I'd have to spend some of our buying some future project cars.... but I think 50,000 would totally cover that. Love the way you broke it all down.

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  5. You are just amazing; even your plans for a million dollars are beyond organized! Haha! But this is a solid plan-an in ground pool is totally on my list too! We have thrown around that idea in real life but it just is hard to justify the cost!!

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  6. Hahaha, I spent ALL my money. I would love a pool, too! That would be so nice!

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  7. Oh I would love to have a custom built house!!

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  8. I love how you broke this down into specific amounts! What a planner, mama! I love it. How could I forget that I would quit my job?!?! Haha that would/should have been first on my list lol. Beautifully Candid

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  9. I would buy a new home first! That would be the first thing on both my husband and mine's list.

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  10. I love that you broke your post down into exactly how much money you would spend on each thing! I love our house, so I would probably just make updates and change out the furniture, as I'm not completely in love with it now, actually I love the shape, just not the fabric, so I guess I would just change that out! hehe.

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  11. That sounds very similar to what I would do. I wrote mine as if taxes were already taken out too!

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  12. I love how you figured out exactly what you'd be spending on what things!

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  13. Haha, yes to the song! I was singing it as I wrote it. And, I totally would be doing more house repair now that I think of it. I don't want to leave our lot, ha, so I would just do a major (I'm sure ridiculously expensive home addition).

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  14. This is so fun! I agree with you about the house. Our home is actually a house that someone else custom built for themselves, and then they decided to not move in (yikes!). I love it, but I do wish it were on more land and I'd change the lay out a bit!

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    1. Oh my goodness, what a strange situation!! I wonder what happened with that??

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  15. Wow, I don't even know where I'd start. Your approach is so fun and responsible! I'd love to one day build a custom home too - that would be amazing but slightly overwhelming. Mo money, mo problems, right? BTW, you are doing AMAZING at growing your blog with the time you have!

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    1. Haha. Yes, SO true. That's another reason why I always said that I didn't want to win a bunch of money. You always hear about people going crazy and then bankrupt. Haha. And thank you SO much. That is such a wonderful compliment and it really means a lot to me that you think that!

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  16. Good job on dividing that money up! Does Georgia have a college fund program like Texas where you can pay to lock in today's rates for your kids that aren't going to college for another 10+ years? We used a lot of the money from Robert's grandma for that, and it is going to come in so handy down the line. (I want cute shoes and a new purse though, too!)

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  17. I totally hear you on being nervous someone would want to steal the money or your family from you! I love the idea of saving, splurging and giving back! I definitely would love to build our dream home! I think it would be beneficial to live someplace first like you said because then you know exactly what you want and don't want!

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