What to do with $100???

rashad3000 · Post by **rashad3000** » Wed Mar 15, 2017 8:15 am

OK, I just turned 37 today and my mom gave me $100. I am beginning the practice of "minimalism". "Things" don't really spark joy with me. I was going to get the Fitbit Charge 2. However, I already have the Charge HR and it works perfectly fine. I simply cannot think of anything whatsoever to buy with the money. Neither could I tell my wife what I wanted her to get me.

In the past, any birthday money I received ended up being spent on the kids. I do NOT want that to happen again! So, I am looking for something that I can do for myself with the money. Is there a decent penny stock I can throw it all in? Any other financial ideas? I thought about going to 10 different gas stations/convenience stores and spending $10 at each one. I'm not sure.

Thoughts?

jasc15 · Post by **jasc15** » Wed Mar 15, 2017 8:18 am

When I can't decide what to do with gift money like that, it ends up in my petty cash and usually spent on food or beer or something.

Mike Scott · Post by **Mike Scott** » Wed Mar 15, 2017 8:24 am

Let it sit in a drawer until you think of something someday that fits in your "gift" category. Or put it in savings and forget about it.

bottlecap · Post by **bottlecap** » Wed Mar 15, 2017 8:29 am

Give it charity. If $100 is going to cause you so much anxiety that you have to ask the internet how to spend it, just get rid of it.

JT

Wellfleet · Post by **Wellfleet** » Wed Mar 15, 2017 8:30 am

Get a cheap lunch and leave a giant tip. It will make someone's day.

ResearchMed · Post by **ResearchMed** » Wed Mar 15, 2017 8:31 am

How about going out with a friend to an extra nice restaurant, or purchasing a nice bottle of wine or such, something you wouldn't ordinarily do?

Do you own a home?
Is there something you can add that you use daily and tell your mother that you'll be thinking of her every time you use it?

Decades ago, my very poor grandmother insisted on giving each grandchild something as an "inheritance" when my grandfather died.
We each got $75 (which admittedly purchased a bit more back then, but nothing grand).
I got a new set of flatware, and told her I'd be thinking of "Grandpa" every day.
I still have that flatware (well, the assorted pieces remaining during the intervening half century).

RM

rashad3000 · Post by **rashad3000** » Wed Mar 15, 2017 8:32 am

Bottlecap,

Definitely not anxiety. This is more of a lighthearted post.

Anyone else, I think I am particularly looking to throw it at a penny stock or something and just leave it alone. Any ideas? I've only invested in Roth IRAs through Vanguard and my 403(b) account. I've never bought single stocks.

rashad3000 · Post by **rashad3000** » Wed Mar 15, 2017 8:33 am

ResearchMed wrote:How about going out with a friend to an extra nice restaurant, or purchasing a nice bottle of wine or such, something you wouldn't ordinarily do?

Do you own a home?
Is there something you can add that you use daily and tell your mother that you'll be thinking of her every time you use it?

Decades ago, my very poor grandmother insisted on giving each grandchild something as an "inheritance" when my grandfather died.
We each got $75 (which admittedly purchased a bit more back then, but nothing grand).
I got a new set of flatware, and told her I'd be thinking of "Grandpa" every day.
I still have that flatware (well, the assorted pieces remaining during the intervening half century).

RM

Great ideas!

rashad3000 · Post by **rashad3000** » Wed Mar 15, 2017 8:34 am

Wellfleet wrote:Get a cheap lunch and leave a giant tip. It will make someone's day.

I did $20 on $40 tab and $15 on a $25 tab last week. I can see leaving $75 on a $25 tab. That would be amazing!

BL · Post by BL » Wed Mar 15, 2017 8:40 am

bottlecap wrote:Give it charity. If $100 is going to cause you so much anxiety that you have to ask the internet how to spend it, just get rid of it.

JT

+1
How about paying for the person in line before or after you at a store or drive-in?
I like the tip idea!

Maybe two shares of:
Vg Tl Int Stk IxETF
NASDAQ: VXUS - Mar 15, 9:36 AM EDT
48.79

midareff · Post by **midareff** » Wed Mar 15, 2017 8:41 am

Every time I had extra cash and didn't have a need it went into VTSAX in taxable. You fill the bucket up by drops at anytime you can.

tbill1 · Post by **tbill1** » Wed Mar 15, 2017 8:42 am

Local animal shelter donation.

David Scubadiver · Post by **David Scubadiver** » Wed Mar 15, 2017 8:52 am

I had $100 to invest in my son's newly opened up IRA, so I purchased 1 share of SCHB (the broad stock market fund) and 1 share of SCHC (small cap international fund). That left $12 in cash, so I searched for a commission free ETF that was trading below $12 and acquired 1 share of United States 12 Month Natural Gas Fund (UNL) to round out his $100 portfolio.

I am very excited to watch his portfolio grow, as I understand that early investing in an IRA can result in untold millions being earned over time.

khh · Post by **khh** » Wed Mar 15, 2017 8:59 am

Plastics.

Jack FFR1846 · Post by **Jack FFR1846** » Wed Mar 15, 2017 9:09 am

Down payment on an Alfa 1600 Duetto Spider?

jimb_fromATL · Post by **jimb_fromATL** » Wed Mar 15, 2017 9:11 am

Do you have a mortgage?

If you were to pay an extra $100 on a mortgage balance of $150,000 at 4.25% with 300 months remaining, it would save $189 in interest.
If you were to sell the home in 60 months you'd owe $123.63 less, with $23.63 more equity and $23.63 less interest paid.

If you were to put an extra $100 in a Roth IRA and earn an conservative 7% APY you'd have $665 by age 65
At a more conservative earnings rate of 3% in retirement, you could withdraw $2.80 per month for 30 years before it was all gone. So the $100 could give you an extra $1009 to live on in retirement.

Or you could spend half of it on wine, women, and song, and waste the rest of it foolishly.

jimb

goblue100 · Post by **goblue100** » Wed Mar 15, 2017 9:20 am

I can think of so many things to do with a $100, I am amazed someone would have a hard time.
Take my wife to a movie, dinner, musical, play or concert.
Go to the half price books store and go crazy.
Invest in my hobby. For me it's bicycling, but I'm sure most people have golf, tennis, or something else where $100 would come in handy. If nothing else splurge on a nice pair of athletic shoes. I bought a pair of Brooks recently, and they are the most comfortable shoes I've ever owned.

Failing that, buy your mom the best flowers you can find for a $100.

Or plastics.

tim1999 · Post by **tim1999** » Wed Mar 15, 2017 9:25 am

Take your significant other out to dinner. If you don't have one, take yourself out a few times.

flamesabers · Post by **flamesabers** » Wed Mar 15, 2017 9:26 am

You could use the money to buy a savings bond from Treasury Direct.

guitarguy · Post by **guitarguy** » Wed Mar 15, 2017 9:31 am

A savings bond? Naw.

Go with a buddy or 2 to the range and rent a fully automatic ak47 assault rifle and take turns blowing through a couple hundred bucks a piece of ammo.

We did that on a "guys afternoon" once and had a blast. Quite literally. Not cheap though.

barnaclebob · Post by **barnaclebob** » Wed Mar 15, 2017 9:31 am

Whatever you do, don't buy a penny stock. It would be better for the economy to just drop a 5 $20's while walking in a crowd.

mancich · Post by **mancich** » Wed Mar 15, 2017 9:40 am

Dinner for yourself and/or significant other.

nisiprius · Post by **nisiprius** » Wed Mar 15, 2017 9:41 am

Buy something that will require you to spend time doing something.

Maybe a really fancy jigsaw puzzle.

Maybe go to some place that sells fancy kits for building something... building a clock out of cardboard pieces, or assembling a little "robotics" thing, or one of these...

http://www.grand-illusions.com/acatalog ... dium=email

Or take an online course at EdX or one of those places and pay the $50 for certification so that you have to actually do the work or acknowledge that you've wasted the money.

Or find out when the nearest food pantry is open and can receive donations of perishables and go to a supermarket or Costco and buy $100 worth of nice asparagus, or corned beef brisket on sale for St. Patrick's day, and donate it.

Or give an elementary school teacher $100 to buy books for her classroom library. Or, if you're greedy, buy them yourself and donate them as books (my grandson recommends the "Black Lagoon" series).

Or buy a round-trip train ticket to some place you've never been. I know this sounds incredibly stupid but... I frequently take the train into a nearby big city. The lines are named for their final destinations. I live about halfway of the way out. So every time I ride the train home, I hear the announcement that the train goes to Thus-and-Such Station, and I've heard it hundreds of times, and one day I got the idea that it would be fun to ride the train their just to satisfy my curiosity. More specifically I did it in summertime and used it as an excuse for a walk. I rode the train to the last station but one, walked about four miles to the very last station, and took the next train home. Incredibly dumb. I really enjoyed it.

triceratop · Post by **triceratop** » Wed Mar 15, 2017 9:44 am

I see that VSS [Vanguard International Small Cap] is trading at around $100. I would put in a limit order with that price.

Pajamas · Post by **Pajamas** » Wed Mar 15, 2017 9:45 am

If you're a minimalist, you should buy socks or underwear as those only count as ONE THING no matter how many you actually have.

AnonJohn · Post by **AnonJohn** » Wed Mar 15, 2017 9:49 am

Do you like to gamble and live near a casino?

$100 would buy a nice bottle of single malt ...

Enough on vices ... I like a lot of the ideas in the thread, especially the paying for groceries behind in line. Here's another: A surprise trip to see someone? Or a class (e.g. cooking, dancing)?

ddurrett896 · Post by **ddurrett896** » Wed Mar 15, 2017 9:57 am

Red or black

rashad3000 · Post by **rashad3000** » Wed Mar 15, 2017 9:59 am

VERY good ideas. Some things I'd have never thought about.

johnnyc321 · Post by **johnnyc321** » Wed Mar 15, 2017 10:03 am

lottery tickets

mortfree · Post by **mortfree** » Wed Mar 15, 2017 10:04 am

SIRI - not a penny stock any longer, but you'd get 19 shares or so.

SIRI = Sirius Satellite Radio

flamesabers · Post by **flamesabers** » Wed Mar 15, 2017 10:07 am

johnnyc321 wrote:lottery tickets

If he wins, he might be asking us what to do with millions of dollars.

rashad3000 · Post by **rashad3000** » Wed Mar 15, 2017 10:10 am

flamesabers wrote:
johnnyc321 wrote:lottery tickets
If he wins, he might be asking us what to do with millions of dollars.

an_asker · Post by **an_asker** » Wed Mar 15, 2017 10:30 am

Pajamas wrote:If you're a minimalist, you should buy socks or underwear as those only count as ONE THING no matter how many you actually have.

If OP is a true minimalist, I'm thinking fig leaves

Jack FFR1846 · Post by **Jack FFR1846** » Wed Mar 15, 2017 10:38 am

If you really want to spend it on something for yourself (your mom would probably want you to do this), think of this $100 as an expiring number of points at your favorite store. I recently had this occur with actual expiring points. My son and I were at a game place for some father/son time. Before we left, we went into the mall and over to sears because I vaguely remembered that when I bought a recent washer/dryer, there were some nebulous expiring points awarded to my account. I went to ask at Sears and sure enough....$22 that went away in 2 days. Over to the hand wrench aisle we went. Since I seem to always misplace 10 mm wrenches, I looked for a set close to $22 with a 10 mm. One set was (as Sears always does) on sale from some astronomical price nobody ever pays down to $29. It had the 10 mm and 9 other wrenches. Went to the counter and because it was some special day, more money came off and because I used my Sears card, more money still came off, so the whole thing cost me $1.43 on my credit card. I would never have gone in and bought this on my own. I've already used the 12 mm on my tractor (an antifreeze leak) so it was a great $1.43 in actual money spent.

Post by **oldcomputerguy** » Wed Mar 15, 2017 10:41 am

If it were me, I'd pick from (in something like this order):

Favorite charity;
Nice dinner for DW;
Large tip for local waitress (get a brand new $100 bill from the bank if you're going to do that, increases the WOW factor);
Household account (for unexpected expenses);
Another purchase (and another tax lot) of VTSAX

Don't need any more toys.

UncleBen · Post by **UncleBen** » Wed Mar 15, 2017 10:46 am

Go to Costco and buy 4-5 boxes of garbage bags for all the stuff you are going to throw out.

PandaBear · Post by **PandaBear** » Wed Mar 15, 2017 10:56 am

Buy a bunch of boxes of clay pigeons and birdshot shells and go trap/skeet shooting.

jazman12 · Post by **jazman12** » Wed Mar 15, 2017 11:15 am

get a subscription to some financial magazines. They often have articles on how to spend money when you receive a windfall like yours

randomizer · Post by **randomizer** » Wed Mar 15, 2017 11:18 am

Buy books.

BL · Post by BL » Wed Mar 15, 2017 11:25 am

goblue100 wrote:I can think of so many things to do with a $100, I am amazed someone would have a hard time.
Take my wife to a movie, dinner, musical, play or concert.
Go to the half price books store and go crazy.
Invest in my hobby. For me it's bicycling, but I'm sure most people have golf, tennis, or something else where $100 would come in handy. If nothing else splurge on a nice pair of athletic shoes. I bought a pair of Brooks recently, and they are the most comfortable shoes I've ever owned.

Failing that, buy your mom the best flowers you can find for a $100.

Or plastics.

So many great ideas.
Give your mom a planter filled with flowering plants that will bloom all summer.
Indoor flowering plants are also great.

ResearchMed · Post by **ResearchMed** » Wed Mar 15, 2017 12:34 pm

I seem to be odd person out here, but...

I would not consider getting the "giver" a gift paid for with the gift money.

It was given to you presumably in hopes that you would get some pleasure getting something for *yourself*, be that a "thing", a service, an experience, or even charity (*this* could be in your mother's name).

If I was the "giver", I'd be ticked off that in essence, the money was just given back.
(And I could have/would have purchased my own favorite flowers

)

IF you want to give her something, how about a charitable contribution in her honor.

Better yet get yourself something of the choices above.
Later, perhaps on her birthday (Mother's Day isn't all that far away), take her out to brunch if she lives nearby. She'd probably treasure time with you more than flowers.
If she's not nearby, then later, send her a photo of you (nice frame?), perhaps standing/seated next to the X that you purchased with her kind gift.

RM

KSOC · Post by **KSOC** » Wed Mar 15, 2017 12:57 pm

midareff wrote:Every time I had extra cash and didn't have a need it went into VTSAX in taxable. You fill the bucket up by drops at anytime you can.

Exactly. I'm in serious bucket filling mode too.

Dottie57 · Post by **Dottie57** » Wed Mar 15, 2017 1:13 pm

goblue100 wrote:I can think of so many things to do with a $100, I am amazed someone would have a hard time.
Take my wife to a movie, dinner, musical, play or concert.
Go to the half price books store and go crazy.
Invest in my hobby. For me it's bicycling, but I'm sure most people have golf, tennis, or something else where $100 would come in handy. If nothing else splurge on a nice pair of athletic shoes. I bought a pair of Brooks recently, and they are the most comfortable shoes I've ever owned.

Failing that, buy your mom the best flowers you can find for a $100.

Or plastics.

I love the flowers to mom idea. Or in springtime buy a large pot and fill with flowers, herbs, cherry tomato plant. Anything Mom likes.

fishmonger · Post by **fishmonger** » Wed Mar 15, 2017 1:24 pm

Wellfleet wrote:Get a cheap lunch and leave a giant tip. It will make someone's day.

+1. I do this every year around the holidays. I never get the see the end result but it's great to take my kids out to breakfast at Friendly's and leave someone a tip that they are probably lucky to get in total from an 8 hour shift

StormShadow · Post by **StormShadow** » Wed Mar 15, 2017 2:33 pm

Visit the local massage parlor/spa.

ysette9 · Post by **ysette9** » Wed Mar 15, 2017 3:30 pm

Visit the local massage parlor/spa.

This is what I would probably do myself because I adore getting massages. That said, research shows that we get more happiness out of giving or doing things for others than for ourselves. Can you break it down into $5s and hand them out to the homeless? Can you buy a bunch of beans and oatmeal and donate it all to the local shelter? I love someone's idea of going out for a meal and leaving a huge tip.

nisiprius · Post by **nisiprius** » Wed Mar 15, 2017 3:37 pm

oldcomputerguy wrote:If it were me, I'd pick from (in something like this order):

Favorite charity;
Nice dinner for DW;
Large tip for local waitperson (get a brand new $100 bill from the bank if you're going to do that, increases the WOW factor);
Household account (for unexpected expenses);
Another purchase (and another tax lot) of VTSAX

Don't need any more toys.

I like that idea. In fact, combine the two. Go out for dinner someplace where you can eat for under $50 and leave a $50 tip. Or just pay with $100 in cash and say "keep the change."

bloom2708 · Post by **bloom2708** » Wed Mar 15, 2017 3:39 pm

UncleBen wrote:Go to Costco and buy 4-5 boxes of garbage bags for all the stuff you are going to throw out.

Or pay for your Costco membership (Executive level) if you don't have a membership.

Bfwolf · Post by **Bfwolf** » Wed Mar 15, 2017 3:40 pm

Lots of good ideas here. The charity one is a nice one. Some people estimate that you can save a life in the poorer parts of the world for about $1,000 if you give to the right charity. So you could save 1/10 of a life! Perhaps consider the Against Malaria Foundation, one of Givewell's top ranked charities.

http://www.givewell.org/charities/top-charities

Youngblood · Post by **Youngblood** » Wed Mar 15, 2017 3:58 pm

I do believe OP wants to have some fun with the hundred.

Maybe not penny stocks but I've had lots of fun trading low priced stocks over the years (5-10 range) over and over again.

With only $100 the trading costs will prevent you enjoying weekly or bi-weekly fun trades.

Slot machines? Blackjack?

Always fun for me.