Do not have a car note (I repeat, DO NOT have a car note). If you finance the car, then you are setting yourself up to be right back in the same place that you were before you had this mountain of cash. Trust me, I’ve done it!
Many of you wonder what kind of car you can get with just a couple of thousands of dollars–one that’s paid for! There is an old saying that goes, “the best kind of car is one that’s paid for.”
So don’t go into more debt trying to buy a fancy car to impress people who don’t even matter.
2. Put the check directly into a checking account “for safekeeping.”
This idea started out heading in the right direction, but by putting it in the checking account, it not only does not earn interest, but you put it directly in harm’s way: yours!
Because it’s easily accessible, over time it slowly will be spent on all kinds of unnecessary things until it’s gone. Instead, put it in your credit union, savings, invest it in a mutual fund or money market accounts.
3. Loan your tax refund to family members.
When we have more money, many of us tend to feel more generous.
But at the same time, old habits are hard to break. So if someone in your family still owes you $20 bucks and now they want you to loan them $150 until next payday, you may want to rethink that.
The best rule of thumb when lending money to a family is don’t do it. Give the amount of money you can handle as a gift instead. That way you’re not expecting it back.