The Dilemma With Found Money
Oh happy day, but this week I got my income tax refund from the government! YIPPIE! I think it might have been a record for them, as it took them only 13 days to get it to me. Gotta love direct deposit, that’s for sure.
But now I’ve got a dilemma-what to do with the money. Because I’m currently not working full-time, I’ve got some options for the money. I had previously blogged that I was going to split it into thirds and send the money into debt repayment, emergency fund, and something else (hadn’t figured out what to do with that final third.) These are good option, however I have since changed my mind, mainly because of course I’ve only made $5 as a freelancer so far. 
So my options are:
- Move the money into one of my Lines of Credit. This has the benefit of giving me immediate access to the money, as well as saving me money on the interest I’m being charged, since it’s calculated daily.
- Move it into my Citizen’s Bank Global Chequing Account. This also gives me the benefit of immediate access to the money, but also earns me a bit of interest on it.
- Move into my emergency fund. This will replenish what I’ve taken out, plus earn me more interest than Option 2.
- Pay off the Visa card. Okay, the refund wouldn’t pay it all off, but it would take care of about 57% of that card’s balance, which of course would save me money on the interest.
- Pay off the MasterCard. Again, this doesn’t cover the entire amount, but it would take care of 38% of the balance, and save me money on the interest.
My main hesitation on moving the money to either credit card is simply the fact that if I need access to the money for something like rent, I can’t get to it. And since the refund amount wouldn’t clear the entire balance, I couldn’t really use it for living expenses either, you know?
For the time being, I’ve just moved it to the TD Line of Credit so I at least save on the interest, but I’m not entirely convinced I want to just leave it there, you know?
What are your thoughts? Which option do you vote for?
