Shut up, Be Charitable!

Still wondering what to do with your $600 while you're waiting for your $600?

This San Francisco Chronicle article illustrates the dilemma that Americans face this year: Spend the windfall on a frivolous item (treadmill anyone?) or put it toward survival (gas ... don't get me started!). Where does mattress fall in this spectrum?

Hmm ... never thought of donating it to charity. Other than my own investment project "charity" -- my economic stimulus.

Whatever you decide to do with your dough, keep this in mind: Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson says don't bet it on a second stimulus package. Don't blow it. Sphere: Related Content

Bank of Wal-Mart

Still no stimulus check yet.

I'm checking my online bank account every few hours. Two straight days of this behavior. Oh Economic Stimulus Package ... come out, come out wherever you are!

I filed my taxes early and opted for direct deposit of my tax rebate. So all systems are a go for the IRS to drop that bonus $600 rebate on me any second now. Seriously, paper checks go out May 9. Am I really going to have to wait until May 8? Have I mentioned I'm impatient?

And while I wait and wait, more retailers are coming out of the woodwork with tempting offers. Wal-Mart will cash my stimulus check for me free of charge. That's right, the $3 check-cashing fee will be waived even if I opt for cash and not the $600 on a Wal-Mart MoneyCard.

Too bad I nearly lost my mind on my last visit to Wal-Mart. Damn those Rollback prices! They are what's truly tempting! I saved some cash, true. But it wasn't worth the brain cells I lost after having to donate them to the cashier to get her to re-scan my coupon.

Now if Target offered to cash my check ... Sphere: Related Content

Shopping Spree at the Gas Pump

When I first learned about the Economic Stimulus Package and the government's desire for me revive the economy with my $600 cut, I thought that meant spend it on a luxury item I wouldn't ordinarily buy. At least, not without feeling guilty.

a big screen TV for Adam
a Louis Vuitton bag (or 2)
a long weekend at the spa with a girlfriend

I guess filling the old gas tank in the Pilot is my new luxury item. Not really the shopping spree every girl dreams of.

And not like I have a choice either. Girl's gotta get to work. Fortunately my new commute isn't bad but I do travel nearly 50 miles each day. With all this "Going Green" business, driving that much in my SUV gives me guilt of a different kind.

So basically my economic stimulus package is an excuse for me to earmark some money for my investing plan. Honestly, I don't need another purse. But I would like to think that I'm the one who benefits financially since I'm the doing all the work -- saving (not frivolously spending) the $. Sphere: Related Content

Stimulus Checks May Arrive April 28

Stimulus checks could be arriving almost a week earlier than originally planned. Maybe even Monday!

Originally, the U.S. Treasury stated in March that checks would first be mailed May 2. That March news alert lit a fire under my economic stimulus. Still not sure what I'm doing with my whopping $600 but this process has certainly made me craft investment plans. I hope to execute them soon. I've already started saving by opening my TD Ameritrade account. That's something I wouldn't have done had I not taken time to think about how to use the cash.

Checks will go out Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday next week, apparently because the IRS processed so many tax returns before the 4/15 deadline. You couldn't get your stimulus check unless you filed your taxes. I know we did ours early this year. If you did too, pat yourself on the back!

Even better news, if you elected direct deposit for your regular tax rebate, your stimulus check should arrive the same way -- quickly! Paper checks will be mailed May 9 per CNN.com. Mind you, it could still take up until June for everyone to get theirs.

What are you doing with yours? Sphere: Related Content

More ways to blow your check!

Sears will help grow your $600 ... and then bank it for you.

Who are ad wizards that came up with this one? The Sears "Stretch Your Stimulus Check" promo won't help my economic stimulus. But don' t let that stop you.

It takes more than a $60 incentive (10% of $600, right?) to get me to blow my check at Sears. Now Target ... that's another story!

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Marketing the Economic Stimulus

Restoration Hardware is getting in on the economic stimulus action! Click here for your own coupon. (Coupon code is HEMAP804).

Of course, I find it interesting that the voucher is worth $100 when I spend $750 (or more). Do the math. That means I'd end up spending $650 (or more) in order to use the coupon.

NO DEAL.

Reality check ... I've got only $600 to "spend" here! And the goal of my economic stimulus is to not spend, but rather invest so that one day I'll have more than just $600 to spend.

Let me know if you see any similar marketing gimmicks to this one from Restoration Hardware.

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It's tax time! Duh.

If you're anything like me, you'll spend a windfall 13 different ways before you ever get the cash. This is yet another reason for the My Economic Stimulus blog. Kind of like an online diary, the blog keeps me focused on my goal to invest my $600, save and earn more money.

My economic stimulus package (and yours too) are not here yet. And you won't get your $600 unless you file your 2007 federal taxes. Mine have been filed (right schmoops?). As I've been told before, the w-a-a-a-a-a-a-iting is the hardest part.

In case your the morning news programs didn't remind you enough today and you haven't seen the TV ad where the man asks a woman what time it is and she freaks out because she knows "It's tax time!," heed this reminder:

The deadline to file 2007 federal taxes is Tuesday, April 15. Get to steppin'!

Here's an article in today's Post-Gazette about that that made me laugh. While I usually do fall into the procrastinator category, we filed our this year's taxes the earliest ever (right schmoops?). Sphere: Related Content

Gentle prodding from Newsweek/Newman

My name is Christine, and I suffer from analysis paralysis ... when it comes to investing.

After a few days of itemizing new expenses and old ones that won't go away, I realized I had not been working toward the goal of my economic stimulus lately. Once again, that goal is to learn about investing with a small amount of money ($600), make a few mistakes and hopefully financial gains along the way.

I learned from an article in this week's Newsweek that I'm also battling loss aversion. That's what the behavioral economists say anyway. (BTW, is this a real profession? Or a made-up job a la sanitation engineer? Check these others out. I'm partial to fridge poetry arranger. Probably because I LOVE magnets!) To me, loss aversion means that my fear of losing my $600 does not equal my desire to double my $600, and thus, I don't take risks. The article also reminded me that I'm one of millions of financially illiterate Americans.

Funny because adult literacy is one of my causes du jour.

A good friend also reminded me of such this week with this question: What's the difference between Class A and Class B stocks? I wondered the same a few weeks ago and forgot to look it up so thanks for the prodding! Seriously.

A company usually breaks stocks into Class A and Class B categories to attract smaller investors. Those smaller investors pay less for a highly-desired stock but gain fewer voting rights than the other upper crust's stockholders.

According to this USA TODAY article, "The owners want to tap the public markets for capital without relinquishing control of the company."

Google and the Washington Post are among the many companies that do this. Each company decides which letter belongs to the upper crust. Google's Class B shares are owned by its big wigs. Class A shares are for folks like me. The famed Graham family owns Washington Post's A shares. Its class B shares are available to the general public. I'm told the ticker symbol will end in an A or B to indicate which Class the shares belong to. I can't seem to find an example right now. Sphere: Related Content

Timothy Sykes ain't Foolin'

A fan of My Economic Stimulus alerted me this morning to Timothy Sykes' dig on the crew at Motley Fool. Check it out. Sphere: Related Content

April Fools?

Just chose to check back in with Motley Fool to further my economic stimulus education and saw the following. Is this an April Fool's Day joke?

Therefore, it is with unparalleled enthusiasm that today we announce that for the next six months, The Motley Fool will not be covering the stock market or writing investment-related content of any kind.

Trust us. Now let's move on.
This may come as a surprise to many of you, but old-time Fools will recall that covering the stock market was 25% of our mission in the early days of The Motley Fool. When we started online at AOL in 1994, our investing forum was so popular, we launched content for the entertainment industry (Follywood), sports (FoolDome), and pop culture (Rogue).

Rest assured: We will approach these topics and others with the same zeal and passion that we have for investing. Let's face it, folks. Everyone needs a break now and then, and as Buffett says, "if you can't take six months off from the stock market to stop and smell the roses, you just ain't livin'."**

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