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What would you do?

Mr K

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Okay I thought I'd start a post, I want to see what you would (or did) do when you suddenly had cash you could play with.

Did you go and splash out on a fancy car, did you hire a big plane & fly your friends to France for breakfast?

I've recently started thinking I'd love to set up a website/tv show called
"Is it really a...."

I'd do things like "Is a Porsche Cayene really a 4x4". See I took my truck on a 4x4 trip over summer (it's summer here in NZ) ... http://www.flickr.com/photos/studiowhiz/sets/72157603659083936/ - sadly the $3000 truck cost me another $3000 to fix the clutch I blew. How cool would it be to take a $200 000 Porsche through a full on 4x4 track!

So ... money is no object ... what would you do to announce to yourself - I've done it, I've made it ... I want 1 day (or a few days) of pure simple silly fun!!
 
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Yankees338

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My first real reward for myself is going to be Yankees' season tickets.

When I'm REALLY loaded, I'm gonna buy a stake in a sports franchise. Ideally, it would be the Yankees, but I tend to believe they will be in the Steinbrenner family for awhile.
 

GoldenEggs

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I would hire someone to take care of my father in law so my husband and I could go stay at the Cliff House at the Post Ranch Inn. Actually, I'd be happy just knowing someone was taking care of my father in law so my husband and I could go on vacation and relax!

Something just silly and fun? I'd buy the Cartier diamond trinity ring for myself.
 

Russ H

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MrK said:
I want to see what you would (or did) do when you suddenly had cash you could play with.

We have this question come up all the time (with hundreds of thousands of dollars sitting around, it's easy to get caught in "rewarding yourself" for a job well done).

Thing is, we don't.

Or at least our "rewards" don't seem like much to others.

-A spontaneous day off, perhaps, in the middle of the week (once or twice a year).

-A special dinner out at a fave restaurant (we're foodies, so this means close to $200 for the 2 of us).

We bought an almost-new car last year (an '06 Mustang convertible w/less than 15K on it), but we figured out how to pay for the car by selling other things we weren't using (all but $2.5K worth) before we ever bought it.

It is fun to dream and buy cool stuff. But we found that often, these purchases were taking us away from our real dream-- being financially free and 100% retired (w/six figure passive income).

We could have that today, if we cashed out. But we decided (back in '05, when we would have had $100K/yr passive) to take it to the next level-- $200-300K/yr passive. At that level, we'll be able to travel whenever we want, have a few houses (one on the beach, one in the wine country), and be able to home school our kids if we choose (making living in Paris, or Tuscany, or Provence for a year doable).

So to answer your question: "What do we do when we suddenly have a chunk of extra cash to play with?"

Answer: We use it, immediately, to accelerate our PLAN.

In other words, to a casual observer, we don't spend it on "fun stuff".

We invest it.

-Russ H.

PS Slightly off topic: I love road trips. Have done a bunch (Route 66, Hwy 1, etc). Whenever I do a long road trip, I rent a car. Much cheaper than the wear and tear on my car. For instance, I did the South Island of NZ a few years ago. In one week, I put over 2000 km on the car (I was the only driver). Went from Christchurch, to Queenstown, Te Anau, Milford Sound, drove up the coast to Fox Glacier, and back to Christchurch (actually went to Akaroa the last night, since I got back early). Great trip! New Zealand is gorgeous. :)
 

MJ DeMarco

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We have this question occur all the time (with hundreds of thousands of dollars sitting around, it's easy to get caught in "rewarding yourself" for a job well done.

Thing is, we don't.

Or at least our rewards don't seem like much to others.

-A day off, perhaps, in the middle of the week (once or twice a year).

-A special dinner out at a fave restaurant (we're foodies, so this means close to $200 for the 2 of us).

We bought an almost-new car last year (an '06 Mustang convertible w/less than 15K on it), but we figured out how to pay for the car by selling other things (all but $2.5K worth) before we ever bought it.

It is fun to dream about getting guilty pleasures. But we found that often, these dreams were taking us away from our real dream-- being financially free and 100% retired (w/six figure passive income).

We could have that today, if we cashed out. But we decided (back in '05, when we would have had $100K/yr passive) to take it to the next level-- $200-300K/yr passive. At that level, we'll be able to travel whenever we want, have a few houses (one on the beach, one in the wine country), and be able to home school our kids if we choose (making living in Paris, or Tuscany, or Provence for a year doable).

So to answer your question: What do we do when we find we have a chunk of cash?

Answer: We use it, immediately or track it in, to accelerate our PLAN.

In other words, to a casual observer, we don't spend it on "fun stuff". We invest it.

-Russ H.

This really is the smart, conservative approach I take as well, but not to the extreme. My one indulgence has always been cars ... outside of that, I really don't go out and buy "fun stuff".

In fact (and sadly) I still don't even own a HD/Plasma/LCD TV ... yet, my mother and all my friends own them (their unemployed and struggling to pay their rent). Of course this is more of a function of my home being a disaster zone and not having anywhere to put it.

So to answer your question, I went out and bought a Lamborghini Diablo ... that was about 3 years ago. Then I replaced it with my current one, a Murcielago. This is my extravagance and I struggle sometimes knowing that these cars cost more than most people's homes .... it really is a violation of my financial discipline ... so I lay off on the other stuff. I know when I'm 6ft under, I wont regret the having lived all my driving experiences. I won't regret all the vacations. However, I will regret having $30 million laying around. My goal is to live rich (and not just money), not die rich -- so there is a fine balance to be struck.

Expensive $250 Nordstrom's shirt? Pass.
Private jet to Vegas? Pass.
$120K watch? Pass.

For me, I like having the freedom to buy these things - but have the discipline not too. Even with $50M in the bank, I wouldn't be buying that stuff ... outside of the private jet of course. :smxB:
 

rzach41

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When I wholesale my first property, I'm buying turntables, tons of vinyls, surround sound speakers, and some dj headphones. TURN IT UP!
 
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Mr K

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I think these answers are great and it shows the wisdom behind many of you & your choices. I must admit while I've not made it big (far from it as I face loosing my house this year), when I have had a little extra to spend on a gadget or big TV etc, I generally get to the store, look at the item and go "hmmm no sorry that money looks better in my account right now"

I do want to live life to it's fullest & give my family the best I can ...
Thanks for the answers so far ... nice to see.
 

Redshft

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Cars and bikes are my weakness. Aside from having a stable of some of my favorite cars and bikes, I'd like to tour the MotoGP circuit. Attend every race of the season and do a track day at every track on the circuit. I'd also like to do the Gumball Run with a couple of friends. I would probably set aside two weeks every year to treat my closest friends to a vacation, a different destination each year.

I'll still be shopping at Old Navy and Buckle. I'll still be a regular at my favorite sports bar. There won't be any super lavish house, just a suitable one for entertaining.

Now if I were super rich, worth hunderds of millions, then yes I would live a bit more extravagent and flashy lifestyle.

Like you said with the Porsche Cayenne Mr K, I would like to buy a H2 Hummer an take it out to a 4 wheeling trail, get it stuck, jump out of the truck, cuss at it, maybe throw some sticks and rocks at it, then leave it there. I have a strong dislike for H2's and H3's, sorry if there are any owners on this board. They should have left the Hummer name with the H1 and Army machines.
 

bpk1

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Invest it to make even more money. Use the extra to start up a new venture, or further one that's allready been started. Now If you're talking about $50M then you can play with some of it. But if we're talking anything less than $3-5M, than I would put it into new opportunities.
 
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randallg99

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at least for me, I dont think theres any one day you realize you are rich if you have a long range goal.

an example- you gonna blow 130k on a porsche turb if you sell a property while your long term goal was to roll that over into a larger property so you can live without the burden of making ends meet week to week?

my experience- I used to drive my grandmothers 10 yr old nissan maxima (she had to give it up) from 10 years prior. tape deck didnt even work and the sun roof leaked. 2 of the wheels didnt match, grandma bashed in the rims one night and drove home on them. My watch was a metal swatch I bought in france a few years prior. my wardrobe (was) is the epitome of one-in-need-of-makeover. When I was throwing 7 digit offers around, people were doubting my ability to financially support my deals. Yet, I could afford the nice things in life, but I didnt even want to spend the time looking for a new car or even clothes. When it came time to spend, it would be on travels. Been to many nice places and wouldnt trade those experiences for anything....

dont make the mistake that I didnt reward myself when I did good... a helluva dinner and an allnighter in nyc (during my single life) would be my taste of success knowing that in 2 days after my hangover was gone I would resume my achieving my goals. Today, a nice vacation to somewhere new is my reward, but that amounts to only fractions of what my goal is...

the extravagance in me is time with family.
 

GoldenEggs

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This thread reminds me of a conversation at a Christmas party I attended... We were talking about what everyone wanted for Christmas. And the answer was, nothing (unless you had kids then it was about the presents for them). Everyone had a good job that allowed them to buy whatever they needed/wanted so the idea of waiting for Christmas or your birthday for a special item didn't exist. And most of the time, you end up deciding not to spend your money on the doodad anyways. It's about having the freedom to do what you want with your money, without worrying about how you will pay the bills or provide for your family.

Right now, I am not at the point where a Cartier trinity ring is affordable or would make sense. But when I get to that point, I would love to be able to say to myself, I can buy it but I would rather invest my money so then I could buy the whole collection! Actually, I'm really not into jewelry unless its fake. Then I'm not as worried about it! :smxB:
 

Russ H

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GoldenEggs said:
Right now, I am not at the point where a Cartier trinity ring is affordable or would make sense

I remember the first time I was lusting after a car, and realized that I could walk into a Mercedes dealership and buy a $150,000 car, just with cash I had in the bank.

Did I?

Nah. :)
But just realizing it was a rush. :fastlane:

-Russ H.
 
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Autospun

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I see myself getting a brand new Enstrom 280C, I'm always fascinated by helicopters. I would start a helicopter dealership/flying-school (no money there just for fun!)
but then again, i can afford an R22, but I'm still renting for my license for an already explained reason, Future! "live for today, prepare for tomorrow!"
 

Russ H

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Mr K.-

I finally had a chance to look at the pix from your road trip (or should I say "off-road trip"!).

Holy Schneikes.

So.

Bad advice from me.

No rental car agency I know of would be happy with one of their 4x4s going through this.

Guess you and I just take diff'rent road trips . . . :)

-Russ H.
 
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David

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"Work hard, Play hard" are my rules, I tend to make money harder than I spend it. But if I could get anything in the world I would get a lambo LP640. Yet again I would be nice to just give all of it to the poor.
 

kimberland

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Well, the hubby and I have told ourselves
that if we ever get a month off
with nothing planned
(or the hubby finds himself laid off),
we'll take a month long cruise.

We figure it'll cost us around about $60k
which isn't that much considering.

Why only a month?
Because I can only travel for about a month
before getting homesick.
 

Russ H

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Kimber-

I know you too well (or hey, at least I *think* I do).

Getting on a week cruise at the very last minute often results in 70% reduction in rates (they're filling the cabins that have last minute cancels, and are already paid for with non-refundable deposits).

Just string together 3 or 4 of those, and you've got a month of cruisin' for around 10K apiece.

You *do* know about those last minute cruise bargains, right?

( http://www.vacationstogo.com/?source=google )

Clever and resourceful girl like you, I just assumed ya did. :)

-Russ H.
 
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kimberland

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Of course Russ, you know we travel on the inexpensive
but stringing 4 weeks of 1 week cruises
isn't the same thing as a 4 week cruise.
The 4 week cruises go to funky ports
(we take at least one cruise a year so we've hit many of the usual ports).

Plus if we're investing that time,
we'd do an exotic
(so you have to add in airfare, etc).
And we'd probably pick up some art/antiques here and there.
The $60k was all inclusive.
LOL
 

Russ H

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Ah, so . . .

Having only been on one cruise (almost 30 years ago!), this humble grasshopper bows to your cruisagacity and desires to "funk things up" a bit. :notworthy: ;)

-Russ H.
 

Russ H

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Actually, Kimber, a lot of long-time B&B owners wind up spending a good deal of time traveling the world while their staff runs the inn.

They trade nights at their inn with other inns, all over the world.

Kind of a nice way to cut the cost of travel (by eliminating lodging expenses).

Plus you get to meet some really nice people!

Not bad perqs . . . :)

-Russ H.
 

Russ H

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Hey, who removed the link I posted for Kimber?! :wtf:

-Russ H.
 

Runum

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I would get an ocean front cottage. I can just sit on the beach all day and soak it in. :cheers:
 
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Jorge

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I would (in this order):

1) Setup an School for poor kids.

2) Get involved in politics and try to make the world a better place.

3) Buy a REALLY nice loft

4) Buy a lot of cars I love

5) Buy an Impreza and learn to run Rally

6) Buy a plane and learn to fly it

7) Buy this thing, dress like superman and pickup girls from the air :coolgleamA:

http://www.jetpackinternational.com/equip.html
 

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