"I just won/came into a shitton of money! I'mma spend it all as soon as possible"

MissUtilis

I don't know why people do this. Maybe I just grew up more financially secure than a lot of others (and come from a family of penny-pinchers) but I'd save most of it if I somehow got a bunch of money at once.

Alduin

Money is like food. The easier it is going down one end, the easier it is coming out the other.

Boney

The people who buy lottery tickets have never had the opportunity to practice personal finance

glennmagusharvey

Let's see what I would do if I got $1M right now: (NOT in order of priority or importance)
1. I think some of it gets claimed in taxes.  I'll still be keeping the bulk of it though.
2. Put the rest in my bank account.
3. I could start giving more than $5 at a time to political campaigns.  Okay, I'll give $15.  Maybe $30.  Do note that $1M is actually not much money, even for a U.S. House of Representatives race -- a decent campaign even in the cheaper media markets costs about $500K.  Not to mention I'm limited to donating about $2400 at a time anyway.  I could set up a superPAC and funnel money through that though...
4. I could use approximately $200K of that to buy myself a condominium.  Though it usually has community fees.  I could use approximately $600K of that to buy myself a house.  Though I'd have to maintain it.  Ugh, there's no good decision here is there...
4'. Actually a better idea might be to buy a townhouse and invite several friends to live together.
5. I need to fulfill a longtime promise to my parents to buy them a Mercedes.  Cheapest Mercedes on cars.com is $39,935.
6. I could use some this money to fund my education.  Finish my current degree.  And since having a bunch of money in the bank would let me do this, I could actually go and pursue another degree.
7. I could donate a bunch of money to charity.  Various environmental protection and sustainability organizations would be nice.  Electronic Frontier Foundation might also be nice.

Most likely outcomes:
1. partially paid as taxes
2. bulk goes to my bank account
3. start spending $15 on campaign contributions (but not $2400)
5. buy my parents a Mercedes
6. fund my education (but not a second degree)
7. be a little more generous when paying for bundled video games

One-Winged Eagle

Suddenly acquiring large amounts of money is just...kind of overwhelming for lots of people. They dream of becoming rich and acquiring status symbols, and now that they have the means, they do so, without thinking about it. Or they grow fearful of losing it, and try to use it to seed more money, which can lead to loss if the wind isn't blowing the right way.

It's a disruption to an otherwise stable life, and if you're not prepared, you could find yourself in all kinds of shit.

Klinotaxis

if you keep too much money in one place, it will go super critical and begin to emit zeta radiation

eriophora zia

I feel like it's easy to fall into a trap of, when you have money, first buying the things you do rather need but have been putting off and then just buying a bunch of stuff you want in a more frivolous way. 

It's really easy to think, "Yeah, I still have a bunch left so this is fine," until it's all gone. 

I always think I'd be the person who saves and whatnot, but I've even noticed this behavior in myself when I get some unexpected money. 

Also, people who understand money, odds, et cetera are not usually the ones buying lotto tickets. 

glennmagusharvey

there's a lot of things that are like "optional but desirable" things.  things that one can live without but can make life better -- and not just in silly ways.

for example, i could pay for parking in a fully-exposed lot, which would not give me overnight parking, and I'd have to walk further to the rest of campus.

or i could pay like twice that amount and pay for parking in a parking deck, where i'm always guaranteed to find at least one space, and most of the time said space is covered, and it's closer to the rest of campus.

Corvina

eriophora zia said:

It's really easy to think, "Yeah, I still have a bunch left so this is fine," until it's all gone. 

I always think I'd be the person who saves and whatnot, but I've even noticed this behavior in myself when I get some unexpected money. 

 

Yeah, I'm having trouble with my own personal finance. I think I'm getting better at it, but I don't know...