£10,000.......

[BertrandRussell]

What's the best thing to do with it? No mortgage or debts.

Well @BertrandRussell , you are not alone in thinking so ( But you knew that of course )

www.bl.uk/20th-century-literature/articles/an-introduction-to-a-room-of-ones-own

I suspect you are not older than me, or there or there about , so if I were to have £10,000 which were I in the fortunate position for not being needed for pension / mortgage or immediate requirements I have to say that my first thought would be to squirrel away in case it could help Dc in the future when they did need something. But , then, I am not one for hankering after glamorous holidays etc. I think if you have to think twice about what to spend it on , don't spend it until something turns up which seems so obviously the thing to spend it on. ( have I explained that at all well ? I suspect not)

What I might do is take a bit and buy a nice painting ( and I know , I know a nice painting might cost a big part of that money if not more , but - and it's a personal thing) but I have some pictures in my house and I love them. You couldn't cost justify them but they give me joy. ( None of them cost anywhere near £10,000 by the way , but that doesn't matter to me) But then others wouldn't thank you for them.

All best , whatever you do.

I'm in your position with no debts or need of anything especially. There was a chance I was going to get a similar sum from an inheritance but the estate turned out to be in debt. I had decided I was going to give a couple of thousand to each of my sisters who are not in such a comfortable position as me buy a 2k coffee machine and the rest buying stuff as and when needed with a charity I'm involved with.

I got 10k at the beginning of the year and we spent it on a holiday.
We don’t have a mortgage, have good cars and everything we need etc so it was just wank money.

Give it to your children!

A really fab holiday?

“Give it to your children!”

Sod that for a game of soldiers- it’s MINE!

Ooh I'd do a really amazing holiday, see the oraguntans before they all disappear, an incredible safari, something like that. Lucky you!

Is there a charity or similar doing work in an area you really care about but which tends not to attract a lot of attention or support? As you don't need it, or any of the things you could buy with it, perhaps you could fund something that would help others?

I inherited £10k a couple of years ago. We already had a (self catering) holiday booked for that year so we used some to eat out more while we were away.

I bought a fantastic bed with a swish ottoman mechanism and new bedding all round.

We booked a cruise for the following year.

Stick it in the best rated savings account you can find.
In years to come it will pay for a month or so in a nursing home.

An amazing holiday. Life is short and you would create memories that last forever.

Buy shares. £10K is NOT too small an amount to invest. If you need to ask what to do with it, then you clearly don't need to use it, so invest it until the time comes that you do.

If you really don't fancy that idea then waste spend it on a good holiday.

Sod that for a game of soldiers- it’s MINE!

Ha ha - yes of course it is - am I of Bank of Mum and dad in that if I really couldn't think of anything I needed or wanted I would squirrel it away for DC.? Probably

So other suggestions Bertrand ( and these are not serious)

I have always thought one of the greatest luxuries would be to have fresh flowers delivered every week.

There is one piece of jewellery I would like but (Life dear boy ) other stuff always seems to take more priority , so I shall wait. And wait and wait

Re a pp @TheWoollybackswife - DH and I spent what we thought was an silly amount of money some years ago on a great big bed - Best money we have ever spent 1. given how much time you spend in bed and 2. Just huge comfortableness ( is that even a word ) is lovely. Reading in bed is such a pleasure & a huge comfortable bed is great. But it sounds like you would have sorted this before now if needed.

An anecdote. A good friend of mine's husband sadly died ( illness where they knew he would - so they could talk about it ) She ended up without her husband but because of various things not worrying day to day about money. They both liked travelling and he had said to her , keep travelling because you enjoy it, even when I am not with you. So her "luxury" is that she does, but she uses the money to go business class. The amusing thing to me , is she will still get a bus to the airport and not spend money on a taxi.

Everyone's idea of something lovely to spend money on is different. ( Voice off stage - "grandmothers and eggs" ) Exit stout party.

Holiday
Mountain bike
Road bike

Holiday/once in a lifetime type experience (this depends on what you like).
Something you need.
Something you want but always dismissed as too expensive.
Savings.
(And if it was me a new tattoo)

I wouldn't spend it all at once I don't think - I think I'd just use it to upgrade anything I was planning to buy - so for example, when I retire I want a kiln, a CNC machine, a 3d Printer etc. So where perhaps I would have previously bought the 400 quid 3D printer, I'd buy the 600 quid one etc.

Basically, I'd eek it out as upgrades when I'm buying stuff and the little voice goes "you don't need to spend that much, get the slightly cheaper one", to buy the expensive one.

Turns out that everyone in our family of 4 wants something that costs about 250 quid - a music thing, a bag, a horse related item and a piece of hi tec clothing. So they are all ordered. And the rest, I think, will go into premium bonds so I can get at it if we need it. Apart from £500 which I am going to put in my current account for guilt free frittering. I am really enjoying this thread, by the way so keep going!

Half a trip to Antarctica?
It's my dream to take my children, but it's about £18k per person...

Learn a new instrument?

Guilt free frittering always good. My mother sends me a cheque on my birthday ( not as much as £500 but still very nice ) because she says - nice to buy something for yourself where you don't feel guilty about it or it should go to something else. She says , this is ring fenced - spend it what you want and tell me afterwards.

Sounds like £1000 and everyone has had something lovely / they want is great, given all else covered. As above guilt free frittering lovely as is a little nest egg to help out any one ( I know I know it is Your Money ) but nice to have available if someone else needs some help.

Of course otherwise you could get an expensive smart phone ( this is not serious - to me a phone makes calls , receives calls and does the occasional text - but some do I am www.desiblitz.com/content/most-expensive-smartphones-you-can-buy - but looks like ten grand wouldn't touch the sides.

I’m with Basilisk - if it does anything for you, buy art. And ofit doesn’t then maybe some kind of experience that would seem too extravagant otherwise. Which, for you perhaps, is guilt free frittering.

I wouldn’t think of the amount as being a barrier to investing, so much as the timeframe over which you might want to access it.

I remember a while ago when ds and I were unexpectedly at home alone for half term-the plans we had had fallen through. My mil sent me a cheque with strict instructions to spend it all before the end of the week and to spend it all on fun. We had such a good time!

Well MILs ain't all that bad are they Bertrand. How lovely.

Turns out that everyone [..] wants something that costs about 250 quid

A couple of I had an extra bonus I'd not anticipated - similar order of magnitude, similar situation regarding mortgage/debt free, nothing we especially wanted. Similarly family wishes were all around the couple of hundred mark.

We blew a large chunk on a big family holiday - took a rather large and well appointed villa to accommodate us, adult DC and partners in a location which allowed independent traveling around. Did some fancy meals out together and some group excursions but left plenty of time for individual plans.

It was a great holiday, I would definitely do it again. None of the kids at that point would have spent the money on that kind of holiday but all enjoyed it which I supposed is the definition of spendiness!

A couple of I

should be "A couple of years back I"

I've just remembered exactly what I'd buy of I had 10K and no more immediate needs. It had slipped my mind as that isn't likely any time soon.

I'd buy a Vernon Panton Living Tower. Unfortunately they are slightly more than 10K now.

www.nest.co.uk/product/vitra-living-tower