What do do with an unexpected windfall to improve your life

[AlwaysCaffeine]

Name changed for this. Not intended to be a goady or insensitive post in any way. I know times are hard at the moment for many and I also realise we are in a very fortunate position.

We have come into position where we have received an unexpected £20,000 that we did not expect and we are trying to work out the best way to use this money.

Two school aged kids and we both work. We might move in the next 18 months or so, so don’t want to spend all on the house but there’s prob some things we could/ should improve. We have savings and money set aside to help with moving when that time comes.

What would you do or have you done to improve your life day to day? And maybe have a little fun!

This is a one off opportunity for us so we want to get it right! Thank you in advance.

If you’re moving house soon I would put it towards that - but if you feel you don’t need it for that, I’d put it away for the kids uni fund. Maybe some on a nice holiday.

Holiday

Cleaner

pay some off mortgage if it would make a difference to years left

What would you like to change in your house? If you going to move only do things which would make your money back or bring you real joy when you look at them!

congratulations - it’s lovely news for you

If you think kids might go to uni, put it in an account where it will grow and keep it to help with that…

Depends on the size.

£30k - new kitchen (it’s urgently needed but we can’t afford it)

£250k - move house into a better school catchment area

Sounds absolutely lovely! I would probably do some house stuff, put some aside for my kids and retrain in another profession. Enjoy spending it!

You sound indecisive so I'd wait before spending it on anything. Maybe decide to put it aside for 6 months, make a list of all the things that come to mind, and then take all thw time you need to decide what to spend it on.

I would update anything that is unreliable, computer, car etc so you can take it with you on the move. Plan a couple of nice but inexpensive holidays over the next couple of years to look forward to.

If there is anything that needs to be done to the house before the move to help you sell, I would do that too.

The rest, invest, save to pay more deposit on new house.

Agree with those saying put into high interest account for uni if that looks likely

If finances are otherwise okay, I would be straight to the travel agent to book an amazing family holiday! Not sure what I’d do with whatever was left tbh. Probably just set it aside and use it for “treats” or unexpected costs.

1/3 towards house
1/3 holiday
1/3 on something that will add to your lives like new bikes for all, paddle boards, gym memberships, whatever you’re into.

I unexpectedly received a bit more than that 3 years ago as redundancy money.

I put it in savings and so far used it towards a couple of big home improvements including a new bathroom, and private surgery for one of my children.

In my own situation any windfall I got would go towards mortgage overpayment. I'm keen to save the interest and it would ease overall pressure on normal income.

Stick it in a ‘high interest’ savings account until you move. You’ll be bound to want to do things to the house and replaced grotty old bits.

save some of it for the move and have a nice family holiday

It’s finance dependant really. Can the money make a difference anywhere financially? It also depends if you wanna be sensible with it ir enjoy some if it.

Stick it somewhere to make interest. Not sure it’s worth putting towards mortgage if moving only you know this. Any other debt to pay off

It could If finances are ok and like you say you have savings/money for moving ( it can be expensive!) you could book a holiday or a similar ‘treat’.Or have some fun expensive days out like theme parks.

Do your kids have savings accounts: could put a little in there for the future.

Pensions?

I would save some however you see fit and i would also enjoy some of it too. That’s how i feel when i plan my non existent lottery (rarely play it) or premium bonds wins 😂

Us £5k for a wonderful holiday/fun and save the rest towards moving

Us £5k for a wonderful holiday/fun and save the rest towards moving

Put it in a savings account for now - cash ISA if you pay tax and haven't used your allowance already.

Then consider your overall picture, have a look at:

https://ukpersonal.finance/flowchart/

Apart from the house move and expected costs, what are your overall finances like? Can you afford a day to day decent standard of living? Bills paid, savings, pensions up to date, able to go on holiday, have a nice Christmas, days out etc without struggling?

What's your car situation? Could a newer car be a good investment, especially if you're currently spending a lot on fuel so could benefit from an electric one?

£10k on holiday and save the rest

Many years ago we were gifted £50k. It paid for a loft conversion and an extension at the back of the house. It made a great difference to our lives.

We’ve had a £15k windfall which is going to be used for a holiday.

Put it in an ISA while you think, assuming you don’t already have one.

What I personally would do is save most of it I’m afraid. But everyone’s situation is different. I would use it as a catalyst to set up regular saving. As you can only pay a total of £20k per year into ISAs, I might pay £18k in and keep the £2k as an ‘ emergency costs’ fund for that broken washing machine, unexpectedly bad MOT etc. That would then mean I could set up £50 a month or whatever into the ISA and keep going with that forever.

Something I do these days with more money is do things like pay insurance bills up front for the whole year so they are cheaper, then save the difference. As Orwell said, being poor is much more expensive (he said it long before Terry Pratchett and no doubt he wasn’t the first to say it either).