What would you do with it?

[Whatnext2018]

Had a rubbish few months (as most of us have) been quite ill and lost my grandad in December.
Last week, my mum rang to tell us she’s giving all the children £5000 from his will. I’ve never really had any ‘Extra’ money before as it generally all goes on the mortgage, bills etc.
What would you do with it? The options are: 1). Save it in case of an emergency situation
2). New bedroom for Dd and do up the house a little.
3). Pay off some debts
4). Special holiday in the future-Hawaii/California
5). Buy a cheap camper van and renovate it for weekend beach trips.
6). Something else

Get the debts paid

A bit of a few of them. Pay off some debts with a bit of a treat.

Would you have any money left over if you paid your debts? I'd go for that. If you still have debt after doing that then I would use the money you would have used to pay the debts you have paid off to then up the payments on the remaining ones. You'll be debt free quicker.

Debts (assuming you don't mean student loans), and save any left over.

My personal circumstances mean I would pay off debt or replace the boiler, I might keep back £200-300 just for me.

Following this closely as I'm in the same situation with some money from a grandparent. I'm going to use it to pay off debt, but I'm tempted to keep a little bit aside for something special too.

Will using it towards debt/emergency savings make a big difference to your outgoings? If so, I would use the majority for that and then keep some for a special day out/meal/weekend away to celebrate your grandad.

Buy one nice piece of jewellery for a few hundred pounds, perhaps a ring, to remember and commemorate your grandfather. Save a portion for a rainy day (perhaps £1000 or £1500). Use the remainder to pay off your debts.

Are you seriously in debt @Whatnext2018? Have you looked at charities such as StepChange or Christians Against Poverty for free help to start clearing your debts? The camper van sounds as though it could be a bit of a money pit.

No seriously in debt, is around 1600 total and paid off £100 per month, which we can do fairly easily at present. I just want to spend it on something nice and debts are the boring bit!

*Not
It’s a credit card

Pay off the debt at that amount. Put £2000 away for savings, £400 for you to have something to remember your grandad by and £1000 for a treat for the family, whether that is a holiday or some bits around the house.

In that case definitely the debt and either a trip somewhere or a bit of jewellery to remember him. You can put the £100 you save on your debts away as savings.

Pay the debt and if you have no savings put the rest in a savings account.
Save up the £100 a month you were spending on debt and use it for a treat in the future

I like the idea of something special to remember my grandad too, not a massive fan of jewellery as I always lose/break it somehow with a toddler, but I could keep it safe somewhere.

Pay off the debt and SAVE THE REST.

I think something special for the kids, a holiday would be great, a special thing or them to remember from they great-grandfather.

£1600? Pay it off now and save the money over the next year or so, until you go on that holiday. By which time you'll ahve the whole £5K again!

Pay off the boring debt first...

Personally I think money invested in family travel is never wasted!

Holiday savings towards big holiday.

The first thing I’ve always done with any spare cash/savings is travel 🙈it’s my favourite thing but we really do need a new sofa and bits in the sitting room and dd’s bedroom, but I find these things quite boring!

Absolutely pay off debts first. I know holidays and non essential things are nice, but it's crazy to be paying interest on a debt if you have the money to pay it off, at the same time as planning holidays or buying things that aren't essential.

Pay off the debts, buy something (essential or non essential, but something nice. Even if it's a sofa, you'll still be able to remember it as the sofa that gave us.) and then save the rest.

When my relative left me 10 k I paid off debts exh had run up in my name.
Fresh start was important to me.
Half debt half treats in your shoes op..

Debts first, definitely.
But a sofa- you will use it every day, and every time you sit down and lean back, it will be like a hug from him. It may be boring, but it will get so much use.

"But a sofa- you will use it every day, and every time you sit down and lean back, it will be like a hug from him."
With the lovely way this has been expressed, that is what I would do. Have a hug from your grandfather every time you sit down.

Debts, sofa and the rest towards a holiday. Use it as a fresh start and divert the money you were putting towards debts into a savings account.

When I had a similar amount of inheritance I bought some really nice quality furniture. I use it daily and it will last my lifetime, and possibly my children's lifetime too, so every day I am reminded of the person who left me the money.