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Again with the over-generalization of the audience...
Where's the check box for those who didn't get a check?

Assuming I get the whole $600, I am sending $450 to my credit card company, opening an Orange savings account with $100 and spending $50 on whatever I want (something frivolous).

I'm probably buying a new notebook computer.

The question only applies to those getting one.

I'm not sure. I could blow it, put it on my CC, save it, or donate it to a local foodbank.

It, along with my tax return, is going towards the down payment on a much-needed new car...

I don't think I'll get mine for another month or two. My in-laws are flying in from England and my mom is coming into town next month, so if I get it in time I'll use it to take them out for a nice dinner and a fun Chicago tour of some type. Or we'll use it for a summer vacation.

I won't be getting mine for a few more months... but it's already been spent on my Memorial Day trip to Vegas!!!

go Kathryn, some of us are not getting a check :-(

I would have loved to have saved this money. But my cat had a pretty major medical emergency and this went straight to her vet bills. It was effective in dulling the pain of such an expensive unexpected cost.

I am paying for my car to get painted!

i'm using it to buy a sewing machine and to take introductory sewing lessons so i can start making my own stuff--yay for pillows & summer dresses :)

people who complain about not getting a check crack me up.... maybe i'm wrong but doesn't that mean you make $$$ ? i'd rather make 150k than get $600.

It's going in my "saving for a house" fund!

We're not getting a check.

To add insult to injury, my husband and I got brutally screwed by the IRS this year *because* we got married. The marriage penalty is a reality, especially for those in higher tax brackets. My husband sent a payment to the IRS that could have bought us a seriously nice (hybrid) car.

We're now thinking we should have had a commitment ceremony and gone down to City Hall to make it official in January 2008. We had no idea the marriage penalty would be this bad.

Home improvements! New paint, new light fixtures, a Meyer lemon tree...

When my check arrives, I will use it for custom-made ceramic dinner plates. The silly gov't wants us to 'stimulate' the economy with this created money, so my decision is to support a local artisan vs. shipping the dough directly into foreign hands! *bliss*

Dental work not included in my insurance. Mmm...exciting!

Yes, Meg, that's exactly what it means. I'm not "complaining" about anything -- just commenting on the fact that this poll left off a valid response to the question.

It is going in the new bicycle fund.

uncovered dental work here too! yuck!

Meg - you're not totally wrong, but you're a bit mistaken. There are a few reasons why an AT reader might not get a Stimulus Package, and only one of them is "earns over the maximum." One is "earned under the minimum in 2007." Another is "does not have a valid SSN." Another would be "does not file in the United States," for Canadian or other foreign readers. I would also imagine that people who have other things going on with the IRS or gov't (like are in some kind of tax penalty phase for non-repayment in the past or are getting audited or something) might have some kind of exceptional circumstances going on outside of the simple three-point eligibility plan posted on the IRS website.

Additionally, my understanding is that the Stimulus amount is not guaranteed to be $600 for all of those people who are eligible to get *up to* $600. Further, I don't know anyone who has been "paid" yet. Must be all my friends have high SSNs...

As for me, I am completely eligible for my $600 Package (made over X and under Y, have valid SSN, filed for 2007) and I *still* have a thick cynicism on the matter. I expect that I will actually receive nothing at all for some untold reason, so I have made no plans and have no hopes for the still theoretical money. I'll believe it when it is direct deposited to my bank account, and then I'll think about ways to save, spend, and hopefully subvert. Dreaming about it now seems cruel.

Meg -- I was thinking the same thing! So you make too much money to get a stimulus check -- Boo hoo!!

Although I know that I don't know everyone's circumstances, so maybe those people still need it. Who knows.

I, for one, am using it to go toward a SO SO SO needed new sofa!

Using it to eat during my impending unpaid :( maternity leave.
Yum!

Donating half of it to a good cause and saving the rest.

*If* I get one, whatever the amount, I'll send it to my IRA.

I've been stimulated!! I was worried when my brother and sister in law got theirs before me (and they BOTH have high SSNs than I), but it came in yesterday. I, like many people I'm sure, was waiting for a "NOT" or a "just kidding" from the government.
I put 400 to pay down debt and 200 to savings. Ugh...sometimes being "grown up" sucks more than I thought it would.

Buying a tank of gas and a rationed sack of rice from Costco....I feel like I'm living in Soviet Russia.

kathryn - more complaining about conversations i've had with people off AT... you're absolutely right - you didn't complain.

sorry to vent to undeserving people!

agreed with kathryn & the others. won't be getting a check, i wish this was an indication of being "rich" it just means that we're staying afloat in an overpriced city.

Already got mine. Only $300.
But before I got it, I bought something on Woot. Just couldn't ignore the deal.... I was planning to save the money...

Probably end up saving it, but I wouldn't mind putting it towards a nice new tv...

abb_brooklyn - seriously how much money do you make to have to send in a check to the IRS for that much. When i hear "hybrid" car, i'm thinking like 25g or more. You been evading the IRS for awhile or anything. Plus I got married last year too and didn't get penalized in any way for it with the taxes.

Our money showed up on Monday thanks to the Mister's low SSN digits. Some will go toward tickets for Aida and the rest will be spent sensibly paying down debt.

i go mine today... all $600...yay!

aweekinparis: "in home country, economy stimulates YOU...."

We didn't get penalized for being married, other than us being in a higher tax bracket. But that would have happened anyway. Now, we're going back to a lower one this year because of a baby. That will be *so* nice. And our check is going to taxes, but only because my former employer didn't withhold anything all year. Just glad they chose this year to send them, because otherwise, we'd be stuck!

Why does there have to be an option for people who aren't getting a stimulus check? If you aren't getting a check, just skip the survey. Simple. There are plenty of surveys on AT that I don't answer because those particular questions don't apply to me. I'm not bothered by that. It's not as if this is a scientific poll or anything, so why get upset?

With our stimulus payment, we are paying off my car. The rest is paying for a plane ticket for me to see a bunch of girlfriends next month.

I've already spent mine on infrastructure maintenance for my house. Well, I spent a lot more than $600, but that's where the money's going to go if/when I get it.

ours is going to a new laptop for me. much-needed, as mine spontaneously turns off about once a day.

I got mine on Thursday and plan to use it to pay for my car insurance. I just got a newer, more fuel efficient car and insurance is much more expensive. Not that I'm complaining! I'm glad to have it. I would have liked to use it to pay off credit card debt, however.

Donating it, because I think that it's absolutely absurd that the economic stimulus package was approved along with cuts in SCHIP and that they money would have been much better used to provide that needed health care than going into China's economy when everyone buys flat screen tvs with their money...

medical bills or student loans for me. I agree with mander-ella--being grown up sucks. I really want a pretty new lcd or plasma tv to replace my old 20 inch tv. but for now I'll just drool over them at sam's club.

and I got mine today as well!

got it today! now i don't have to choose between paying bills and paying rent! happy spring to me!
(oh, and we might add another plant or two to our place...gotta use some of it for sprucing-up, right?)

A portion for donation to an animal shelter, a portion to my presidential candidate of choice, and the rest going toward the purchase of a bicycle so I will have the option to drive even less than I already do.

I got it last week direct deposited! That was easy. I am spending it on some important dental work. If I didn't have that scheduled, I would be putting all $600 into my IRA.

I haven't got my check yet but technically i've already spent it because it's going to paying off my credit card....

would normally save it, but will have to spend since our condo appears to be falling apart. where will it go? washer and dryer to replace the ones that broke a few weeks ago and exterminator to get rid of the bed bugs we discovered last week. gooood times.

I, and a few of my coworkers exceed the income requirements. It amazes me that they sound "bitter" about the fact that we won't be getting $600.

I mean seriously, would it make any difference at all to our standard of living? I bite my tongue not to call them ingrates.

My husband's accountant screwed up and put in for less withholding than necessary... a LOT less. But as soon as we said we were married (we filed separately this year, though that may change), his amount owed jumped up by more than 50%. Being married puts each of the individuals in a different tax bracket. Apparently the penalty is less if a) one of the spouses doesn't work at all, b) they have a lot of deductions, as when running a small business, or c) their income levels are more disparate (the penalty is supposedly more if you each make about the same amount).

I would much rather owe $ and pay the penalty than let the government use my money interest-free all year and send me a big check come April.

Paying off the credit card seems like the smart thing to do but there's not a big "fun quotient" attached to that.

Waiting patiently to GET it!!! 10% to a good cause and the rest to savings for our 2009 Portugal/Spain trip.

We got ours last week and it went directly to the credit card. We had some unexpected expenses and the stimulus payment took care of almost all of them.

I'm getting and Elfa system for my media/home-office closet.

Direct from the IRS:

http://www.irs.gov/irs/article/0,,id=180250,00.html

People who use direct deposit also will be among the first to receive the payments starting April 28. Direct deposits will be made daily and completed by the date listed below:

DIRECT DEPOSIT

Last two SSN digits: Payments will be transmitted no later than:
00 through 20 May 2
21 through 75 May 9
76 through 99 May 16


Paper checks will also go out based on Social Security number. For Social Security numbers ending in 00 through 09, the paper checks will be mailed starting May 9 and will continue through May 16. A similar process will be repeated in the following weeks.
PAPER CHECK

Last two SSN digits: Payments will be mailed no later than:
00 through 09 May 16
10 through 18 May 23
19 through 25 May 30
26 through 38 June 6
39 through 51 June 13
52 through 63 June 20
64 through 75 June 27
76 through 87 July 4
88 through 99 July 11

Buying a new counter-depth refrigerator. We remodeled our kitchen (except appliances, which were almost all new) last summer. But the old fridge, while working, is white and everything else is black. So I ordered a new counter depth fridge in black to finish the room off. Delivery May 17th!

putting all in my ornage acct and using it to go on vacation in july. actually a little of it wil go towards my "i got my green card" celebration which officially starts TODAY!
im free at last.

1) my check should have been direct deposited already, since i was in the first category. but it hasnt arrived yet.
2) how do you know if you are or are not getting a check?

i need it to go toward my credit card :(

Upgraded my wireless network at home and the balance is being donated to my HOA for much needed landscape inprovements.

I'll be buying a plane ticket to a friends wedding!

I'm in the midst of landscaping the backyard and will use the money to buy a couple of trees. I'm thinking a Japanese maple and a crepe myrtle.

We're moving to another state this summer, so we're saving it for moving expenses.

~Q

Paying my CPA!

"21 through 75 May 9"

a-HA! As I suspected, I am getting nothing for some unknown reason, despite being eligible completely. Thank you, US government, 'some contestants may receive....'

angxannette: apparently you know when you get nothing. I'm glad I treated the money like the unsure thing it was.