Tax Rebate Checks 2008: How To Spend Them

There's plenty of excitement around the fact that tax rebate checks will start going out today. Time reports:

"Starting Monday, the effects of the stimulus will begin to reach millions of households across our country," Bush said Friday in remarks on the South Lawn of the White House. Those first rebates will be directly deposited into people's bank accounts. The Internal Revenue Service had been saying direct deposits wouldn't start until next Friday. Bush said paper checks would begin going out on May 9, a week earlier than previously announced.

In honor of all the surplus spending money, here are some suggestions of ways to spend it.

Retailers have already come up with ways to take advantage of the extra cash the tax rebate checks represent. According to ABC News:

Many retailers are offering a 10 percent bump if you trade your stimulus check for gift cards to be spent only in their stores. For example, if you receive a $300 rebate check, you can get $330 in gift cards from the retailers.

So, if you've been eyeing that particular retro Cuisinart mixer, or just feel like going on a shopping spree, keep an eye out for any tax-rebate related deals. And if the store you're in doesn't have one, use your buyer leverage! It's your money they're after, after all!

Like some Arizona residents, you can also use your rebate check to pay off some of those pesky bills. A CNN poll from last month found that just 21% of poll-ees plan on spending the money, while 41% plan on paying down bills and credit card debt.

And lastly, you can choose one of many different ways to save your tax rebate check. The Wall Street Journal suggests starting a Roth or non-deductible IRA, a health savings account, or a college savings account.

Here is NBC's nightly news coverage of the tax rebates and how people will spend them:

Lastly, but certainly not least-ly, HuffPost associate blog editor Katherine Goldstein suggests three ways you can spend your rebate that could do some social and economic good. Read her post on the tax rebate checks.

So, how are you planning on spending your tax rebate check from 2008? Going on vacation? Squirrelling it away under your mattress? Tell us in the comments below!

Comments

[Cfordy0]

Im thinking about buying a few chickens..­that should last longer than this check, at least they will multiply..­....

[mscreant]

If you can afford it, whereas you are not counting on it to pay off bills, send it to the DNC. This way, no matter which Democrat you support we get to start fighting McCain now.

[REDSTATEREFUGEE]

My personal $600 stimulus payment = $50.00 month for the next twelve months, which will compensate only for the increased cost of auto fuel for my weekly commuting. All the money will do is further line the pockets of energy companies, who are already raping Americans. When will our long American nightmare end?

[pbfishtaco]

I'm letting my kids that they're getting hosed while I'm getting stimulated.
I'm also letting them know that they're paying for the occupation of Iraq, so they better start enjoying it now.

Borrowing money from the Chinese to pretend the economy is going to recover before the end of the Bush administra­tion......­..priceles­ss.

[Retrofuturistic]

Just think if everyone in America who got a rebate check donated it to a cause that would help America recover from the Disaster of Dubya: www.impeachbush.org, Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, moveon.org, or similar causes that would help public education, eliminate vouchers, support the teaching of real science and real history, bring back the Constitution to what it was before Bush took office, get rid of the Military Commissions Act, help the environment, etc. If we all got together on one thing, we could really have an impact.

[FLOWERGAL]

MY REBATE IS GOING TO PAY OFF THAT LOAN I TOOK OUT FOR THE GALLON OF MILK I PURCHASED LAST WEEK. THINK I'M KIDDING ? I'M CONSIDERING BUYING A COW OR A GOAT. IT'D BE CHEAPER. JEEZ , $4.00 FOR MILK ! CRAZY , MAN !

[persiangal]

some of my refund will be going to pay down debt and the other part to charity (RAWA). I refuse to "stimulate" the economy ..........­..........

[gomonkeygo]

Um, medical bills. Heating bills. Car repair bills. Groceries if there's anything left. Maybe we can even go to a movie for a change instead of renting the dollar a week specials.

[way2muchsense]

It's going in the bank. That's it. The cards are already paid off, the car will be paid off next month. The "stimulus" will get invested.

[Abbily]

I'm going to spend it on my heating oil bill.

[MinneMarina]

We bought a washer, dryer, and new hot water heater in January when we needed them, with extended payments, so the stimulus will go to pay off our new appliances.

We made sure that the durable goods that we purchased were Made in the United States of America so that minimal energy was need to transport them around the globe.

[VivaZapata]

take your check and buy gold and hold on to it as a safety net. bad times are inevitable.

[FrogontheLake]

I am just getting back part of what I have already paid into the IRS! And just waiting till the end of July to get it, I could have made some interest on my money!

It would have been better if they had made it a credit on Taxes due, when everyone filed for their 2007 taxes.

[scoobynooby]

Make a statement Buy an assult gun . Let the system fund your 2nd ammendment rights

[ceasenake]

I'm just going to use it for a new handgun and a concealed weapon permit.

[rickjames77]

My friends and I have joked about giving our stimulus payment to neighborhood drug dealers. That way W. Bush gets nothing he wants and everything he doesn't. Sadly, i will probably just follow Jim Cramer's advice and go buy a men's warehouse suit.