My Own Stimulus Package

I've been thinking a lot about what I would do if I had billions and billions of dollars. Or just millions of dollars. Hell, I don't even need that much. I play the lottery twice a week. There's a game in my state in which you can win $200K. After Uncle Sam takes his cut, I figure $100K would be left. I play the game knowing that I won't actually win, but 2 bucks a week, 52 weeks a year, is cheap entertainment. Of course I think about what I would do with that money.

First off, I'd pay off our student loans, cars, house, and credit cards. But then what would I do with the leftover money? Wait - let's be realistic here, my student loans alone total over $100K, but hypothetically let's say I had money leftover. Here's what I came up with:

1. The dining room. I'd replace the faux wood blinds with white plantation shutters. Then I'd paint the walls of the room a dark, but not quite navy, blue. We've got white trim crown molding and chair rails in there, so I think it's be a beautiful contrast. Then we'd rip out the carpet and put in hard wood floors. We've always planned on doing this after the kids are grown enough that they won't damage the wood. Then we'd buy a dining room set in a nice dark brown. I would love a 6-seater with a leaf for 4 more people. I'd pick out chairs like this; I don't know what they're called. I also want a buffet and a china cabinet. We have simple, beautiful white-ish china (Lenox Solitaire) which I think would be so bright and beautiful against the dark furniture and walls.

2. The Monster's Game Room. I'd line a wall with these bookcases from Land of Nod. I like that the shelves are fixed, so if she (or a future younger sibling) tried to climb them, the shelf wouldn't immediately flip out of place. Though that means they could get higher and pretend to be Godzilla. And I dig the bins at the bottom. I'd also get her a cute little table and chairs.

3. We'd go on vacation. Something tropical, like the Bahamas. We went to Tahiti for our honeymoon, and we plan to go back for our 10 year anniversary in 2014.

4. I'd join a wine of the month club. It'd be even better if it was a wine of the week club and came with cool wine glasses to add to my already-too-large collection. I love wine glasses. Before we were 21, my college roommate and I used to drink Diet Coke in wine glasses and watch Friends on Thursday. When we turned 21, we switched to vodka. Oh who am I kidding? I didn't wait that long - I used to have Megan buy me vodka when I was a sophomore.

5. And I'd buy lots of "mommy and me" matching pajamas for me and The Monster. We'd wear them around the house on Saturdays. My neighbors tease me about always wearing pajama pants. I get home, change out of work clothes, and put on pajama pants and a t-shirt. That's usually what I wear around on the weekends too. Not only am I comfortable, but nothing gets ruined by pukies or snotty noses. When the grass starts growing again, I look forward to mowing the lawn in my blue plaid pajama pants.


So - what would you do with $100K?