Every so often, Andrew and I dreamily discuss what we would do, should we ever happen upon a million dollars—lottery, mystery inheritance, casino winnings… Our ideas change daily, but as he and I are headed to our local casino this Saturday night, the possibilities have been top of mind. After all, one needs to be somewhat prepared for such winnings, so decisions aren’t hastily made.
Today, I’m thinking I would rent a nearby house or condo for a few months in order to have my home’s interior gutted and refinished—hardwood floors throughout, new kitchen, all new paint, all new trim, strip all ceilings of that hideous popcorn stipple, new basement layout, built-in wall units in several rooms, home theater properly installed, new furnishings, redefine lighting, and put immaculate organizational systems in place in every room, closet, nook and cranny. On the exterior, I would replace the lower third of vinyl siding with rustic stone, install dimmable soffit lighting around the perimeter, rebuild the veranda railing and posts, completely landscape the front walkway with cobblestone, install an underground sprinkler system throughout, and incorporate an inground pool in the back yard.
How am I doing? Have I spent $500,000 yet? Maybe. Almost.
The logical choices for the remainder of the money would be to pay off our mortgage, credit cards and truck loan. Heck. We’d probably sell the Trailblazer and Subaru and purchase the vehicles we really want. I’d insist on a new Subaru, but the truck would likely be a Pathfinder or some other hefty beast.
With any left over cash, we would take the family on an extended driving tour from one side of Canada to the other. Indeed, we’d need a rather deluxe RV for that (think Robert deNiro’s in Meet the Fockers). I’m sure renting one would suffice.
And we’d throw a few dollars to charities that hit close to home for us—Cancer, Heart & Stroke, CHEO and The Humaine Society.
What would YOU do with a million dollars?
Thursday, 25 September 2008
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It's definitely not a tonne of money. Pay off the debt, maybe go buy the little cottage in Gros Morne...
ReplyDeleteSadly, I agree with Nat - not a ton of money. BUT, certainly enough to ease some burdens and have a little fun.
ReplyDeleteGoodness Joe Girl! I need a little space for this project ;)
Fun to ponder though... Thanks!
Well, I would pay off my house since that is the only debt we have.
ReplyDeleteI would also buy my parents a house. Due to job loss they had to sell their house many years ago and since then they have rented a house. It might be nice for them to have their own place to retire in.
I am sure we would travel and all that good stuff but honestly I would just invest and save until we knew exactly what we wanted to do with it. :)
Meet the Fockers - LOVED IT . . . too funny. And that RV was TDF for sure :-)
ReplyDeleteBuy bigger house, buy better cars, invest for kids, do more traveling in Europe - Italy is a must, get a personal trainer, finish writing book, travel some more with kids, find a cure for cancer and arthritis, and maybe splurge on a new wardrobe (maybe hire Stacey and Clinton to help me purchase new wardrobe).
That's just off the top of my head :-)