By ARTHUR VIDRO
By Arthur Vidro
By now most of us have received the $1,400 (per adult) federal stimulus that was signed into law on March 11 as part of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021.
Not everyone qualified to receive the money. If you made less than $75,000 in your last tax year ($150,000 for couples; $112,500 for single parents), you get the full amount. If you made more than $80,000 ($160,000 for couples; $120,000 for single parents), then you get nothing. But if you earned that much, it’s unlikely you need the money anyway.
In this county, nearly everyone qualifies for the full stimulus.
Before deciding what to do with the money, there are a few things worth considering.
Such as, what is a necessity? What is a mere want?
Food is a big necessity. If the stimulus money means the difference between eating and not eating, then by all means, spend it on food. Just remember that food bought in a supermarket provides much more value, and more total meals, than food bought at a restaurant.
Also, remember that junk food, although edible, is not really food. If you cut out the junk food, your food dollars will go much further.
Shelter is a necessity. So if you have fallen behind on your rent, you can spend the stimulus that way. Yes, there are programs limiting evictions for non-payment of rent, but such programs are temporary. Eventually, our rent (or mortgage) must be paid or else we go homeless.
What about utilities? True, the electric company isn’t going to turn off your power, and the water company isn’t going to turn off your spigot, but eventually those bills will have to be paid.
Those bills are for necessities. Now or later, you will have to pay them.
Other utility bills are not for necessities. They are for wants, not needs. Cable television is not a necessity. One can live without it. Likewise monthly plans for all those cellphones in each household. Those devices might be handy, but they’re not a necessity.
If you already have enough food in the pantry and you’re caught up on your rent and utilities, consider not spending the stimulus money just yet.
Because if you just put it aside for now, eventually something unexpected will pop up and you will need it.
Maybe an expensive visit to the dentist will be in order. Or maybe your refrigerator will conk out from old age. Or your car will need a new part. These things happen all the time, and if you don’t have money set aside, then the problem will grow into a crisis.
In short, one should expect unexpected problems to occur. We just don’t know ahead of time which problems they’ll be.
Following the money reveals a lot about the recipients. The way money is spent (or not spent) gives us a good view of a person’s priorities and values.
If you have enough money for everything, then go ahead and do what you want with the stimulus. This column is not for you.
But I see the stimulus as a gift with the potential to do great good. It can mean the difference between continuing in college or dropping out without a degree. Or it can be used to learn a new trade. Or the chance to buy a used car.
On the other hand, the stimulus is a gift easily squandered.
I know a hard-working fellow whose employer went bankrupt during the pandemic. Now he is on unemployment, without enough money for medicine or health care. For whatever reason, he chose not to pursue COBRA or Obamacare, so now he is without health insurance at all. Last I heard, he was using the stimulus money for non-essential travel. By doing so, he is showing his priorities. Fine, let him travel. But then he shouldn’t complain about lacking money for medicine.
A young woman I once met often goes without food, and soon she will become a single mother. She has spent most of her $1,400 … where? On food? Nope. On baby supplies? Nope. On saving it for the hospital bill when the baby gets delivered? Nope. She has spent most of it on movies for her electronic devices.
She, too, is showing her values and priorities by her spending choices. (Just owning those electronic devices, while struggling to find enough food to eat, indicates her priorities.)
Some of us, by nature or determination, have an easy enough time planning for the future. It comes naturally.
When the first stimulus check showed up roughly a year ago ($1,200 per adult, courtesy of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act signed into law on March 27, 2020), we put our $2,400 aside, figuring an unexpected need would eventually pop up. And it did pop up. In December 2020, I underwent surgery. There went the full stimulus check. But because we had held it in reserve, the surgery did not become a fiscal crisis.
But many folks are unable or unwilling to plan for the future. They live entirely in the here and now. They are like happy puppy dogs, enjoying the moment, wagging their tails and spending their money.
Remember, though, that a dog will bury a bone so it will be available for gnawing later on.
Bury at least one bone from your stimulus.
Arthur Vidro’s latest short story, “Which Casino?” appears in the November 2020 issue of Mystery Weekly Magazine.
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