Did you get a Stimulus Check? What did you end up doing with it?
Saw some stats on how people are using them, and thought it would be interesting to compare with our own community here :)
Here’s what SmartAsset.com found when they polled 1,300+ people:
More than half of adults – 52.09% – said they primarily plan to use their stimulus check on needs such as rent and food. Putting the money into savings was the next most popular category, at 21.56%.
And here’s a breakdown of ALL the responses, along with a nifty graph for your viewing pleasure:
- Spending on Needs: 52.09%
- Saving: 21.56%
- Paying off loans or debt: 7.13%
- Investing: 4.53%
- Spending on wants: 3.19%
- Donating: 1.06%
- Other: 0.44%
Surprising? Maybe? I was actually SUPER glad to see that it was “only” 52% who seemed to need the money that bad! Which of course is still a ton, but with the economy/pandemic the way it is I guess I assumed it would be much higher. Like maybe in the 70-80% range?
Loved seeing that donation category though! Even though it is *barely* there, lol… We didn’t get any checks due to #firstworldproblems, but I was secretly hoping we’d accidentally get them to help pump up our Community Fund :) Guess we just weren’t dead enough yet though! Haha…
Still, I’m glad to see at least a lot of the people who needed cash got some… And a lot of great saving and investing going on there too! A pretty fortunate position to be in!
So how would you guess this compares to our own community here? With people more in tune with their finances than the average American?!
I couldn’t wait until I published this article to find out, so I kinda cheated and polled Twitter first just for a sneak peek ;)
And boy what a difference!
Over 70% has used their $$$ towards future financial goals!! With *needs* dropping down to 3rd place and Saving/Investing locking in the 1st position with a solid majority!
If that doesn’t show the power of paying attention to this stuff year after year I don’t know what does…
I wish I could have broken down the answers more tightly as a TON of people mentioned donating their money and/or supporting their local community with it, but sadly Twitter only allowed 4 slots so I had to do my best there… (And I omitted “other” from the positioning just cuz it would have broken down into smaller amounts than the *needs* at 11.6%)
Still, a pretty interesting difference compared to SmartAsset’s poll! Way to go guys!! Obviously we can’t control *everything* in our lives and $hit still happens, but a lot easier to manage it all with a strong foundation than without one..
So yet again proof that the work pays off here when you focus enough 
How about you guys? Where did you put your check towards if you got one? Or are you one of the people still waiting to receive it?
Another stat I read said there’s apparently still 26% of eligible respondents waiting to get their checks in the mail :( Which is no small number!
If anyone desperately needs assistance – or knows of anyone else who does – please let me know and I’ll see if I can help. Hang in there!!
// Pic up top by Matthew Lancaster via Unsplash
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