Present from the IRS

It came. Happy dance! Now I'm getting a little indecisive as far as how to use it. The original plan went like this -
1. Pay off car.
2. Buy snowblower.
3. Set rest aside for new water heater.

I bought the snowblower. But as I was thinking about paying off the car, it seems a shame to have a big chunk of money hanging around in times like these and kiss it "good bye" on a loan at such a good rate. And yet I don't want to go investing the whole chunk in case I run into cash flow issues. I'm fine now but if the winds swirled in the right direction, it'd be close. I think I may compromise and hang onto the money for now. As the car loan goes down I can invest the difference monthly, or biweekly as the case is.. And if the winds swirl in the wrong direction, I can still pay off the car loan and some of the rest will be nestled in an index fund. If I have a bad month I can still choose not to invest the difference.

The other idea I'm toying around with is a pretty balance transfer offer. It stands at 1.99% until 2011. My line isn't enough to cover the remaining balance on the car but I could use enough of the refund to bring it down to a transferable amount. Then pay 1/14th (or whatever) of the amount off each month and have it gone by the time the special rate is up.

Dunno, that's where my head is at for now.. Until I decide the money is chilling in my savings.

Monthly Update

Pay off car loan - 36.4% (Up 2.1%)
Pay off student loan - 11.1% (No change)

I also made a new account for short term goals. For now that includes spaying the dog in early spring and trimming the tree in spring.

Short term fund - .1%

My net worth took a little hit this month due to the dog and some projects around the house. In good news, my first time home buyer's prize should be arriving this month.