Ways to Spend $1,000 – Take Advantage of an Opportunity!

In today’s world, there are so many opportunities to spend money. This post offers a few suggestions on ways to use your money to get ahead, collect some benefits, and otherwise make the most of the investment.

Check out our categories below, get some ideas, and enjoy the rewards from your personal financial journey. Keep in mind, not all rewards are money-oriented. Make time for building memories, too!

Use this list to help you allocate money to what drives the most value for you and your family. While it is not an exhaustive list, we hope it sparks some ideas about what you can do!

This post may contain affiliate links. See my disclosure policy here.

SPEND $1,000 ON PERSONAL FINANCE TO-DO ITEMS

Think about taking that $1,000 to new levels of return, and take care of some financial essentials. The grand will be well spent, and your Mêtis will be better positioned than ever before. What could be better?

Setup an Emergency fund

$1,000 will go a long way for most of us! Use a $1,000 windfall to ensure you have a proper Emergency Fund established. The investment should be readily accessible, liquid, and ready to draw in case of an emergency. See if you can get a little interest in it as an added bonus! Make sure to replenish the fund if you do need it for an emergency.

Find an Attorney you Trust, and setup a Living Trust

From personal experience, this is deeply satisfying and gives peace of mind. In the event of an untimely departure from this earth, my wife and I wanted to make sure that our children would be well cared for. Outlining those details and establishing legal documents to manage our assets until the children are of age was truly a load off our shoulders.

TARGET DEBT: SPEND $1,000 TO ANNIHILATE BALANCES

“The borrower is beholden to the lender,” and not all loans are equal. Prioritize the debt you owe, and use your $1,000 to make progress on the balances. Grind it out! You can do it!

Conquer Credit Card Debt

Use your $1,000 to lay siege to your high-interest debts. Start with Credit Cards! Get rid of those balances. Be honest with yourself: if credit cards are something you struggle with then cut them up and don’t use them! 

Tackle your Student Loans

After wrapping up your credit card debt, consider putting your money towards student loans. Those can be rough, and putting them down will be euphoric.

GIVE BACK, AND SPEND $1,000 IN A DONATION TO CHARITY

Use your money to make the world a better place! Give to a familiar charity, or carefully consider a new one. Either way, there are people who need help and can certainly use the money. 

New to the concept of giving generously? Giving is a blessing for the giver as well! Take advantage of that, and both parties benefit.

As a word of caution, be sure to use charities you trust from personal experience or from loved ones you can rely on. If you’re looking into new giving opportunities make sure to do your homework. (Unfortunately, there are always “jackals” in the world looking to pillage).

IMPROVE YOUR FINANCIAL KNOWLEDGE – SPEND $1,000 ON YOUR FINANCIAL EDUCATION

With all the options out there, don’t forget to look inward: bettering your financial education is a great way to invest your thousand dollars. Be careful here, and don’t feel like you have to “spend it all” upfront. 

Buy a Book (Or more!) 

For starters, get some books! They are of great value, and in terms of cost for an education, a few books will get you a great return on your time and money. Here are a few I highly recommend for any personal finance library:

• The Only Investment Guide You’ll Ever Need – you can check out my review here.
• The Little Book That Still Beats the Market – check out my review here.
• Winning the Losers Game: Timeless Strategies for Successful Investing – you can check out my review here.
• Passive Income Aggressive Retirement – you can check out my review here.

Educate by Experimenting with Investing

Take a look at some investing opportunities, and put that knowledge to work. I do recommend establishing your emergency fund first! But, if you have the cash, think about putting it to work. Consider opening and funding an online brokerage, like Robinhood (you’ll get a free stock too). You can also try cryptocurrency and can buy through Coinbase. Also, think about buying precious metals if you haven’t before. Feel free to mix it up!

GO ON A FAMILY ADVENTURE, MAKE MEMORIES WORTH MORE THAN $1,000

Don’t forget to strike a balance in life! It is easy to get wrapped up in the concept of “no spending” and “saving” to the point where nothing is spent on “fun” times. Sometimes, there is no “good time” and you have to take the plunge and do the vacation. 

With that said, I’m not advocating reckless behavior. If you have the money and there aren’t pressing issues, think about a trip! Take a few hours and look up camping, hiking, and fishing get-aways near you. Spend the money on a campsite and some essential gear and you’ll have a thousand memories worth more than a thousand dollars.

FIX, REPAIR, AND TOUCH-UP: SPEND $1,000 ON YOU HOME AND PERSONAL PROPERTY

Sometimes dollars need to be spent on house repair. Take a chunk out of the never-ending list of home repair, upgrades, and project priorities. Make your living space better with new lighting, or a new coat of paint! Also, remember those vehicles are going to need new shoes as well, and depending on what you drive, one thousand dollars could get it done!

PUT IT ASIDE: SAVE $1,000 NOW, SPEND MORE THAN $1,000 LATER

Have your thousand ready to go? Don’t need it for anything immediately? There’s nothing wrong, nothing at all, with saving it for later. We don’t know what tomorrow will hold, saving is an excellent play. Retirement, Education, and even something like a Wedding can be prepped for at any point. Regardless, take advantage of the time value of money and compounding interest!

Retirement

Consider an IRA or ROTH IRA for that extra money! Use $1,000 to get started with padding your retirement, and that money will make you money over the years. If you have access to an HSA plan, that could also be a great way to save for some retirement costs. 

Education

Getting a college education is expensive! Getting a head start on saving for your children’s education could help them tremendously. Consider looking into your state’s 529 plans where that thousand could potentially get you a tax break as well (note, different states have different plans).

Mêtis in our Money Matters

One of the best things for my wife and I was getting on the same page with our finances. We use our budget as a starting place and work from there, each of us fulfilling different aspects of the process (e.g. I complete the budget, and she does a great job with helping us stay the course). Because of that, we are ready, as a team when extra money becomes available. The list in this blog is built from some of the personal choices we’ve made. Sometimes we make a few selections from each category depending on the wants and needs we have at the time. 

Anyway, while this list is certainly not exhaustive I hope it is of service to you and provides some thought-provoking ideas on what you can do! Keep up the hard work, and keep cultivating Mêtis in your Money Matters!