Although my consulting income tends to be pretty stable, I sometimes have months where I earn more than I expected. I have an emergency fund and enough cash flow that I don’t need to bank all the extra money. I recognize that some people have feast or famine cycles, but I’ve been working long enough for things to be steady.
So, what do I do in the months where I have extra money? Here’s a top 5 list of my "spends" for the first half of this year:
- I bought a Roomba — a robotic vacuum that sweeps and vacuums my house while I’m working, playing with the kids or out and about.
- I paid down my mortgage. (That is, I made extra payments.)
- I topped up my kids’ college funds.
- I topped up my retirement fund.
- I bought a new LCD TV, which is great for projecting PowerPoints, demoing my work, watching the news, or, on occasion, for personal TV viewing.
What would you do with unexpected earnings?