The Five Things I Did with My $2,400 Stimulus Check from the CARES Act 💵

Hello everyone. I hope that you and your family and staying happy and healthy during these hard times. I think it’s important to realize how stressful. confusing and agonizing this time during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak really is. An event like this isn’t normal and it’s hard to go about living life normally. I have done my best to stay positive, be thankful for the job that I have, and stay in touch with my family to keep my spirits high.

Let’s take a look at the five things that I did with my $2,400 stimulus check from the CARES Act. By the way, I am married so I received the $2,400 direct deposit in my bank account last Wednesday, April 15th.

I Immediately Transferred $1,200 to my Husband (His Half of the Stimulus Check)

The stimulus payments were given out based upon people’s income and marital status on their 2019 or 2018 tax return (if they haven’t yet filed their 2019 return). My husband and I already filed our taxes in early February because we love to get our taxes done early so we can check it off of our list and move on with our life.

But I quickly realized that this may raise an issue for people that were recently divorced. What if their ex-husband or ex-wife was the one to receive the money and they had no access to their $1,200 that they probably so desperately needed right now?

This is one of the gaps that exists in the program out of a few. My husband never asked for me to transfer him his half of the stimulus payment but I did it immediately anyways. We are both very grateful and lucky to still be employed but that money is his (although if he said I could keep it I wouldn’t say no 🤷🏾‍♀️).

I Put $1,000 Into My New High Yield Savings Account

I recently opened up a new high yield savings account through Credit Karma, which I already use to monitor my credit. The account earns 0.56% Annual Percentage Yield (APY). I have this account to house my emergency savings fund that I’m currently building to cover three months of my basic expenses.

This $1,000 brought me only $1,000 away from reaching my goal of $6,000. By basic expenses, I mean housing, food, utilities, student loans, and debt payback. I leave about $30 of wiggle room here so that I have a little room for error.

I Donated $100 to my Favorite Restaurant Who is Donating Food to First Responders in the East Bay Area

One of my favorite restaurants in the East Bay Area in Northern California is Golden Safari. They make Nigerian food that I enjoy and got accustomed to from my husband cooking Nigerian food for me at home. We have been going there for a year since we moved to Northern California and they have always been so kind, welcoming, and warm every time we ate at the restaurant.

They started a Go Fund Me to help raise money to send hot lunch sets to nurses, doctors, and first responders to thank them for the work that they are doing in the community to help with the COVID-19 outbreak. I quickly decided that I wanted to use some money from my stimulus check to help their cause and it was one of the best things that I had spent my money on.

They are still taking donations and if you’d like to help out, check out their Go Fund Me link here.

I Bought Some Much Needed New Pairs of Socks

Since I have been working from home for the last month or so (I’m starting to lose count) I haven’t paid too much attention to what I wear as long as it is clean and business casual from the waist up. However, I started to notice that almost half of my socks had growing holes in them. I normally wouldn’t think twice about buying a new pair of socks but I did.

I almost felt guilty for buying six pairs of new socks because of the hardship that so many people are facing right now. But I quickly realized that I was being silly. I deserved to have new socks to replace my old ones and decided to buy some Bombas socks that I had been eyeing for almost five months. Definitely worth it!

They are bright, colorful, and honestly, the most comfortable socks that I’ve ever worn before. Investing in yourself is important and can help improve your mental health. Small things like comfy socks, taking a nice bath at the end of the day, or taking a nap when you’re tired is so essential to help recharge during a pandemic (or any other time for that matter).

Order Take Away Food From Local Family Owned Restaurants

It’s not a secret that restaurants are struggling right now. Any business that depends on people physically being there has been affected due to COVID-19. At least once a week my husband and I both try to order take away food from local restaurants that need help staying afloat.

Ordering food helps to break up the monotony of eating the same rotation of meals at home and also helps to support restaurants that may not have money saved up to be able to weather the storm of being closed for 1+ months. Not only are you helping to support a local business in your neighborhood, but you are also helping to support a family. If you’re able to do so, please consider doing this.

In conclusion…

If you’ve gotten this far, thanks for reading! Also, I’m curious to know that if you are still waiting on your stimulus payment how do you plan on spending your stimulus check?

If you haven’t received it yet but you are eligible, please use this tool from the IRS to check on your status today.