Tax Rebate Fails To Stimulate Me

As promised, I received my tax rebate last week. I got an even $1,500 though I was not exactly sure how much I will get.

With the money in the bank, the only place for me to go would have been to the shopping mall. Right?

Wrong.

The closest I got to the mall was a trip to my local Walmart. And that was to buy a $9 battery powered James - the red engine of the famed Thomas & Friends toy set which I had promised one of my young one's last week. On impulse, I ended up buying the Thomas Sodor Celebration DVD to bring my total expenditure to less than $20.

So how do I intend to spend my tax stimilus?

Let's just say that I have already 'spent' it. As soon as the money hit my account, I transferred $600 into my money market account and the remainder went into paying my credit card balance.

While I may not have directly spent the money as intended by the government, I believe the psychology of receiving the rebate will play into relieveing the fears of an economic downturn. I had budgetted to spend the money in my start-up but the arrival of the money did not coincide with any due payments.

It now remains to be seen if the tax rebate will achieve its purpose. Stimulating the economy against an expected downturn.