Area taxpayers plan to use stimulus payments to pay down debts, go …
BALTIMORE (Map, News)- Valerie Hayes hasn’t received her economic stimulus payment yet, but she’s already thought about how she’ll spend it.
“I’m going to pay a bill first, and then I’m going to buy some summer clothes,” said Hayes, 54, of Baltimore, as she ate lunch outside in the Inner Harbor on Wednesday.
Some taxpayers are starting to see the stimulus payments hit their bank accounts this week if they chose direct deposit on their tax forms. The Internal Revenue Service is issuing payments of up to $600 for individuals and up to $1,200 for married couples, plus an additional $300 to couples for every child they have younger than 17.
Other Baltimore-area taxpayers said they’re planning to use the money to pay various bills.
“My income taxes are already going to some bills, so this will add to it,” said Jevon Bennett, 26, of Baltimore.
Valencia McIntosh, 24, of Baltimore, said she’s going to “pay off student loans,” while Warren Pennington, 57, of Baltimore, said he plans to use the money to “pay gas and electric bills.”
Some people, though, plan to spend all of their stimulus money on discretionary purchases.
“I’m just going shopping with mine,” said Michael Powell, 23, of Baltimore.
“I just bought a house, and I want one of those lawnmowers with zero turning radius,” said Stavros Papaminas, a lawyer for Allstate.
Others are even using the money for random purchases.
“I’m going to get my dog fixed,” said Amy Oxenhan, 22, of Pasadena.
According to a recent survey from the Washington-based National Retail Federation, 41 percent of consumers plan to use their stimulus payments on purchases, 28 percent plan to pay off their debt, 19 percent plan to save the payment, 4 percent will invest the money and 4 percent will pay medical bills.
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Get your car repaired. Buy some groceries. Do some home improvements. Get some local brew. Buy a video game made by Americans. Put a down payment on a car made in a US factory (includes lots of Japanese cars). Eat at a restaurant. Buy a latte. Whatever.As if there isn’t an American economy. Me, I spend enough on shit already. I’m saving mine.
Mine will buy lumber from the local saw mill.
http://www.miamiherald.com/283/story/493795.html
Mine pay for half a semester’s tuition…yay!
I won’t outright disagree with you, but I wonder how much intangible or secondary benefit America gets, despite the fact that you’re buying something from another country.When you buy a TV, 100% of the money you spend doesn’t go straight to the manufacturer.Some sales guy is employed to help you pick out your TV. Someone has to cashier your purchase. That TV was probably trucked across a couple states at some point. Maybe you’ll buy a warranty. Maybe you’ll buy a bunch of DVDs to go along with your TV, filmed in Hollywood.My point is, there is still some amount of economic stimulation that stays within the US. Is it substantial enough? Does the amount of money going oversees dwarf any benefit? Beats me.
I wonder what some random guy thinks about the economic stimulus payment.
You could buy a chalkboard. Or a white board. I work at a factory right here in the U.S. of A. that makes those. And then you could use them to teach somebody something. Like Economics.Matter of fact, you could just donate your rebate to your local school. I am, considering that’s where the money should have gone in the first place.
“The federal government is sending each and everyone of us approximately between a $300 - $1,200 rebate.”As if… over six million households aren’t getting anything, we’re just paying for everybody else’s rebate.
The US government is in deep debt (not to mention a huge deficit). This stupid stimulus won’t fix it. It is like taking water from one end of the swimming pool and throwing it into the other.The only way to fix the economy is (1) reduce government spending, especially pork and (2) stop the nonsensical empire-building foreign policy.Even then, it will take a while to recover.
A better way to do that might be a tax credit for credit card payments.