Well, the rebate checks are finally being paid out this week. I’ve already heard from a few people who have received them, but as of yet I’m still waiting for mine. I’ll be honest though, I’m not all that anxious about it since I figure it’ll eventually get here. I also don’t plan on spending it right away either so it’s not going to matter much when it does finally get here.

The government would like for everyone to take these rebate checks and go out and spend them. This is then supposed to give the economy a boost, which I don’t disagree with. It’s not however, what I would recommend to anyone reading this. The government is perfectly alright with you thinking that it’s giving you a gift with this check. But you should remember that this is a rebate of your taxes, money that already belongs to you. You should use it in a manner that will best help your personal financial situation.

If you have debt to pay off, then pay it off. If you need to boost your savings and emergency accounts, do it. Perhaps you’d rather invest in a particular company instead of just buying the company’s products. Just don’t feel pressured to go out and spend the money on consumer items just because that’s what the government thinks it wants you to do.

I also think it’s interesting that the government wants to give people money and then tell them to just spend it. All of this spending is what has gotten people into the problems they face. Out of control spending is what leads to the average American to have some amount of credit card debt. All this spending is how people went out and bought houses that they knew they realistically couldn’t afford. At some point we need to break out of this cycle of rampant spending. Why not begin by not spending this rebate check on more unnecessary consumer spending?

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