Today, my boss asked me to call in so he could give me the good news – bonus checks are being sent out! I promised not to talk about the amount, but suffice it to say that any amount of windfall money makes my wheels start turning.

I definitely intend to pay off most or all my current outstanding debt (I guess I treat this separately from the ginormous Federal Plus loan that always sits over my head) – my credit card bill which is mostly Hawaii, and my recent new mattress.  After that, there are a lot of incidental things I could go buy (up to and including more trips), but I think I’ll be better off if I think through the options that are more long-term.

Once again, I’m considering whether this bonus could be the seed money for working off on my own for a while.  The plan, in short: quit whatever I’m doing work-wise, thus freeing up all of my time, live frugally and spend a few months (up to a year, depending on the amount of money I have as seed) trying to do my own thing – start a business, create a website/game/etc. that can make money, or something else entirely.  This plan is ultra-risky, and without “my own thing” clearly defined, I am not super inclined to just do it.

Another possibility is doing what money does – invest it or put it in a high-yield savings account of some form, and watch it grow.  Ugh.  Soooo boring.  I am generally not in favor of reducing my choices, and sticking my money away somewhere, although clearly less risky and possibly more choice-generating long term, just feels like giving away freedom to Future Dave.

I’ll have to ponder more – maybe make a full list of options with their pros and cons, to try to get my decision juices flowing.