I won the $280,000 in calottery

[Son of Lothar]

We got all 5 except the mega million #. So, with that said....

I don't know if I should pay off all my debt or just my student loans. I have like 23,000 in debt including my wife's debt. About half of it is student loans. I'm thinking on just paying off student loans right now and using the rest for down payment house, furniture, new laptop, etc... or is that really selfish? I don't wanna pay off my credit card debt because its already written off and wouldn't improve my credit right now anyway. However, my student loans are still in good standing so I would like to get those off my back.

What do you guys think? What would you do if you had debt.

EDIT: oh keep in mind Government takes out 30%... so will only get like $200,000.

[geniebsmart]

paying off all your dept first is the way to go.

[Rammellaar]

Pay off all your debt.. from there, you can work on the rest without any worries

[Wojtek]

Pay off the debts. I won 10k (7k after taxes) a few years ago and used it to finish off my student loans.

[SheepHunter]

Debt then uberawesume computer.

[iDot]

Pay your debts.

[Activi-T]

What would i do if i had debt and the money to pay it back? Probably pay it back. It would remove any potential stress that debt could give me in the future. Spend some of the rest of the money on a holiday or some other treat. Then bank a bit for a rainy day.

[Fiziks]

make sure to take out the taxes you will have to pay

[Skandulous]

pay off the loans and get a house

[Martinussen]

yes get off all your loans, and then spend like half of what you've got left to buy your self something nice, like a new laptop or furniture.
save the rest, as you do not know what happens in the future

[Dald]

Pay off debt and put at least half of the remaining winnings in a savings account.

The security from having 80-100k in an account is so refreshing.

[Dunefire]

Debt first. Invest 10k in an IRA take about 75% of whats left and invest in municipal bonds and some "garenteed" return investments. Take What's left and split it with the wife and just blow it on stuff.

[Nefastus]

Buy tons of Wow gold! I am just joking btw. At your situation I would pay my debts and maybe a new console, perhaps a xbox 360. Just bought a PsP ^_^

[wrathblade]

if you have allot of money suddenly ( lotto prize or legacy from familie ) id suggest you lose all your loans and depts first.
after that you might wanna think about a house first seeing to get a house you would normally need to get a loan at a bank.
the charge you lets say 500 bucks a month for 30 years so you can loan 200grand for a house.

now if you put in 100grand yourself? that would mean you only have to pay 250 a month for 30 years? but interest would also be lower thus your saving money! and it kinda means if you can lower your monthly payments needed it's basicly more money you can spend on other things.

thus id go with pay off depts then buy a house with or without allitle loan. atm the house market is so low it's even possible that houses will rise like madd when the depression is over and the economie stabalizes again

still ABIGG ASS GRATZ! wish i won something like that!

[phoenixbow]

Pay off your debt. Why the hell would you not pay off debt that's already accruing interest before you start adding on to that pile? If you pay off the debt that's already there and costing you interest you can start saving money now without needlessly burning money paying off that interest.

Honestly, student loans are the least harmful debt usually because they have lower interest rates than pretty much anything else. Credit card debt with crazy APR is what stacks up the most. The sort of thinking that "Oh I'll just carry that debt" is a large reason why the economy is the way it is.

[armpit]

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[Resentful]

Grats! Now pay off those debts

[phoenixbow]

if you have allot of money suddenly ( lotto prize or legacy from familie ) id suggest you lose all your loans and depts first.
after that you might wanna think about a house first seeing to get a house you would normally need to get a loan at a bank.
the charge you lets say 500 bucks a month for 30 years so you can loan 200grand for a house.

now if you put in 100grand yourself? that would mean you only have to pay 250 a month for 30 years? but interest would also be lower thus your saving money! and it kinda means if you can lower your monthly payments needed it's basicly more money you can spend on other things.

thus id go with pay off depts then buy a house with or without allitle loan. atm the house market is so low it's even possible that houses will rise like madd when the depression is over and the economie stabalizes again

still ABIGG ASS GRATZ! wish i won something like that!

If you put 50% down on a house you save WAY more than 50% in the long run and either payments or length is much less than half.

[Son of Lothar]

if you have allot of money suddenly ( lotto prize or legacy from familie ) id suggest you lose all your loans and depts first.
after that you might wanna think about a house first seeing to get a house you would normally need to get a loan at a bank.
the charge you lets say 500 bucks a month for 30 years so you can loan 200grand for a house.

now if you put in 100grand yourself? that would mean you only have to pay 250 a month for 30 years? but interest would also be lower thus your saving money! and it kinda means if you can lower your monthly payments needed it's basicly more money you can spend on other things.

thus id go with pay off depts then buy a house with or without allitle loan. atm the house market is so low it's even possible that houses will rise like madd when the depression is over and the economie stabalizes again

still ABIGG ASS GRATZ! wish i won something like that!

Yea, its tough with the house bit because I cant get an FHA loan because I have to raise my credit score by only.... 5 points! So, If I can't find a way to increase my score then I have to go through private lending and I spit on their interest rates.

[Tehadam]

PAY. OFF. DEBT.
Student Loans SUCK, then fix up your house, and then invest. Sure, it's not fun, but you'll be able to have more fun later with all the money you just saved.