CC Rebate Check...?

So last week we got a surprise in the mail... My husbands pass card arrived way earlier than expected and we rejoiced because it meant we were all set for our cruise adventure...

Well, I found another pretty awesome surprise in that happy little mail slot.

I found our $75 check rebate check from my credit card rewards program... The check that I completely forgot was heading our way...

If you remember back to last month, we went to target to get some decongestant and some ibuprofen and spent over $100 on other things... including some new patio chairs and a small outside table.

At the time in the store we justified the spending because I knew I had $75 in CC rewards that we could cash out at our leisure.... but I forgot that the check.

When it came time to balance our budget I was able to get everything accounted for... including our target spree. I forgot we had the check coming in to pay for that and now its just sitting here... itching to be put to good use.

One option was/is to take it and just dunk it into the Roth IRA... but we have been tossing around the idea about using it to stock up on some things for the house that we need... mixed with a few food luxuries that we want... and that idea seems to be winning.

We'd like to pick up a few more food containers from BB&B to help store some more baking ingredients and allow us to purchase more than one brand of cereal at at time (my cereal container is currently holding oats because we opened our new bag to make cookies for girls night and didn't have anywhere to store them). We also need to pick up a few things at Costco like laundry detergent, conditioner for my hair... but there are also a few frozen food treats that we keep passing over because we can't fit them into the regular budget.  (Like Costco's frozen spinach parmesan ravioli... and their herb crusted fish filets...mmmmm).

I also had to work on Labor Day so I will be seeing some overtime pay on my second paycheck of this month.... So we could put the $75 check in the Roth IRA... and spend my overtime money on the goodies... or we take the overtime money (which should be more than the $75 check) and send that to the Roth and spend the $75.

Its kind of like splitting a windfall 50/50... So, it looks like we will spend the $75 at Costco and BB&B and put the overtime to work in the Roth IRA.

It seems like a good compromise since we will stock up on some items we need (like the laundry soap and conditioner) and we can mix it was some nicer food luxuries and eat in a bit more instead of eating out for all our date nights which could end up saving us money or at least just enjoying dinner more... and the Roth still gets a bit more cash.