appropriating a sum of money

I have always went for paying off bills! Especially ones with high interest. Right now I don't have any high interest rates but thats because I keep them flipped over to NO interest! But I would go for paying them off then doing the most important on my house, not that I am sure I know what that would be, kind of a choice between the roof, the windows, and the ceilings then the floor, should I continue? I think you get the picture.

If it was money I was controlling, I would put 1/3 of it in an emergency fund. Then I would pay off one bill, hopefully the most pressing, but whatever, pay off one bill, then take the money that normally would be paid on that bill and put it into a fund to fix up the house. (or pay another bill). I would say that it does not matter who accrued what bill. What matters is which one can be paid off to the greatest advantage.

it would really depend for me what the repair was. if it's cosmetic,i'd pay the bills first.if it's a leak/electrical,that would trump the bills.

I would have to figure out a level of importance. What bills are you behind on? Rent, power? Or is it just old debts that you want to stop harassing you but isn't going to lead to an eviction or shut off of something? I would first catch up on current bills.. rent, power, phone, the necessities. Then I would do necessary repairs.. not remodeling to make it look nice, just necessary repairs like patching up a hole in a roof or replacing some dry wall.. etc. If there's anything left over, you can then split that up between old debts and other repairs. If the money is only going to one spouse.. unless you're planning a divorce, it's still "our" money, not yours, not his.. both. Pay debts equally, unless you have some sort of goal. For instance, in my home.. my husband's the one with the main income.. but I have a better credit score and fewer judgements on my credit report. So.. mine is the credit report we plan on cleaning up.. he will just be a co-signer on a mortgage loan when we get to that point.

Money causes trouble for many couples. If you have some coming, take time, make lists and come to an agreement before any is spent, this will save much trouble down the line.

Hi 3SnuggleBunnies, If you have credit cards pay them off first and then cancel them and cut them up. Then you should put money aside that you are saving from the credit cards if you have some. Put it up every month in a savings account so you can do the repairs. I know it's hard to do but try it to see if it works for you guys.

I'd put the money on the bills no contest. Bills first, repairs later. The last thing I would want is to get further into debt. And if there were some left over for one repair, then great.

I think that I would put some of the money back (probably enough to pay three months worth of general bills) before I would start to do anything else with it. When it really comes down to it, the most important things are to have a roof over your head and also food in your stomach. That said, with the rest of the money I would look at the other needs and contribute the rest of it to that thing which falls the highest on the priority list. If it wasn't enough to cover that entire expense, at least I would know that a good portion of it would go to the expense.

I would definitely put some of it away for emergency purposes and try and pay of some smaller bills so that at least you are not paying here there and everywhere. Since the repairs perhaps exceed the amount I would not utilize that, paying off most of the bills will allow room later to contemplate repairs. Especially if you are not planning on moving anytime soon the repairs, unless emergent repairs in my opinion can wait.