Coming to your bank account soon….
What? Extra cash in the middle of the summer? Tell me more!
For those who are eligible, if you’ve not already, you should be getting a cash injection this week. On July 20, payments for the Enhanced Universal Child Care Benefit are being sent out.
If you’ve got kids under six, you are likely already receiving the Universal Child Care Benefit ($100/month). This is going to increase to $160/month per child. Parents with children between the ages of 6-17 are now going to receive $60/month per child. Woo hoo!
And here’s the best part- the payments will be retroactive to January- which means a lump sum now, along with the increased payments going forward.
What to do?
Summer vacation
You’ve still got a whole lot of summer left (and if you’ve got kids at home, it feels like many, many weeks). Maybe you’ve been itching to have a little summer getaway, but couldn’t find the cash to fund it. Perhaps this windfall could put a tank of gas in the car and cover a night or two in a hotel?
Alternatively, use this cash to do a staycation in fine style. Hit all your fave museums and attractions. Go to the beach. End your staycation with dinner in a real restaurant (i.e. defined for the purposes of this piece as somewhere you don’t draw on the placemats or tablecloths).
School supplies
Those suckers are pricey. If you’ve got more than one child costs for school supplies can really rack up. Put this cash aside for those pens, papers and notebooks that you’re going to have to pay for in the next month or so anyways.
Pay down debt
There is nothing like a lump sum payment to really kick-start reducing your overall debt load. Through that amount down on your credit card balance, or even use it as a lump sum payment on your mortgage. Every little bit counts!
Invest
Do you have any savings to speak of? This amount could seed a rainy day fund. Do you have an RRSP? Now you do, if you contribute this amount. Similarly, now might be the time to get an RESP going for your child(ren) if you don’t already.