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Learn English in January

If you had $1000 how would you spend it?

GemmaRowlandsGemmaRowlands Posts: 10,331 Inactive
in Work and Money
If you were given $1000 and you had to spend it on something, what would you do? I would get some work done on our garden, as this is something that we have been wanting to do for a while.

What about you? How would you spend $1000?

Comments

  • Practical_SeverardPractical_Severard Posts: 2,983 ✭✭✭✭
    I think I'd splash out on a built-in fridge and the cabinet for it if I had extra $1000. Such fridges tend to be more expensive and there is a cabinet to buy also, while $1000 should cover the additional expense. I'm going to have a kitchen combined with a living room, so this arrangement would look much nicer.
  • GemmaRowlandsGemmaRowlands Posts: 10,331 Inactive
    Practical_Severard said:

    I think I'd splash out on a built-in fridge and the cabinet for it if I had extra $1000. Such fridges tend to be more expensive and there is a cabinet to buy also, while $1000 should cover the additional expense. I'm going to have a kitchen combined with a living room, so this arrangement would look much nicer.

    That sounds like a good thing to spend it on. Doing things to your house always seems like a good investment, as it means you can enjoy it a lot.
  • SunInVirgoSunInVirgo Posts: 52 ✭✭
    If I had extra 1000$ I would stake the money on a soccer team or horse (but not the whole sum at once, of course).
  • GemmaRowlandsGemmaRowlands Posts: 10,331 Inactive
    SunInVirgo said:

    If I had extra 1000$ I would stake the money on a soccer team or horse (but not the whole sum at once, of course).

    That is interesting, as that means that you could make more money from it - but you could also lose the money as well of course!
  • SunInVirgoSunInVirgo Posts: 52 ✭✭
    @GemmaRowlands, certainly, sport betting is risky, especially if a person make a bet at random.One should thoroughly examine the kind of sport on which he/she want to stake. Also one should research the statistics of the team/person/animal on which he/she is going to make a bet.

    Of course, there are less risky options to invest a capital, such as stock, commodity and currency exchange markets. But these markets are intended for big money, and we speak about only 1000$. Also, really big movements in a stock market occur rarely, so most of the time, probable profits also are not very big (in percents). But in horse racing, for example, winners frequently has odds more than 5/1 and sometimes more than 20/1. If we bet even 100$ the profit would be no so bad.

    But there is a problem, at least in the country where I live (Russia). Many of russian bookmakers are dishonest (maybe even the most of them). If a person win even a few thousand dollars, the winning unlikely will be payed. Also only a few bookmakers enable to bet on horses. Unfortunately, horse racing is unpopular in Russia.
  • mheredgemheredge Posts: 46,404 ✭✭✭✭
    I'm not sure how I would use £1000, but I probably would spend it on travelling.
  • GemmaRowlandsGemmaRowlands Posts: 10,331 Inactive
    SunInVirgo said:

    @GemmaRowlands, certainly, sport betting is risky, especially if a person make a bet at random.One should thoroughly examine the kind of sport on which he/she want to stake. Also one should research the statistics of the team/person/animal on which he/she is going to make a bet.



    Of course, there are less risky options to invest a capital, such as stock, commodity and currency exchange markets. But these markets are intended for big money, and we speak about only 1000$. Also, really big movements in a stock market occur rarely, so most of the time, probable profits also are not very big (in percents). But in horse racing, for example, winners frequently has odds more than 5/1 and sometimes more than 20/1. If we bet even 100$ the profit would be no so bad.



    But there is a problem, at least in the country where I live (Russia). Many of russian bookmakers are dishonest (maybe even the most of them). If a person win even a few thousand dollars, the winning unlikely will be payed. Also only a few bookmakers enable to bet on horses. Unfortunately, horse racing is unpopular in Russia.

    I think I would have to do some research to find out a slightly less risky way to invest, and then do that instead.
  • mheredgemheredge Posts: 46,404 ✭✭✭✭
    Actually £1000 is not that large amount of money, so as long as it wouldn't change your life if you lost it, you could risk it on investing. But unless you were willing to take a flutter with long odds, you probably wouldn't get much of return for such a small sum.
  • GemmaRowlandsGemmaRowlands Posts: 10,331 Inactive
    mheredge said:

    Actually £1000 is not that large amount of money, so as long as it wouldn't change your life if you lost it, you could risk it on investing. But unless you were willing to take a flutter with long odds, you probably wouldn't get much of return for such a small sum.

    I guess it depends what kind of lifestyle you have. If I lost £1,000 right now, it means I wouldn't be able to pay my bills this month, so that would change my life quite badly.
  • mheredgemheredge Posts: 46,404 ✭✭✭✭
    In that case, you shouldn't risk a penny @GemmaRowlands. Gambling (and investing) is a mugs game. You should never risk any more than you can afford to lose without it changing anything.
  • GemmaRowlandsGemmaRowlands Posts: 10,331 Inactive
    mheredge said:

    In that case, you shouldn't risk a penny @GemmaRowlands. Gambling (and investing) is a mugs game. You should never risk any more than you can afford to lose without it changing anything.

    Yes I agree with that. Although having said that, it even annoys me when I lose money that I can afford to lose, so I probably shouldn't gamble at all.
  • mheredgemheredge Posts: 46,404 ✭✭✭✭
    Right now I would spend £1000 on a wonderful massage and spa treatment to get rid of all the aches and pains of moving!
  • GemmaRowlandsGemmaRowlands Posts: 10,331 Inactive
    mheredge said:

    Right now I would spend £1000 on a wonderful massage and spa treatment to get rid of all the aches and pains of moving!

    That sounds like a very good massage if it costs that much money. I have actually never been for a professional massage, and it's because I'm a bit nervous but I don't know why.
  • mheredgemheredge Posts: 46,404 ✭✭✭✭
    I had an amazing massage (quite expensive) a few months ago. However I'm not sure I can justify the expense again.
  • GemmaRowlandsGemmaRowlands Posts: 10,331 Inactive
    mheredge said:

    I had an amazing massage (quite expensive) a few months ago. However I'm not sure I can justify the expense again.

    It's one of those things I think you should treat yourself to every now and again, and you can do them maybe twice a year or something.
  • momochanmomochan Posts: 88 ✭✭
    I would spend $1000 to buy a new iPhone and send it to my mum who lives in Japan. Her current one is very old so it might be too slow and has not enough storage.
  • mheredgemheredge Posts: 46,404 ✭✭✭✭
    I'd be worried carrying around something that is worth so much @momochan. Even a 200$ phone is a lot of money to lose if it gets lost or stolen.
  • momochanmomochan Posts: 88 ✭✭
    I know what you mean @mheredge . However, you can be less worried to lose or be stolen of smartphones in Japan than in other countries. I think most people in Japan don't want to take lost properties somebody left. They may want to bring it to the lost and found.
  • mheredgemheredge Posts: 46,404 ✭✭✭✭
    True, people do tend to be a lot more honest in Japan than in most places @momochan. But you never take this for granted. I lost a camera in Singapore once and this is also supposed to be one of the most crime-free places.
  • momochanmomochan Posts: 88 ✭✭
    @mheredge I agree with you. But I am very surprised you had that bad experience in Singapore! I lived there for four years and I know it has a lot of surveillance cameras all over. I didn't hear of cases of theft during my stay.
  • mheredgemheredge Posts: 46,404 ✭✭✭✭
    It was probably the staff at the restaurant @momochan and I agree, it was a surprise. It was my fault as I forgot the camera on the table but the following day when I noticed, they disclaimed all knowledge of it.
  • GemmaRowlandsGemmaRowlands Posts: 10,331 Inactive
    momochan said:

    I would spend $1000 to buy a new iPhone and send it to my mum who lives in Japan. Her current one is very old so it might be too slow and has not enough storage.

    I am sure she would really appreciate that as it would allow her to do many things that she can't do now.
  • mheredgemheredge Posts: 46,404 ✭✭✭✭
    I'm getting to the point where if it isn't edible or quaffable, I can easily do without it. I suppose investing in some caviar and Champagne wouldn't leave much change out of £1000 though.
  • GemmaRowlandsGemmaRowlands Posts: 10,331 Inactive
    mheredge said:

    I'm getting to the point where if it isn't edible or quaffable, I can easily do without it. I suppose investing in some caviar and Champagne wouldn't leave much change out of £1000 though.

    Yes, things like that are really expensive, and I'm not sure I could spend that much money on something that would be gone so quickly.
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