I'm thinking about spending the bonus money on a desktop PC. The idea behind using it to pay off a credit card was to eliminate a huge monthly bill, but that's not going to happen if I can only pay off half of it. Since I won't have my nice work computer anymore, a new comuter pretty much falls under the category of Immediate Need. I'm reduced to basic functionality on my laptop. I went through yesterday and uninstalled and deleted all of my unnecessary programs, hoping to improve its performance, but that really didn't make a whole heck of a lot of difference. And the best excuse--it can't handle Quicktime, which is a necessary component for my online class. Plus, a new computer would just make me all kinds of happy, 'cause I'm a big honkin' geek.

On the other hand, if I wait for my severance package, maybe it, combined with the bonus, will be enough to cover the credit card. If I don't pay off the credit card, I'll have to find myself some kind of steady job to be sure I can pay that damn bill every month. Temping won't cut it. The great thing about temping is the flexibility, but the downside is that you're not guaranteed to work every week. If I do pay it off, I'll be able to afford to go back to temping, but I won't be able to afford a computer for a long time, unless I finance one, and then I'd still have another bill to pay each month, but it wouldn't be as big as the credit card bill.

*SIGH* It's really quite the dilemma. I hate having to be responsible with my money. I gotta give myself props, though, because just a year or two ago I would've run right out and blown that bonus money on all kinds of cool stuff, so I think this is a sign that I've grown as a person. I am becoming financially responsible. Yay on me. Maybe the bank will let me have an ATM card now...