I have asked this question to countless people (mostly in hair salons) as an alternative to small talk, and it always yields interesting results.
Rules:
- You get the money right now, right where you are. If it’s 10pm and you’re in the middle of nowhere, your money will still go poof at 11pm.
- As a result of the above, tell us what time it is and roughly where you are (big city, desert, small town, …)
- You must spend the money. You cannot give it to someone to hold on to it for you for a while.
- Normal world rules apply, e.g. you cannot buy a $250k car at a dealership in 1h in cash, and you cannot buy a house in 1h either.
- Remember that getting from where you are to the place you need to go takes time. Factor that in!
Edit: I’m glad you guys had fun with this one. Feel free to post similar hypothetical questions. I kinda like these.
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Depending on timing, as long as there’s a bank branch near me when this deal starts (which, there is one ~10 minutes drive from me); I would head there first, 100%. I’d pay off every debt I have with the bank, Credit Cards, lines of credit, etc. Should take 20 minutes or so, it’s not a large number of debts, but it’s not a trivial amount.
I’d then drive across the city to the bank that holds my mortgage, and give them whatever is left… either as pre-payment towards my mortgage, or simply to buy out the mortgage and pay it off.
I wouldn’t have much left after that; but I’m hoping I can get all that done in an hour. If, at that point, I have enough time remaining to buy anything, I’d probably see if I could hit up the nearest hardware store and buy all the power tool batteries I can find. Just the batteries, because damn that shit is expensive.