Paying monthly bills. Taking a short vacation. Reducing college tuition debt. Purchasing life's necessities -- milk, bread and gasoline.
That's where Columbus and Phenix City residents say their money will go as they receive their government-issued stimulus rebate checks over the next few weeks.
"We'll spend the money on our family finances," said John Jackson, a Columbus flooring subcontractor who has a wife and two children and is expecting a $1,200 check. "We're planning on taking a vacation (to Biloxi) with it. But when the time comes and if we need it more for bills, we'll use it for bills, gas and things for the baby." The first round of stimulus payments -- an initiative by Congress and President Bush to jump-start the nation's lagging economy -- started showing up in bank accounts through direct deposit earlier this month. Payments will continue to go out on a weekly basis through the middle of July.
Individual taxpayers are eligible for up to $600 in federal rebates, while up to $300 is being offered for each child in a household. Retirees typically are eligible for up to $300 per person.
Nearly 130 million payments will go out this year. The U.S. Treasury already has issued 7.7 million payments that were electronically deposited in people's accounts. Paper checks should start reaching some taxpayers this week.
Government officials are hoping Americans will use the newfound money to go shopping for clothing or computers, pay for services they had been cutting back on, and dine at restaurants while taking in a movie or video rental.
Instead, many are like Rachel Obermeyer, a Phenix City resident who plans to use her $1,500 stimulus check to pay off the family's Mitsubishi Galant automobile. The TSYS business analyst is skeptical that the federal effort will help the economy, which some experts believe have already tipped into recession.
"We're taking money from our federal savings," said Obermeyer, 30. "Economics tells us that you should have money in savings. So our government should keep money in the Federal Reserve and not spend it."
Savings is precisely where Anthony Pruitt, an information technology director at TSYS, will put the $1,200 he and his wife expect to materialize out of thin air. The Columbus resident, 37, has no debt and is more worried about how his mother, age 55 and a seamstress in rural Camilla, Ga., is faring financially. He also doesn't believe the rebates will necessarily help people rebound.
"I don't think it's going to help simply because people, once they get those checks, they're going to be in a catch-up mode," Pruitt said. "They're going to use money probably to pay bills or save for groceries or spend on gas... It's just going to help people survive a little bit longer."
Paying off debt and keeping savings on hand appear to be the national trend for the checks.
Poll: To saveor not to save
Results of a recent Harris Poll of 2,529 U.S. adults found that almost two in five -- about 38 percent -- said they were going to use some of the stimulus payment to reduce non-mortgage debt and pay off bills or credit cards.
The poll, which surveyed people online between April 7 and April 15, also found 35 percent were going to sock away some of the money in savings.
Alicia Reid, a Columbus mother of two school-aged children, is one of those people who will be using part of her check for bills.
"Half of it is going to pay bills and the other half, we're going to go to Universal Studios in Orlando -- if I can afford gas," said the 34-year-old. "If I can't, we'll just be staying here."
Reid is expecting her $1,200 check any day now.
"It just helped me put a little bit more away," she said. "I can't go out and spend it like I had hoped."
A shopping trip is not in the cards for 61-year-old homebuilder Tom Snyder, either.
Snyder and his wife already received their $1,200 through direct deposit. They had planned to save the money and help pay for the debt they had accumulated putting their three grown children -- ages 21, 24 and 27 -- through college.
Then, his 21-year-old daughter's car broke down, and they had to use the money to get her engine rebuilt.
"We certainly are happy even to get the money," he said. "But I think it was bad economic policy."
Snyder said the government should focus on solutions with lasting effects, such as energy conservation, to alleviate the country's economic woes.
"A lot of people are going to be happy to get the $600, but it's going to be gone in four weeks," he said. "We need long-term solutions rather than short-term decisions that are politically expedient."
Americans spliton stimulus impact
According to the Harris Poll, Americans were split on whether they believe the rebate checks will stimulate the economy. About 48 percent of U.S. adults said they did not believe spending their checks will help. About 45 percent think it will.
Personally, 20-year-old Whitley Jones of Columbus said the check will soothe her current financial situation. She's not sure if and how much she will be receiving. But if she does, Jones already knows what she will be using the money for.
"This," she said, gesturing to her 15-month-old son.
The money would go toward clothes for him. Jones is also expecting twin girls in August, so the cash will be used to buy cribs, clothes and other baby necessities.
"If it comes, it's definitely going to help," said the Circle K customer service representative. "Any extra money right now will help."
A vacation to Orlando's Universal Studios in early June is in the cards for Brian Smith, a single Phenix City resident who looks to receive $600 from the government. But don't think it's an exorbitant trip -- he plans to stay with friends to cut costs.
Like many, Smith, 28, a business analyst at TSYS, doesn't think the rebate checks will actually give the nation a financial and emotional boost. The reality is that prices of food, gas and services have gone up sharply and continue to climb.
The stimulus effort is simply a "patch," he said, describing his outlook for the economy as "bleak."
"It's like everyday you turn your TV on and gas has gone up and food has gone up and your services have gone up," he said. "Everyday it's just more and more money that people are having to pay out."
Depressing?
"It is," he said.
To see more of the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.ledger-enquirer.com. Copyright (c) 2008, Columbus Ledger-Enquirer, Ga. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.
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