I have probably about $800 extra coming on tomorrow's paycheck, and I've no idea what to do with it! Rather, I've got a lot of ideas, but don't know which is best.

1. Use $105 to pay for the IIA INS-22 test. This actually has some potential for return. I will be reimbursed upon completion of the test for the $105, but if I pass with a score above 70 (something I better do anyway, for my own inner over-achiever's sake) I'll also get a $200 bonus a few paychecks later. This seems like something I should do for the money, but also because it shows initiative and will look good if I post for sup intern later.

2. Put it in my laughably small emergency fund. My goal is to have at least 3 but closer to 6 months worth of expenses in an emergency fund. If I weren't working for a while, I can shut off internet (the horrors!!), cell phone, and cut way back on energy usage, so I wouldn't need as much per month as my normal monthly expenses currently are. If it's an emergency of the likes of trees falling on my house or my basement flooding or something, I'd rather have more money to put towards that. The $1000 I have in the fund now is also earmarked for annual expenses when they come up. That will be changing a little though as I am actually going to PLAN for those ahead of time now, and setting 1/12 of the annual costs aside each month. I have a problem with just waiting until my car insurance is due, then putting it on my credit card, then just paying that. I'd rather have the money waiting in the wings to just pay for it outright and be done until the next payment.

Biggest problem I have right now with my emergency fund is that it's in a savings account that earns 2.25% APY, and I think it could do better elsewhere, I'm just not sure where yet.

3. Keep it in my checking account. I have an account that earns 5.5% APY, which is great, but I'm afraid if it's in there, it'll slowly dwindle to nothing. One of the things I have to do to keep that interest rate is use my debit card 12 times/month. If it weren't for that, I'd just use the account more as a savings account, and just take out $400/month for groceries and gas. I'm still trying to figure out a way to limit my spending in those two areas but still be able to get to the 12 required debits.

4. Put it towards my student loan with the highest interest rate, which is at 6.8% currently. I like this idea, although I wish that I were able to pay off more of the loan (like, pay it off completely!). I know this will help out in the long run, and it'll be so awesome to not have to pay for any loans except my mortgage. It just doesn't have a very big emotional impact to do pay down this loan partially, vs the other options listed above.

Ah, quien lo sabe? nadie lo sabe....