CHICAGO—The first of the much-anticipated U.S. tax rebate checks have been sent to consumers with the aim of boosting the ailing U.S. economy.
Reuters journalists talked to Americans around the country in recent days to find out what people plan to do with their checks from Uncle Sam—spend, save or use them to pay down bills.
Below is a selection of comments made by consumers on what they would do with their tax rebates.
"I will almost certainly save it," Courtney Hancock said outside a shopping center in the Buckhead section of Atlanta. "At this point there isn't anything that I've been waiting to buy." Her expected $600 rebate check will likely be used for a bigger purchase later, she said.
Brett Hatz, who was loading gifts from an Atlanta Toys 'R Us store into his SUV, said he isn't expecting to get a rebate check but thinks people who do receive them will pay down debt. "I think most people are starting to realize that things are going to get tight," he said.
Lisa Hasson, 39, free-lance pianist and mother of twin, 2-year-old boys in Cincinnati. "I'm probably just putting it in a savings account—holding onto it for the summer. Lean living for lean times," said Hasson with a laugh.
Ava Lee, 34, has been out of work in Los Angeles since December and says she'll use her rebate check to pay for "necessary expenses" like food and gas.
"I'd use mine for everyday spending. I would not go out and say, 'Ooh! I have extra money'," said Lee, who has turned off her heat and air conditioning to keep expenses down. "We're in such uncertain times, economically," she added.
In the Chicago suburb of Downers Grove, Illinois, Mike and Carol Millhouse recently moved into their newly constructed house with their kindergarten-age twins, Matthew and Genevieve. "We have a new house, so it will be spent on something for that, maybe landscaping," said Carol Millhouse.
Mark LeGrand, 45, a free-lance production assistant in Los Angeles said he would put his money into a retirement savings account.
"I think the economy is going to tank," LeGrand said. "I feel the message we're getting is 'Things are OK' and there's no way it can be. People have purchased so much on credit. I know so many friends are extended. We're living in a house of cards."
"I'm excited about my rebate check. It will make a huge difference. I'll be using the money for home improvements," said Cindy Shea, a 45-year-old single mother from Edmond, Oklahoma.
Sarah Ortiz of Houston said she decided early on to use the tax rebate to pay debt. "I'm trying to get down to one credit card. They say we're in a credit-crunch," said Ortiz, who works for the Houston Public Library.
Daniel Pillow of Houston said he planned to use his tax rebate to pay his American Express bill, but admitted he'd already used the card to buy some extra clothes in anticipation of getting a government check. "I may have spent a little bit, knowing that I was going to get a check," said Pillow, an employee of the Houston Public Library system.
Morgan Lawson, 58, works at the Time-Life Building in New York supervising newspaper deliveries.
"The likelihood of saving it is slim," he said, saying prices seem to be rising across the board.
Instead, he thinks he will have to spend it on necessities, like food and higher energy prices, and clothes for his two children, a 4-year-old boy and 12-year-old girl.
"It sure doesn't hurt," to get the extra cash, he said, "But, it's not a huge boost"
Mitch Dean, 21, an actor who works at the J Crew store in Rockefeller Center in Manhattan.
"I'm going to use it on rent," he said of his rebate. His rent is $775. He is not sure how much he is getting as a rebate but it will not cover his full rent payment.
Nick Eilerman, 22, a film director, who lives in Hartford, Connecticut, said his rebate will probably go toward fuel and his coffee drinking habit.
Eilerman said he had just spent a month working in Pittsburgh without a car and when he returned to Hartford he found gasoline prices had jumped 25 cents a gallon.
"I almost had a heart attack" he said.
Sergio Rivas, a computer network administrator from Hialeah, Florida, said he would put his rebate toward a deposit on a new apartment.
He said he's looking for "something a little bit bigger, hopefully with some kind of patio."
Liz Collins of Katy, Texas, said she wanted to use her tax money to travel to New Jersey to see her sister renew her wedding vows.
"I haven't seen her in eight years. This really will allow me to go," said Collins who was selling purses and jewelry in a downtown Houston office building on Monday.
Paula Goehe, 61, retired administrative assistant in Indiana: "I'm sorry to tell you I'm not going to spend it. We need the money for retirement. We've been retired four or five years and we spent a lot to put our children through college, so we'll be saving it—even though there is no interest at all."
Kelley Hussung, 25, secretary and single mom to Lincoln, 3, in Indiana: "What aren't we going to do with it! It's going to help us pay for his day-care and pay off some medical bills," said Hussung, who pays $80 a week for her son's day-care.
"With the gas prices and food, everything is going up, and this country is in a recession. We need it." Hussung, a supporter of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama and campaign volunteer, also said she'll give some of the tax rebate to Obama's campaign.
Dana Bulan, a teacher who lives in Chicago, said she will use her $300 rebate check to pay for her regular tennis lessons and won't bother trying to save it.
"It's such a small amount of money, it's not worth, I think, trying to put it someplace else," Bulan said.
John Barker, 57, who installs swimming pools for the "super-rich" in the St. Louis area, said that although his business had not been affected by slowing U.S. economic growth, spiraling costs meant he had few plans for his rebate check.
"I'll put it into my checking account and no doubt it will go for gas or food," he said in the parking lot of a branch of Bank of America on the outskirts of St Louis. "Looking at the price of oil, I think I'll need it to fill up my truck."
Caleb Freeman, 23, a recent MBA graduate from Eastern Illinois University in Charleston, Illinois, said he'd love to use the rebate for a new pair of boots but has too many bills to pay.
"I'll use that check and money I got from family and friends for graduation to pay down my credit card bills," he said.
Amanda Burger, 46, was filling up her minivan with gasoline at the Phillips 66 gas station in Gibson City, a town of under 4,000 people in rural Illinois. She lives near Gibson City but works in retail in Champaign, Illinois, an 80-mile round trip every day by car.
When asked what she would do with her rebate check she pointed at the pump, where the price for a gallon of regular gasoline showed $3.55.
"You see that? That's where my check is going," she said. "Don't think I'm ungrateful, I don't mind the extra money. But $600 won't stimulate my economy much."
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