At a dinner with friends last week, the conversation turned to dog cloning. Yes, you read that right, dog cloning. A friend had read an article about an Ontario man who is cloning his 20 year old pet for the nominal fee of $50,000 US! Of course, me being the money guy I am, respond with “I can think of quite a few better things to do with $50,000!” and here we are now.

Top 3 Things I Would Do With $50,000

Down payment on a house

Since Stephanie and I graduated, our number one goal was to become debt free as soon as possible. We purchased one new car to share and tackled that debt and student loans as aggressively as we could. Further information on that story can be found in a previous blog. Once we got debt-free we began saving for a down payment as best we could while balancing Stephanie going on maternity leave and the increased expenses with our son, Elliott. Now we’ve got a family, two full incomes again, and this $50,000 would help us get into our dream home a little quicker.

Host a family reunion

Many people know that family time is high on my priority list. Many also know that our family is currently spread all over the world. My sister and brother in law with their four kids live in British Columbia, my in-laws live in California, and one of Steph’s sisters is currently teaching in Japan. My parents are still local. The last time we were all together was over five years ago at our wedding in California. I may be a little biased in saying that it was the most fun week of our lives, but I’m certain everyone had a really great time together. At the end of the week, there were jokes about having an anniversary reunion 5 or 10 years in the future, so with $50,000, I’d make this happen.

Donate, invest, and play!

This one is pretty self-explanatory. I don’t get fulfillment from owning “things”. I do get fulfillment from donating to causes that are close to my heart. I’ve volunteered on the Relay for Life committee board at the Canadian Cancer Society, and I would certainly donate even more to this great charity. I’d invest a 1/3 in the stock market, then play with the last 1/3. Take a trip to Disneyland, go see a Toronto Raptors game courtside – stuff like that.

What would you do with $50,000? Feel free to leave a comment on our Facebook page. I’m always curious what other people would do. Maybe you’ll inspire an idea for someone else? Thanks for reading.