If you got a check in the mail today for $3000, what would you do with it? There are no strings attached. You aren't going to activate some strange credit card, or committ to buy a pack of llamas in Chile. It's just a free $3000. Let's also assume that you don't need the money to pay your monthly mortgage or car payment. Would you buy that massive Plasma TV on Costco? Would you donate it to your church? Would you invest it for the future?

I hope you are able to come up with some sort of thing to spend this money on. Because if you can't, then you are probably going to have a problem with the real $3000 that you get every year. I believe that most families, that make $70,000 per year, waste at least $3000 per year by not accounting for their spending. This means that if your make more than $70k, then you probably waste a lot more than $3k.

We have a bad habit of only seeing chunks of money. We don't look for the small pieces of money, which actually add up to a large chunk of money. What are you going to do with your $3000?

Disclaimer: Pete the Planner is not sending you a $3000 check. I would, but...