How to Save Up to $13,000 Instantly

What would you do with an extra $13,000?

According to an article from Buzzfeed, here are a few things you could do with $13,000 (the article is over five years old, but it will get you thinking):

• fly from Singapore to San Francisco in suite class, which Singapore Airlines describes as better than first class; you get own private room, as shown in the photo above
• A three-bedroom, one-bathroom house in Detroit, Michigan (I think I’ll pass)
• A Tiffany & Co.’s “Tiffany Setting” one-carat engagement ring, and still have $2,000 left over to send to your favorite blogger
• 8 days at the St. Regis Resort in Bora Bora (I assume that includes nights as well…)
• 20 tickets on a five-day Disney Cruise to the Western Caribbean (I’d probably bring Bruce and the E Street Band with me)
• 98 round-trip flights from Los Angeles to Las Vegas on Southwest (but then you would have nothing left to gamble with)
• 237 pairs of Chuck Taylor sneakers (maybe you could do an ASMR video with each pair)
• 137 pairs of Warby Parker prescription glasses (well actually 274 glasses if you count the ones they give away for free for each one you buy)
• 83 years of the standard plan from Netflix
• one t-shirt from the Villanova bookstore (not in the Buzzfeed article)

Hopefully, something on that list captured your interest, and now you’re wondering how to get the funds to pay for such fantasies.

It’s actually pretty easy; all you have to do is not be stupid.

The Transportation Security Administration said in a news release today that 4,239 firearms were discovered in carry-on bags at airport checkpoints across the country last year, about a seven percent increase nationally in firearms at airports. In addition, of those 4,230 firearms, 86 percent of them were loaded and nearly 34 percent had a bullet in the chamber!

Travelers who bring firearms to the checkpoint face criminal charges and fines. Even if a traveler has a concealed weapon permit, firearms are not permitted to be carried onto an airplane but can be in checked bags if they follow TSA guidelines. The TSA has the authority to assess fines of up to $13,000. A typical first offense for carrying a handgun into a checkpoint is $3,900.

I’m not really sure why people are carrying loaded firearms onto an airplane, but if you are thinking about doing so, just take a look at the list above and dream about what you could do with the $13,000 you might save if you just left your gun at home, or better yet, had it melted into a garden tool.