By all estimations (and the IRS website), my husband and I should have received our economic stimulus check direct-deposited into our account yesterday. So far, my bank balance hasn’t changed.

Regardless of when the money shows up, here’s my quandary: I’m uncertain how I’m going to spend that money. In fact, I’m a bit annoyed that it’s assumed that I will spend the money at all. I realize that the reason the government is issuing these checks is to stimulate the economy, but I feel a bit like a sheep cowering inside the fence, with retail wolves waiting with forks and knives at the ready to dig in to my money.

According to a National Retail Federation (NRF) survey, these checks should bring $43 million into our stagnating economy–with four out of 10 families spending the checks immediately. The rest? Here’s what people will be doing with those rebate checks: “to pay down debt ($30.0 billion), saved ($19.8 billion), invested ($4.4 billion), and used to pay down medical bills ($4.6 billion),” so says the NRF.

From what I can see in the news, retailers are jockeying for position to get their share of our rebate checks like those aforementioned wolves. I just found out that ShopRite will give you a 10% “bonus” if you cash your stimulus check at the store and redeem it for ShopRite gift cards. In other words, if you get a $1,200 check and bring it to ShopRite, you’ll get a ShopRite gift card worth $1,320. The store will offer a similar deal if you bring in a regular old tax refund check.

Not a bad idea if you’d like a little extra help buying your groceries but not completely fair–we get our tax refund checks direct deposited into our checking account. I’m assuming the stimulus check will show up the same way. So what’s a direct-deposited family to do? Bring in a bank statement for the same deal?

Other retailers that aren’t interested in getting into the stimulus check-cashing business are “coincidentally” dropping their prices in hopes that you’ll come in with your check and shop. This CNN story tells how Home Depot is going after “green” consumers by offering discounts on energy-efficient supplies purchased with an economic-stimulus check. Hmm, that’s might be worth looking into…

Truthfully, we will probably fall into one of two categories once we have our check in hand–or in our bank account: we’ll use it to pay down debt (we’re so close to being able to pay off that new car we bought last summer) or will just roll it over into savings.

What about you? What are you considering doing with your stimulus check?