<prompt> Human: My wifes parents entered her in a sweepstakes for a 5000 towards the materials for a kitchen upgrade, and all labor is provided for free. Wonderful! ... except in order to do the job right, it will cost us. the house is 80 yrs old, and the kitchen is in horrid shape, We met with the folks, and between cabinets, counters, flooring and other miscellaneous hardware we are looking at between 10 - 15k perhaps even as high as 20 which will leave us on the hook for up to 10k out of pocket to get this project done.We currently have 4k in cash savings, 4k in credit card, 12k left of a student loan, 6k left of the car loan, and we are loathe to take another loan to finance this, because our second car is on its way out.I have 37k saved up in an IRA that has taken me 15 years to get to this point.We are considering loaning ourselves the 10k, and setting up an auto draft to pay ourselves back over the next 2 or 3 years.I have read the never touch your IRA advice, but because this will add so much value to the home, and it is an opportunity of a lifetime to address serious issues in the kitchen that will allow us to live easier as well.Thoughts?  <response>: This is certainly not what you want to hear, but it sounds like you cant really afford this right now. Why are you carrying 4k in credit card debt?Id hardly call a contest Are you sure this isnt a promotional gimmick? that requires you going 20k further into debt the opportunity of a lifetime. 