QUOTES: Consumers comment on Bush tax rebate

CHICAGO (Reuters) - The first of the much-anticipated tax rebate checks have been sent to consumers with the aim of boosting the ailing U.S. economy.

Reuters journalists talked to Americans around the country in recent days to find out what people plan to do with their checks from Uncle Sam -- spend, save or use them to pay down bills.

Below is a selection of comments made by consumers on what they would do with their tax rebates.

"I will almost certainly save it," Courtney Hancock said outside a shopping center in the Buckhead section of Atlanta. "At this point there isn't anything that I've been waiting to buy." Her expected $600 rebate check will likely be used for a bigger purchase later, she said.

Brett Hatz, who was loading gifts from an Atlanta Toys 'R Us store into his SUV, said he isn't expecting to get a rebate check but thinks people who do receive them will pay down debt. "I think most people are starting to realize that things are going to get tight," he said.

Lisa Hasson, 39, free-lance pianist and mother of twin, 2-year-old boys in Cincinnati. "I'm probably just putting it in a savings account -- holding onto it for the summer. Lean living for lean times," said Hasson with a laugh.

Ava Lee, 34, has been out of work in Los Angeles since December and says she'll use her rebate check to pay for "necessary expenses" like food and gas.

"I'd use mine for everyday spending. I would not go out and say, 'Ooh! I have extra money'," said Lee, who has turned off her heat and air conditioning to keep expenses down. "We're in such uncertain times, economically," she added.

In the Chicago suburb of Downers Grove, Illinois, Mike and Carol Millhouse recently moved into their newly constructed house with their kindergarten-age twins, Matthew and Genevieve. "We have a new house, so it will be spent on something for that, maybe landscaping," said Carol Millhouse.

Mark LeGrand, 45, a free-lance production assistant in Los Angeles said he would put his money into a retirement savings account.

"I think the economy is going to tank," LeGrand said. "I feel the message we're getting is 'Things are OK' and there's no way it can be. People have purchased so much on credit. I know so many friends are extended. We're living in a house of cards."

"I'm excited about my rebate check. It will make a huge difference. I'll be using the money for home improvements," said Cindy Shea, a 45-year-old single mother from Edmond, Oklahoma.

Sarah Ortiz of Houston said she decided early on to use the tax rebate to pay debt. "I'm trying to get down to one credit card. They say we're in a credit-crunch," said Ortiz, who works for the Houston Public Library.

Daniel Pillow of Houston said he planned to use his tax rebate to pay his American Express bill, but admitted he'd already used the card to buy some extra clothes in anticipation of getting a government check. "I may have spent a little bit, knowing that I was going to get a check," said Pillow, an employee of the Houston Public Library system.

Morgan Lawson, 58, works at the Time-Life Building in New York supervising newspaper deliveries.

"The likelihood of saving it is slim," he said, saying prices seem to be rising across the board.