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Yeah, there's a lot of things missing from that picture, like what your net income is instead of gross, what your total expenses are, what your minimum payments are, and what the interest rate is on the student loan balance. However, even without knowing any of that, assuming that your situation is unmarried with no kids you shouldn't have any problem paying off < $8,000 in credit card debt in a few months with your current income level. You should have at least $1500 left a month, even more if you're even slightly frugal, which would knock out your debt very easily. I don't think you need to worry about reducing your student loan payment to do that, though if you can I don't see why not. If you don't have $1500 left a month then that might be a sign as to why you're in credit card debt.
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Oct 26, 2012 22:38
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| # ? May 27, 2024 01:09 |
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What are the nice things you value? Would you consider "Eat out one night less per week" living like a slave?
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Oct 26, 2012 22:40
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Abel Wingnut posted:- You value doing nice things and don't want to enslave yourself to paying this off. "I like expensive things, but I don't want to actually pay for or earn them!" That's not how life works if you don't want to be in debt.
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Oct 26, 2012 22:47
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Until this month I was paying nearly $1300 in rent and utilities. I have no savings. $55000 is what I make untaxed. I take home about $1550 biweekly, which comes out to $40300 annually, $3358 monthly. I am single without dependents. I was managing to pay if off quite well until I had to move, buy furniture, etc. Now I have to move again which is taking the wind out of my sails once more, but it won't be nearly as bad as the first. I also pay $104 per month on a subway card. So from what I can tell, $3358 - $104 - $950 = $2304 left for paying off debt and living. I guess it was just the last four months of moving and not being settled that made me post this. I should be able to portion half of that into debt repayment and living. I realize I'm bad at this but that's why I'm asking for help. In an effort to make your time at least somewhat worthwhile, is there a way to cut down on any of these interest rates? abelwingnut fucked around with this message at 22:50 on Oct 26, 2012 |
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Oct 26, 2012 22:47
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Buying sandwich stuff at the grocery store would probably save you at least $50 to start off. Also, what are you fixed expenses? Cell phone, insurances etc. Make a list of everything you buy for the next month. Look at this list and tell us how much of is it stupid spending. Cut the stupid spending and put it towards debt. Start saving money in an emergency fund (6 months of fixed expenses if heaven forbid something happens and you cannot work).
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Oct 26, 2012 22:54
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Abel Wingnut posted:So from what I can tell, $3358 - $104 - $950 = $2304 left for paying off debt and living. I guess it was just the last four months of moving and not being settled that made me post this. I should be able to portion half of that into debt repayment and living. This may fly in the face of standard BFC advice of maximizing your repayments, but I think $1150-$1200 towards your debt per month is perfectly reasonable as long as you stick with it. Cutting off everything enjoyable in your life doesn't help anyone. However, debt is the price that current you is paying for past you's fun, and the piper will be paid. So make sure you pay him and don't let yourself slide from your goal. Instead of saying "I should be able to" say "I will". That's the best way to make progress.
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Oct 26, 2012 23:06
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Abel Wingnut posted:You are me and you want to be debt free as soon as possible. Here's your situation: If you make minimum payments on all that debt and never accelerate the schedule, you're looking at paying this off for 10 years. During which time you can expect to pay ~120% the current balance of your credit card debt in interest alone. You've signed up $10k of your future earnings to service the interest on the credit card debt alone if you don't hit it aggressively. So you're in trouble, but you probably already knew that. As it stands right now, 11% of your take-home pay is going towards servicing your debt. You are paying 11% of your income every single day to keep collectors from harassing you and repo-men from barging in and taking away your mattress and couch or whatever. You are taking a $100 bill and setting it on fire every 8 days. I think you see my point. This exercise should take you 10 minutes. Do you pay for everything with a bank card? Go to your bank website and export all that into Excel for the last 6 months. Go through the list and add a new column for categorizing. Put categories in like grocery, transportation, entertainment, restaurant, etc (don't go overboard, 8 or 9 categories should do it). Add a column and put in the calendar month of these spends. Make a pivot table (look it up online if you don't know how) and look at your spending. You'll see your spends aggregated by category each month. I bet you'll be surprised at where your money is going, and you'll see things like spending $400/month on restaurants or $900 over the last 6 months on Amazon. That's a good starting point, as people tend to grossly underestimate how much they spend if they aren't tracking it.
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Oct 26, 2012 23:28
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reflex posted:Buying sandwich stuff at the grocery store would probably save you at least $50 to start off.
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Oct 26, 2012 23:55
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Nocheez posted:My wife and I married last June, and have never fully merged finances. We keep a similar amount in our respective accounts. I pay the bills, she pays for groceries and eating out. This past year, she's been paying for her college tuition, so we've maintained an almost equal amount in our accounts. My wife and I have two accounts, one is "mine" and one is "hers" but both are technically joint accounts - I have access to hers to transfer whatever, and she has access to mine to transfer whatever. It is functionally identical to one big pot of money but still has a fine veneer of "his" and "hers" that is a bit easier to digest at first.
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Oct 27, 2012 04:47
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A hundred bucks for a month of subs is an awesome deal and I would gladly pay it.
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Oct 27, 2012 04:54
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Hey Brasky I think you're looking for TCC
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Oct 27, 2012 04:56
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Hey Brasky I think you're looking for the kinky sex A/T thread
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Oct 27, 2012 06:13
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Not sure if this is the right place to ask, sorry if it's not. Whats a good resource to learn more about making extra money in a side job or side business?
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Oct 27, 2012 20:58
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I've found Ramit Sethi's blog to be a great resource for trying to break into a new job on the side. He does come across as a little pushy at times but he gives great advice.
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Oct 27, 2012 22:00
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So what's the deal lately with stores trying to turn check card transactions into a debit transaction rather than a credit transaction? For months now every time my fiancee pays with her check card it immediately asks for her PIN, then she has to hit cancel and then choose credit. Who thought this was a good idea?
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Oct 27, 2012 22:57
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I've always assumed it was because the merchant pays less for debit transactions than for credit.
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Oct 28, 2012 02:10
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Initio posted:I've always assumed it was because the merchant pays less for debit transactions than for credit. This is why. Also, merchants can't ask for your ID when you use your card, or to refuse to run credit unless your purchase is above a certain amount. Technically speaking, as in the agreement fine print with Visa/MC.
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Oct 28, 2012 02:20
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FISHMANPET posted:So what's the deal lately with stores trying to turn check card transactions into a debit transaction rather than a credit transaction? For months now every time my fiancee pays with her check card it immediately asks for her PIN, then she has to hit cancel and then choose credit. Are you not able to use a PIN for credit transactions in the US(presuming thats where you are)? How odd.
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Oct 28, 2012 02:48
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Devious_05 posted:Are you not able to use a PIN for credit transactions in the US(presuming thats where you are)? How odd. I don't know about America, but you can't in Australia. They'll be starting it in 2013. I can only use half my credit cards from Australia online because I never bothered to learn the PIN for them before coming back to Canada.
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Oct 28, 2012 02:56
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You can use a PIN for credit transactions in Australia, it's the only way I ever do it.
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Oct 28, 2012 13:30
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Devious_05 posted:Are you not able to use a PIN for credit transactions in the US(presuming thats where you are)? How odd. Yeah we haven't moved over to that yet in the US.
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Oct 28, 2012 14:08
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Eggplant Witch posted:Yeah we haven't moved over to that yet in the US. I've stopped using my debit card since they've made the move here. Reward points!
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Oct 28, 2012 15:54
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PRADA SLUT posted:This is why. This has changed due to recent legislation (Dodd-Frank). Merchants can now set set up to a $10 minimum. They weren't supposed to before, but some did anyways. They can ask to see your ID, but you don't have to show it to them.
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Oct 29, 2012 18:11
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FISHMANPET posted:So what's the deal lately with stores trying to turn check card transactions into a debit transaction rather than a credit transaction? For months now every time my fiancee pays with her check card it immediately asks for her PIN, then she has to hit cancel and then choose credit. The answer is simple. The merchant pays about 15 cents in interchange fees for a PIN based transaction, they pay about 2% for a signature based transaction. Merchants and banks are locked in perpetual war about this, and for what it's worth, merchants scored a victory with Dodd/Frank. Each side likes to say it is for the little guy. Merchants put forth the mom and pop corner, the financial industry the little credit union, but really it is Bank of America vs. Walmart.
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Oct 29, 2012 19:57
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kaishek posted:My wife and I have two accounts, one is "mine" and one is "hers" but both are technically joint accounts - I have access to hers to transfer whatever, and she has access to mine to transfer whatever. It is functionally identical to one big pot of money but still has a fine veneer of "his" and "hers" that is a bit easier to digest at first. Thanks for posting this. I think she and I should probably have a talk about doing thing, in case one of us should need access in an emergency to the other's account.
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Oct 29, 2012 21:53
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Looking for a little advice on when/how much to pay off student loan debt. Currently my debts are as follows: -$38,000 @6.8% Federal Student loans ($600 monthly) -$4,500 @2.0% Discover Private loan ($50 monthly) -$11,000 @5.0% auto loan ($358 monthly) -$0 credit card debt ______________ $53,500 total debt Plus I've got rent ($1180), utilities ($120), parking ($100), and car/renter's insurance ($70), bring my total monthly obligations to ~$2,400 a month. I live by myself in an apartment in Baltimore. I had been living month-to-month with a couple paying a flat $800/month (utils included) but was robbed at gunpoint at my backdoor in early September and decided I needed to move someplace safer (and on short notice, an apartment was my only feasible option). I bring home about $5,000/month after tax after contributions of 6% pre-tax and 2% post-tax and medical/dental insurance, for a net income of $2,600. I just (like in October) started using a pre-paid debit card to help reign in some of my spending. Last month I put $750 on it to use for food, gas, alcohol, restaurants, and any other spending and still had to use my credit card for about $150 extra, leaving me with about $1,400 left over to save. I currently have about $6,200 in mutual funds, $19,500 in savings, and $6,300 in checking. My questions are: 1)I feel like >$30,000 in relatively liquid assets is a lot, but then if I am spending $2400 before I even breathe each month, I only have about 12 months saved and not much room to curb those monthly payments should anything happen to my job. As my savings is sitting at 0.8%, and my highest student loan is at 6.8%, do I have enough saved to pay down some student loan debt, and if so, how much? 2) Is $750/month realistic for a person to spend for necessities + fun? I realize this is a very subjective question, but it was honestly pretty hard to keep it at $750 (as evidenced by my not actually being able to do that), but BFC is great at wake-up calls, so do I need one? I can go into further details on the spending if needed. The Agent fucked around with this message at 03:46 on Oct 30, 2012 |
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Oct 30, 2012 03:44
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I just got an offer for a job with a really amazing deferred compensation plan. I'm not allowed to contribute; the company pays in 25% of my salary per year (fully vested after 6 years). I already have 6-9 months of emergency savings. What percentage of my take-home pay should I put into long-term savings?
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Oct 30, 2012 04:02
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Large Hardon Collider posted:I just got an offer for a job with a really amazing deferred compensation plan. I'm not allowed to contribute; the company pays in 25% of my salary per year (fully vested after 6 years). I already have 6-9 months of emergency savings. What percentage of my take-home pay should I put into long-term savings? Who manages the plan? Is it held independently in trust? Or is it a company asset that could be raided in a bankruptcy? If you're satisfied with the integrity of the plan, I'd go with 0%.
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Oct 30, 2012 04:18
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Large Hardon Collider posted:I just got an offer for a job with a really amazing deferred compensation plan. I'm not allowed to contribute; the company pays in 25% of my salary per year (fully vested after 6 years). I already have 6-9 months of emergency savings. What percentage of my take-home pay should I put into long-term savings? However much you can? There's no reason not to.
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Oct 30, 2012 04:26
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Thanks for the advise re: joint accounts. I think we're going to do it that way, seems simpler and I can't really think of any reason not to. We'll just make sure to disclose any purchases >$100 or something.
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Oct 30, 2012 15:35
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The Agent posted:My questions are: If I were in your shoes, the non-student debt would be gone today and I'd start planning an early payoff date for the student loans. Good news: you're only $23,000 in the hole net and you have a great income. Don't turn into a hardass on your spending overnight. Your wakeup call doesn't need to be a bucket of cold water. Spend a few months tracking where your money goes (and I mean every dollar) and you'll know where you can cut back without starving yourself. It's hard to get used to but it will really open your eyes. Read the tuyop thread for fun and examples of what not to do.
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Oct 30, 2012 15:40
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Nocheez posted:Thanks for posting this. I think she and I should probably have a talk about doing thing, in case one of us should need access in an emergency to the other's account. That was basically why we did that - if I need extra money to pay a bill or something, I can go raid her account (with notice). AndrewP posted:Thanks for the advise re: joint accounts. I think we're going to do it that way, seems simpler and I can't really think of any reason not to. We'll just make sure to disclose any purchases >$100 or something. We also talked about the disclosure thing but it has proved to be a surprising non-issue. When you live with someone, if you aren't actively trying to hide stuff, transparency kind of happens on its own. It helps that neither of us are big stuff-buyers, so major purchases occur infrequently.
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Oct 31, 2012 00:21
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Harry posted:However much you can? There's no reason not to. Fraternite posted:Who manages the plan? Is it held independently in trust? Or is it a company asset that could be raided in a bankruptcy?  This is my first job out of college. I think I'll put 5-10% or so towards savings, if only to get into the habit. Thanks.
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Oct 31, 2012 03:01
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You should be putting as much as possible away. Sure, you vest after 6 years...but what happens if you get laid off, switch jobs, etc? You don't want your sole (or prime) saving path to become invalid. At a minimum, you should be maxing out an IRA (preferably ROTH IRA) every year. If you have supplementary 401(k) benefits, you should be getting whatever you can out of that, as well. Obviously, its up to you, but I'll tell you what I'm shooting for. My wife and I are currently putting 17% of our gross income into savings (Roth, 401k) while working on paying down student debt (max both our Roths, getting full match from employer 401k). When loans are 100% paid down, we'll be working to put no less than 20% into long term savings. Granted, that's just my future-paranoid perspective...
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Oct 31, 2012 04:07
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Large Hardon Collider posted:Glad to see a consensus I think this board really puts too much emphasis on the 6 month emergency fund being the only thing you need. You're eventually going to want/need more money outside of that.
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Oct 31, 2012 04:13
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Harry posted:I think this board really puts too much emphasis on the 6 month emergency fund being the only thing you need. You're eventually going to want/need more money outside of that. That's true for 95% of the people coming in here, because they have enormous amounts of debt they need to start paying down. It would be pretty foolish to be maxing out your Roth IRA while paying carrying a $10k balance on a 25% APR credit card. For those who don't have unmanageable debt and are cash flow positive, save up money for a house or island or whatever.
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Oct 31, 2012 06:24
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canyoneer posted:For those who don't have unmanageable debt and are cash flow positive, save up money for a house or island or whatever. This. Why the hell would you put away more than 30% of your income away for 6 years for no good reason? 25% is more than enough to save for retirement, and the rest is money that should be used to enjoy life. You don't get to take it with you, believe it or not. Edit: I mean, seriously -- this guy is putting about half of his after-tax income into this plan. How exactly does anyone justify arguing that he should save more? How many of you dump half of your paycheque into something like that? 25% is plenty. Fraternite fucked around with this message at 07:57 on Oct 31, 2012 |
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Oct 31, 2012 07:48
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Fraternite posted:Why the hell would you put away more than 30% of your income away for 6 years ... You would do this if you 1) still had a comfortable lifestyle while saving 30% of your gross and 2) wanted to retire at 50. Daeus fucked around with this message at 08:27 on Oct 31, 2012 |
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Oct 31, 2012 08:24
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Fraternite posted:This. To retire early, to limit the need to work, because spending money doesn't necessary equate to "enjoying life".
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Oct 31, 2012 12:05
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Fraternite posted:This. Who says he will still be there in 6 years? Whose says the company will still be around in 6 years?
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Oct 31, 2012 12:31
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