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Starting a new job in two weeks. Questions:
Sovi3t fucked around with this message at 15:48 on Jul 9, 2014 |
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May 19, 2010 04:58
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| # ? Apr 24, 2024 17:32 |
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If you want to buy a house for 100k , put $1500 a month in your savings account for the next 2 years or so and then try to find a cheap house while maintaining a large emergency fund. That said, Citi gave me a CC with a decently high limit when I had no credit too. Pillowpants fucked around with this message at 12:26 on May 19, 2010 |
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May 19, 2010 12:24
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Do you guys know of any good personal finance podcasts? I like Dave Ramsey but I don't appreciate his political rants.
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May 20, 2010 07:08
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CelestialScribe posted:Do you guys know of any good personal finance podcasts? I like Dave Ramsey but I don't appreciate his political rants. edit: nm
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May 21, 2010 16:29
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So I've put some thought into stuff and decided I don't want to do the masters I previously mentioned. Instead I'm going to go back to school completely and get a doctorate of pharmacy which at least in my area pays about 100k+ per year. After talking to this girl I work with who is going to medical school who seems kind of obsessed with money she makes it seem reasonable to just do this all on student loans/financial aid. So I'll lay it out again for goon input. I think it will cost me roughly 30k per year in tuition and living expenses to do this degree, taking 4 years. 3 if I go to a certain school but I don't think I'm into that option. It will cost roughly an extra 15k plus moving expenses if I have to go out of state as I'd have to pay non-resident for the first year. I'm looking to go to UT Austin, which is about 15k a year in tuition, so about 15k to live on. 30k at 4 years is 120k just for my pharm.d. In addition to my current debt of about 26k in student loans 13k car and 1.7k credit card (I didn't pay it off because I was re-evaluating what I wanted to do). So thats the back story. It will take another whole year before I can start regardless of where I'm accepted which means I can work for another year and take the 3 or 4 classes I need to meet the pre-pharmacy requirements (not to get accepted but to complete the degree) as I already have a BS. I figure I can take them at the community college. Is that enough to get the bank to deferr my student loans? I'd like to funnel the money from that into my credit card and car payment so that I can get them taken out early on into my pharm.d years. In addition I think I'd like to save a safety net of about 7-10k. I have 1300 in savings now. Which is not very close to 10k. I could say I have 5k in my checking account but thats the account I pay bills with so its not entirely accurate to say that. But 4k of it is essentially savings. So thats 5300 starting from right now. Also I know theres a financial aid thread but I need to go out and run some errands and I wanted to get some input over that the time I'm out, so just incase anyone does know, will financial aid for me include grants as they did for my first degree? the pharm.d programs while you are awarded a doctorate are sort of undergrad/professional. I have to apply as an undergrad transfer. Considering I'd be quitting my job to do this, and I'd be 26 when I started, my EFC would be 0 after my first year so would all the grants I used to get come back? What are you folks thoughts on this?
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May 23, 2010 17:45
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That's $160000 in mostly non-dischargeable debt, and nobody's going to guarantee you a six-figure job when you finish. How much do you love pharmacy? Why are you done with the MPH idea already? You seem kind of all over the place.
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May 23, 2010 18:09
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I just pulled my credit report, trimmed it down but this is the meat of it: 3 cards and a student loan, last two are recently paid off save I think ~$50. First two carry, uh, comfortable balances. I have no memory at all of where those late payments came from on my first card. I am 90% sure I wasn't ever late, and 99.999999% sure I was certainly not 30 days late. What should my first course of action be on getting this corrected, or really is it even worth worrying about?
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May 24, 2010 06:51
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Piano posted:
I always stat but mailing a dispute with the CRA as not mine/ never late regardless of what it is. You have a small chance of the OC not even responding and it getting removed anyway.
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May 24, 2010 20:19
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Can anyone help me figure out about loans? I'm 23 and one summer quarter away from graduating college. I have $24000 in student loans, $6000 in credit card debt and a credit score of 712. I make about $1200 a month currently, and in July I will start fulltime work at $4100 a month pretax. I need to find a way to get about $4000 by June 11th to pay for school this summer. I think my options are a private school loan or an unsecured loan. I checked with my school and I can't get any more federal loans this year. What I would like to do is to get a $10000 dollar loan, pay for school, and use the rest to pay of my credit card. Any suggestions on how I can get money? How should I apply for a loan? What should I watch out for? Suggestions?
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May 25, 2010 16:14
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Eurekapile posted:Can anyone help me figure out about loans? From what I've heard here in BFC, student loan debt is not discharged by bankruptcy - why would you want to take on debt that can't be erased by bankruptcy to pay off something that can (the credit card debt)? If I were you I'd pay minimums on the credit card until my situation improves (i.e. that full time job starts) and start tackling the debt. Also, have you tried applying for scholarships to cover your last quarter?
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May 25, 2010 16:41
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froglet posted:From what I've heard here in BFC, student loan debt is not discharged by bankruptcy - why would you want to take on debt that can't be erased by bankruptcy to pay off something that can (the credit card debt)? If I were you I'd pay minimums on the credit card until my situation improves (i.e. that full time job starts) and start tackling the debt. I mean, I'm planning on paying it all back. I start working full time in two months (work and classes at same time). I just need some extra money for now. Is this site legit? http://www.simpletuition.com/student_loans_home?brnd=esl Citi, salliemae, discover are listed as offering private student loans. Is there a downside to applying for something like http://www.discoverstudentloans.com/home.aspx ?
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May 25, 2010 17:04
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I would get a loan for ONLY the amount you need to pay for school. Even if the interest rate on the loan is less than your CC debt, just pay off the CC debt immediately once you begin working, then start chipping down the student loan debt.
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May 25, 2010 17:20
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Eurekapile posted:I mean, I'm planning on paying it all back. I start working full time in two months (work and classes at same time). I just need some extra money for now. Planning to pay things back is nice and all, but emergencies do happen - job loss, family death, etc. If your credit card has an exorbitant interest rate I can see why it'd be appealing, however. You would need to check with your local government about the legitimacy of such loan application websites (I'm in Australia so I wouldn't know the process of verification - I'd assume the government would list reputable lenders). If you're really wanting to follow through with your plan, however, find all the (reputable) private student loan lenders, ensure you get the best deal possible, and only borrow the amount needed for school. Also, what is the rate on your credit card? If it's a particularly disagreeable number, have you tried negotiating with them? Try calling them up and asking for a lower rate - it has been known to work! Edit: oh, and what Qaz Kwaz said. 
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May 25, 2010 17:26
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I just wanted to thank everyone in this thread for their advice a few weeks ago. After taking the thread's advice and looking at the mortgage (which I was content to just keep paying for the next 28 years), I figured out that the $40,000 settlement was almost exactly what I needed to get 20% equity and get rid of PMI. This evening we closed on a refinance into a 15-year fixed, lowering my interest rate by 2%. I kicked in the $40,000 as a principal payment and to cover closing costs. My payment went down $200/month. It's pretty exciting to think I will either own the house by the time I am 45 (vs. 58), or be in a good position to sell it much sooner than before. Thank you BFC > NPFT.
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May 26, 2010 04:42
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slap me silly posted:That's $160000 in mostly non-dischargeable debt, and nobody's going to guarantee you a six-figure job when you finish. How much do you love pharmacy? Why are you done with the MPH idea already? You seem kind of all over the place. Its kind of hard to explain. The gist of it is I want the higher pay, and I know I can do the job well and get through the program with not a lot of effort. The MPH wasn't going to get me what I wanted. The slightly longer version is I want to do overseas volunteer work and I wouldn't get there with the MPH in the capacity that I'm looking for.
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May 26, 2010 07:13
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I just graduated with my Doctorate of Pharmacy and got one of those $100,000+ jobs that was mentioned earlier. I'm set to be in a comfortable financial situation, but want to manage things properly right from the start to get the most out of my money. A vague idea of my situation is such: Debt: GradPLUS student loan: $12,750 @ 8.5% Stafford loans: $46,500 @ 6.7% No car payments or credit card debt. I do keep a credit card and put all my general purchases on it for the month, but then I pay it off at the end of the month, without exception. Income: -Tough to say so far, since I just started the job. I'm at $1548/week before taxes right now as a graduate intern, but as soon as I pass my licensing exam (probably early July) that will bump to $2322/week. Expenses: -Probably about $650/month in rent and utilities will be coming soon, as I am hunting for an apartment. -I'd like to save all summer and pay cash for a car at the end. Maybe $9,000? -Cell phone is shared with parents and is $38/month -Food/drink/fun runs me about $600/month, but I haven't done any budgeting yet and would like to get a handle on where that goes and what might need to be trimmed/increased now that I'm out on my own. Other points: -Eligible for employer health insurance in about 80 days, and I'm doing without until that time comes. -401k matching doesn't kick in until next summer, so I don't plan to do anything with that until that time. What I'd really like to know is how should I prioritize paying back those loans. I've been conditioned to avoid debt whenever possible. The loans have been a great help in getting through school, but my natural tendency is to use every spare penny I have to pay them down and avoid the interest. I know that savings and investment should probably be mixed in there somehow. I've committed to myself that I will put a minimum of 25% of my gross pay toward investments/debt/savings. How should I balance these things? I feel very fortunate to be in the situation I'm in, but I want to make sure to maximize the use of my money rather than squander it. Any advice would be much appreciated.
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May 28, 2010 02:46
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The interest on those loans is high enough that I think it makes sense to focus on them entirely, with two exceptions: set aside enough cash that you have $15k (car + emergency savings) in September, and be sure to start getting the max match on the 401k when you can. The loans will be paid off in under two years then, right? All thanks to keeping your expenses low and your car expectations reasonable. After that your tax-advantaged investment option is pretty much the 401k - I think your income takes the IRA option off the table. You will have to get clever about handling taxes. Don't ask me how because I don't make that much :)
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May 28, 2010 03:30
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I'd put together an emergency fund + CHEAP car, then put EVERYTHING towards the student loans. Don't put anything into the 401k until the match. Don't save ANYTHING (you've already got the emergency fund). Get rid of those loans while you're making good money!
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May 28, 2010 04:49
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Sovi3t posted:Just got my A.S. in Computer Science and starting a new job in two weeks.
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May 28, 2010 04:50
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illamint posted:Definitely take advantage of it. If you're good (i.e. not a wannabe CS major), your salary prospects will skyrocket with a B.S. Skyrocket. No one in my graduating class who actually got a job and isn't going to grad school is making less than $75,000. I would not say that that is a reasonable expectation for a salary out of college unless you are living in an incredibly expensive area. Even then, it's iffy.
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May 28, 2010 06:02
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Is there a difference between a loan being "withdrawn" and denied? I applied for a car loan from my very small credit union (it's a CU exclusive to my workplace, I happen to know I was their 410'th member when I joined about 6 months ago, and they've been around for many years) pretty much just out of familiarity without really expecting them to give out loans for any amount at all... for anything. I filled out the application on their website which looked like it was made in, oh, 1996. It didn't even ask me to specify which car I wanted to buy, or they year, or anything besides the loan ammount. In fact I can't remember if there was even a place to specify what the loan was for at all, lol. I filled out everything completely, and now the loan status is listed as withdrawn. When I googled it I didn't get much besides people talking about how it means they didn't even check my credit (which I would consider quite good in relation to the specifics of the loan), and it has just been denied on on their side of things. I was trying to call them but I'm not sure if anyone actually works there. I think it's a credit union robot.
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May 28, 2010 07:01
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Piano posted:Is there a difference between a loan being "withdrawn" and denied? They likely did pull your credit when you applied. When ever your credit is pulled, one of two things must happen. The first is that it can result in a loan. If it doesn’t end up with you getting a loan for any reason, then the lender must inform you in writing as to why it did not. If it was declined, they must tell you why and what credit bureau they used to make that decision. You are then entitled to a free credit report from that bureau(s). If it was approved but you decided not to act on that preapproval, it can only remain active for 30 days, at which point they may withdraw the application. No where on your credit does it specify if a particular inquiry resulted in an application that was declined, withdrawn, or is still pending. If there is an inquiry and a new tradeline appears, then other lenders can put two and two together. If they do not see a new tradeline, there is no way they can tell exactly what happened. It’s not a big deal either way.
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May 28, 2010 19:29
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Does it help my credit score to get the credit limit on my cards increased, even if I'm not going to get close to maxing it out anyway?
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May 29, 2010 16:38
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spatula posted:Does it help my credit score to get the credit limit on my cards increased, even if I'm not going to get close to maxing it out anyway? Maybe, probably. It depends. There are a number of reasons why your credit may be lower than it otherwise could. If you have lates and chargeoffs, then that is the limiting factor. Increasing your limits will have little effect. Likewise if your credit is brand new, in that case just waiting will help. Time is the limiting factor. But if you are using a good chunk of your available credit and everything else is solid, then credit utilization is the limiting factor and by increasing your limits (or paying your debt) you would see your credit pop up.
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May 29, 2010 18:17
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I'm in the Navy and we had a brief the other day which pretty much scared me shitless. You see, there apparently exists a rule in which if you have a >30% DTI you can't be deployed overseas. This gave me cause to go home and check my poo poo. 63k @ 6.5% (Student Loans) - 453/month 23k @ 5% - 475/month 12k @ 3% (Car Loan) - 263/month 6k @ ?% (Stafford Loan) - 95/month ~400 on my Star Card (for uniforms) 2 other CC paid in full. And I bring in ~4000 per month after taxes/health insurance/other deductions leaving me at what I calculated to be a 32% DTI. Right now, as it stands, I round up to 300 on the car payment, and I put an extra 600 on the big loan (which I apparently started doing a while back, and then forgot about it because now I don't have to make a payment on that loan until mid-2011). I've got to wait for the star card to pay itself off because it has a time limit between payments you can make  but it will be paid off in two months. Going off of what I have read, should I stop paying the extra amount on the big loan (gently caress me for going to an expensive school) and concentrate instead on knocking out the Stafford Loan ASAP? Ridding myself of that would get me just below 30%.
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May 30, 2010 18:01
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Just pay your debts smallest to largest, starting with the Star Card. Put ALL of your extra income towards the smallest debt, then put it towards the next biggest, and so on. When you pay off the Stafford loan you'll have an extra $95/mo towards the car loan, and then an extra $358/mo towards the 5% loan.
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May 30, 2010 19:45
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I have a Credit card that has ~7000 dollar balance on it with 13.25% APR... should I be calling them to lower the APR? is 13.25% too high? I have never missed a payment on it and am currently in the process of paying it down. I was laid off from my previous job and built this up over the course of 6 months... now have a new one, putting 1k-1.5k on the CC a month so it should be paid down by the end of the year.
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May 30, 2010 21:33
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Manawski posted:I'm in the Navy and we had a brief the other day which pretty much scared me shitless. You see, there apparently exists a rule in which if you have a >30% DTI you can't be deployed overseas. This gave me cause to go home and check my poo poo. First you should research and clarify this regulation. First, is the DTI calculated on your gross or net. You seem to be calculating it on your net. Typically lenders will use your gross. Its not that they are trying to beef up your income when the approve you for stuff, (not anymore anyway) but because gross is just so much more consistent. With net, people have different amounts taken form their taxes, some want a big refund, some don't mind paying, some contribute to 401K's some do not. If you do have to cut, I'd pay the car, even though its not the smallest. It would free up $265 in your budget, whereas the smallest would free up only $95. Don't spread debt across a lot of credit cards as all the little minimum payments of $20, $35, $25 will add up. I don't recommend this, but worst case and you have about one month to bring it down, see if you can get a credit card with a low balance transfer offer and put the car loan on it. A $12K balance on a credit card is awful, but it would have a lower minimum payment. As I said, do that only in a worst case if you had to bring down the DTI immediately because you would be playing with fire.
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May 30, 2010 22:19
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i am not zach posted:I have a Credit card that has ~7000 dollar balance on it with 13.25% APR... should I be calling them to lower the APR? is 13.25% too high? Never hurts to ask. Don't get too worried about it, since you plan on paying it off in 6 months.
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May 31, 2010 01:21
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I couldn't find any other place to post this and I looked through the thread but I can't find an answer. Why do online credit-card payoff calculators give me a different answer than my credit card statement? For example, I have a $356.23 balance on a credit card statement with 25.24% APR. The minimum payment is $16. The statement tells me if I make only the minimum payment I will pay off the balance in "about 5 years" (60 months) as is now required by the CARD act. However, every online calculator I have tried tells me it will be about 2 years (31-32 months) to pay it off. This card has no annual fees or any additional fees (I've had the account for about 8 years and have never had anything added to the balance besides purchases/interest). The 25.24% APR is the only APR on that card (there are no other rates being charged based on type of charges). What calculations do they do and what am I getting wrong? I will have this debt paid off in the next two months by the way, since I know paying the minimum is stupid especially on such a small balance. I'm just curious as to how payoff is calculated and where the inconsistency is coming from as right now 
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May 31, 2010 01:45
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antwizzle posted:I will have this debt paid off in the next two months by the way, since I know paying the minimum is stupid especially on such a small balance. I'm just curious as to how payoff is calculated and where the inconsistency is coming from as right now How does your CC company calculate the minimum? Were the calculators you used considering a sliding minimum, or a fixed amount of $16/month?
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May 31, 2010 01:47
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If the minimum payment is the smaller of 4.5% or $10, it would take just over 4 years. Think they're calculating it that way?
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May 31, 2010 01:55
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antwizzle posted:What calculations do they do and what am I getting wrong? Your credit card likely has a complicated way of figuring out finance charge, but the answer to your question is simple. As the balance (slowly) goes down, your minimum payment will go down too, which means you are paying it down even slower as time goes on if you only pay that amount.
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May 31, 2010 17:21
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Zeta Taskforce posted:First you should research and clarify this regulation. First, is the DTI calculated on your gross or net. You seem to be calculating it on your net. Typically lenders will use your gross. Its not that they are trying to beef up your income when the approve you for stuff, (not anymore anyway) but because gross is just so much more consistent. With net, people have different amounts taken form their taxes, some want a big refund, some don't mind paying, some contribute to 401K's some do not. Well holy poo poo, I never even considered gross vs. net. I'll ask around tomorrow and see if that guy can clarify those for me. If it is gross, then I guess I can just keep on plugging along with what I'm doing (Or switch over to paying off the Stafford since I could have it gone within 6 months without too much sacrifice) since I'd be well below the limit (~25% with my current pay scale)
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May 31, 2010 21:02
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Is it pointless to contribute to both a company 401k and Vanguard 401k? I was thinking of closing out my Vanguard account (~4,500) and putting it into my company account which has about 10,000 in it and just focus all my investment money into that.
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Jun 1, 2010 02:06
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LorneReams posted:I always stat but mailing a dispute with the CRA as not mine/ never late regardless of what it is. You have a small chance of the OC not even responding and it getting removed anyway. Is there a resource to look into how to do this? It seems I messed up when I thought I paid off a card over 2 years ago and left ONE DOLLAR on it, which is lookin' rather mean on my credit report.
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Jun 1, 2010 14:40
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Zeta Taskforce posted:Your credit card likely has a complicated way of figuring out finance charge, but the answer to your question is simple. As the balance (slowly) goes down, your minimum payment will go down too, which means you are paying it down even slower as time goes on if you only pay that amount. A lot of cards use a min of 10$ or 1-2% + Interest, which ever is greater.
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Jun 1, 2010 16:33
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Haven't read the whole thread (yet!) but had a few questions. I'm graduating from college and about to take my first fulltime job. -I have two credit cards/bank accounts. My first card, which I got in high-school and predominantly use, and my second card, which I got at my college bank and literally never use. My first card has a great history and a high limit. My second card has basically zero history and like a $500 limit because it is a "student" card. Should I close out the second card? Or just let it keep sitting there doing nothing? -I use my credit card like a debit card. I always pay off the entire balance each month and never have a carry-over debt. Is this bad? -I'm looking at these online banks (SmartyPig, Evantage, etc). Obviously SmartyPig is a bit different/unique, but are there any downsides or gotchas I should look out for? I've never used anything except my regional banks before. -Are there any good spreadsheets to use for budgeting? Use Quicken? I'm considering Mint as well polyfractal fucked around with this message at 23:16 on Jun 2, 2010 |
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Jun 2, 2010 22:34
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I just applied for my first credit card. I got approved for ~$4,000  . That seems like quite a bit for someone with no less than $35,000 due in student loans. Maybe they assume I won't be paying on time, and they can therefore reap monies from my cold limp body?Its a student rewards card (2% cash back on groceries, gas, etc), and I don't plan on using it except on things I am already required to buy via my debit card now (gas, groceries, etc). I think this is a wise idea, as I definitely don't live outside of my means, but boy oh boy do I feel nervous now that I was actually accepted. (Previous two applications were denied)
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Jun 3, 2010 03:00
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| # ? Apr 24, 2024 17:32 |
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polyfractal posted:-I have two credit cards/bank accounts. My first card, which I got in high-school and predominantly use, and my second card, which I got at my college bank and literally never use. My first card has a great history and a high limit. My second card has basically zero history and like a $500 limit because it is a "student" card. Should I close out the second card? Or just let it keep sitting there doing nothing? quote:-I use my credit card like a debit card. I always pay off the entire balance each month and never have a carry-over debt. Is this bad? quote:-Are there any good spreadsheets to use for budgeting? Use Quicken? I'm considering Mint as well Dead Pressed, congratulations on beginning to build your credit. Do it wisely, pay your card off in full every month, and freeze that fucker in a cup of water if you ever catch yourself misusing it. Don't be nervous, just don't spend more than you make.
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Jun 3, 2010 03:13
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