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For the love of god don't buy a MacBook Pro. Does it not bother you that you have $8k in debt and you want to ADD to it? Like others have said, take that money and actually pay part of your debt with it, ESPECIALLY since you don't have guaranteed income come November 2. You're an adult now, time to be responsible. Income - Expenses = $1603 quote:I should only spend $120 on entertainment (going out to eat, bars, movies etc). quote:I should pay $1483 / mo on my credit card. quote:I should save $0 every month. Good luck! Qaz Kwaz fucked around with this message at 23:28 on May 10, 2010 |
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May 10, 2010 23:19
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Hurricane Jesus posted:Is there any reason not to participate in a stock purchasing plan (withheld from paycheck) that matches half your contribution up to 3% (i.e. the company matches 3% to your 6%)? The company in question is GE. You can also put in up to 10%, but they still match 3%. I'm thinking it's a good idea to participate at 6% to max out the employer match. Am I correct? Totally right. If you can afford it (do you have no debt?) then definitely, without a doubt contribute at least 6%, or even the full 10% if you want to get really aggressive. Just remember that the more you're able to contribute now the more you'll have later.
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May 12, 2010 23:01
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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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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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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 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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Man_of_Teflon posted:I've been working a bunch of terrible jobs for a few years now and barely been breaking even. This past Friday I was offered and accepted a job with the federal government that pays a lot more than I make now. Congrats! The best thing for overcoming debt is your income. Man_of_Teflon posted:Current financial situation: I would sell your car and even your motorcycle. If you want to get out of debt quickly having a $11k car loan isn't the best way to start. You could sell the motorcycle and car and have enough to cover the difference in car value to your loan AND buy a beater. The car and motorcycle are 1/5 of your debt that can be wiped out pretty quickly. A tenth of your monthly income is disappearing to this! Car insurance--have you shopped around? Dropping your deductible might be a good idea (if you're not accident prone). Phone--somewhat expensive. Are you tied to this? Student loans--have you consolidated? Those rates are pretty high. Consider this--if you didn't change your payment at all you'd be paying for these until June 2022. TWELVE YEARS! A new scenario: After adjusted expenses (less car insurance, slightly cheaper phone, NO car payment), assuming this wipes out your car/motorcycle-related loans from their sale, and NOT getting a better interest rate (though I'm positive you can), here is your new outlook Monthly payment: $1,101. Student loan payments + extra income + $240 (no car payment) + $20 (cheaper phone) + $30 (cheaper car insurance). Toss EVERYTHING extra you have at this debt. Raise? Put it all towards debt (though this figure doesn't include raises). Debt / Amount / Total interest / Months to Pay / Payoff Date Student 1 4,870.00 73.08 7 Dec-10 Student 3 15,304.00 1,257.72 23 Apr-12 Student 2 24,564.00 2,988.92 43 Dec-13 THREE AND A HALF YEARS! You just shaved 9 years of debt payments off your back. Qaz Kwaz fucked around with this message at 15:04 on Jun 6, 2010 |
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Jun 6, 2010 14:30
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Engineer Lenk posted:I've already weighed in on my thoughts on MoT's strategy, but I strongly disagree with most of this advice. What's the problem? I'm assuming he's single with no children. There's absolutely no reason why he shouldn't be striving to be debt free. Manageable debt my rear end. Why carry ANY debt? A couple of years of buckling down can change this guys life DRASTICALLY forever. "Maintaining a comfortable life" is well and good, he's doing that, and I'm not telling him to NOT do that. He can do that and still pay his debts within a few years. Qaz Kwaz fucked around with this message at 02:14 on Jun 7, 2010 |
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Jun 7, 2010 02:11
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Engineer Lenk posted:When all of your debt is effectively 5% or less (keep in mind the student loan deduction), prioritizing debt payoff over retirement contributions is historically a suboptimal strategy. Selling the car and motorcycle at a loss would get to a debt-free date quicker, but so would selling all worldly possessions, and they all involve some sacrifice of quality of life. If he was that smart he wouldn't have $60k in debt. I'm in the same boat. I have a ton of student loan debt. You can believe that I don't have a car loan, a motorcycle, and I'm not contributing to retirement. When you can pay it off so quickly it's totally worth it. You're right, it doesn't make mathematical sense to pay it off vs. retirement contributions, but it makes a shitload of sense mentally. You want this guy to be in debt for 12 years when he could have it wiped in 3. Why do you hate him so much? Qaz Kwaz fucked around with this message at 04:27 on Jun 7, 2010 |
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Jun 7, 2010 03:59
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Good points. Don't forget he's paying $4k+ in interest on top of that. It's all up to him now!
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Jun 7, 2010 12:54
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That sounds good. What are your other savings plans? House?
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Jun 7, 2010 16:05
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BlackMK4 posted:Is there a decent balance transfer 0% or low interest rate card out there now? I made a few mistakes and ended up with ~9k on a HSBC card and they've really started pissing me off with their indian telemarketers calling my parents house (the address I gave them, never gave them that phone number though?) 2-4 times a day. After calling and pitching a shitfit multiple times with no progress I'd really like to balance transfer away from them and close the account. Stop worrying about balance transfers and work on paying it off.
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Aug 20, 2010 00:22
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Pay your tuition in cash. Is that $300 internet bill still outstanding? If so, why the hell haven't you paid it? You don't need a credit card as long as you can pay for things with cash, which you can.
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Aug 23, 2010 12:49
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Pay that baby off and be debt free!
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Sep 16, 2010 04:15
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Do NOT get another loan. alreadybeen nailed it--where's the other $1600? Go to the library and get Dave Ramsey's "The Total Money Makeover". You can pay off this debt in no time.
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Sep 17, 2010 02:44
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pauld posted:I have $25,000 ... I am taking out a $10,000 auto loan tomorrow. Eh? Why not pay cash for your car?
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Oct 8, 2010 00:14
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pauld posted:I see your point, and I've been going back and forth on this. But one year of food and rent would be at least $25,000 for us. And even though we'd cut back/move if something really bad happened, I think I'd feel better having more saved and pay maybe $100 in interest over a few months. If you're so hard up then why are you buying a $10k car?
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Oct 9, 2010 05:33
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pauld posted:We're not hard up, but we are a single income household and will be for 4 more years of grad school. So if that single income goes away, we have to stay here and hope a new job comes along quickly. We're probably being way overly cautious, but that's how we are. Geez, $35k on a car... I think that's way too much for your situation.
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Oct 10, 2010 19:57
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moana posted:I'm guessing it's simply that most people your age are saving for a house, and $35k is a lot of car. Well said. I think you guys are in a great spot, and that's why losing so much of what you've saved for a car is a big deal. $35k is a really, really good downpayment for a house. Are you guys considering that? I've just been listening to a lot of Dave Ramsey, who hammered into me "no new car until I'm a millionaire".
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Oct 12, 2010 13:52
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I've heard that annualcreditreport.com is the one--free every year.
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Jan 14, 2011 14:31
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Can you dump the car? $14k is a LOT for a car at your age. It probably doesn't seem like it, with what everyone else is driving, but it is. Like others said, it depends on how you feel about your job prospects. 1. (Baby) Emergency Fund a. $1,000 (the Dave Ramsey approach. Small, but can handle most unexpected expenses, especially for a single guy) b. 3-6 months of expenses (the "fully-funded emergency fund". Good if you aren't quite so confident in getting a job right away, though this would be much much less if you're living with your parents. I would really recommend doing that until you get a job. It'll save a ton of cash!) 2. Pay off debts (INCLUDING any car that you're driving. If you're paying towards something monthly that isn't a service, pay it off. I would lump your student loans in here) 3. If you didn't fully fund your emergency fund from step 1, do it here, otherwise start your retirement funding. While it's true that you will miss out later from the compounding interest of your investments now, you're still really young, and the amount you save from the student loans (financially, by freeing up your income, and mentally) will be worth it.
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Jan 17, 2011 17:38
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Six months income or six months expenses?
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Apr 4, 2011 04:08
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Fuschia tude posted:Six months' expenses. You need to fund that portion of your paycheck that you're spending, not saving, considering that this money is coming out of your savings in the first place. I got that, but usually expenses are much less than income. Just clarifying.
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Apr 6, 2011 05:07
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I have a quick salary question... My anniversary is in February. I am just now having my review. I've been working with this company for 5 years. They are changing the review dates to be at the start of the year, rather than on an employee's anniversary. I am told that my raise will be prorated, both good and bad. I will be paid from my anniversary date, but the percentage will be prorated from the end of the year. As I understand it, for example: Raise: 5% Pro-rated raise from end of February: 4% It seems like I'm getting screwed over by getting 1% less this year and every subsequent year. It's not like I'm a new employee, either. Am I thinking about this the wrong way? Thanks
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Apr 15, 2011 00:31
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Lyon posted:That doesn't make any sense. Was the "5%" raise and the 4% actual raise from February the numbers they gave you? Or is that your speculation? It's just speculation, but my understanding is that the actual percentage will be lower because it's based on the amount of time that I'm working between now and my next review (only 5/6 of the year). Typically reviews are before or near the anniversary date, and then take effect then. I will be getting a review Jan 1 12, but my understanding is that my base salary would be 1% less. Mar -> Dec 1 2011 = 10 months, 5/6th of the year 5/6ths of 5% would be 4% raise for the remainder of the year.
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Apr 15, 2011 02:24
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Makes good sense to me. Thanks!
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Apr 15, 2011 12:07
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Save some, invest some, and have fun with some.
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Apr 20, 2011 13:31
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$90k debt, $115k annual family income. Would you guys recommend purchasing a home ($150-$200k, 20% down) or paying off all debt first?
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Aug 15, 2011 22:53
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T0MSERV0 posted:Depends almost entirely on what kind of debt it is and what rate it's at. Student loans at 2%, meh. Credit cards at 29.9%, gently caress yes pay the debt off now. 100% student loans at ~3%. Using a debt snowball calculator we would end up paying everything off at the same time, either getting a house first or clearing debts, then getting a house. The house would have a lower monthly payment, but more maintenance costs. Then again, it might be nice to get a jump start on having a house, with that giving us more motivation to get debt free.
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Aug 16, 2011 02:24
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Cheap cars are an awesome way to save money. We just paid cash for a used Civic that has massive hail damage. It was SIGNIFICANTLY cheaper, and it runs great. Check into damaged cars, but make sure they are thoroughly inspected first.
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Aug 16, 2011 22:03
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Why buy a toy before paying back your loans?
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Aug 30, 2011 17:41
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Medullah posted:I have a friend who has about $15k in credit card debt, and is looking at talking to a credit counselor about his options. Does anyone have any recommendations for a legit one? Googling "credit counselor" leads to disaster... Seconding Dave Ramsey. $10 for The Total Money Makeover.
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Nov 12, 2011 07:02
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If it was me (who doesn't have that much money) I'd do the following in order: 1. Pay off my debts Do you now have $0 debt (excluding your house)? If yes, then: 2. Make sure I have $10k savings Then 3. Possibly pay it towards my house/down payment/put it in mutual funds And also have SOME fun with it. Take a little trip, buy a new TV, whatever. This is a HUGE gift, especially since you're young. It can set you off on a great path for the rest of your future. Before you do anything please read this book: http://www.amazon.com/Total-Money-Makeover-Financial-Fitness/dp/159555078X/ref=sr_1_cc_1?s=videogames&ie=UTF8&qid=1324302335&sr=1-1-catcorr
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Dec 19, 2011 14:44
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How long would it take you to pay off the student loan? 6 is pretty high for a student loan. I'd only contribute up to your 401k match, then aggressively pay off the loan. Who cares about efficiency--this is only for a year or two. Pay the drat thing off!
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Feb 12, 2012 21:02
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loving awesome. GOOD JOB!
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Mar 23, 2012 17:53
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Dave Ramsey's The Total Money Makeover. Until you become truly "wealthy" it is the only personal finance book you'll need.
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Apr 4, 2012 13:50
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Buying ANYTHING for $5k, especially a ring, with $13k in CC debt is a dumb idea. How about you spend $500 on a ring and $500 on a crazy proposal. There, you saved $4000 and she'll enjoy it better. A different question... what's a good % of net income to save/put towards goals? Right now we are putting 40% of our net income towards savings/debt, but sometimes I feel like we're spending too much. Making ~$120k/yr gross Qaz Kwaz fucked around with this message at 17:45 on Apr 10, 2012 |
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Apr 10, 2012 17:34
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I'd go: 1. Wedding 2. Car 2. Student loans 3. Children? 4. Mortgage
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Apr 23, 2012 13:38
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Respekt posted:What should I do? I'm 24, and I've been thinking about buying a house in the next few years or open up a small restaurant. Buy health insurance? Invest? Keep contributing to your 401k, save hardcore for a down payment, and live a little. Take a nice trip or something.
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May 3, 2012 00:50
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Sounds like a good wake up call... unless you are a fellow $0 balance checking account person like myself. But if that was the case, you could just transfer some from savings.
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May 16, 2012 12:49
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