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Did you get your wife to buy in? This won't work if she isn't all in. You guys make too much money to be poor - and you guys are very poor. I don't mean that as an insult at all, it's just the reality of it. I would consider getting rid of her car, but I realize that may not be functional. It would get you out of debt a lot sooner and then you could buy a nicer car for cash. I would look up the student loan info in more detail. Maybe you can consolidate and reduce rates, or pay a few bucks less and more to the higher interest CC's, etc. What do you use to track and plan expenses? I use Quicken and YNAB. Kind of a pain to do both, but I absolutely hate YNAB reports (so limited), and I hate Quicken 'budgeting'. I wonder if it got better for 2014. Good luck. BFC will be a good sounding board for you. And make sure to get buyin from your wife.
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Apr 8, 2014 20:43
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I have a lot of comments but I'm on my phone and don't want to type so much. 1) Your rent doesn't seem insane to me. Housing costs vary greatly by area. The south is a very poor comparative market for anyone who doesn't like on the south or a slum. 2) The Chase balance transfer is a fantastic idea. I would definitely do it. 3) Your idea to have cash reserves is super valid and smart. What isn't is the debt. I'm really glad you thought maybe you need a little help with planning to save and posted up. BFC is eye opening to say the least! 4) I wouldn't touch your Roth to get out of debt. I am of the opinion that it makes you feel more mentally okay with doing that again down the road. Maybe that is baseless and maybe you're not one of those people. How's that working out for SloMo? Time and time again. I forget what it is my friends boss buys with his 401k loans, but I think it's a new car every so often. The idiot would be better served using his savings account for that but he has no impulse control. Again, may not apply to you, but it's a slippery slope I wouldn't advise anyone start to go down. 5) I'm not sure how I feel about separate bank accounts. I mean I am sure - I'm against it - but it works for some people. I would suggest pulling credit every 4 months too, your wife seems to be the spender and maybe she will feel limited on $50/mo and open a line of credit. May not apply, but the ideal of separate bank accounts and entirely letting you manage things worries me, I've seen poor results with this before. Then again it could work awesome, it works great for my gf's folks. But they make a *lot* of money and her moms biweekly play money is *very* solid. To everyone who says this isn't much debt etc, including myself before the car and student loans became clear, think about how people react to SloMo. He makes a little more than this couple, and has half the debt, and everyone freaks out at him constantly.
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Apr 9, 2014 03:07
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Tolls - Grr I could go on about them... I only pay for em coming back from my gf's beach house, but I hate them so much. What a scam on the public. I get the purpose, tax those who use it, but roads are public assets (or mostly are, and should be) and toll roads are utter bullshit. /rant You said 5&405, do you live in Seattle? Your rent seems normal to me, and probably food costs too. We buy large dog Frontline at Costco ($70/6pk) and split it up using a graduated dropper and Excel. Makes 6 doses last 5 months for our pack of 3 dogs and a cat. You could do similar for the cats, just a suggestion. It is totally less easy, but it takes under 5 minutes once a month. I've gotten very use to it as I'm a big fan of flea drops and not a big fan of giving manufactures my money for no good reason  Cat food - I don't see the benefit of wet over dry. I definitely see the benefit to raw over wet or dry, but wet is meh. Some cats are picky, but that's because of their owners more than anything. They'll figure out dry food right quick. Raw or dry, don't half rear end it! Veskit posted:Not going to lie. SiGmA_X fucked around with this message at 05:27 on Apr 9, 2014 |
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Apr 9, 2014 05:22
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We have a 5/405 here in PDX too. I know a fair amount of people who call freeways "the #", likely due to how many Californians moved north in the 90's. I should have known better though - I think it's the 90 not 405 that is a toll road in Seattle.
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Apr 9, 2014 21:58
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GoGoGadgetChris posted:Don't forget 217 and I-84! Boris Galerkin posted:e: I'm not from California either. Do you guys also like to use names too? I mean like some highways are named and I hate it when people tell me to take the Pony Express Highway instead of "take the 44." Also I have an issue when people say "exit left on Washingon." Well drat it which exit number is that? They're all numbered so if I see exit 10 and my exit is 16 then I know I've got 16 exits left to go. waffle posted:I am actually a bit surprised to hear this as advice. I mean, I don't disagree--my wife and I pooled our bank accounts a few years ago (I'm 27, she's 28), and it's worked really well for us. When she was going through school, I made money and supported us, and there wasn't a "my" and "her" money aspect to it. Now that she makes much bigger bucks than me it's working the other way. It works really well for us, but usually when I hear it brought up in BFC, people are pretty negative or neutral towards asset-pooling. Having differences in your blow budget vs your partners could be acceptable depending on who brought the debt in (Tuyop did this) but married couples are joint venture and should operate that way, IMO. It makes you more accountable and jointly involved in the budget and expense processes.
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Apr 11, 2014 02:19
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Where is the spreadsheet?!OneWhoKnows posted:Also, would a lateral move prevent you from pursuing a more senior position in the future? If not, why not secure job security first?
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Apr 16, 2014 18:21
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Felter Chesthard posted:Be careful with the extra checking accounts. A lot of banks will charge monthly fees if you don't meet certain criteria. For example a minimum balance or a monthly direct deposit. Might be something you forgot about the requirements of if the account was opened long ago.
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Apr 17, 2014 00:02
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Veskit posted:I mean, like... Why not budget a line in your spreadsheet for reimbursements so that way you can budget money out of your real money, and then add it as income later? That way you have a good grasp on your current money, but also a solid grasp on how much you'll be getting back. You know though, in a spreadsheet or on ynab or something. But it does appear Hands hates budgeting.
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Apr 24, 2014 19:25
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Hand of the King posted:I've been paying my debts like any good Lannister would. On the flipside, good work not eating out and cooking more, and finally combining finances.
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May 9, 2014 02:34
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spwrozek posted:You might want to check your taxes out. I don't remember all your details but you are bringing quite a bit home after tax (vs what you make) and may get stuck with a big bill in the spring. Or you could be close but next year on a full year at those salaries get screwed. So yeah, OP, check out the IRS calculator.
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Aug 7, 2014 21:15
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