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Well drat, you were lucky to get out of that with skull and dog intact, and only $5k poorer. Good job having the cash handy. The truck loan is really putting a damper on your savings, but it doesn't have to last for a long time. If you pay $1400 towards it each month, it'll be gone in less than a year. You can probably manage that if you put yourself on a cash budget so you don't overspend on food and beer. Once it's paid off, you'll have $1400 free each month to allocate to the AES loan, IRA, your next truck, house savings, single malt, etc. Similar logic applies to smaller numbers like $1000 if $1400 is inconceivable right now.
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Mar 30, 2010 19:04
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slap me silly posted:Well drat, you were lucky to get out of that with skull and dog intact, and only $5k poorer. Good job having the cash handy. I crunched the numbers and making double payments on the truck will get it paid off by next February. Like you said this frees up an extra $1,400/month to put towards either savings or pay down the other debt. My first RSU vests in August of next year. Depending on what the share price does (if it goes up ~9%) it will be enough to sell immediately and payoff the student loans. At that point I would have another $220 to contribute to savings. Do you guys think I would be better off taking that extra $1,400 and putting it into savings (or investments) and allowing it to start building value or putting it towards the debt thus freeing up more of the RSU cash? Once the student loans are paid off I would be 100% debt free with $1,620 a month going to savings and another good size RSU vesting in February of 2012. So I'm leaning towards putting the money into savings and using the first RSU to payoff the debt and then the second in addition to the savings for a down payment. e: when looking at making double payments on the pickup does it matter if I make one giant lump sum payment or split it up between the $715.57 regular payment and the second $715.57 at a different point in the month? ch3cooh fucked around with this message at 00:13 on Mar 31, 2010 |
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Mar 30, 2010 23:25
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It really doesn't matter when you pay during the month. The bank is likely to credit your payments once a month no matter when you send them, anyway. Make sure the extra is being correcly applied to the principal (instead of taken as pre-payment of the next month). Regarding what to do once the truck is paid off - it's a balancing act between short and long term goals. First, max out a Roth IRA ($416/mo) - then you'll be getting ~15% of your salary into retirement savings, which is pretty good. With the remaining $1000\mo, you'll have to decide loans vs. savings vs whatever. I would personally pay off at least the AES 4.9% loan before adding a mortgage to the mix. The Nelnet loans at 1.5% are hardly worth hurrying to pay off right now, but what will happen to the rate later? You don't want to suddenly have some 7% loans hanging over you when you've just gotten a mortgage. I think you can make these plans without thinking about the RSU money. When you get that, just put it towards loans or house savings in the same proportion you already decided on for your monthly paycheck. Save out a few bucks to blow on fun poo poo, too.
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Mar 31, 2010 00:52
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Slap me silly, the plan is to be debt free, while accumulating a large amount of fairly liquid capital for probably around a year before looking to add the mortgage. So I ran the numbers and based on the schedule of $400 every paycheck and $715.53 every other paycheck, I can have the truck paid off sometime around Christmas. And that sounds like a lovely present to myself. That leaves the question of what to do about savings. In my first post I said that I had ~$1,195 going....somewhere. If I can cut my monthly slush fund down to $600 to $700 per month I could put $500 to $600 into the savings. This shouldn't be too difficult. Between now and the middle of September I'll be working in the field (I'm a drilling engineer so I'll be living on the rig) so almost all of my expenses are reimbursed. Groceries, gas, meals, hell I'm even making a push for them to pay my cellphone.  So that's the plan oh great wise goons of BFC. Payoff the truck by Christmas, use my field time to build my savings back up, start saving some decent coin once the truck is off the books, pay off student loans with first RSU, live debt free and save serious amounts of money.
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Mar 31, 2010 01:22
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I'm a little lost there - I thought the extra truck money was coming out of the $1195 also.
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Mar 31, 2010 01:59
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slap me silly posted:I'm a little lost there - I thought the extra truck money was coming out of the $1195 also. My total outlay of ~$3,105 includes the $800/month that currently goes into savings. The plan that I laid out above takes that $800 and puts it toward the truck and then takes $500 to $600 from my $1,195 of other expenses.
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Mar 31, 2010 02:03
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Gotcha. Do you have enough cash to handle the next $5000 dog incident? :)
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Mar 31, 2010 02:10
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I graduate in May and my lease ends at the end of May. I have enough money in my checking account to cover rent, utilities, food and living expenses until I move out (and presumably back to my parents home). I then start graduate school out of the country, in Germany, in October. Right now I have $7,000 in my savings account and I don't know what to do with it. I'd like to do something with it short term (5-6 months, until I move to Germany which I'll then need this money) because I'm sure there are better options than just letting it sit in a savings account and grow a few pennies a month. What do you guys recommend that I do? It just needs to be short term and I would need to be able to access my money in September or October, and I don't want there to be any risk involved so no stock trading.
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Apr 2, 2010 22:38
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You could do a 6 month CD but honestly, the rates are so low right now (around 1%) that it probably wouldn't be worth the hassle.
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Apr 2, 2010 22:43
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moana posted:You could do a 6 month CD but honestly, the rates are so low right now (around 1%) that it probably wouldn't be worth the hassle. I'm no finance/business major but if I'm doing my math right based on what I remember (Pe^(rt)) then at that rate I would end up with $7035 after half a year. I don't think $35 is worth the time I'll invest going to the bank and filling out the paperwork. Are there no other options? Unless of course I can just sit at home and do it all online then well, that's $35 for pressing a button which I'm doing right now typing this, which isn't bad I guess.
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Apr 3, 2010 05:34
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Ziir posted:Are there no other options? Unless of course I can just sit at home and do it all online then well, that's $35 for pressing a button which I'm doing right now typing this, which isn't bad I guess.
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Apr 3, 2010 15:07
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The online savings accounts are returning about the same as 6-month CDs right now, making that the better option probably.
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Apr 3, 2010 15:43
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I have finally been able to have a savings account that actually has some money in it, so I've finally realized how horrible the interest I'm getting is. It's a Suntrust savings account, and I get .05% interest rate, which is awful. I've heard good things about ING or even the American Express savings account which has 1.3% variable rate; should I open an account there and transfer my savings over?
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Apr 4, 2010 02:45
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I have $10k in savings and just paid off my car. I'm living with my parents with no bills, and trying to save enough to buy a cheap house in the next few years. My savings account is only .05% so I want to get it out of there and invest it in some way that I can easily pull it out when I'm ready to buy something. What are the best options?
lwoodio fucked around with this message at 16:05 on Apr 4, 2010 |
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Apr 4, 2010 11:37
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SgtScruffy posted:I've heard good things about ING or even the American Express savings account which has 1.3% variable rate; should I open an account there and transfer my savings over? ING and similar accounts have an awkward 3 business day delay on putting money in and out. It's kind of an inconvenience-to-reward thing. Also, when times are good ING and other high-interest savings accounts have been up over 3-4%, which is pretty cool for money you can withdraw whenever. If the 3day thing is too much of a pain, and you're just depressed at the 0.05% interest rate, you could check with your bank about opening a money market savings account... but those are variable and terrible right now, too.
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Apr 4, 2010 15:33
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Not exactly a newbie question, but need a direction to head in. Basics:
This is more money than I've ever been responsible for in my life, so I want to do something productive with it. I don't have any immediate goals. I eventually want a bigger house if we start making babies, but that's a few years down the road. I might want to open a bar instead. My priorities are: immediate financial security, making a decent 5-10 year investment, and retirement. gently caress, I'm going to be 40 in 10 years  Here is my plan. Please pick it apart (or tell me to go to another thread).
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Apr 7, 2010 00:14
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mike fictitious posted:Here is my plan. Please pick it apart (or tell me to go to another thread). Doesn't sound a like a bad plan, but check out the investing megathread to get some help with avoiding lovely/high-fee mutual funds.
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Apr 7, 2010 00:35
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mike fictitious posted:Split up the remaining settlement into chunks and invest in several mutual funds. For example: 25% into Conservative, 50% into Moderate, 25% into Aggressive. This isn't such a useful way to conceptualize a portfolio, but you'll figure that out with a little more reading. Overall your plan sounds great, $10k to IRAs, $10k to 401k, $10k to emergency/ready cash. However, with the rest my thought would be to pay down the mortgage rather than putting it in taxable mutual funds. What is the rate on your mortgage, and what's the LTV right now?
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Apr 7, 2010 00:47
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mike fictitious posted:Been cruising along like this for a few years. Here's the twist: I was injured in a motorcycle accident and just received a $40,000 settlement. Are there going to be some increased medical costs that you'll see down the line? You may want to guesstimate your expenses and put aside some money in an FSA or HSA, depending on what's offered.
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Apr 7, 2010 01:06
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slap me silly posted:This isn't such a useful way to conceptualize a portfolio, but you'll figure that out with a little more reading. Overall your plan sounds great, $10k to IRAs, $10k to 401k, $10k to emergency/ready cash. However, with the rest my thought would be to pay down the mortgage rather than putting it in taxable mutual funds. What is the rate on your mortgage, and what's the LTV right now? Assuming the house hasn't dropped too much farther in value, I'm probably at like 97% LTV. I didn't have any real down payment and took PMI. I guess that is something I should have mentioned. I don't even know how to get rid of the PMI at this point. The whole thing looks so insurmountable I don't even really think about paying it off early like a car. E: Engineer Lenk posted:Are there going to be some increased medical costs that you'll see down the line? You may want to guesstimate your expenses and put aside some money in an FSA or HSA, depending on what's offered. mike fictitious fucked around with this message at 01:12 on Apr 7, 2010 |
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Apr 7, 2010 01:08
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mike fictitious posted:Pretty sure the interest rate is 6.25%. My credit score wasn't great when I bought the house, but everything bad has since fallen off. The bank keeps calling and saying I can do a some kinda of refinance through Fannie Mae, but I haven't gotten off my rear end to take care of that. The truth is that I actually hate the mortgage bank (original loan got sold), and want to move it USAA rather than deal with them any more than I have to. You may want to make a refi with 80% LTV (or as close as you can get with 40k-closing costs) the first priority. If it eats the whole settlement, you'll miss out on 2009 contribution to your wife's IRA, but you'll end up with a lower monthly mortgage payment that should make upping retirement contributions going forward easier to do.
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Apr 7, 2010 01:22
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Engineer Lenk posted:You may want to make a refi with 80% LTV (or as close as you can get with 40k-closing costs) the first priority. If it eats the whole settlement, you'll miss out on 2009 contribution to your wife's IRA, but you'll end up with a lower monthly mortgage payment that should make upping retirement contributions going forward easier to do. Thanks (everyone)
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Apr 7, 2010 01:26
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mike fictitious posted:The truth is that I actually hate the mortgage bank (original loan got sold), and want to move it USAA rather than deal with them any more than I have to. USAA sold my mortgage on to US Bank pretty much immediately - same might happen to you. There were a couple of trivial miscommunications about the insurance, but it's really been fine so far. The US Bank mortgage web site gives you all info in copious detail. At 97% LTV I would definitely feel good about putting $10k in there. It'll get you out of PMI that much sooner. Actually Lenk's suggestion sounds really good too - just be sure to keep enough cash.
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Apr 7, 2010 02:21
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slap me silly posted:USAA sold my mortgage on to US Bank pretty much immediately - same might happen to you. There were a couple of trivial miscommunications about the insurance, but it's really been fine so far. The US Bank mortgage web site gives you all info in copious detail. I called and talked to their mortgage dept to get some numbers. They will knock me down 1% to 5.25%. If I give them the $40k + $6k for closing, my payment will go down $500/month. That will put me at 70-something% LTV. I think I might call them back and figure out exactly what figure gets the 80% LTV and use the rest for the closing so I don't have to pay so much out of pocket. Then I just bank the $500 each month. In 8 years, I'll save back the $46k.
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Apr 7, 2010 03:33
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mike fictitious posted:Then I just bank the $500 each month. In 8 years, I'll save back the $46k. Put the $500 each month into the wife's IRA, with the 'extra' two months going into beefing up savings or something towards a vacation or Christmas expenses.
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Apr 7, 2010 03:37
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Oh man, that looks pretty good. USAA says they will still provide service to help with my mortgage questions, but sometimes that just means forwarding me to the right US Bank phone number. On the other hand, the low fee, low bullshit mortgage purchase was pretty nice.
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Apr 7, 2010 03:50
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I have a 3 year old son and I would like to start saving money for him for college, saving money he gets from holidays and contributing a small amount of my paycheck each week. What would be a good place to start putting this money? I was looking around e-trade and saw a custodial education account but don't know much about that so I'd like to see what you guys think.
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Apr 7, 2010 14:44
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lwoodio posted:I have $10k in savings and just paid off my car. I'm living with my parents with no bills, and trying to save enough to buy a cheap house in the next few years. My savings account is only .05% so I want to get it out of there and invest it in some way that I can easily pull it out when I'm ready to buy something. What are the best options? Can anyone give some advice?
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Apr 9, 2010 20:53
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lwoodio posted:Can anyone give some advice?
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Apr 9, 2010 21:03
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lwoodio posted:Can anyone give some advice? I'd check around at local Credit Unions to see if there are any good rates out there. If not, possibly something like Smarty Pig would work for you - it's paying around 2%. If you have direct deposit and don't mind making 10 - 12 debit card transactions, you could put the money in a high interest checking account, those can pay out 3 - 5%. Rates just aren't very good right now anywhere.
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Apr 9, 2010 21:39
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lwoodio posted:Can anyone give some advice? It's barely worth it at 1.99%, but if you just want to stash it somewhere, Ally Bank has a CD that lets you increase your rate one time if rates go up. It's only 2 years, but that's a start at least.
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Apr 10, 2010 00:05
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lwoodio posted:Can anyone give some advice? How important is liquidity to you? I have about $10,000 as well I am probably going to be using in a year or two when buying a house, so I dont want to be too risky with it. I put it in VFIIX vanguard bond fund. I think the minimum time to hold without a penalty is 60 days. I am currently at about 4.5% APY mostly due to the dividends it has returned.
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Apr 11, 2010 17:35
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alreadybeen posted:How important is liquidity to you? I have about $10,000 as well I am probably going to be using in a year or two when buying a house, so I dont want to be too risky with it. I put it in VFIIX vanguard bond fund. I think the minimum time to hold without a penalty is 60 days. I am currently at about 4.5% APY mostly due to the dividends it has returned. A time horizon of a "year or two" should really only be in the least volatile assets. If interest rates spike or equities continue to rally, bond prices could be depressed. You might be stuck selling at a loss or forced to delay your house purchase.
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Apr 11, 2010 18:21
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Verism posted:
Why is this? This may be a whole other thread, but why is one partner solely in charge of finances? It can't be because you are better at it, because you claim you have no idea what you are doing. Why is your partner not actively engaged or aware of what's going on? Not only is it a lot of stress on you, you are doing her (?) a disservice by not encouraging her to actively participate in her finances. What if something happens to you? What if you break up? What if you aren't on the same page, in terms of goals?
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Apr 13, 2010 14:19
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What proportion of income is it considered normal to spend on rent?
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Apr 13, 2010 17:54
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Rule of thumb is 1/3 of income should go towards housing. This will be proportionally larger if you live in a place like NYC, smaller if you live in Nebraska.
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Apr 13, 2010 18:17
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Excellent thanks.
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Apr 13, 2010 18:48
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I'm 32 and have basically zero assets, I've lived hand-to-mouth for pretty much my entire adult life and I'm tired of it. I'm trying to get my budget under control and exercise some fiscal discipline so I can be debt free and not penniless. Here is my budget: code:I'm impatient, though, and I want it to happen faster. Does anyone have good recommendations for supplemental income to help knock out my debt faster? I have between 12-16 hours a week that I could devote to this, but I'm not really interested in getting a lovely minimum wage job.
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Apr 14, 2010 01:19
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The legitimate online moneymaking thread might help you. Tutoring is great since hours are always evenings and weekends. Stop eating out so much - make an "entertainment" category and eating out/resturants should go under that. That's $400 you're blowing every month on luxuries - you can pay off your CC in half a year if you cut all that out. Realistically you can just cut it down a lot and pay off your debt within a year.
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Apr 14, 2010 02:05
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herakles posted:
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Apr 14, 2010 02:28
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