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There is no middle ground. I feel like I’m not saving enough for retirement, not paying enough on my crushing student loans, and letting those 2 things prevent me from living life. Here's my current budget: Monthly Income Gross income: $5400 401k: $324 (6% of gross pay) HSA: $83.34 Net income after tax and deductions: $3600 Girlfriend’s contribution: $550 Total net deposits per month: $4150 Monthly Expenses Rent: $1100 Utilities: $200 Groceries and Hygiene (Walmart): $450 Cell Phone: $100 Car insurance: $75 Internet: $35 DirecTV: $75 Gym: $25 Discover Student Loan (14000, 3.25%): $50 Citibank Student Loan (4030, 3.5%): $20 ACS Student Loan (2450, 5.0%): $50 Wells Fargo Sudent Loan (4000, 2.5%): $75 Federal Student Loans (68600, 5.4%-6.8%): $250 Parent Student Loan (12600, 0%): $200 Additional toward Student Loan Principal: $250 Emergency Savings ($8000 saved so far): $500 Engagement Ring Savings: $250 Miscellaneous: $400 Total: $4105 Assets Emergency Savings Account: $8000 Engagement Ring Savings: $1500 T. Rowe Price 401k (invested in the T. Rowe Price 2055 Target Retirement Fund): $1150 (don't judge me, I just started my career) Vehicle: 2001 Honda Accord, which is getting to be a real junker, but I own it completely Student Loans In total, its about $105,000. They are all currently in deferment, due to the fact that I am working on my Master’s. Fret not, my employer is reimbursing me for tuition. I've made it a point to at least pay more than the interest that is accruing, plus the $250 a month currently. They should be paid off by the time I retire.... I racked up around $20,000 during my first whirl at college. I went back to school in August of 2009 and graduated in December of 2013 with a BS in Electrical Engineering. I now work as an IC Design Engineer (I'm 29). The good news is that I have no debt besides the student loans. Every day, I change my mind on what I should be tackling. One day, I want to shift everything toward paying off the student loans. The next, I want to max out my 401k contributions and open a Roth IRA. The next, I want to focus on saving for an engagement ring, followed by the wedding (no help from parents here), followed by a house. What is the smartest play for me? I live in Colorado Springs, which is certainly no Silicon Valley, but I'm at least employed using my degree at a good entry level salary. I'm always hearing about layoffs in my industry though, and my company isn't in the best financial situation (i.e. we can only really see 6 months into the future, and if we don't pick up more work between now and then, we stop getting paid), so I really want to build up my emergency savings to ~20k. My finances are just stressing the crap out of me and I'm hoping opening a dialogue and hearing what my fellow goons think will help me develop a more solid plan. alwayslost fucked around with this message at 19:31 on Apr 25, 2014 |
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Apr 25, 2014 19:28
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Knightmare posted:Have you looked into consolidating your loans? (I'm not sure if this is possible while deferred) From what I understand, I can't combine private and federal student loans into one. I could get a private student loan consolidation for the smaller ones, but I believe I'll lose my in-school deferment. Knightmare posted:Is the interest subsidized on the federal ones currently? If so, you could possibly divert some of that money elsewhere. Some of them, yes. The amount I am paying on all of the loans is the interest on the unsubsidized loans, with a little extra cushion (5-10 bucks on each loan). Knightmare posted:The girlfriend looks to be paying half of rent, maybe you could ask for her to split groceries/utilities/DirecTV too? She's working on her Master's of Social Work, and only works part-time in addition to her unpaid internship. We agreed to live together knowing it helps us both in the long run (her apartment before was 675, and now we split groceries, and I get half my rent paid). Knightmare posted:What are you spending $100+ a week at Walmart on? Groceries, toiletries, and that's also the gas category (~$40 per week).
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Apr 26, 2014 17:12
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mkay0 posted:You are taking 20 percent of your net and putting it into savings. Not that its a bad thing, but its going to be tight if you continue doing it like this. I don't see where the extra cash you are talking about is coming from. Its not really extra cash, I'm looking at the $500 for emergency savings, $250 extra on student loans, $250 for the engagement ring, and potentially ~$200 in spending cash per month, for a total of about $1200 that can be moved around.
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Apr 26, 2014 17:14
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slap me silly posted:Stop saving for a ring - the $1500 you have is all the ring you can afford, or possibly already more than you can afford. Between the ring money and the extra principal to loans, you have $500/mo free. Decide which is more important to you, emergency fund or loans, and send that $500 there. Right now I think it's the emergency fund based on what you're saying. So is the whole "3 months salary" guideline bullshit? My girlfriend wants a diamond, and unfortunately she is convinced I'm buying her a 5k ring (with little consideration of my opinion, lol). I know its not the smartest financial decision, and I think diamonds are loving retarded, but I want her to be happy, too. slap me silly posted:You can let interest accumulate on the loans which would give you another $450/month. Again, it sounds like emergency savings might be more important than the interest accumulation right now. I'm not quite sure how to make that decision, I think it's a combo of the interest costs and your estimation of your job stability. I really don't want to see my total student loan debt grow. I can see moving the $250 from extra principal, but I'd rather not stop paying at least the interest. slap me silly posted:Also, if you can reduce your 401k or HSA contributions without losing a match or messing up your health care budget, do that too. I'm in a 2 year contract with DirecTV. The cell phone bill is high because I'm financing the phone through T-Mobile.
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Apr 26, 2014 17:29
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antiga posted:If you're splitting groceries with the girlfriend and your portion is $450, you need to seriously cut that back. As I said, that includes gas and toiletries. Gas itself is like $180 a month. I will admit, my cushion for extra spending (the Misc. category) is probably way too big.
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Apr 26, 2014 17:34
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EB Nulshit posted:Why are you spending so much on rent and why don't you have roommates instead? I spend 550 on rent. The 550 from my girlfriend is for rent. Yes, she should be contributing at least another 100 for the utilities, but I'm a nice guy, and she only makes 800 a month working part-time trying to finish school.
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Apr 26, 2014 17:39
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Thanks for all the input, guys. At the very least, this has made me realize my weekly spending needs tighter controls, and will allow me a substantial increase in monthly savings/debt paying/whatever. I'm leaning towards getting the emergency savings to about 20k before substantially decreasing that and putting that money elsewhere. On the plus side, I think my girlfriend is on board with a small ~$2,500 dollar wedding as opposed to a $20,000 bridezilla extravaganza, provided she gets her ring. I know most of you think I shouldn't be spending any more than I have already saved, but I'm happy with the compromise. The "with little consideration of my opinion, lol" was somewhat in jest, as we've discussed it a lot, and I pretty much have told her she's getting it, and whenever I try to bring up the fact that it's way too much for my financial situation, I end up caving because I don't like to go back on my word. We're both on the same page financially, and she'll be paying for half the wedding anyway, when she gets a job following graduation in a year.
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Apr 29, 2014 00:08
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moana posted:When's your wedding? Let's do a wedding thunderdome and compare expenses. I bet I come in under you, and I've budgeted $10k for the whole thing just to be safe. I'll take that bet. Though mine is not till 2017
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Apr 29, 2014 21:23
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