Personal Finance 30-Day Challenge #7: Find and participate in a FREE activity in your area! (July, 2018) |
- 30-Day Challenge #7: Find and participate in a FREE activity in your area! (July, 2018)
- Always saved as much as possible, just started a budget.
- How can I prove income from a job I haven't started yet?
- 29yo, 125k salary. Raised poor but trying to get it together. Need some advice on how to become a master of personal finance.
- Pet insurance is life saver!
- Am a mechanic and made $79k last year, spent $16k on tools and equipment. Can I form an LLC as a W2 employee? California
- My sister claims her newly-employed teenagers cannot get checking accounts because it will kick them off medicaid. Is this true?
- Grew up low income - I knew everything about being poor... nobody taught me how to actually manage money/income
- Discover bank?
- 200k School Debt, just graduated, need a plan
- 25k salary, more than i’ve ever made what do i do with it?
- Parents (late 50s) wants to give me (34) and two siblings (early 30s) their out-of-state homes that still have a mortgage. What should I/we do?
- (22y/o) If I have student loans that range between 4-5%, should I fully fund retirement or aggressively pay them off?
- Retiring before 59 1/2. Non tax advantaged accounts the only way?
- Haven't been able to pay $10K Credit Card debt for a year, call with manager tomorrow
- Partnership Opportunity or Stay Hourly?
- Job offer at new company has higher premiums & deductible. Should I ask for higher salary to cover the difference after accepting informal offer?
- Semi-Annual Financial Well-Being Review
- Is 401k vesting period from the start of employment or from the opening of the 401k account?
- I have to choose between a car loan or student loan.
- Student Loan Lump Sum Payoff Question
- If you have a tendency to save too much, try creating a "spending fund"
- Reapplying to ACA (Obamacare) after cancelling?
- I’m 19 and know little to nothing about finances. I want to start being smart so I can better my future. Help!
- Deciding whether to invest or continue saving when home purchase is ~2 years away
| 30-Day Challenge #7: Find and participate in a FREE activity in your area! (July, 2018) Posted: 01 Jul 2018 06:08 AM PDT 30-day challengesWe are pleased to continue our 30-day challenge series. Past challenges can be found here. This month's 30-day challenge is to Find and participate in a FREE activity in your area! Some suggestions on how to do this:
The goal of this exercise is to show you that spending money isn't required to have a full and healthy life. Challenge success criteriaYou've successfully completed this challenge once you've done one or more of the following things:
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| Always saved as much as possible, just started a budget. Posted: 01 Jul 2018 06:44 AM PDT I am currently 25, my parents raised me to save save save. Things like not having cable, only ever driving cars that cost >$1000, never eating out, camping vacations (rare). Because of this, my parents saved enough money to put me through college and give me an amazing financial start to my life. I have been able to save a ton but never actually made a budget before. Can you fine folk take a look and see if there is anything I am missing? Income (after tax): $3850 401K cont: $528+$144(employer match) Roth IRA: $458 Rent: $500 Car insurance+gas: $100 Electric: $100 Internet: $100 Gas/Water: $40 Food: $450 (only thing I binge on) Savings: $1000 Leftover: ~$500 (usually just add this to savings) Current Savings: $70,000 - 60K invested in VTI, 10k on hand Current Retirement: $40,000 I am still driving a junker car but plan on buying a Mazda 3 or similar car at the end of the year either a 2018 when they are trying to get those off the lot or a CPO. whatever I feel I get the best deal on. Also, next year I need to add $220 a month for health insurance if i elect to opt in or I can roll the dice as well as getting my own phone plan ~$75. I am off to a great start 100% due to my parents saving and generosity and don't want that to go to waste. I plan on providing for my kids the same my parents did for them but I also haven't done this before. Maybe this helps motivate some parents out there to save as well because there were PLENTY of times as a kid that I didn't understand why we didn't have cable, why we didn't have a fancy push mower, go to Mexico or Florida for vacation. Now seeing how great of a start I have, I can't possibly thank them enough. Edit: Clarified I do have my savings invested in VTI [link] [comments]  |
| How can I prove income from a job I haven't started yet? Posted: 01 Jul 2018 06:59 AM PDT I'm 21 and still living at home. However, my parents are moving 600+ miles out of state at the end of July. Today is my last day as a pizza delivery driver (around $350/wk take home after gas, ect) and I'm starting a new job on the 9th ($600-$700/wk take home). I'm planning on getting an apartment with my sister, but I'm concerned potential landloards will calculate debt/income and rent/income ratios with the old, pizza delivery income, not the new job income. I won't be getting my first check/paystub from the new job until the 19th. Other details: Credit - Not Good (610), long story Average Rent - $900-$1,300ish (total) I absolutely need to be out by the end of July TL;DR I'm not being kicked out of the nest, so much as the nest is moving three states away. Need to prove my new job can pay the bills. EDIT: Seems like everyone is suggesting to submit the letter for the job offer as proof of income, so I'll probably try that Thanks to everyone for the help! [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 01 Jul 2018 05:28 PM PDT I will try my best not to make this too long. To start with a brief backstory, I'm a 29 year old Software Engineer. Grew up in a poor immigrant family, so financial literacy/money management was never exactly something that we discussed or taught. This is most definitely not an excuse though and I take fully responsibility for turning my finances around. I just need some help/insight from you guys. I am trying to accomplish a couple things 1) Save more of my annual salary I've been working in tech for a few years now, mostly as a contractor/consultant. I've made enough money to live comfortably, have a few nice things, help my family, and take a few trips over the past couple years. However, I do not have any savings or "nest egg" so to speak. I need to change this ASAP. 2) Learning about/Get involved in investing I'm interested in getting into real estate investment soon, but I need to improve my credit score first. Also open to stock investing, so any insight on the best approach there for a beginner would help. 3) Reduce debt More on this below 4) Improve Credit Score More on this below I started a job at a startup in January and was offered a starting salary of $125,000. We recently started offering 401k to employees, but with no matching. I have not yet enrolled since we recently started doing this about a week or two ago. What is the best way to do this? I believe they offer both a traditional and a Roth 401k Here is a slight breakdown of my spending/income Income $3,370 every 2 weeks Expense * Rent - $1,500 * Cable/Internet - $180 * Phone Bill - $84 * Utilities - $90 * Apple Music - $10 * Bars/Club - $100 * Buying Alcohol(beers, having friends over etc) - $100 * Eating out - $200 * Groceries - $200 * GrubHub/UberEats - $80 * Gym - $25 * Apartment cleaning via Handy/Zyp - $80 * Laundry - $30 * Amazon Prime - $10 * Ubers/Taxis - $200 * Public Transportation - $45 Spending Obviously the most obvious thing I need to do here is reduce my spending, I tracked it for the first time last month(June) and was shocked at just how much I was spending in 30 days. I am working on significantly reducing this for July. Debt I currently have ~30k in student loan debt. I was on forbearance for a while but repayment will start again in August. Looking at my statements it looks like it will be about $288 a month. Credit I have a credit score of 545 and I am trying to significantly increase that number. Current credit card debt is at about $2,500 across 4 cards that I've had for 7+ years. My strategy was to pay off these cards and then ask for an increase, but use them extremely sparingly if at all once I get the increase. Is this a good strategy? If I pay off my credit cards, how much can I expect my score to increase? What are the best books that a beginner should pick up regarding personal finance? If you were in my position, what would be some the first changes you made in order to have more cash available? What is the best way that I can put some of this money to work for me? I ran a couple Shopify stores for a few months, and generated good revenue but the profit margins were too small. I was barely pulling in more than my ad spend. Are you guys currently taking part in any sort of online/e-commerce business like this? I want to ultimately achieve financial freedom, travel, and a launch a software product that brings in $$ that is equal to or greater than my salary. But I know that with my current habits, there's a lot of work to do. I'm open to any and all insights and advice! Thank you guys so much for reading. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 01 Jul 2018 02:36 PM PDT If you have a pet and still working on building your savings account (like me- recent college graduate), I would strongly suggest pet insurance! I have an 8 year old Pekingese mix, and recently insured him 2 months ago. Last week I noticed he was having issues, so I checked his mouth. Well, what do you know, the little man had a loose tooth. I thought it would be a cheap surgery, but it will be just over a thousand dollars!! I contacted his insurance and they will cover it past the deductible, saving my savings account. He will receive the best possible care, and it won't destroy my bank account. There are some great companies out there- but the sooner you get it, the better. I wish I got it sooner because they don't cover pre-existing conditions like luxating patella. Hope it helps someone! Edit- I know there is debate if it is worth it in the long run, but I appreciate the peace of mind. I never want to have to put my dog down because I didn't have enough money to get him treated. He is my family and I have had him since I was in high school. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 01 Jul 2018 12:21 PM PDT Hello, I am a diesel mechanic that works on heavy equipment. I am young and have no wife, no kids, and rent. I'm currently a W2 employee, but I spend a butt load on tools, work clothes, and some equipment. I plan on spending a similar amount on tools this year also, and I also do toy with the idea of forming my own mobile mechanic business in the future, but likely will not work as an independent mechanic for a year or two, if I ever do. Beginning of 2017 I was making $27/hr. I'm up to $32/hr for reference and will get two more raises this year for my yearly review, and when I move into a mobile service truck. Plenty of Overtime. Also for reference, I got just shy of $5k back on taxes last year So my questions are:
I appreciate anybody for taking the time to read this, and greatly appreciate any help in this matter. Just trying to benefit from the system, but I do not want to be a criminal or do anything fraudulent. Any related advice is also appreciated. Thanks [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 01 Jul 2018 12:31 PM PDT My niece and nephew just got their first jobs. My sister and her kids are on medicaid. My sister claims that my niece and nephew cannot get checking accounts because medicaid adds up all their account balances, and will kick them all off medicaid if their combined balances are too high. Is this true? If so, what do I need to know? What should I do to ensure my niece and nephew get on a financially sound track? Edit: Thanks for the help. I hate this situation. It's basically teaching my niece and nephew to not better themselves, and to learn to be poor. Hopefully my sister will get her act together soon. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 01 Jul 2018 04:36 PM PDT Hello, As stated, I grew up low income (refugee in America). I was raised to live off of $8/hour, how to get the best deals, fight for every penny, etc. However, I never had the opportunity to learn how to manage income, assets, money, etc. Age: 27 Job: Contractor/Consultant (project to project basis - currently working on long term stable project) Pay: $65/hour (45 hours a week pay - projecting to make $145k+ this year) Checking: $10k Savings: $2k Stocks: $170k portfolio in stocks (max out ROTH, company doesn't offer 401k yet) Other income: 2 investment properties - $2k profit every month (but I only take $1k as the other $1k goes into the additional principle payment for each). Expenses: Rent is $600 + $150 for utilities and food (usually all of this is covered by the $1k takehome profit from the investment properties) Debt: $195k first property (3.85% interest) $176k second property (3.89% interest) Car $17k (4.6% interest) What do I tackle first? My goal was to take my second investment property and pay it down as much as possible to get rid of PMI and I did that this week (very exciting). What is next? Do I just keep on keeping on and pay more on investment property principle or do I pay more on car? Or split it between both - possibly $250 additional principle on each property and $500 more on the car every month? I have been working my butt off learning from this subreddit and other places... and I feel like I'm getting a good grasp but I want to make sure I'm actually managing correctly and moving in the right direction. edit: Any insight or advice is helpful... I don't have anyone to turn to in real life as this type of managing is foreign to my family and these conversations wouldn't necessarily be appropriate with friends. Thank you! [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 01 Jul 2018 07:36 PM PDT Anyone have a discover bank checking/savings account? I was wondering how you deposit money without fees and can you create sub accounts (like mutiple savings under the main checking account) ? [link] [comments]  |
| 200k School Debt, just graduated, need a plan Posted: 01 Jul 2018 12:58 PM PDT I graduated with a debt a bit over 200k. I was at a SUNY School for two years which was I believe 7k or 8k a semester and transferred to a private school to which I- obviously stupid and young- didn't realize the gravity of the situation. It was 53-57k a semester. Overall I spent five years in school, two in the SUNY, the rest at the private school. I just graduated this summer with a September undergraduate degree in geography with both focuses on the human aspect and the physical earth/environment aspect. Not true 100% hard science but some. I am currently in a situation where I am not yet due for the loans (which were all federal- unsubbed, subbed and parentplus- no private loans at all). They are all under my mothers name and unfortunately she is out of her job temporarily due to an injury. So she has no true income, and neither do I fresh out of school. I am job hunting. I live in NewYork-Long Island- currently but I will also job hunt in North Carolina as my grandparents and aunt live there, so I will have a place to stay for a while. Also it is a bit cheaper down south if I do decide to go there. But for right now I need a plan. My mother will help me pay off the loans when they do start coming through. I do not have an exact number but looking at similar threads I'm sure it will be over $1000 a month. I'm sorry I don't have exact numbers but I was hoping that I could get some advice preparing for this monster of debt. Rent is already high here- nearly 2k- and my mother is a single mother. I expect little help from my father who is well off, but I won't get into that. What are some things I can expect? What are some things I can do? I have six months until the first bill I believe. [link] [comments]  |
| 25k salary, more than i’ve ever made what do i do with it? Posted: 01 Jul 2018 03:41 PM PDT Hello, I recently graduated from college and I'm going to be working with as a college adviser for 25k. I know it's not a lot but I'm still grateful, my question is how do i budget this? My loans will be deferred for the next two years so I'm not too concerned about paying them just yet, however I am about 12k in CC/personal loan debt. Is there any advice y'all can offer? How should I manage my checks? Thank you, anything helps. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 01 Jul 2018 05:10 PM PDT Hi guys. Not new to reddit but new to posting. Our parents own property out of state and they want to "gift" them to us. However, I have no clue if what they suggest will be a good idea financially for me and my immediate family. Spouse and I just bought a home one year ago and mortgage/taxes/ins/escrow is a little under $4k/month. We are able to afford this comfortably. The property they want to give me specifically was bought around 2004/2005 (newly built) on a 30 year mortgage. There's about 16 years left and a little under $100k due on the loan. From what I understand, the value of the property is now around $240k (almost $100k over original purchase price). They are suggesting that I (and my spouse, if we wish) be added to the title. They want me to refinance the mortgage and take their names off, essentially making it officially mine. They also suggested to refinance to a 10 year loan so that by the time it's paid off, I'll still be "young enough to enjoy it." All their properties are rental/income properties. The scenario would be similar for my siblings. Parents claim that the rent currently charged is taking in $300/month in income bc the initial balance is used to pay the mortgage due. They suggest we can go through third parties for maintenance and use the extra income to pay for any repairs along the way. They also suggested hiring an agent to look for renters if the leases are not renewed. Pretty much reassuring me/us that the time and effort will be worth the investment. I think they want to give me the property now so they can relieve some stress from all the homes they are currently managing. If I don't take it, I think they will sell it. What I'm concerned about is whether or not this is how we should go about transferring the title over in the first place. In addition, I know nothing about the costs/fees associated with taking on a second mortgage. How will it affect me if my spouse opts out and I am the only one interested in putting the property under my name only? Also, how will my credit or filing for taxes be affected? Sure, there are renters now but if anything goes wrong, I would essentially be on the hook for getting things fixed/paying the mortgage. Yes, agents would check renter's credit, etc. but I'm always scared of things going wrong. I've managed property for them before and tbh, I hated being a landlord but at that time, I was managing directly. Would it be a different story if I had people helping out? What am I overlooking that I should be taking into consideration? Most importantly, since we just bought a new house, I don't want anything to happen to our current home should something go terribly wrong. We probably could afford the additional mortgage but we don't want to be put under that kind of strain. We also want kids in the next few years and not sure how that would affect our financial situation. Any advice would be appreciated. TLDR: Parents want to give me an out of state home that has 16 years left on the mortgage. Not sure if this is a smart financial decision to make. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 01 Jul 2018 10:03 AM PDT I just started a job and trying to make a plan. After making a budget, I am capable of fully funding both 401k and Roth with about $450 left over after my expenses each month. I have about 65K in student loans where the average interest rate is 4-5%. I have an emergency fund set up already. [link] [comments]  |
| Retiring before 59 1/2. Non tax advantaged accounts the only way? Posted: 01 Jul 2018 07:06 AM PDT So currently I am saving a little over 20% of my gross annual income between my 401k and roth IRA. However I do want to retire early and have access to my money for more then just a house (can withdraw 10,000 penalty free from Roth IRA) before that age. Are non-tax advantaged accounts the only option, or are they just the best option? Or should I bite the proverbial bullet and hit the 24k contribution limit before even starting to think of tax advantaged accounts? [link] [comments]  |
| Haven't been able to pay $10K Credit Card debt for a year, call with manager tomorrow Posted: 01 Jul 2018 08:25 PM PDT Fell into a bad situation, which wiped out my substantial savings. On top, I have a $10K credit card debt (took out cash), starting from June last year. I have only made two min. payments on it over the 1 year time period. Credit card is over limit so besides the 20% cash interest, it punishes me on overlimit charges too. I have a call with an Account Manager tomorrow. It was a Platinum Visa. I won't be able to make minimum payments until at least 3-4 more months, as the situation I am dealing with is pretty severe. Can they suspend my payments for just 3-4 months? What are the options that I can pursue here? I want to work towards restoring my credit score after the situation is over, so don't want to burn whatever is left of the bridge here. [link] [comments]  |
| Partnership Opportunity or Stay Hourly? Posted: 01 Jul 2018 10:17 AM PDT I work in tech and have been working at a small telecommunications company for 2.5 years. I moved up in the company very quickly and am now general manager. The owner, Jack, and I have agreed to keep my pay hourly instead of salary because I ended up with more money. Let me tell you a little about Jack. He owns four small but profitable businesses, that together have ~300 employees. He is a very good businessman and a wonderful salesman. Jack and I get along very well, better than anyone he's worked with according to him. He really likes me and I really believe in him and his ability to make a business prosper. I dream of being a software engineer, or I'd like to oversee a team of developers. Jack loves efficiency and has always seen his future in software development. So naturally, we began developing a piece of software to optimize two businesses of his. From the start he's always said he wants to sell the software to others, on a monthly subscription model. I've been working on this software as the only dev for almost two years. A beta version of the software has been deployed in two of his businesses for about a year now and it's proven it's value. I've been working on the software at home after working full time at the telecommunications company. Ideally I would work much fewer hours at the telecommunications company to focus on software more, and I've already hired people to fill my gap there. I get paid hourly for the software development, the same rate I get at the full time job. I'm starting to see a bigger picture here with the software and so is Jack. Not just this software but future projects too. I told Jack I want in on the business side, he said he would bring me on as a 1/3 partner on the software company. If I take the deal I would have to stop getting paid hourly for the software development, which makes sense to me because I'd be investing my own time for the 1/3 stake. Or, we've negotiated 10% ownership and I can keep getting paid hourly. Here's the tricky part. We're both smart people and know we need each other to make this happen. He said he will give me whatever I want, up to a high limit, to keep me on board for this software company. If I said I needed hourly pay plus 1/3 ownership plus a company car, he would give it to me. But we spoke frankly with each other and asking for all that really effects our relationship and will probably be worse off for us as partners in the future. I'm generally frugal and I've been sitting comfortable with all my hourly pay. I've been able to save ~50% of my pay. But if I take this partnership, that would change. I would only be getting paid at the telecommunications company but I would need to work less there too. My math works out to 1/2 as much pay. I would still be able to save a little but not much. Best case, it will be 2 years before I can live off the software. I'm 22. Jack is 40. I have no debt, 6 month emergency fund, Roth IRA, own my car, and have another 20k invested in different places. TLDR: I've been working hourly but have a chance to be a partner. Taking the partnership would mean less pay now, but great opportunity ahead. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 01 Jul 2018 07:43 PM PDT I just received an offer for a job after being on unemployment for a few months. The offer matched the salary of what I had before ($55K annual) but has worse benefits: +$54 biweekly health insurance costs +$3348 family health insurance deductible (OUCH!), copays are the same 401(k) contribution drops from half match at 10% to 6% The HR rep asked via email if I'd be interested at 55K salary and X start date. I said yes, so she mailed over a formal offer letter and benefits guide. Would it be bad form to respond back saying after I reviewed the benefits, I'd like a higher base salary to compensate for the worse benefits? [link] [comments]  |
| Semi-Annual Financial Well-Being Review Posted: 01 Jul 2018 11:29 AM PDT Last year was the first year that I really started to take my finances seriously and I wanted to do a review of my situation and figured that since the year is half over, I would do a financial deep dive and post it here for any critiques and criticisms that y'all might have. I started tracking all of my transactions in gnucash on 1/1/17 and was able to post transactions back to 1/1/15 from my various statements. Some of my 2015 records were spotty, so I decided to start from 1/1/16 for my comparisons. Starting off with my income statement. Back in 2016 and the beginning of 2017, I was making about $25,000 annually. This amount was low but it was sort of offset by having my housing and utilities provided by my employer, so I did not have any rent expense. I am now making $66,000 with a promotion to $72,000 coming in a month and a raise up to around $75,000 shortly after. Looking at my 2018 spending, my main expense is rent which comes in at 22% of my gross income (26% of net). Clothing expenses were higher than expected due to changing from a jeans and polo workplace to slacks and button down and losing around 40 pounds which made me have to replace some of my wardrobe. Depreciation expense is just a straight line deprecation of my car (paid off in May 2018) and my bikes (my cap limit is $1,000). The main category that I need to watch myself on is restaurants and bars which I have spent about $300/month and I want to bring that down to around $200/month by bringing lunch to work. Here is my current budget based off of my $66,000 income. Once my promotion is applied, I will be increasing my 401k contribution from 9% to 15%. My budget will remain the same and the increase in income that isn't being routed to my 401k will go to my cash savings. My three year comparative balance sheet. My main focus over the last twelve months has been increasing my cash holdings, paying off my car, and increasing my investments. My goal for cash is a $10k emergency fund and then I will be devoting 10% of my income to a house down payment savings account. Most of my cash in at Ally in a savings account/interest checking account except for some quick access cash at US Bank so that I can have access to a brick and mortar bank. Starting with my switch to my new job, I kept my budget the same from when I was earning $25,000 (except for the obvious increase in rent expense) and funneled the increase in cash flow to paying off the remaining ~$10,000 on my car loan which I did. I rolled my previous 401k into my IRA (Vanguard) that I opened and I have almost maxed out my 2018 contributions with only $550 remaining which will be taken care of by the end of July. Overall, since I started tracking my expenses, I have seen an increase in net worth and I've been able to notice that my car was a major money sink. While I was able to afford the payments, basically all of my "spare" money was going to the loan payments leading to a nearly horizontal net worth line from 1/1/16 to 6/1/17. The large jump around July 2017 was from a gift of savings bonds that I received that I have been cashing out as they mature (interest rate below 2%, not the bonds that have a 4% rate) and putting that money into my IRA. At the same time, the slope of net worth increased due to earning a higher salary with my change in jobs. Now that I am settled into my current apartment (might change apartments in the near future) and job, I expect that I won't be spending as much on furnishings and clothing which will then cause my net worth to grow at a faster rate (aided by having more money already in investments and another increase in salary coming soon as I mentioned previously). Review of 2018 Goals At the beginning of 2018, I posted the following goals in the thread of 2018 goals:
If anyone has any critiques or suggestions, I'm open to hearing them as I am always looking to grow. [link] [comments]  |
| Is 401k vesting period from the start of employment or from the opening of the 401k account? Posted: 01 Jul 2018 05:48 PM PDT My employer matches 100% on the first 3% and 50% on the next 3%, so I have 6% of my paycheck going into a 401k. However I only opened up the 401k account eight months after I started my job. I will receive 20% of the vested amount after two years. does that mean I receive it two years after the start of my employment, or two years after i opened the 401k? [link] [comments]  |
| I have to choose between a car loan or student loan. Posted: 01 Jul 2018 10:54 AM PDT I have approximately 12k to spend. I have possibly 3-4 semesters of college left. and the car I have now is getting old. Shit doesnt work on it. the doors barely lock. Every school semester costs about 5-6k each. What is the best way to go about this situation? Do I pay 2 semesters off and get a school loan for whatevers left and try to make it with this car that hopefully wont break down? Or do I get a pretty decent car and just get a student loan for whatever I need. I've heard student loans are overall better to take. [link] [comments]  |
| Student Loan Lump Sum Payoff Question Posted: 01 Jul 2018 07:15 PM PDT Hey all - I graduated from college 2 months ago and I was fortunate enough to accumulate some savings throughout my time in college and am going to make a lump sum payoff of my loans - I am wondering if it would make sense to do that and if it would be financially responsible to do so. A little more detail: I have student loans totaling of $18,764 (ranging from 3.76%-4.45%) and a car loan of $2,728 (4.99%). I currently have $12,000 in the bank and i'm wanting to make a lump sum payment of $6,000 towards my loans (completely pay off my car loan and paying off my highest interest rate unsubsidized student loan). Would this be financially responsible to put this much towards loan payoff? A little more detail: I have a full time job earning $50,000 a year and am not planning to make any big purchases in the next year (AKA renting housing and not buying, not buying new car, etc) Thank you for any help and please let me know if more detail is necessary! [link] [comments]  |
| If you have a tendency to save too much, try creating a "spending fund" Posted: 01 Jul 2018 04:22 PM PDT abstract: If you tend to save money excessively, set aside a specific amount of money every month for leisure activities and vacations, and spend it without feeling guilty. I have a bad habit of being too frugal and saving too much so I can have a good life "in the future", at the expense of the present. For example, I will forego an awesome vacation with friends/family in order to save money or I will decline invitations to go out for a fun activity with friends because I don't want to spend the money. This is a bad idea, and truthfully I think I am a little too obsessive about seeing my account balances going up every month (i.e. I am a hoarder, which is never good). A new strategy I've been trying, that I believe is going pretty well for me, is to set aside money every month that is meant to be spent. As a result, whenever an opportunity arises to go have fun with friends/go on vacation, I immediately jump on the opportunity, spend money without any feelings of guilt (I've already set aside money for this specific purpose), and just enjoy myself. What I did is create two separate checking accounts, link two new credit cards to these accounts, and deposit a fixed amount into each ever month. One account is for "fun" and all that money should be spent every month. The other account is for "vacations" and should be spent every year. I think most people have the opposite problem, they spend too much, and so need to create budgets every month in order to control their spending. I personally think a lot of people here (myself included) have the opposite problem, and save too much at the detriment of their well being today. This was my solution to address this and so far it seems to be working pretty well for me. I thought I'd share this strategy in case it could help someone else out. [link] [comments]  |
| Reapplying to ACA (Obamacare) after cancelling? Posted: 01 Jul 2018 05:29 PM PDT Apologies in advance, I know this isn't completely related to finance. However, given the higher amount of traffic this subreddit has and the community's experience with ACA, I was hoping I could get an answer to this small dilemma I'm having. I had an ACA plan this year up till June. I had originally planned to move out of the current state I am residing in, thus cancelled my plan. With a relatively sudden change of plans, I've decided to hold off on moving anywhere and need to find out if I can get back onto an ACA plan through the marketplace. 'Loss of Health Coverage' is one of the Qualifying Life Events listed that can be used to get a plan, but I'm not sure if 'losing health coverage that itself was ACA because I voluntarily cancelled it' is included in this... Can anyone tell me if this counts as a QLE that can be used to reapply to ACA? Or am I out of luck here? [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 01 Jul 2018 12:19 PM PDT Hi guys! A little about me- I'm 19, am going to community college full time (thinking about cutting back to part time), and work as an assistant manager full time at a fast food restaurant. I currently make about $1,600 a month and my bills are around $500. I own a Discover Student credit card but only use it for gas and pay my bill on time every month. I live in the Midwest btw! Currently, my only expenses are my bills, gas, school, and extra spending (I struggle a bit with eating out too much). I don't receive any help from FAFSA or my parents to pay for school. I'm wondering if anyone knows of any resources I can turn to when it comes to paying for college? I don't qualify for a lot of scholarships because of my grades, and I'd prefer not to take out loans, at least while I'm in community college. I also know nothing about taxes, investing, saving, retirement, etc. I wish they taught us this in school! If anyone has any resources for learning more about financial subjects and has any financial advice for me in general (things you wished someone would've told you when you were younger) I would appreciate it! [link] [comments]  |
| Deciding whether to invest or continue saving when home purchase is ~2 years away Posted: 01 Jul 2018 06:10 PM PDT I'm a 30 y/o professional living in Washington DC with about $55,000 in savings. I used to have a few different investments but I sold about 2 years ago because I thought I was going to buy my first house. I decided against it but didn't re-invest my money. I expect to buy the house in about 2 years but I don't have any concrete plans. On one hand I'm wary of investing the money because I may need it in such a short time frame, but at the same time I feel like it's such a waste to have this much money for multiple years in just a savings account. Has anyone else been in this situation, and what did you do? Thanks. [link] [comments]  |
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