Background: After years doing real estate, I got out of the business. Poor mental health just made my business crumble.
I started seeing a therapist, quit drinking and am working on my depression. Its literally night and day compared to Jan 1st when I gave up Real Estate.
I started working in retail a couple months ago. Having a set schedule and specific tasks really helped my mental clarity.
Today my Boss told me that I was getting promoted to Full Time. 40 Hours a week at $11.50 an hour with benefits. Those include health, dental, vision as well as 401K and stock purchasing opportunities. I do not know what specifics of the 401k are yet, but I plan on maxing it out. My company offers multiple deposit options, such as a certain % going into checking or savings and the rest going to the 401k.
I also make about $700 a month DJing.
I've never really learned how to "budget", and usually paid my bills whilly nilly. I want to take this promotion and make it a turning point in my life when it comes to finances. I've been living paycheck to paycheck, and usually burn out my checking account to the last dollar until payday. I don't like living like that.
My expenses are:
Phone $95 Internet $137
I have let my car insurance lapse due to funding, but when I get it reinstated in a week I think it will be about $60 a month.
Gas is hard to estimate. I'd say $150 to $200 a month.
I have a checking account, savings account and a Stash Investment account. All a basically zero until next Friday.
MY QUESTION
I get really overwhelmed with these abstract concepts like "budgeting/investing". If someone can tell me to things specifically, I will be able to perform better than just winging it.
How much should I be putting away each check to my savings? How much should I put into my Stash investment (I am aware of the mix reviews this subreddit has given Stash. I am comfortable with the "fees" in order to make investing an easy experience. If its a rigmarole then I will less likely do it. I am trying to work on being better about those things.). When should I be paying my bills? Last check I ended up paying both my bills and gas for the truck, and ended up with not much left for incidentals. Would it be wise to divide my bills up between checks? Pay phone first half of the month, and then Internet at the end?
What is everyones opinion or advice? Should I approach this on a "check by check" basis, or is there a better option? And, if its the former what should I be doing?
Thank you everyone.
Submitted June 09, 2017 at 06:56AM by ssjaken http://ift.tt/2sJU9Cv