Denver, CO
I've been living in my car since March of this year. Prior to that I was living in the basement of an old frat house.
I've be self-teaching myself web development for the past year plus.
Just got an offer for a junior developer role for $62,000 per year + benefits.
I'm 6'5" and I've been sleeping in the back seat/trunk of a 4-door sedan. My body hurts, so I'm not going to keep living in the car, even though I think I could do it for a few months longer.
Current Debt:
CC1: $5,300 at 24.74% APR
CC2: $4,800 at 0% APR until January of 2019, then 24.95% APR
CC3: $2,300 at 24.95% APR
CC4: $1,400 at 0% APR until May 2019
Total: ~$13,800
Student Loans
$45,000 at an average of 6.4%
Car Loan
$198 per month (34 months left) 38 MPG though
Current Bank Account
$320 (yeah, I'll be living in my car the first two weeks of employment)
Job and Salary
$62,000 + benefits
Benefits are meh, but better than what I was getting as a homeless person. 3% 401k match starting on the 91st day after my start date.
After taxes I'll have $45,600 per year.
$3,900 per month.
Current Monthly Expenses (besides rent and utilities)
Food $250
Fuel in car: $100
Car payment: $198
Car insurance: $141
Phone: $85
Gym: $20
Entertainment: $100
Minimum Credit Card Payments: $275
Total expenses (not including rent and utilities): $1,167
Monthly salary - total expenses (not including rent and utilities):
$3,920 - $1,167 = $2,753.
I found several roomshares/roommate options for $650-$900. They range from multiple roommates, to having my own separate structure in house.
I'm tempted to move into my own separate structure because, damn, it would be a nice change from the car.
However, If I could find a place for $750 per month that includes utilities (there are multiple ads that offer just that), I could throw $2,000 per month at my debt.
However, then I won't have any savings.
Ideally, I'd knock debt out ASAP, because my $4,800 in no interest ends on January 21, 2019. If I don't have it paid off, then all the back interest is charged to the account. Which is no bueno.
How should I do this? Straight up tackle debt ASAP, try to get a few grand in savings first, something else that I don't see?
If it matters, I'm in forebearence on my student loans until June of 2019. Not that it's great, just saying that I won't have minimum payments to make on that until June of next year.
Also, I've heard it's dumb not to do the company match on 401k, but I'm guessing knocking out my high interest debt then student loans would be better than contributing to 401k when I'm eligible in 91 days, right?
What are your thoughts?
TL;DR: Homeless dude finally got a software developer job and doesn't want to be homeless anymore. How to strategically eliminate ~$14,000 in credit card debt, $45,000 in student loans, yet have an emergency fund, and also, preferably, not be homeless on a $62,000 salary in Denver, CO?
Submitted August 29, 2018 at 10:12PM by UIhomelessAPIGuy https://ift.tt/2wqWQwl
