On a throwaway. I've lurked here on PF for a couple year...
I've had an increase in pay, started seeing a shrink, just renewed for year 2 on apartment (slight increase in rent, loss of promos on utils), and would like to be on the market to purchase a home in 5 years
and I just want to make sure I'm on the right track as someone who's still wet behind the ears (graduated w/ bachelors and started working late 2016)
In USA, age 25.
--Income --
Net monthly take home: 4730.59
Other gig monthly take home: 300.00
--Accounts, current Snapshot--
| Account | balance | Owed |
|---|---|---|
| Checking1 | 3950.00 | - |
| Checking2 | 355.65 | - |
| Sav1 | 2562.30 | - |
| Sav2 | 12375.10 | - |
| 401k | 4565.00 | - |
| CC1 | - | 0.00 |
| CC2 | - | 0.00 |
| Car Loan | - | 11829.00 |
| Student Loans | - | 15740.00 |
--Monthly expenses--
| Expense | Cost |
|---|---|
| Rent | 1095.00 |
| Utilities | 130.00 |
| Student Loans | 200.00 |
| Car Loan | 295.00 |
| Car/Renter Insurance | 170.00 |
| Health/Dental Insurance | 75.00 |
| Counseling | 110.00 |
| Cell Phone | 70.00 |
| Internet | 75.00 |
| Spotify | 15.00 |
| Hulu | 15.00 |
| Other irregular expense | 183.00 |
- irreg exp include annual car registration, oil changes, amazon sub, ps4 sub, est medical exp ... roughly 1k annually
- Phone: I use googlefi, and 70 is the most expensive my bill has been. Avg cost/mo over the past 2 years is 56$
--Accounts Explained--
Paycheck breakdown--
Checking1 gets 2433.3 monthly. It is for bills only
Checking2 gets 1280.2 monthly plus the 300 from other gig. For Misc/Flex spending-- for gas, groceries, Taco Bell, toilet paper etc
401k : 378.45
Sav1 : 355 ... personal/vacation etc. Has 0.25% APY
Sav2 : 283.60 ... emergency. Has 0.75% APY
CC1 is used by me for autopaying most bills and then paid off with Checking1. CC2 is used by primarily by my lover for food/our groceries, running errands, and fun stuff... and it's paid off with Checking2
lover and I have been together for 5 years. Is an artist. recently employed after a 2 year jobless stint (jobless or verylow/unreliable income. money going to supplies for personal works and savings to finish last 3 classes towards degree. close relationship with the parents-- have provided significant support while jobless (contrib to food, pay for phone, car insurance, medical exp, and health insurance until fell off))
Loan details--
Car loan - got it in May on 48 mo term. I make min payment of 295, at 2.59% APR.
Student loans are all from the same lender and have been in repayment since Jan 2017, with typical 10 year schedule.
Min monthly payment is 193.18, but I pay 200. I've thrown extra chunks at it when I can.
Here is the balance, interest rate, and %of excess payment applied to each loan
Direct Subsidized Stafford -> S; Dir Unsub -> U
| Loan | Balance | APR | Excess payment applied |
|---|---|---|---|
| S1 | 2039.05 | 3.15% | 0% |
| S2 | 3793.33 | 3.61% | 0% |
| S3 | 3626.65 | 4.41% | 35% |
| S4 | 4619.49 | 4.04% | 45% |
| U1 | 1661.37 | 4.04% | 20% |
My Asks--
Should I be looking into higher yield savings accounts? for some reason, putting my money into CDs makes me uneasy because the return isn't great short term, and if I want it out sooner I'll be penalized.
I don't understand investments and I don't entirely understand 401k's short term benefits-- apparently you can't take out loans against it??
For my student loans-- any opinions/advice on the excess payment allocation?
Tips on saving for a home in high COL area (major metropolitan area in TEXAS)
And just a simple review of the budget as a whole
Submitted November 30, 2018 at 11:31AM by ZanyGnome https://ift.tt/2Q422SO
