tl;dr: Girlfriend my be without a job within 4 months. She makes $2900/mo. and is paying approx. $1400/mo. to debt and savings. Do we pull back on her debt snowball and contribute as much cash as possible to only savings (in case she's fired), go on as we have, or _____________________?
Howdy all! Long time lurker. I love the wisdom of this group. I'd be happy to hear the group's thoughts on my girlfriend's situation:
Question: Do we halt her debt snowball if we feel an involuntary termination may be on the horizon (within the next 4 months)?
Backstory: My girlfriend is terrible with money, so I help her with planning and prioritizing her finances. Together, we make and maintain a budget (thanks EveryDollar!) that helps us portion off a large chunk of her paycheck for debt and a small sum toward savings. The rest is spent on essentials throughout the month.
This week, we learned that my girlfriend wasn't living up to expectations at her workplace. She works within a research / outreach arm of an extension program with a university in Texas. Her salary is paid for by "soft money." The Board of Directors that manages her money (not part of the university) are unhappy with the progress they've seen on her area(s) of responsibility, so they've gone to her superiors threatening to pull funds. Most of the grievances are things that have been long-addressed, but that's not how politics work...
Regardless, if this Board pulls funding, she'll be, effectively, terminated. No one has a good read on what the Board will do over the next few months, though my girlfriend and her boss are doubling-down on making sure they do what they feel needs to be done to meet expectations.
My Concern: My girlfriend is on track to pay off approx. $10k in debt by the end of Summer 2018. Obviously, a termination adversely affects that. She's also a doctorial student (ironically, in a different branch of the same org. she works for), so that's an added financial stress. On the one hand, I want to pay off this debt before (if) she's terminated. On the other hand, her e-fund is not fully-enough funded to float her beyond, at most, a month, so I'm thinking of socking away as much cash as possible if things should go south.
Assume for the time being that we don't live together, moving in together isn't going to happen for at least 4 months, and moving home to live with family is out of the question.
Financial details:
"Baby" emergency-fund: $1000
Income: $2900
Rent (w/ utils.): $500
Debt payments: $1200 (credit card $500, tuition $200, school loans $500)
Savings: $200
Food (for two): $425
Everything else (transportation, health, entertainment, lifestyle, travel expenses, & giving): $575
Any opinions, recommendations, or shared experiences welcome.
Thanks in advance!
Submitted October 11, 2017 at 10:42PM by bv915 http://ift.tt/2hBPw8J
