Hello awesome people of /r/Frugal,
Current Situation
I make around ~78k a year and have great benefits. Starting in August I will be leaving my job to attend graduate school full time. The program I'm attending gives health insurance (though I've yet to research the quality) and a stipend of 23k (before taxes) over a 9 month period. I'm very worried about the lifestyle inflation, though I've lived making less than 23k (I was in AmeriCorps). I've put a rough estimate of my 2017 expenses below, the last few lines are inflated due to me eating and shopping for two. However, by just going through this process I've realized how much I spend. I will be living in the Washington, DC area so the cost of living is a bit inflated.
Given my expenses below,
- Are there large areas for improvement?
- Is there anything I can do now, like getting a side gig that I should do?
- I have about 3000 left on my car, should I pay this off?
- Should I defer my loan payments ASAP?
- What would be a reasonable rent or rule I can follow?
- I'm pretty good at programming (in R). I also love to exercise. Should I look for niche positions in these areas or more common things like dog-walking and Uber?
Expenses
| Description | Amount | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Rent | 1250 | Monthly |
| Car Insurance | 47 | Monthly |
| Renters Insurance | 17 | Monthly |
| Car Payment | 151 | Monthly |
| Student Loans (Dept of Ed) | 482 | Monthly |
| Cell Phone (AT&T) | 84 | Monthly |
| Gym | 30 | Monthly |
| Food | 212 | Monthly |
| Gas/Auto Repair | 110 | Monthly |
| Entertainment/Shopping | 259 | Monthly |
| Total | 2642 | Monthly |
Salary
| Description | Amount | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Salary (Post Tax) | 3792 | Monthly |
Thanks
TL:DR: Going back to school, need tips for saving money.
April 26, 2018 at 09:56AM
