Hey PF!
I’m 25 years old and discovered PF the hard way...from being pretty bad with money. In college, I used high interest credit cards to pay for some basic living expenses I couldn’t afford, and then a few grad classes when I couldn’t get student loans in time (dumb, dumb, dumb). Doing this has had an negative impact on my finances to this day. At this age, I would love to have some decent savings in the bank, but can never seem to get my savings above 3k. I also feel like I have so many bills/money going out.
Budget: Rent: $650 CC payments: $600 (more than minimum) Retirement: $450 Groceries: $250 Student loan: $200 (minimum payment) Auto loan: $200 (minumum payment) Utilities & gas: $150 Health insurance: $150 Auto insurance: $130 Cell: $30 Gym: $10 Leftover-$360/month which I use for gifts, yearly expenses, unexpected expenses, travel, and honestly being young, dumb, and having fun with friends.
Debt is as follows: 🎓 $14600 (originally 18k, public loan, interest 3.4-6.8%) 🚗 $11300 (interest rate 3.4%) 💳 $7100 (originally 14k, currently on 0% card)
So, that’s a lot of money out. I need to get my finances in order because there are so many things I want to do (finish my master’s which would allow me to be more competitive in a higher-paying district, one day own a home, continue travel goals) that require me to fix my habits. Specifically, does anyone have any advice for how to work on saving habits? Additionally, please be critical of how I can reduce my basic monthly expenses.
THANK YOU!
Submitted August 01, 2018 at 09:05AM by debtfreedreams https://ift.tt/2AtaNyn
