I’ve posted numerous times and have always received great advice, so I want to say thank you in advance. So 2 years ago I separated with my wife and moved back to my home town with my mother/sister/grandparents because I needed help with my kids. I was unemployed and incredibly depressed, I took a job making $13 an hour, and I received a couple of raises and promotions for working hard and what not. Last may after a bunch of great advice from this sub I’m now making close to $50k a year (with over time). Because we live with family we don’t have many living expenses, and over the last 2 years I’ve paid off over 25k of debt, my credit score went from 590 to 720, and my only remaining debt are my federal student loans. My emergency fund is at about 3 months, and I have over 10k in credit cards if ever needed. To be honest I’ve been spending money kinda frivolously because I was going through a divorce and now because she passed away (retail therapy I guess).
Because of her passing we’ll now receive about 1k a month in survivor benefits, and I don’t know how to plan for that. I could very quickly save up to buy a house right now, but I don’t know if that should be a priority because to be honest I still need help with my children, and there are so many other living expenses I’d absorb. Also we currently live in a suburb and I don’t know if I could afford to live in the area and keep my kids in the same school. Part of me feel like I should just leave that money separate and start college funds for all my kids. Also I’m 33 and don’t have much saved for retirement. My 401k isn’t even a year old and I’m only contributing 5% a month.
I’ve made a ton of steps in the right direction, and I want to stay on track. Any advice would be appreciated.
Submitted September 15, 2018 at 03:28PM by Dre6485 https://ift.tt/2Ng999i
