Hello! I've just started reading here, but I've luckily been living a lot of these principles already. My problem is, I have low skill/ knowledge about a lot of these "common sense" life things like buying a house and car and changing jobs and things. I'm finally at a stable place in my life, so I'd like to plan out the next ten years at least and am not sure how to do that.
My situation: I've got a great, government job with a great environment, great coworkers, great institutional processes, and great tasks. I net 31k/yr after taxes, and have decent insurance and will have a pension if I stay 10 years. I used to do landscaping for 8 years, and was also happy and content doing that, so I know I could stay at this job forever, happily.
My finances: I'm currently spending 15k on living, and saving 15k/yr. I know I could improve those ratios, and I'll be spreadsheeting to optimise those, but that's not most pressing for me right here. If you have incidental suggestions:
Spoiler: "breakdown/month" show apartment: 26% | 690
discretionary: 8% | 200
utilities/ recurring bills: 6% | 160
car+rent insurance: 5% | 130
food+fuel: 3% | 90
more taxes, medical: 2% | 30
savings: 51% | 1300
Current liquid money: 27k, still getting index funds/ IRA set up
My first dilemna: I'm renting, which isn't ideal for three reasons. One, I think it's cheaper to own/ mortgage a house. Two, I miss having a yard for growing plants and the ability to renovate my own place. And three, I always feel bad playing music over the speakers while crafting or working out. The upsides are that skilled maintenance is covered (I'm not a plumber), and that I don't know where I'd be able to buy a 1br/1bath house of 500sq ft (which is how much I use of my giant 2br/1bath 900sqft apartment) - I don't really want a roommate/partner in the next 10 years. I'm also only 3.5mi from work, a scenic 20min bike ride, in a plenty safe part of town.
My second dilemna: A car purchase. I'm currently borrowing my brother's civic for free while he lives in the big city (a win-win), but he'll probably want it back in a few years. A family member will sell me their immaculate '14 Mazda6 for just 10k. I was plenty happy with my old cars ('91 Civic, '97 Outback), and don't mind getting something money-efficient again, but the Mazda also gets decent fuel economy and I know its history, and I'll be helping out my family.
My third dilemna: Changing jobs. I was reading from you fine folks that "moving up" (ie getting more salary) means changing jobs every two years or so. I guess I could probably do that (well, in more like 4 years after I get my GISP cert, probably), but the uncertainty of finding another happy place to work where I don't have to worry about losing my job makes me wonder if that's worth it. Folks at my current place have all been there for anywhere from 10 to 40+ years, with most at least 20 years in.
unrelated; do any of you also find it impossible to read these captchas, or am I just terrible?