I just started to read the forums, so pre-apologies for having more noobossity than badassity!
My basic question is the same as all noobs - where should I start? Learn how to invest, or increase my income?
Here's my situation:
Income
Monthly income as a web developer is 2400. 30% of that ends up in savings (I actually deposit my entire paycheck into a savings acct, so it's more accurate to say 70 percent goes into spending). My savings account is at almost exactly 20k right now.
Work offers a 401k with a match, and I put in around 150/month. That's worth 3500 right now, and is invested conservatively.
I have a small rollover IRA from another job, invested aggressively, which I'm haven't contributed to since I left at the end of '07. It's still below where it was in 2008, at 1200 bucks.
Finally, I have some paper bonds, worth about 800 bucks.
Spending (Time and Money)
My SO and I split all of our spending. We share a credit card that we pay off every month. It costs 75 bucks a year, but we get a couple of flights out of it each year.
I share a car with my SO. Maintenance and gas cost about 130/month. It's got over 100k miles on it, so it'll be costing more in the future, I'm sure.
I rent from my SO's family, about 400/month.
Work pays for health insurance. They also offer to pay half a gym membership, which I don't have time for. I'm up ~5:30-6:00, start getting ready for work a 7, and by the time I get home and finish supper it's 7:30. I am pretty much exhausted by the end of the day. Keep going like this, and it's going to drive up my health costs, definitely.
Work pays for a bus pass. My daily bus commute is an hour each way. I wish we could move closer to work, but it's not gonna happen.
As for loans: ZERO. Paid my student loans off on my birthday in 2011.
I attached a screenshot of my income/spending spreadsheet for those of you who enjoy such things.
"Plan"
Yeah - I have no plan. But here are my vague ideas for the future:
Invest savings. Investing still doesn't feel like a real thing to me. I'd like to keep about 6000 on hand as an emergency fund. The rest of it I'd like to earn more than the pitiful 0.15 percent it earns sitting in savings. But that old, tiny IRA that's lost money over five years still freaks me out whenever I think about investing.
Increase income. I get stuck here because I have a lot of potential options, and so little time to pursue any of them. I started with an art degree, taught myself web design/development, and spent a few years freelancing before getting my current job. So in my spare time, I could: freelance, teach workshops, increase my programming skills, sell art, get an MFA etc., etc., etc.
But wait, spare time. I don't have much. So would it be more beneficial to spend my bus rides reading about investing, or figuring out a business model/focusing on increasing income?
Edit: Got rid of some fluff.