New job, pay bump, new opportunity: Where from here? Help me out of debt!

[LumberJesse]

Hey fellow mustachians,

I haven't posted in a while, so here's my little background: I've been a profession guide in Yosemite NP for the last year, making $12/hr plus tips, usually coming out around $16 an hour over the course of a year. I live 45 minutes (30 miles) from my job, but only commute about half of the time as I can camp out near work during the warmer months of the year. My annual mileage this year was 15,000 miles. I drive a 1998 Subaru Outback, and do almost 100% of the maintenance on my own. I have $10K in school debt, $1k in personal loans, $1k on a card, and $2k of no-interest random other stuff.

Update: I just got a new job! I'm pretty excited about this for a few reasons: I will now have full-time work, year round. The new job is an exciting career move, too: I'll be working maintaining one of the largest gray and black water recycling systems in the state of California. I'm receiving a raise to $15.50 an hour, with an extra $1 bump after a 3 month probationary period. When the CA state minimum goes up in the Spring, I will receive another $1 bump. Not to mention that I should be able to manage a $1 bump a year other than state mandate-initiated ones.

The really exciting thing for me, though, is that I'll be starting out in a trade where I can really move up. The guy who's spot I'm filling left for a much better paying job after receiving training here, and after having this workplace pay for all of his certifications. He moved away and is banking a nice $80K/year on the east coast. If all goes well, I should be about at that level of expertise in 2-4 years.

Other exciting things: I'll be moving to onsite housing, where I'll pay $480 per month for a spot in a room and 3 meals per day at the staff cafeteria! NOT BAD! Plus that $480 is prorated for the number of hours I work up to 40 hours, so if I ever make less than a full work week, I don't pay full rent. Not too shabby.

So here's where I'm at: short of a few hobbies than I 100% plan to continue to engage in (backpacking, skiing at the local hill [$280 for season pass, 1 hour from me], bike touring), I want to make a good plan for getting debt free ASAP. I'm also currently picking up as much work as possible in other areas: fixing friend's cars, writing up "for sale" ads for people, fixing up stuff and selling it (I'm very mechanically apt), picking up random labor work when it's around.

Obviously my cost of living is fairly low with no commute and a meal and housing package: I'll generally drive 150 miles on the weekends (what's the point of living here if I'm not going to go and enjoy it?). My car insurance is $65/mo. My car is needing more repairs lately, as it has 280K miles on it, although most of them are repairs I can perform. I do need a car big enough to haul all of my tools around and pull a trailer on occasion, but I don't see why a Yaris or XA couldn't do that. I don't have a ton in savings right now, as it has all gone to debt.

What do you all think? Should I sell my car and get something smaller? My only real expenses over the next year outside of housing and food are a few trips home to Kentucky and to NYC to see my sister. Can I get out of debt by this time next year?

[socaso]

This is a sweetheart of a situation. Assuming you always work 40 hours a week there doesn't seem to be any reason why you couldn't get out of debt by this time next year. You don't mention anything about health insurance costs. If that is part of your compensation package then you are all set. If not that might reduce your take home pay a bit more. I would think you could come up with at least $1000 a month to put toward debt unless there are other expenses you don't mention.

I wonder if you could find a ski and other outdoor activities buddy who also has a car and could split driving with you so you don't always put miles on your car and can put off buying a new car for a while.

[Sanitary Stache]

Keep your eye on the goal and you can definitely do it.  Every dollar spent not paying off your debt is a step off the path.  You'll be amazed at how easy it is to pull together $14,000.

Don't buy another car. If this one becomes too expensive to repair, stop driving.  The mountains aren't going anywhere, there are endless magical outdoor opportunities just a bike ride away, and you can certainly get a ride to the ski hill.

Good job on your new job! Your job will be rewarding.  Do you have the opportunity to work overtime?

Also, your employer should be paying for your membership to https://www.cwea.org/ and you should go to as many trainings and conferences as possible.

[MrThatsDifferent]

Congrats on the new job! I agree with the above to hold off on buying a car. If your goal is to get out of debt focus the next year on that and make your car last as long as possible. Maybe you cut back a bit on all the driving to put less wear on it? It’s a temporary sacrifice to get your goal achieved. Life is infinitely better out of debt. Once out, don’t go back in!

Go to the case study section and create a proper case study so people can help you. After you get out of debt, what’s the rest of your savings and investment plan? You need that. Also, you seem quite sporty and able, you could also have a side hustle as a personal trainer or masseur, that’s something to look into down the road. Otherwise, keep hiring yourself out as a fix it guy or a hire a hubby, where you can assist people, there’s a definite need for guys like that. Good luck!

[Freedomin5]

Yes, create a proper case study  using the case study format.

Make sure you include the interest rates on your debt. The interest rates are what determine how quickly you should pay off debts. Example: If you’re sitting on 12% personal loans and 25% credit card debt, pay those off ASAP. If your student loans are at 2% interest, drag that out as long as possible.

Also, does your company offer a pension plan? A company-sponsored retirement plan? Matching on any contributions you put into the retirement plan?

We can’t tell you the best way to pay off your debt and build up your investments unless we have all the information. And the case study template will ensure that you give us all the info we need to give you relevant advice.