Gonna get right to it:
ME: 25, male.
LOCATION: NW Florida
EDUCATION: BS in History, went from 08 - 12
INCOME: $11/hr, full 40 hrs every week. Comes out to about $725 every two weeks. That does leave two extra paychecks a year due to uneven weeks, but I do not include this in budget - extra. (Generally for payment..) Have been two $500 bonuses last two years.
Customer Service Rep. for a local company.
Been in the position about 13 months, previously worked receptionist for same company for a few years.
Currently taking employer match for 401k - full match for first 3%, 80% match for next 2%. Roughly about $40-50 of pay.
BUDGET:
RENT: $600
WATER: $10 (on average)
ELECTRIC: $75 (on average)
HEALTH INSURANCE: $99
CAR LOAN: $130
STUDENT DEBT: $157
INTERNT: $60 (AT&T only choice here.)
GAS: $60~ (Wish the public transit was worth a dang, and that I lived closer to work!)
PHONE: $10 (Old flip phone, wooo!)
CAR INSURANCE: $100 (paid every 6 months, about $600) (This used to be MUCH cheaper, but now with a car still being paid for...)
Putting the numbers together, including budgeting for car insurance monthly, but not including the two floating paychecks + bonuses, comes out to in the "green" by about $100. Before taking into account a copay that might pop up or small things. Not much for emergency. Or much of anything.
DEBT:
*CAR LOAN: $5,515.71 balance, 4.50%
*STUDENT DEBT: $10,206.52 balance
-$3,163.83, 5.35%
-$3,876.31, 4.25%
-$3,166.38, 6.55%
-(and a fourth already paid off that was at 6.55%)
Note: Car loan came from purchase after old truck was totaled in a crash Dec. 2014.
ASSETS: After paying everything this month, should be roughly at $5000 in savings.
GIRLFRIEND:
Had an income of roughly $1200 a month, with essentially a self employed job. This is after taxes, roughly.
She handles her own expenses - I don't have these numbers quite as down pat, but:
AGE: 28
PHONE: $35
MEDICAL: $50 (medicine + insurances)
FOOD: $250-$300 (this is our food budget for the two of us. We can probably cut this down some more, and we've got some new recipes.)
She has about $30,000 in student loans for an English degree, but is currently on deferment.
She has about $2500 in savings.
She lost that job about two weeks ago (yaay, subcontract work) - but looks to have been picked up somewhere else at the same rate/hours.
Both of us are trying to be smart about not eating out, and have definitely cut back on it/very limited. But then we had a friend come in last month from across the country for a few weeks and whoof, that was rough. Fun, but... rough.
Ultimately, here is what I'm trying to figure out.
1.) My job is... alright? Like, the company treats people well, it's a good place to work. I just... really wish it was more money, y'know? Management drags their behind on raises, I had to fight hard just to get .50 for my promotion, because apparently that puts me pretty close to people in this department who have been here for years. Dead end!
My degree is in History. It's something I love and enjoyed, but I am really kicking myself a little and often have hardcore guilt over. The fuck do I do with it? I'm looking again at jobs in the area, and while I've actually gotten some encouragement from management (understanding I want something more, esp. at this age - even got a nice letter from our company's president to use if need be for reference) ... applying elsewhere kind of scares me a little? This job seems pretty stable/not going anywhere, but again... pay, dead end?
2.) As a follow-up to 1, I guess. I despair over the fact of my skills, or lack thereof. No coding, no handy skills, pretty clumsy. I'm pretty good with people, and I know how to research Things pretty good, and love politics. I consider myself a hard worker and willing to learn. (I busted my ass with the overnight stocker job I held at a Wal-Mart for about 9 months... you get paid for a job, you do your job and do it well, love it or not.) But I've got no idea what, where, how to start. Ultimately, this is something I have to decide for myself, but... any tips for dealing with decision paralysis, particularly on this topic?
3.) I love my girlfriend, deeply and utterly. But it's been a long road to trying to help her with financial things. She's been the type of person to not really... worry or think much about finances. She's definitely made some big missteps, and it's something she beats herself up over a lot. (Passed on a big scholarship, burned a lot of her share of her mother's life insurance when she passed...) And there's been some... other stuff she's been dealing with, that I don't want to get into here. However, she seems to have picked up a lot from me worrying about finances and whatnot, and a well improved work ethic. Once she's got her new job hopefully settled out, we're going to talk about rebalancing a few things on between our budgets.
I talked with her about myself getting a part time job, to really do some damage to my debt... that was rough. Maybe not the brightest time to time it a couple days after she lost her job. I'm a dummy for that one. She's afraid going from 40 to 60(+?) hours will have me come home and 'hate her' for not doing enough, apparently?
4.) Plans/thoughts/goals?
-Continue grinding down the eat out to zero. Get back on that wagon after last month, so to put. We don't drink, party, buy clothes, or do much of anything else. This is our biggest, occasional sin I feel.
-Student loans. That 3.1k at 6.55% seems like a good target to tackle first. I really, really, REALLY want to get out from under debt...
-Car loan. Would like to get out of, of course. Apparently 4.5% is not a bad rate for someone with little/no credit history, however, and it may not be a bad idea to keep this (in more ideal budget?) to build history some?
-Money: fuck, i need to make more.
-Going from $300/mo for rent/power/water/internet to a lot more suucked. Lived with a friend for a couple years who was very, very kind to us. Could not find a vacancy, despite searching hardcore. So now I'm 30 minutes drive away from work (same as before, but different direction) and pay a whole lot more. Boo.
Any thoughts, tips, recommendations, help, advice or comments in general greatly appreciated. I am more than happy to answer any questions. And even if none, getting this off my chest and all on paper, a bit, has been helpful. Thanks, MMM.