Life situation:
21 year old kid here, 1 semester from graduating with a degree in Computer Science, living/working in Denver for a summer internship. Own a 2002 Hyundai Accent GL that I use sparingly(ish), which I bought used with entirely my own money from a family member. Take a train to/from work, and have been working hard at slicing down my expenses. Honestly, I've been spending too much on dumb things like food/clothing items considering my financial situation.
What I do:
Generally quite healthy: I work out daily (either weights or running and/or walking if not tennis), and eat quite well and am working on losing weight.
Play tennis, video games, nothing of substance otherwise in my free time. I have become interested in discus and woodworking, but have no place to practice the latter!
NOTE: All figures are expressed monthly
Gross Salary/Wages:
~$4,440 (Only until internship is up, then will be part time for ~$1700)
Other Income:
None. Perhaps I'll take up teaching tennis part-time.
Tax Withholding:
About $896 (20% estimate)
Monthly Take-Home Pay:
$3,584
Current Expenses:
Rent: $674
Groceries: +/- $240 (Since reading MMM, I've been really cutting down expenses on dumb food items!)
Auto Insurance, rent insurance: $90 (Denver....), $13
Cell Phone: (will update if I find bill)
Restaurant / Fast Food: +/- $38.00 (it depends on if I'm away from home or not)
Transportation: +/- $40 (gas)
Miscellaneous: +/- $180
Assets:
Checking: $650 (payday is coming soon)
Savings: $650
Temporary personal loan: $2000 (easily recallable, was to a family member in a pinch, money is available)
Wealthfront investment account: $9750
For those not in the know, Wealthfront is essentially an automated asset distributor based on a rather simple-minded risk-tolerance quiz they give you. And then they invest you in a spread of index funds. In my account, I have holdings in VTI, VEA, VWO, VIG, XLO, and MUB. Total market, foreign stock, emerging market, dividend stocks, natural resources, and municipal bonds. I'm hoping to continually contribute to the account once I have a full-time job.
I pay 0 fees (free for the first $10,000 deposited)
Liabilities:
Federal Unsubsidized Student Loan: $8,950 @ ~ 5.1%
Federal Subsidized Student Loan : $22,634 @ ~ 3.5%
NASA FCU : $70,781 @ 6%
Total: $102,365
Before everyone sounds the alarm bells, I became aware of the rashness of my choice of school in terms of finance well after the fact. I could easily have gone to a close one, but it is what it is. Parents offered to pay down about $70,000 of it post graduation, but I don't feel right taking it for granted, so I have made it a personal note to pay them back for it as soon as I have the means. I will have to begin official loan repayment starting about a year from now.
Specific Questions:
I am looking for general financial (or personal!) life advice here. Should I save up my money for loan payments? Should I put my rather limited funding in 401k matching? IRAs? More into the stock market?
Where can a guy find space to practice woodworking? Anybody know good woodworking shops that rent out space or tools?
That all being said, I am working out the details of spending some time abroad in Germany come January of 2016, so I will likely have to save up for that.
Obviously I know killing high-interest loans is a big priority. I hope that income post-graduation will yield enough income to cover those expenses as well as allow for investments. In addition to cutting costs, I'm hoping to come up with alternate income streams.