New Mustachian, New Questions

[TheKbob]

So I've been lurking and sharing the site with others few about 6 months to gauge the "is this crazy or not?" feedback from folks. I know MMM isn't selling a thing, but a healthy change of lifestyle, but it's kinda one of those "well, that's kinda easy?" things you just don't consider.

So I have a few questions that I want to get out of the way in quick succession:

1)  How hard and fast is hard and fast when starting out?  I have a steady job, a sizable income for the area of the country I live in, but also have a good stack of bills for a car and student loans.  I am single and already kind of "Mustached" my move to this new state by only getting a one bedroom and cutting back fancier appliances and the AC.  It seems like there's a lot to digest on this site, in the form of forums and articles and they all seem like great idea, but I feel a bit overwhelmed by them.  They make me want to spend more money "not Mustachian usually" in efforts to save money, but where do you draw the line?

2)  Relating to one, I bought a used bike; a Trek 7300 with name brand parts I can recognize.  I learned to ride a bike 2 years ago (28 today) and I'm still very poor.  I have taken to going around the parking lot many times (about 4 miles) because I am absolutely terrified of the city streets until I can not feel like a wobbly loser on the damned thing.  What items do I need to maintain this thing and what's a good attack plan on "branching out" or being the fledgling getting kicked out of the nest?

3)  Is spending money now to save money soon (less than 12 months) a good plan?  I have savings, but enough for possibly 2 months of living.  Is it wise to say, dip into that to get a phone on Republic Wireless, when I can recoup the cost within 4.5~9 months depending on the phone I select over what I have now? 

4)  I am new in an area and don't know a person, for the most part.  It seems like meeting people has it's own dollar cost these days when they all want to go to X, Y, or Z and I don't have clout with coworkers or new folks to suggest something more Mustachian.  But I do also want to go into "hardcore" mode and see if I can burn down my student loans in 12-24 months.  Any recommendations on how to build a new social life and still ditch the weight?  I do have hobbies that get me out, but they too have dollar costs associated with them.

5)  How do I "retire early" if my money is in retirement accounts that I can't pull from until I'm in my 50s+?  It seems like I should plan to save enough to also take the penalties to start early withdrawal? I guess this is one of the things I haven't found yet.

Hope that's not too much!  I'm gonna go browse more of the forums, but I am reading through all the blogs and getting my head around what more I can do to set myself up for success.

[horsepoor]

Hi, I'm a beginner too, but I think the answer to your questions is going to come down to more of a numbers game.

What is this "stack of bills" you have comprised of?
What interest rates are you paying on your debt?
How secure is your employment situation?
What sort of gas mileage does your car get?
Are you in a contract with your current wireless carrier?

Can't help you with the bike thing; I'm a giant wuss when it comes to riding in traffic!

ETA:  search for Roth Pipeline and you'll get some information on how to access retirement account money early.  I haven't quite wrapped my head around it either, but that's a place to start.

[TheKbob]

Stack of bills is the typical rent, food, utilities but also includes a car loan that is all but paid off:

Rent: $1,135 (California, so this is a "cheap" 1 Bdrm)
Phone: $60
Util: $140
Car: $270 (Loan + Insurance)
Extras: $80 (Netflix, Comcast Internet, Music)C
Cat: $40~80 per month determining on timing of food, litter, flea meds

and a stack of student loan debt at:

Priv Loan: $11,468.78 (6.33%)
Priv Loan: $13,213.15 (3.83%)
Sallie Mae: $7,221. 84(2.53%)
Sallie Mae: $4,348.93 (6%)
Sallie Mae: $21,244.89 (6.8%)

Employment is probably as secure as I can get as I have a tenured position.  I don't discuss my employment that much. I am making over $75k a year, though.

My car is an '05 Cobalt w/ about 28MPG city, 36MPG hwy based on current usage patterns.   Over 100k miles and may need to consider a strategy for it as the transmission will probably need service at 140~160k if I intend to keep it.  Biking to work appears almost suicidal.  We're talking 2 lane back roads, no shoulder, 65mph traffic on average (people are flying!). I may consider a different place to live after my lease is up to better enable this, but that also involves many choices.  That will be address in the next calender year. 

Not in a contract, on T-Mobile month to month.  Dumped Verizon long before Mustache was in my life because I was fed up with $120+ phone bills for still lackluster service.

[horsepoor]

Other than saving a reasonable emergency fund and contributing for any 401K match, I'd be attacking the higher interest student loans if I were you.  Your hair is on fire carrying $37K+ in loans with over 6% interest!  If your car is a similar interest rate, I'd kill that first and then start snowballing the student loans.  In fact, if you have good credit, you might consider paying off the car loan with a 0%/no balance transfer credit card promo to kill it even quicker.  I just did this with the last $4K on my horse trailer and it saved me hundreds that in turn could go towards paying other debt off sooner.

Utilities seem pretty high for a 1 BR apartment. 

Phone might be worthwhile to change out - especially if you can move your current phone to a cheaper carrier or get a cheap phone with a cheaper carrier (Ting or something).

Sounds like the car is a pretty good choice.

[TheKbob]

Yea, I need some no joke face-punching over the matter!  I am making some phone calls tomorrow to get the car sorted out and then I can attack all my loans individually using the Sallie Mae calculator to help burn down prime targets. 

The utilities include bull crap fees I can't get out of for this area (flat $45 sewer, $25 trash) before I get applied rates.  Almost every complex I went to in the city stated that these fees would be there, making WST about $80~$120.  I come to find out my current complex is based on averages for buildings and then sq ft plus occupancy instead of direct metering.  That's a total bummer and no bueno in my books.  The electric rate is $0.136/kWh, which is on the higher side.  I tend to do laundry only every other week (no clothes line dry in the apartment complex) and I'm pretty low impact with CFLs and an AC settings of 78F.  The appliances are not energy star and I imagine the fridge is a contributor.  I stick with my stove top and toaster oven for cooking most of the time.

[La Bibliotecaria Feroz]

Yeah, we also pay a crappy "average" for electricity and WST. I guess that means my neighbors are subsidizing my cloth diaper washing and I'm subsidizing their AC.

Why is your cat so freakin' expensive???? Our indoor cat only needs flea treatment a few times a year and even though we feed her pretty fancy food (Blue Buffalo), total cost is like a quarter of what you mentioned.

Unless your apartment is really midgety, why not get a clothes rack and line-dry right in your apartment?

When possible, your microwave will use less energy than the stovetop/toaster oven and put less heat out into your apartment to counteract your AC.

Biking: You just gotta do it. I am not at all a confident rider (I'm female, 4'11", and uncoordinated) and I'm dragging around a double trailer. Try some quieter, less traveled streets.

Spending money now to save within 12 months: Only if (a) the savings from the outlay are greater than if you just put that money toward your debt and (b) you are sure you have the discipline to stick with the change. We paid $200 to get out of our Verizon contract and get Airvoice and yes, it is paying off, but my husband keeps whining about how crappy our new phones are.

Socializing: If nothing else, can you order something on the cheaper side and make it last two rounds? If it's a meal, say you're not very hungry/had a big (previous meal) and order a salad or something. And why can't you suggest something a Mustachian, like a bring-your-own picnic to, for instance, a free jazz concert in the park? It's summer, that kind of event is all over the place and I think it makes you look hip (as opposed to cheap) to suggest it.