I have about $32,000 to my name, no debt ($10,000 I have in a ROTH, the other $20k I'm sitting on in savings, which I know is a waste). I'm getting married in 3 months and my fiance has $40,000 in debt. $10k of that is credit card debt which he used to get his business off the ground last year, and that we will pay off immediately. The other $30k is school loans, with an interest of 5% and a monthly payment of around $370.
When we get married I'll be moving with him (out of state), meaning I'm quitting my job ($42k/year) and hopefully finding something similar when I move. My fiance owns his own sealcoating and landscaping company and last year with equipment costs and surprise repairs, he basically broke even.
My question is: do we dump most of the remaining cash we'll have into his school loans, or invest it somewhere to start saving for a house? (our goal is to buy a duplex so we can rent the other half, then eventually move out to buy a single family house and rent the whole duplex)
A stupid sidenote: I bought a 2008 Mazda last year for $12,500 (cash) and with the miles I've put on it it's worth about $10,000 now... should I sell that and buy a more affordable car so that we can be out of debt sooner? (If I had found Mr. Money Mustache before I bought the car it never would have happened).