Case Study - Financial newbie seeking advice

[bettybop]

Life Situation: Single, 27 yrs old, teacher, living in apartment with boyfriend & puppy in Virginia. Currently seeking a new job with a higher pay. First-generation immigrant, coming from a family that has rarely been debt-free and has bad financial habits (myself included!). Taking steps toward improving!

Emergency Savings: $893.52
Grad School Savings: $477
403b Retirement: $18,168

Gross Salary/Wages: $53,931

Individual amounts of each Pre-tax deductions:
-VRS EE SHARE: $106.45
-Health Insurance: $98.92
-TSA 403b: $44
-VRS DC 401a: $26.61
-VRS DC OPT: $13.31

Other Ordinary Income: n/a

Qualified Dividends & Long Term Capital Gains: n/a

Rental Income, Actual Expenses, and Depreciation: n/a; don't own a property

Adjusted Gross Income: n/a

Taxes:
-Federal: $211.36
-Social Security: $131.49
-Medicare: $30.75
-VA State Tax: $89.49; Tax rate 5.75%

Current expenses:
-Groceries: $390/month, ~95/wk
-Rent: $710/month
-Utilities: ~$330/month (includes wifi, phone, renters/car/pet insurance, auto maintenance, car property tax, & Spotify.)
-Gym: $39/month
-Loans: $300/month (loans are in deferred until 2025; have continued making payments, but unsure of what the best use of this money is until then)
-Beauty/health/hygiene/birchbox subscription/billie/eyebrows: ~$110/month (have made great strides in lowering this number. I have a specific health/beauty routine and make sure to only purchase what is needed for that routine)
-Therapy: $60/month
-Gas/transportation: $120/month
-Leisure/shopping: ~$180/month (varies depending on what's happening that month; i.e. if I have an event that month like a friends birthday or a ski trip, etc.)
-Household items: ~$30/month
-Dining out: ~$50/month
-Brother's drums lessons: $32/month
-Haircut: $130/4x a year
-Pet expenses/vet: ~$170/month
-Contacts: $43/month
-Health Co-pays: ~$35/month
-Gifts (savings acct): ~$35/month
Total expenses: ~$2,674 (This is roughly equal or greater than my take home pay, I am unsure of how to decrease this.)

Assets: Honda CRV 2016 45k miles

Liabilities:
Undergraduate loans
-Loan 1: $2,818.85 @ 3.4%
-Loan 2: $3,249.91 @ 3.86%
-Loan 3: $2,426.04 @ 4.66%
-Loan 4: $4,415.24 @ 4.29%
-Loan 5: $1,721.54 @ 4.29%
-Loan 6: $301.40 @ 3.86%
-Loan 7: $4,391.17 @ 3.76%
-Loan 8: $1,637.03 @ 3.76%

Graduate school loans* 
-Loan 9: $5,622 @ 6.28%
-Loan 10: $9,950 @ 5.28%
*graduate loans ($15,572) will repeat 3 more times (every semester for a total of 4 semesters). Total ~$62,288 :(

Specific Question(s):
I am looking for guidance on my reducing my monthly expenses, most effective ways to pay off my loans especially during this deferment phase (i.e. what to do with the $300 I would usually pay towards my loans), advice on retirement contributions so that I can retire at a reasonable age, and any general advice that can be offered.

Ready to be roasted :/

[Morning Glory]

Welcome!!!

What program are you doing in grad school? Any way you can get your employer to cover some of it?

Are you splitting expenses 50/50 with boyfriend?

Your budget isn't too bad but you could maybe shop around the cell phone, car insurance,  etc- can you break that out a little better? Get rid of spotify. Also you could probably cut the beauty products/haircuts, etc-you are 27 you don't need makeup and you can do your own eyebrows with the tweezers. I don't know what Billie is but you can get rid of birchbox-I've heard it's more packaging than products.
Your pet expenses seem high-- on top of pet insurance!--assuming this will go down as your puppy gets older, but you can sometimes save by finding a country vet.

For your loan payoff savings I would do ibonds then cash them out and pay off the loans before they start accruing interest. (Plenty of threads on here detailing how). Actually I would just pay off that tiny one first because it's annoying, then do I bonds. For retirement increase your contributions every time you get a raise. No need to get fancy until after the loans are paid off.

[economista]

Is this case study your boyfriend by any chance? If so, seeing them together makes the situation look a little different and will impact the advice given.  https://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/case-studies/case-study-young-professional-situation-help/

[jeroly]

Life Situation: Single, 27 yrs old, teacher, living in apartment with boyfriend & puppy in Virginia. Currently seeking a new job with a higher pay. First-generation immigrant, coming from a family that has rarely been debt-free and has bad financial habits (myself included!). Taking steps toward improving!

Emergency Savings: $893.52
Grad School Savings: $477
403b Retirement: $18,168

Gross Salary/Wages: $53,931

Individual amounts of each Pre-tax deductions:
-VRS EE SHARE: $106.45
-Health Insurance: $98.92
-TSA 403b: $44
-VRS DC 401a: $26.61
-VRS DC OPT: $13.31

Other Ordinary Income: n/a

Qualified Dividends & Long Term Capital Gains: n/a

Rental Income, Actual Expenses, and Depreciation: n/a; don't own a property

Adjusted Gross Income: n/a

Taxes:
-Federal: $211.36
-Social Security: $131.49
-Medicare: $30.75
-VA State Tax: $89.49; Tax rate 5.75%

Current expenses:
-Groceries: $390/month, ~95/wk
-Rent: $710/month
-Utilities: ~$330/month (includes wifi, phone, renters/car/pet insurance, auto maintenance, car property tax, & Spotify.)
-Gym: $39/month
-Loans: $300/month (loans are in deferred until 2025; have continued making payments, but unsure of what the best use of this money is until then)
-Beauty/health/hygiene/birchbox subscription/billie/eyebrows: ~$110/month (have made great strides in lowering this number. I have a specific health/beauty routine and make sure to only purchase what is needed for that routine)
-Therapy: $60/month
-Gas/transportation: $120/month
-Leisure/shopping: ~$180/month (varies depending on what's happening that month; i.e. if I have an event that month like a friends birthday or a ski trip, etc.)
-Household items: ~$30/month
-Dining out: ~$50/month
-Brother's drums lessons: $32/month
-Haircut: $130/4x a year
-Pet expenses/vet: ~$170/month
-Contacts: $43/month
-Health Co-pays: ~$35/month
-Gifts (savings acct): ~$35/month
Total expenses: ~$2,674 (This is roughly equal or greater than my take home pay, I am unsure of how to decrease this.)

Assets: Honda CRV 2016 45k miles

Liabilities:
Undergraduate loans
-Loan 1: $2,818.85 @ 3.4%
-Loan 2: $3,249.91 @ 3.86%
-Loan 3: $2,426.04 @ 4.66%
-Loan 4: $4,415.24 @ 4.29%
-Loan 5: $1,721.54 @ 4.29%
-Loan 6: $301.40 @ 3.86%
-Loan 7: $4,391.17 @ 3.76%
-Loan 8: $1,637.03 @ 3.76%

Graduate school loans* 
-Loan 9: $5,622 @ 6.28%
-Loan 10: $9,950 @ 5.28%
*graduate loans ($15,572) will repeat 3 more times (every semester for a total of 4 semesters). Total ~$62,288 :(

Specific Question(s):
I am looking for guidance on my reducing my monthly expenses, most effective ways to pay off my loans especially during this deferment phase (i.e. what to do with the $300 I would usually pay towards my loans), advice on retirement contributions so that I can retire at a reasonable age, and any general advice that can be offered.

Ready to be roasted :/

You are spending an extra $31k/ year on school. This is a crazy amount given your situation. I doubt that the increased pay (assuming you’re getting a masters in education) you will get upon completing the degree will justify this expense, especially when compared to what it would cost at, say, an instate public school.

The easiest way to get spending under control is to not increase it when you get pay raises. In addition,…

As far as paying off the loans goes, focus on paying down the ones with the highest interest rates first.

If you are sharing that apartment, your utility bills seem very high.
Look at cheaper cellphone plans.
Generally pet insurance doesn’t pay for itself so look into dropping it.
Shopping around / threatening to switch could get you cheaper internet.
Look at cheaper gyms like Crunch or Planet Fitness.

[bettybop]

Holy moly thank you all so much for taking the time to respond. Happy to be a part of this community!

Is this case study your boyfriend by any chance? If so, seeing them together makes the situation look a little different and will impact the advice given.  https://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/case-studies/case-study-young-professional-situation-help/

yup!

You are spending an extra $31k/ year on school. This is a crazy amount given your situation. I doubt that the increased pay (assuming you’re getting a masters in education) you will get upon completing the degree will justify this expense, especially when compared to what it would cost at, say, an instate public school.

The easiest way to get spending under control is to not increase it when you get pay raises. In addition,…

As far as paying off the loans goes, focus on paying down the ones with the highest interest rates first.

If you are sharing that apartment, your utility bills seem very high.
Look at cheaper cellphone plans.
Generally pet insurance doesn’t pay for itself so look into dropping it.
Shopping around / threatening to switch could get you cheaper internet.
Look at cheaper gyms like Crunch or Planet Fitness.

I definitely agree with the cost of grad school. Unfortunately, this is the twisted reality for a lot of teachers. Teachers need to get a master's degree by their tenth year teaching if they wish to keep their teaching certificate (I am on my fifth year of teaching) and my county does not pay for it. And you're right, the raise I would get from getting my master's definitely does not make up for the cost of grad school; another twist. I am currently looking for jobs that are in the education field like curriculum developer and educational consultant. A lot of those jobs require a master's.

I've been paying off the 6.28% loan but since the loan is deferred until 2025, I wasn't sure if I should invest the money I am using to pay so that I can get a better return. I have little to no experience in investing so I definitely have to read and learn more about it.

Great suggestions on lowering my monthly expenses; I appreciate it!

Welcome!!!

What program are you doing in grad school? Any way you can get your employer to cover some of it?

Are you splitting expenses 50/50 with boyfriend?

Your budget isn't too bad but you could maybe shop around the cell phone, car insurance,  etc- can you break that out a little better? Get rid of spotify. Also you could probably cut the beauty products/haircuts, etc-you are 27 you don't need makeup and you can do your own eyebrows with the tweezers. I don't know what Billie is but you can get rid of birchbox-I've heard it's more packaging than products.
Your pet expenses seem high-- on top of pet insurance!--assuming this will go down as your puppy gets older, but you can sometimes save by finding a country vet.

For your loan payoff savings I would do ibonds then cash them out and pay off the loans before they start accruing interest. (Plenty of threads on here detailing how). Actually I would just pay off that tiny one first because it's annoying, then do I bonds. For retirement increase your contributions every time you get a raise. No need to get fancy until after the loans are paid off.

I am getting my master's in education in curriculum & development with a TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) specialization. My county will not pay for it. They have some scholarships totaling ~$800 that I am applying for.

We split rent 35/65 as he makes more than I do. Everything else (utilities, wifi, pet insurance, car insurance, etc.) we split 50/50. Everything else such as groceries, health supplies, copays, etc. I pay on my own.

Utilities breakdown
-Utilities: ~145/month (~$290 total but I pay half)
-Wifi: $37.50
-Phone: $55
-Car insurance: $41
-Renter's Insurance: $4
-Pet Insurance: $4
-Auto maintenance: $8
-Car property tax: $16
-Spotify: $16

I'll definitely get rid of those subscriptions and look into the other suggestions. This helps a lot, thank you

Great suggestion on the loans. I will pay the $300 one first and look into ibonds. I am again a newbie so I have to learn more about them.

[SailingOnASmallSailboat]

Do you track exact amounts of what you're spending or is it rounded? (I ask because a lot of the expenses have a roundy text thingy in front of them)

A few things stand out.
1) You're spending half as much on leisure/shopping each month as groceries
2) Half a week's groceries on eating out
3) Pet expenses seem to be in 2 categories, and $170/month seems like a LOT.
4) Drum lessons for your brother?

Your grad school expenses seem crazy high. In state tuition rates are far lower than that at most Viginia schools, plus education is in demand right now meaning you should be able to get some grant or other IMO.

[bettybop]

Do you track exact amounts of what you're spending or is it rounded? (I ask because a lot of the expenses have a roundy text thingy in front of them)

A few things stand out.
1) You're spending half as much on leisure/shopping each month as groceries
2) Half a week's groceries on eating out
3) Pet expenses seem to be in 2 categories, and $170/month seems like a LOT.
4) Drum lessons for your brother?

Your grad school expenses seem crazy high. In state tuition rates are far lower than that at most Viginia schools, plus education is in demand right now meaning you should be able to get some grant or other IMO.

1) Good catch there - I hadn't noticed that. There are some months where an event comes up that require me to spend more (birthday dinner, airbnb with friends) so I ideally that number would be lower. I definitely do not have good spending habits when shopping so I will work on that.
2) Also another eye-opening way to look at it. I can definitely decrease this number
3) Sorry for the confusion there. Here's the breakdown of pet cost/month
-Pet insurance: $4
-Vet: ~$30/month. I've read that the first year or so of having a puppy (got him at 8 weeks old) is the most brutal in terms of expenses (and sleep) so I am hoping that this cost will go down as he gets older.
-Pet food: $40
-Barkbox: $37
-General expenses (bully sticks, treats, poop bags): $30/month
There's definitely room here to decrease spending as I am breaking it down.
4) I split this expense with my older brother and sister (total is $96). My parents can't afford his lessons and he really loves them.

Yeah the grad school cost blows. I am looking into grants and scholarships now that I have been in school for a semester. A lot of the grants/scholarships that I've found are students in grad school.

[Morning Glory]

Ooh you can get rid of the bark box too. Much cheaper to just buy the occasional treat or toy. BGR has a really funny article on the subscription boxes. Their whole blog is pretty good.

https://www.bitchesgetriches.com/subscription-boxes-wasteful-spending/

[SailingOnASmallSailboat]

On shopping - a good way to curb the spending is (this is really boring, and maybe far too obvious) is to . . .

Not go shopping.

[kei te pai]

You are buying things you can not afford. It may be partly an age/ culture thing, but I think you should reconsider most of your ”self care” category, and redirect the money to improving your financial position. Thats a much better form of self care.

Make gifts. Dont do AirBnB / ski trips etc until you have a solid grasp on your budget. Cook at home and cut the grocery spend in half. You are spending a silly amount of money on a puppy. He is not your child. Stop barkbox. Stop buying treats.

Keep paying for your brothers drum lessons, but make sure he is helping you or other family members in some way in exchange.

All this may seem a bit harsh, but I think you have a false sense of your financial wellbeing!
There is a huge amount of good information in different forum threads, do some reading every night.
Best wishes.

[SailingOnASmallSailboat]

@bettybop have you read "Your Money or Your Life"? If not, I highly recommend it. Go online to your local library and check it out either as a physical book or as an ebook. There's lots in there that will make you think.

One of the steps they advocate for is tracking your money. Every cent in and out. I have a feeling you'd be shocked at what you're spending money on, kind of like what you said about breaking down the pet thing.

[charis]

You should qualify for some measure of federal teacher loan forgiveness. Are you familiar with the requirements? States typically have their own teacher forgiveness offerings as well. Another option is the PSLF, which I recommend in your situation with high loan amounts relative to income. You might be able to pull your loans out of deferment now during the payment suspension so you can start getting credit toward PSLF. 

[maisymouser]

Current expenses:
-Groceries: $390/month, ~95/wk
-Rent: $710/month
-Utilities: ~$330/month (includes wifi, phone, renters/car/pet insurance, auto maintenance, car property tax, & Spotify.)
-Gym: $39/month
-Loans: $300/month (loans are in deferred until 2025; have continued making payments, but unsure of what the best use of this money is until then)
-Beauty/health/hygiene/birchbox subscription/billie/eyebrows: ~$110/month (have made great strides in lowering this number. I have a specific health/beauty routine and make sure to only purchase what is needed for that routine)
-Therapy: $60/month
-Gas/transportation: $120/month
-Leisure/shopping: ~$180/month (varies depending on what's happening that month; i.e. if I have an event that month like a friends birthday or a ski trip, etc.)
-Household items: ~$30/month
-Dining out: ~$50/month
-Brother's drums lessons: $32/month
-Haircut: $130/4x a year
-Pet expenses/vet: ~$170/month
-Contacts: $43/month
-Health Co-pays: ~$35/month
-Gifts (savings acct): ~$35/month
Total expenses: ~$2,674 (This is roughly equal or greater than my take home pay, I am unsure of how to decrease this.)

Alright, you came to the right forum if you are looking for a roasting and/or challenge. Welcome aboard! What I am about to push you on is probably going to seem intense... But if it makes you feel better, I am only saying what I think will help. You can do this.

Groceries are high for one person. Cut it by 50%. Stop eating meat, if you do, and start buying beans, rice, and pasta in bulk. Check out the "eat out your pantry" challenge thread and @Malcat's journal for some recipe inspiration. As a family of 3 our groceries are typically only $300/month. So ~$400 for a single person seems to be really high for me!

Utilities:
-I'm impressed by your internet price (unless you are splitting this). If you're splitting it with your partner, do you receive a discounted rate from your ISP? Call them up, threaten to cancel, and see what they'll do for you. Most companies offer a ~$10/month rate decrease or so. Revisit your speed and see if you can make do with a lower Gbps.
-If you aren't doing so already, start line drying your clothes. Dryers are dumb in about 99% of cases and use a lot of electricity, and make your clothes wear out sooner. Buy a $10 rack and start enjoying the extremely meditative practice of air drying. It's seriously my favorite chore.
-Pet insurance- I also doubt $4/month is really worth it. I don't have pet insurance and don't understand the coverage so I might be off base, but yeah. Maybe take a look at this.
-You can find a better phone service if you want. I used to use a ~$35/month service with data. Pretty sure $55/month is high for frugalites on this forum.

Other harsh-sounding things I need to say: NO MORE EATING OUT.

And... NO MORE EYEBROWS. NO MORE HAIRCUTS (or at least, find some other cheaper/low maintenance haircut!). wtf is "billie"? Find cheaper contacts. I can tell you for sure, you are spending FAR more than you should on all of those items. I'm not super feminine or girly for a 30F, but I will tell you what- I spend literally $0 on makeup and haircuts and my NW has benefited tremendously from it in comparison to my beauty-loving peers. OK, yeah, I shave my legs, so not $0 exactly.... Anyway, no one has ever come up to me and said I am ugly. I have made progress in my career. My husband still loves me. I still love me. I have the added benefit of having more self-confidence than I ever did when I used to spend 15 minutes in the morning looking at myself in the mirror and trying to change things to meet some arbitrarily set beauty standard. I have more time now and think less about superficial things like my skin that pretty much no one else cares about. My mom cuts my hair ~1x/year and it is a bonding experience. Ponytail/bun 365 days a year since I'm lazy. I wash my face and occasionally put a clay mask on at the tune of $0.05 (bentonite clay + water = cheap). You can do better for yourself! /end rant

Other than that, I'm impressed by a lot of your other items like health co-pays, therapy, etc.

There's not a great place to park extra cash right now that is earmarked for future loans, but you can check out I-bonds which are fairly decent.

If you plan to have kids someday, I highly recommend using what time you have now to pick up a side gig or job (tutoring, for instance- or heck, just whatever other fun weekend work you can find). Speaking from experience, it becomes a LOT harder to increase your income outside of a full-time job after a kid. And I haven't exactly experienced an explosion in my motivation to climb the career ladder.

I have other thoughts but those are my initial ones. Glad you are here and excited to see how things go for you! This is a great and supportive community. YOU CAN DO THIS :)

[maisymouser]

On shopping - a good way to curb the spending is (this is really boring, and maybe far too obvious) is to . . .

Not go shopping.

+1,000,000

[Dee18]

You are spending money you don't have. That is exactly what is happening when you are borrowing money while spending money on non-essentials.
For starters:
Groceries at 395 should be half that, saving $2,340/year
No Birchbox-save $300/year (avoid any subscription purchase)
No billie-save $120/year (ditto)
Shopping is not a healthy leisure hobby-save $2,160
Cut vet in half (some of that must be unnecessary--doggie daycare?) save $1,020
gifts-make them-save $420 (muffins and a birthday card delivered first thing in the morning are fun)
And no ski trips, Air BnBs etc. for 2022.

That adds up to $6,360.  Use that money toward tuition and borrow less.  (I am guessing you chose a private grad school over public, but as you are halfway through I doubt you want to switch.) If you are not teaching school over the summer, get the best paying job (or two) that you can find.

Best of all:  try a buy nothing year. I bet you have enough clothes, household goods, etc for a whole year.

My daughter is 25 and makes almost exactly what you do.  She spends about the same on rent and also lives with her boyfriend.  But she is putting 20% of her salary into her 401(k) so it doesn't even go to her each month.  Having a direct deposit to a retirement account or a savings account is a great help.

It's great you are starting young! You will love the freedom down the road that controlling your spending will provide.

 

[bettybop]

Ooh you can get rid of the bark box too. Much cheaper to just buy the occasional treat or toy. BGR has a really funny article on the subscription boxes. Their whole blog is pretty good.

https://www.bitchesgetriches.com/subscription-boxes-wasteful-spending/

Cancelled it yesterday! Thanks for the link :)

On shopping - a good way to curb the spending is (this is really boring, and maybe far too obvious) is to . . .

Not go shopping.

ha yes it's definitely something I am working on. I only online shop which can be just as dangerous.

@bettybop have you read "Your Money or Your Life"? If not, I highly recommend it. Go online to your local library and check it out either as a physical book or as an ebook. There's lots in there that will make you think.

One of the steps they advocate for is tracking your money. Every cent in and out. I have a feeling you'd be shocked at what you're spending money on, kind of like what you said about breaking down the pet thing.

Great suggestion, I'll look it up on libby. I have been using YNAB for 3 months and it's been eye opening to see all my expenses in front of me.

You should qualify for some measure of federal teacher loan forgiveness. Are you familiar with the requirements? States typically have their own teacher forgiveness offerings as well. Another option is the PSLF, which I recommend ​in your situation with high loan amounts relative to income. You might be able to pull your loans out of deferment now during the payment suspension so you can start getting credit toward PSLF. 

Last  time I checked, you only qualified for those if you are a special  education teacher or a content-specific teacher (ex. high school math teacher). I am an elementary general educator so I don't qualify. A lot of those also require that you work in a title 1 school for five consecutive years. I am currently at a title 1 school but this is my third year. I don't know how worth it it is to stay another 2 years and get very minimal raises (less than $500) in the meantime for ~$5,000 loan forgiveness. I feel like it would make more sense to get a higher paying job?

Current expenses:
-Groceries: $390/month, ~95/wk
-Rent: $710/month
-Utilities: ~$330/month (includes wifi, phone, renters/car/pet insurance, auto maintenance, car property tax, & Spotify.)
-Gym: $39/month
-Loans: $300/month (loans are in deferred until 2025; have continued making payments, but unsure of what the best use of this money is until then)
-Beauty/health/hygiene/birchbox subscription/billie/eyebrows: ~$110/month (have made great strides in lowering this number. I have a specific health/beauty routine and make sure to only purchase what is needed for that routine)
-Therapy: $60/month
-Gas/transportation: $120/month
-Leisure/shopping: ~$180/month (varies depending on what's happening that month; i.e. if I have an event that month like a friends birthday or a ski trip, etc.)
-Household items: ~$30/month
-Dining out: ~$50/month
-Brother's drums lessons: $32/month
-Haircut: $130/4x a year
-Pet expenses/vet: ~$170/month
-Contacts: $43/month
-Health Co-pays: ~$35/month
-Gifts (savings acct): ~$35/month
Total expenses: ~$2,674 (This is roughly equal or greater than my take home pay, I am unsure of how to decrease this.)

Alright, you came to the right forum if you are looking for a roasting and/or challenge. Welcome aboard! What I am about to push you on is probably going to seem intense... But if it makes you feel better, I am only saying what I think will help. You can do this.

Groceries are high for one person. Cut it by 50%. Stop eating meat, if you do, and start buying beans, rice, and pasta in bulk. Check out the "eat out your pantry" challenge thread and @Malcat's journal for some recipe inspiration. As a family of 3 our groceries are typically only $300/month. So ~$400 for a single person seems to be really high for me!

Utilities:
-I'm impressed by your internet price (unless you are splitting this). If you're splitting it with your partner, do you receive a discounted rate from your ISP? Call them up, threaten to cancel, and see what they'll do for you. Most companies offer a ~$10/month rate decrease or so. Revisit your speed and see if you can make do with a lower Gbps.
-If you aren't doing so already, start line drying your clothes. Dryers are dumb in about 99% of cases and use a lot of electricity, and make your clothes wear out sooner. Buy a $10 rack and start enjoying the extremely meditative practice of air drying. It's seriously my favorite chore.
-Pet insurance- I also doubt $4/month is really worth it. I don't have pet insurance and don't understand the coverage so I might be off base, but yeah. Maybe take a look at this.
-You can find a better phone service if you want. I used to use a ~$35/month service with data. Pretty sure $55/month is high for frugalites on this forum.

Other harsh-sounding things I need to say: NO MORE EATING OUT.

And... NO MORE EYEBROWS. NO MORE HAIRCUTS (or at least, find some other cheaper/low maintenance haircut!). wtf is "billie"? Find cheaper contacts. I can tell you for sure, you are spending FAR more than you should on all of those items. I'm not super feminine or girly for a 30F, but I will tell you what- I spend literally $0 on makeup and haircuts and my NW has benefited tremendously from it in comparison to my beauty-loving peers. OK, yeah, I shave my legs, so not $0 exactly.... Anyway, no one has ever come up to me and said I am ugly. I have made progress in my career. My husband still loves me. I still love me. I have the added benefit of having more self-confidence than I ever did when I used to spend 15 minutes in the morning looking at myself in the mirror and trying to change things to meet some arbitrarily set beauty standard. I have more time now and think less about superficial things like my skin that pretty much no one else cares about. My mom cuts my hair ~1x/year and it is a bonding experience. Ponytail/bun 365 days a year since I'm lazy. I wash my face and occasionally put a clay mask on at the tune of $0.05 (bentonite clay + water = cheap). You can do better for yourself! /end rant

Other than that, I'm impressed by a lot of your other items like health co-pays, therapy, etc.

There's not a great place to park extra cash right now that is earmarked for future loans, but you can check out I-bonds which are fairly decent.

If you plan to have kids someday, I highly recommend using what time you have now to pick up a side gig or job (tutoring, for instance- or heck, just whatever other fun weekend work you can find). Speaking from experience, it becomes a LOT harder to increase your income outside of a full-time job after a kid. And I haven't exactly experienced an explosion in my motivation to climb the career ladder.

I have other thoughts but those are my initial ones. Glad you are here and excited to see how things go for you! This is a great and supportive community. YOU CAN DO THIS :)

Great suggestions about groceries. I've lowered the amount I budget for per month and now I just have to stick with it. I'll check out malcat's journal. Thanks for sharing!

-Oooo I like the idea of calling to see if I can get a discounted rate on internet.
-I love my drying rack too :)
-Yes! I need to revisit my phone plan. Doing that this week
-I know on eating out :( It's a reality I am quickly facing.
-I know I am self indulging on self care. I brought it down to $30/month on toner, serum, and moisturizer. I don't wear makeup thankfully because I know that stuff racks up.

I bought ibonds yesterday! yay!

I tried taking on a second job but with grad school it was too much. I am planning to do some online tutoring in the summer when I am not working and in grad school.

Thank you for all your ideas and thoughts. I appreciate you taking the time to share!

You are spending money you don't have. That is exactly what is happening when you are borrowing money while spending money on non-essentials.
For starters:
Groceries at 395 should be half that, saving $2,340/year
No Birchbox-save $300/year (avoid any subscription purchase)
No billie-save $120/year (ditto)
Shopping is not a healthy leisure hobby-save $2,160
Cut vet in half (some of that must be unnecessary--doggie daycare?) save $1,020
gifts-make them-save $420 (muffins and a birthday card delivered first thing in the morning are fun)
And no ski trips, Air BnBs etc. for 2022.

That adds up to $6,360.  Use that money toward tuition and borrow less.  (I am guessing you chose a private grad school over public, but as you are halfway through I doubt you want to switch.) If you are not teaching school over the summer, get the best paying job (or two) that you can find.

Best of all:  try a buy nothing year. I bet you have enough clothes, household goods, etc for a whole year.

My daughter is 25 and makes almost exactly what you do.  She spends about the same on rent and also lives with her boyfriend.  But she is putting 20% of her salary into her 401(k) so it doesn't even go to her each month.  Having a direct deposit to a retirement account or a savings account is a great help.

It's great you are starting young! You will love the freedom down the road that controlling your spending will provide.

 

Great ideas on cutting down cost. I have already cancelled my subscriptions. I totally was being too generous on gifts.

Definitely going to look for a summer job. I am looking for a new job so hopefully I will be making more soon!

That's awesome that your daughter is putting 20% into her 401k! She's my new motivation.

Thank you for sharing and for motivating me!

You are buying things you can not afford. It may be partly an age/ culture thing, but I think you should reconsider most of your ”self care” category, and redirect the money to improving your financial position. Thats a much better form of self care.

Make gifts. Dont do AirBnB / ski trips etc until you have a solid grasp on your budget. Cook at home and cut the grocery spend in half. You are spending a silly amount of money on a puppy. He is not your child. Stop barkbox. Stop buying treats.

Keep paying for your brothers drum lessons, but make sure he is helping you or other family members in some way in exchange.

All this may seem a bit harsh, but I think you have a false sense of your financial wellbeing!
There is a huge amount of good information in different forum threads, do some reading every night.
Best wishes.

I was able to bring down my self care & groceries budget quite a lot. Just need to stick with it. Not harsh at all. I appreciate it, thank you!

[maisymouser]

Woohoo! Incredible progress so far just with those few items likely saving/earning you many hundreds over the next year alone. Looking forward to seeing future updates!

[calimom]

Kudos to you @bettybop! It's hard putting your financial life out for strangers to critique. You're getting great advice from a number of sources here. And most of all you're listening and taking action. Not giving explanations and excuses on how something won't work.

You're going to get your spending down and focus on debt repayment and investing. There's no doubt that you'll be a success. And you sound like an awesome teacher, thank you for your hard work.

[Darian]

I also commented on what I think is your bf's post about the rent so I won't hit you guys on that again :)
If the utility costs you posted are split, you can get better deals. I live in your area and pay $39.99 a month for internet with Verizon. Use the online chat function to negotiate with them if you can't get that rate right away from their website.
I'm also on an unlimited everything family phone plan with MetroPCS. Four lines for $25/month each. You won't be able to get that deal if it's just the two of you, but maybe your parents or a sibling would want to go in with you. You don't need to live near each other, my mom and sister are on the plan with me and live in another state.

[charis]

To follow up on the loan forgiveness point, yes, federal loan forgiveness requires a title 1 school and/or shortage subject area. But state programs have differing requirements.  Most importantly, PSLF only requires that you work in public service. Unless you teach at a for profit school (very unlikely) your employment will qualify.

[BicycleB]

@bettybop, welcome to the forum!

Reading your part of the story adds a lot. Congrats on moving up the thrift ladder. I see how the grad school cost is a huge item.

Tbh, I think the requirements there are one of the spots where society takes advantage of people of good will, especially if they lack finanical education, and suddenly your life becomes a financial sinkhole if you're not careful. There are benefits to your career path, but honestly it's one where you have to game out expenses like this. You can have early retirement or vacations with friends or an expensive program to fulfill a district's requirements but not all three at once, probably. I congratulate you on cleaning up the items that you can.

Keep us posted. :)