Life Situation: Single filing status, no dependents, live in Morgantown, WV. 25 years old next month, still on parents' insurance.
Gross Salary/Wages: Currently am a car salesman, and make about $1,600 post-tax. I don't mention deductions, because I'm not eligible for them at this job yet. And even when I am, only a 1% match on the 401(k), and no input on allocation. There is the potential for bonuses, as I've been getting recently, usually about $450/month, but I would like to be conservative, and only account for what I know I'm guaranteed to get.
Current expenses:
Want to preemptively say that I'm not looking to go 100% full-throttle Mustachian immediately. For example, definitely will not give up my gym membership (most important thing to me, honestly), and definitely must have plenty of cell phone data (I use it for EVERYTHING, including work). So, I know there are definitely places where I could go lower (like my cell phone bill), but I'd ideally like to keep a few luxuries.
Rent: $292/mo. ($875 total split 3 ways)
Utilities (internet/electricity): $65/mo.
Phone: $75/mo. (with the option to freeze at any time, and my phone has a 2nd SIM slot if I want to put a cheap plan in that I can also freeze at any time)
Food: $250/mo. (probably overestimating, but this also includes my dog...he's family, so no, giving him away is not an option I'm considering, even if it's the wrong financial decision)
Student loan public: $0/mo.
Student loan private: $150/mo.
CC payment Huntington: $300/mo.
CC payment Chase: $25/mo.
CC payment Capital One: $25/mo.
Car Payment: $252/mo. (I know...)
Car Insurance: $66/mo.
Gas: $50/mo.
Misc: $50/mo. (would rather overestimate than underestimate)
Total: $1,600 (...I know...)
Liabilities: Car loan through Ally Bank, 6.6% interest, about 54 payments left, owe about $11k on it. Car could most likely sell in my area for around $10.5k (from my research and personal experience trying to sell it). Huntington cc debt $8,500 (lost my job for almost a year, had no choice), Chase and Capital One $500 each.
Specific Question(s):
Okay, well, obviously, this is a complete pants-on-fire disaster. My expenses are WAY too high, and I'm trying to find a way out. Currently, I'm a car salesman that is only guaranteed to make $1,600/mo. post-tax, right around my expenses. I almost always make more than that (as long as I sell 7 in a month, I get a $425+ bonus, and my paychecks are usually around $1,200 rather than $800 anyways), but I just want to account for GUARANTEED pay. The car business can be brutal and slow at time. I currently have about $1,500 in savings, and I'm trying to figure the best way to start snow-balling this debt, and improving my life to hopefully reach FIRE as soon as I can.
Here's what I was thinking. I'm not a financial planner, so really just looking for suggestions.
I want to wait another month or so to save up some more, probably around $2,000, sell my car at a $500 loss, and then buy an old, used car for about $1,500 or so. Probably something crazy like a '98 Civic with 140k miles. Still something that can get my from point A to point B. Or, since winter isn't bad here, and it's over next month, I also thought about buying a Honda Shadow for around that same price. Won't be a junker, better gas mileage, MUCH better insurance (I was quoted for $25/mo.).
So, I'd save almost $300 the first month just based on not having that car payment and lowered insurance. Over the next few months, I'd take those savings, and pay off my Capital One and Chase credit cards, freeing up that $50/mo. to put towards my Huntington debt.
Now, I do have a police fitness test on April 12 that I hope to pass. If I do, I'm nearly guaranteed to get the job. If not, I'll still be on the search. This will solve a whole host of both my financial and lifestyle problems. But I'm not going to bank on it. If I get it, GREAT, if not, at least I planned for the worst. Regardless, whether it's now, or three years from now, I will be a police officer or a firefighter. Anyways...
I'd then be able to take the $350/mo. that would normally go to car payments, insurance, and the other credit cards, and combine that with the current $300/mo. payment to attack my Huntington credit card debt. It'd still be a struggle, but it'd definitely put me on a much better track. I could be credit card debt-free in under 2 years. Then, I'd have to start attacking the student loans...
Now, a more pragmatic plan is one that assumes I can get one of these police/fire jobs within the next couple of years.
In both cases, the very least any in the area pay is ~$40k/yr. In the first year alone, I could most likely pay off all credit car debt and get rid of my car payment. My student loan payments would move me closer to forgiveness (need 120 qualifying). If, after paying off most debts my first year, I got my MAGI below a certain point by investing in my 401(k) and IRA, I'd qualify to keep my Nelnet loans at $0/mo., and I'd also qualify for Medicaid (having to pay healthcare costs next year terrifies me more than anything else).
The entire point of FIRE, to me, is to take back the most valuable commodity you have in life: time. By getting a public service job, not only would I be doing a great thing for the community and have a job I could take pride in, and genuinely enjoy, but I'd get paid decently to do it, I would get a good pension, and I would be able to live a semi-RE lifestyle (with firefighter schedules usually being 1 on/2 off). I'm applying to every major city within a 10-hour driving distance, and I'm applying for the Miami-Dade Fire Department as well (I used to live in West Palm Beach, my brother is currently in MDFR, and they have a large department with amazing benefits). I love their pay, their benefits, the size of their department, their weather, how they take care of their roads, everything. I could see myself making a 20-year career out of it, retiring before 50. They're opening up quite a few positions in June, so I really would like to save some money for short-notice flights to Miami for tests/interviews/etc. It'd be hard, but I'm certain I could get in, especially if I keep running more and losing more weight.
I want more than anything to be a firefighter, but I really just want to get out of this mess I'm in. As I said before, there are only a few things I won't compromise on. I'm keeping my dog. No doubt about it. Not even a question in my mind. Keeping my gym membership (what good is FIRE if I'm in too poor health to enjoy it?). And I want to keep at least a moderate talk/text/data plan (as I said, I use it for EVERYTHING, from work, to furthering my hobbies, and even learning skills which I hope to earn money for later on [programming]).
I know this post is all over the place, and maybe I didn't articulate myself as best as I could have. I also know that there are many excuses in my post. I apologize in advance. I'm truly an open-minded person simply seeking help, and I know this is the place to come.
EDIT: I also wanted to mention that there are a few non-necessities that I'm planning on ridding myself of to save some extra money. I have an iPhone 6s 16gb that I'm planning on selling for $150 or so. I don't use it, so I don't need it. I have a MacBook Air 2013 13" that I'd like to sell if I could fix my old Linux system (or buy a cheap $200 laptop to dual-boost Linux on). I have some clothes that I'm looking to sell to some thrift stores (probably won't net much, but who knows, most are expensive skin-tight Under Armour shirts). Also, I have some old sports cards that might be able to net me a few hundred dollars. Have thousands of them, some of them pretty rare.