Life After Debt (Any advice?)

[eyesonthehorizon]

Hi, everybody!

After struggling for the last five years - half of them unhappily unemployed, and part of the rest in extremely low-wage jobs - to pay off 60k in student debt, I'm finally out. I've always been careful with money - not sure I'd say frugal - except for drinking the student loan koolaid with the merry encouragement of all adults nearby, only to graduate into the pit of the recession. It still hasn't sunk in that the 66% of my after-tax paycheck I've only ever brought so far as the doorstep before sending it off again is now... mine. (Wait, what?)

But now that it feels like I have limitless income, I'm reevaluating the cost-benefit of my expenses and budget.

Rent (1br, w/insurance) $800 [1]
Utilities (water & electricity) $60*
Transport (expenses for old, small car) $70*
Phone (share of family plan, with data) $55 [2]
Groceries $100*
"Fun" (restaurants, movies, alcohol, videogames) $50*
---total budgeted $1135

Anything asterisked is an unfixed cost - I try and expect to come under budget. All told, I lived on about $13,500 last year, excluding a couple of one-time purchases I could remember offhand (a mattress, cookware.) I have a ridiculously high standard of living; I eat well, don't need anything I don't have already, and have way too much nice stuff which I'm trying to cut to half or less. In short I feel wildly excessive and spendy, which brings us to the leaks:

[1] The apartment. I think of this as my big extravagance. I COULD rent a room for $200 less but crave control of my household. Work is in an expensive but rural area of Texas so it's either a long commute, or very high rent on huge, fancy new apartments/ homes. For my $70 of transport, I commute 18mi each way, about 800mi/mo errands included.

I do actually really LIKE where I live; well-insulated, with a nice balcony and big windows. When I am honest with myself I know it's bigger and nicer than I need, but it's also true my cheaper choices - for a whole unit, anyway - are old, filthy, in a high-crime neighborhood, same distance from work. So if I change, it's going to mean a roommate; most people I know well live 20-50mi further from work. Best bet is a coworker, but they all make what I do, and very few of them want to SAVE anything at all like I do - they think I'm depriving myself in the worst way. No plans yet to cohabit with SO of 3 years.

I guess what I'm asking is exactly how stupid am I being to maintain a one-bedroom at that price?

[2] Phone. No internet at home or work except phone data - this is my link to the world. I'm unlikely to change this unless my family changes their plan.

I come from decidedly unmustachian family - the first time we applied for student financial aid I had a silent heart attack at how little my parents had ever saved, and it really solidified my view of the importance of financial sanity. I've been trying to refine further from there.

I'm also considering some kind of light part-time work - hawking half my stupidly large lifetime accumulation of stuff on CL seems like a good starting point, but I'm as much a packrat of THINGS as of dollars, so it's emotionally challenging.

So what does the mustachian community make of this? Any and all input appreciated! Tips, suggestions, words of wisdom, backhanded praise, bad puns... It'd just be good to get some perspective from people who don't think I must be either crazy or miserable spending >$1200/ mo. If you read all of this, you win an imaginary cookie.

[MrsPotts]

Enjoy your apartment without guilt.   What will you do with your new found riches?

Chocolate chip, please.

[SU]

+ 1. Enjoy your apartment. Read FuckRx's journal for a discussion of the benefits of living alone (especially if you are thinking of increasing the hours you work via side jobs etc. - being able to relax at home makes a difference); save a $6500 emergency fund; max out your retirement accounts; start purchasing Vanguard; find a way to increase your income - get a great mentor, do more training etc.

+ props for being on top of things financially. That's really impressive!

[alsoknownasDean]

You sound like you're happy with your current apartment, and honestly $800 a month isn't expensive.

Keep at it mate, you're doing fine.

Also $70 a month total car expenses? With a 30km each way commute? That sounds crazy cheap (as in, gas alone would be that much).

[former player]

Having a decent place to live gives you the security, energy and happiness to both live a good life and be frugal in other ways.  Carry on, well done so far and good luck for the future.

[Karl]

You have now earned your freedom from debt.  Please consider putting most of that debt payment into investments to buy your freedom from work (at least, work you may not want to do in your future).

[aj_yooper]

Congratulations on being debt free! 

Now that you have proven you can live on very little and pay off debt and be happy, you have the opportunity to purchase your future time by saving and investing.  Awesome.

Enjoy your apartment space.  Increase your cooking skills.  Build up your social life.  Find a side gig.  Welcome to the forum.

[eyesonthehorizon]

First, THANKS!
Second, man, I did not expect the site to crash almost immediately after I finally posted this. I was a bit jittery all weekend waiting to see what the community would have to say.

MrsPotts, on the way. I typically salt mine just a touch - want to try some with homemade caramel sometime...

+ 1. Enjoy your apartment. Read FuckRx's journal for a discussion of the benefits of living alone (especially if you are thinking of increasing the hours you work via side jobs etc. - being able to relax at home makes a difference); save a $6500 emergency fund; max out your retirement accounts; start purchasing Vanguard; find a way to increase your income - get a great mentor, do more training etc. ...

Thanks for the reading recc; that's exactly the stuff I'm looking for in terms of anecdotal pros/cons. I'm recalculating to max out my 401k which is tricky as my income fluctuates. I'll be opening a Roth IRA before the end of the year. As for savings, I prefer 1.5x annual expenses at hand but got down to about one year's worth to put the final payment on the debt - but then I have a teeny credit limit for whatever reason. (I pay off monthly or more often.)

... Also $70 a month total car expenses? With a 30km each way commute? That sounds crazy cheap (as in, gas alone would be that much).

You caught me - the car belongs to a parent who is rarely up to driving, so I'm getting the insurance through family. Only paying for the gas, registration and maintenance. Texas also tends to have cheaper gas.

Having a decent place to live gives you the security, energy and happiness to both live a good life and be frugal in other ways. ...

You nailed it - when I moved, when my income was lower than it is now and I was working seven days a week - I did NOT have anything like "security, energy [OR] happiness" the last place I lived. HUGE difference. I was afraid I wouldn't be able to keep up with the new, good job if I kept living there, and took the plunge, and it seems to have paid off.

Karl - Bingo! "Most" is probably "all but $50", which I am tentatively adding to my "I can spend this on fun without beating myself up" pile, most of which goes back into savings anyway because there are aren't a lot of things I can buy which I prefer to having money.*

... Enjoy your apartment space.  Increase your cooking skills.  Build up your social life.  Find a side gig.  Welcome to the forum.

I'm working on the cooking - I've been stagnating creatively due to perceived lack of time (mostly lack of energy) in that department but I'm pretty devoted about the practice; I only buy ingredient food. But build up a social life? I really needed to hear that, actually, because I've gotten so very used to being unavailable, always at work or crashed out trying to rest, that I kind of forgot on a non-semantic level that it was really an option.

I suspect I will work somewhat less overtime. I plan to exercise and draw more, and to allow myself somewhat more produce and fewer carbs. But I really do need to focus on asset allocation - both time and invested funds - and actually living.

Anybody out there go through this and come away wondering what they were supposed to do with their life once it was handed back to them? This reminds me of what friends would describe of leaving the military - I'm no longer indentured, and making my own choices is novel and strange.

* I won't lie, though - it's awfully tempting to try out Freedompop for some home internet and chip in on the SO's Netflix subscription since we generally watch together anyway. I plan to wait at least until Halloween to see if it's something I really want, though.