21 and looking for advice

[fiffer010]

Hey all!

I'm looking for a little advice and any given will be much appreciated. Here is a little about me. I am 21 years old and work full time and go to school full time. I will be done with my B.S. in 18 months and have not decided if I will be going to graduate school. My parents are paying for my B.S. but would not be paying for graduate work. In May or June my monthly income will go to $2,660 and in December it will be at approximately $3,040 (This is after taxes) which I will apply all the extra money towards paying off the remainder of the CC debt. I will be applying my Tax refund of $1,800 towards my CC debt once I receive it in the coming weeks and also will be doing the same with the check from the stimulus package in may (I have not added the stimulus check to my calculations). At this rate I should have my CC debt gone in September/November (crossing my fingers).
Once the debt is paid of how should I allocate the extra $750 a month I was applying to the debt? I was thinking an extra $250 towards the car payment, $250 towards my Roth IRA, and $250 for re-building my emergency fund.

Finances
Income - $2,220.70
CC debt - $4,500
Payment toward CC - $300-350
Liquid Savings - $0 
Roth IRA - $6,500
Rent- $675
Utilities - $150
Car payment - $309 (Approx $13,000 till it’s paid off)
Fuel - $200
Groceries -$250 (includes eating out [which is minimal])
Gym - $110 (Athletics and Healthy living is an enormous part of my life so the use of this training facility is my indulgence)
Entertainment - $75.00


At the end of the month I have about an extra $100-200 after these monthly expenditures this extra money acts as a buffer. And before you ask, I have already cut up my CC!

[jIM_Ohio]

what is the cc balance?
what is interest rate on car, and how long until it is paid off?

I think $500/month to roth and $250 to EF make the most sense.

a) because you have nothing for retirement- condition yourself to max Roth now, no exceptions.
b) because other than car I see little debt
c) car would be paid off in short time anyway (3 years) so move focus away from mid term to longer term goals.

One pet peeve of mine with financial planning is many people always ignore the longest term goal, when in reality that is the most important one. Start by setting aside 10% of what you earn for retirement from now until the day you retire.

Then work on short terms goals (fully funded EF), mid term goals (car debt) and other goals (house, vacation, gifts).

[fiffer010]

The CC balance is $4,500. The interest rate on the car is 7%.

I do have some for retirement. I have $6,500 in my Roth IRA.

[CreditExpert]

Originally Posted by jIM_Ohio

One pet peeve of mine with financial planning is many people always ignore the longest term goal, when in reality that is the most important one. Start by setting aside 10% of what you earn for retirement from now until the day you retire.

Then work on short terms goals (fully funded EF), mid term goals (car debt) and other goals (house, vacation, gifts).

My thoughts exactly! this is great advise

[maat55]

Originally Posted by fiffer010

Hey all!

I'm looking for a little advice and any given will be much appreciated. Here is a little about me. I am 21 years old and work full time and go to school full time. I will be done with my B.S. in 18 months and have not decided if I will be going to graduate school. My parents are paying for my B.S. but would not be paying for graduate work. In May or June my monthly income will go to $2,660 and in December it will be at approximately $3,040 (This is after taxes) which I will apply all the extra money towards paying off the remainder of the CC debt. I will be applying my Tax refund of $1,800 towards my CC debt once I receive it in the coming weeks and also will be doing the same with the check from the stimulus package in may (I have not added the stimulus check to my calculations). At this rate I should have my CC debt gone in September/November (crossing my fingers).
Once the debt is paid of how should I allocate the extra $750 a month I was applying to the debt? I was thinking an extra $250 towards the car payment, $250 towards my Roth IRA, and $250 for re-building my emergency fund.

Finances
Income - $2,220.70
CC debt - $4,500
Payment toward CC - $300-350
Liquid Savings - $0 
Roth IRA - $6,500
Rent- $675
Utilities - $150
Car payment - $309 (Approx $13,000 till it’s paid off)
Fuel - $200
Groceries -$250 (includes eating out [which is minimal])
Gym - $110 (Athletics and Healthy living is an enormous part of my life so the use of this training facility is my indulgence)
Entertainment - $75.00


At the end of the month I have about an extra $100-200 after these monthly expenditures this extra money acts as a buffer. And before you ask, I have already cut up my CC!

As young as you are, I would pull 1000 of the roth out for an EF and any other roth contribution to payoff CC or car debt. Debt reduction should be your first priority, after your debtfree you can invest or go on to more school.

I also recommend that you read books like The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey and The Millionaire Next Door. I've read several faith based financial books and they all recommend debt freedom and investing.

Reading books will give you a solid financial path to follow. Forums like this are good for tweaking your plan.

[Hot dog]

I think you are doing great for being so young and you have so much time to learn you are already much farther ahead then I was at your age.