Hey all:
I just discovered this website and have done some exploring... what an awesome place!
Here's my story:
I'm 27 and I just got my Masters and have recently started paying off all my (Private and Federal) student loans, about $120k in total. In an attempt to save money, I recently moved back in with my parents until I sort out my life, financially. This is proving to be a lot more difficult than expected and am now regretting my college education. (Not my MA, that was free. But I do wish I had gone to a cheaper undergraduate school). Considering the housing market and interest rates as of late, I would like to buy a home. This has been a dream of mine for some time now. The problem is that the money seems to disappear, and I don't know where it's going...
Here's my financial background:
Assets:
Income: 60k
Savings: 2.5k
Stocks: 8k
401A: 4k
403B: 1K
Currently, about 30% of my check goes to my 401A.
Liabilities:
Student Loans (ca. 34k for Federal - 5k and 4.3k @ 2.1% and 17k and 9.7k @ 6.5%; ca. 80k for Private - 25k @ 7%, 30k @ 6.5%, 13k @ 4.5% and 11k @ 3%.)about 1.1k a month
Car Loan - $270 a month, 18k @ 3.3% for 7 year term, ocassionally double up on payments
Phone - $260 a month (Family Plan, pay for family since parents don't charge me rent)
Car Insurance - $400 a year
Credit Cards: $830 balance @ 16% and $2.5k balance @ 10.24%
Since I've started paying off my loans, I have been left in a financial mire. I consider myself lucky that I can pay these loans, but it just seems like that's all I can afford to do. I really would like to buy property soon, but more importantly, I want to be able to SAVE. Would it be a good idea to consolidate these loans? I've heard conflicting reports regarding consolidation. At the moment, I'm shopping around for different consolidation loans, but it seems that getting one is A LOT harder than applying for the private student loan, even with EXCELLENT credit and a history of automatic payments. Does it even make sense to consolidate? Should I contribute less to my retirement? More importantly, any recommendations on how to go about saving money? I've read on the posts that some people were able to pay off their student loans in crazy-short amounts of time... how did you do it? Is it stupid of me to even think about buying a home at the moment? Should I just take my savings/stocks and pay off all the credit cards? I have so many questions and no one to ask! Any advice you could offer me would be a HUGE help!
THANKS AGAIN!
I just discovered this website and have done some exploring... what an awesome place!
Here's my story:
I'm 27 and I just got my Masters and have recently started paying off all my (Private and Federal) student loans, about $120k in total. In an attempt to save money, I recently moved back in with my parents until I sort out my life, financially. This is proving to be a lot more difficult than expected and am now regretting my college education. (Not my MA, that was free. But I do wish I had gone to a cheaper undergraduate school). Considering the housing market and interest rates as of late, I would like to buy a home. This has been a dream of mine for some time now. The problem is that the money seems to disappear, and I don't know where it's going...
Here's my financial background:
Assets:
Income: 60k
Savings: 2.5k
Stocks: 8k
401A: 4k
403B: 1K
Currently, about 30% of my check goes to my 401A.
Liabilities:
Student Loans (ca. 34k for Federal - 5k and 4.3k @ 2.1% and 17k and 9.7k @ 6.5%; ca. 80k for Private - 25k @ 7%, 30k @ 6.5%, 13k @ 4.5% and 11k @ 3%.)about 1.1k a month
Car Loan - $270 a month, 18k @ 3.3% for 7 year term, ocassionally double up on payments
Phone - $260 a month (Family Plan, pay for family since parents don't charge me rent)
Car Insurance - $400 a year
Credit Cards: $830 balance @ 16% and $2.5k balance @ 10.24%
Since I've started paying off my loans, I have been left in a financial mire. I consider myself lucky that I can pay these loans, but it just seems like that's all I can afford to do. I really would like to buy property soon, but more importantly, I want to be able to SAVE. Would it be a good idea to consolidate these loans? I've heard conflicting reports regarding consolidation. At the moment, I'm shopping around for different consolidation loans, but it seems that getting one is A LOT harder than applying for the private student loan, even with EXCELLENT credit and a history of automatic payments. Does it even make sense to consolidate? Should I contribute less to my retirement? More importantly, any recommendations on how to go about saving money? I've read on the posts that some people were able to pay off their student loans in crazy-short amounts of time... how did you do it? Is it stupid of me to even think about buying a home at the moment? Should I just take my savings/stocks and pay off all the credit cards? I have so many questions and no one to ask! Any advice you could offer me would be a HUGE help!
THANKS AGAIN!
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