Help Student Loans and 401k

[Esanders323]

I finally have finished school and started my career. I have quite a bit of student loan debt and could use some advice on what I could/should do either now or in the future regarding my student loans and starting my retirement plan.

I make $1657 a paycheck every two weeks after taxes, healthcare, etc. are removed (excluding 401k).
I spend roughly $975 on rent and $150-180 on utilities. I do plan to move when my lease is up so that I'm no longer paying as much for rent.

The following are my student loans and interest rate:

$1082.15 - 12 years
$30,000 - 7.5%
$30,000 - 6.5%
$30,000 - 8%

$366 - 10 years
$2,750 - 6.8%
$2,250 - 4.5%
$1,000 - 6.8%
$5,500 - 6.8%
$7,500 - 6.8%
$5,500 - 3.86%
$2,000 - 3.86%
$2,250 - 4.66%

I have not yet started to put anything into my retirement plan, but my company does match 50% of my first 6% contribution. This does not start for another 8 months, but hopefully I can take advantage of it.

I'm not ahead by much every month. Is there any chance for me to reconsolidate my student loans?

[disneysteve]

I finally have finished school and started my career. I have quite a bit of student loan debt and could use some advice on what I could/should do either now or in the future regarding my student loans and starting my retirement plan.

Welcome.

What does the rest of your budget look like? Food, clothing, insurance, auto expenses, etc?

So far, you've listed:

Rent: 27% of take-home
Utilities: 5%
Loan payments: 40%

That's 72% of your money accounted for. Tell us where the other 28% is going currently.

Do you have any savings/emergency fund?

[Esanders323]

Welcome.

What does the rest of your budget look like? Food, clothing, insurance, auto expenses, etc?

So far, you've listed:

Rent: 27% of take-home
Utilities: 5%
Loan payments: 40%

That's 72% of your money accounted for. Tell us where the other 28% is going currently.

Do you have any savings/emergency fund?

Here is what I budget for.
Rent - 970
Shopping - 200 (Shopping is a catch-all for misc. things)
Loans - 1448
Utilities - 180
Restaurants/Fast food - 100
Groceries - 130
Pet Food/Supplies - 70
Internet - 36

That leaves me with $181 a month (excluding months where I have 3 paychecks). I don't do anything with this money right now. Currently I have $4,700 in my bank account. I take insurance out of my paycheck which I already calculated in.

Thanks!

[Nutria]

That leaves me with $181 a month (excluding months where I have 3 paychecks). I don't do anything with this money right now. Currently I have $4,700 in my bank account. I take insurance out of my paycheck which I already calculated in.

Auto insurance?

Anyway, that $4,700 is great. Another suggestion is to shoot for a Job Loss Fund of $9,300 (3 months of expenses) -- less when you move into a cheaper apartment -- in a modest risk investment fund at Fidelity/Vanguard/etc. The 2x per year when you get an extra paycheck should speed that right along. No need to keep lots of cash in the bank, since it pays effectively zilch.

Then hit the student loans (using -- again -- the semiannual paychecks to knock them down even faster).

Lastly, I wouldn't obsess over only using the Job Loss Fund for a Job Loss. If you really need it for something important (car repair, etc), spend it and then replenish.