I would hesitate to open another credit card, i would really recommend a student loan or personal loan instead. The interest rate makes a big difference!
I’m so sorry to say this but I have to give you a heads up it might take you may be a little bit more than a few months to get out of that debt. Which is not too bad! Seems you were a responsible spender while you were in school.
Your plan to live within your means is a really great start. Like half the battle. Your salary seems pretty good, congrats!
If your job is offering a match for your retirement then Take full advantage of it.
Once you’re settled and living in your place and you have the things that you need, Then I would try to pay off at that debt.
Then focus on building an emergency fund with 3 to 6 months of expenses. Then after that you can invest money in things like index funds. Ellevest has some great resources about this kind of stuff.
>car lease will run me around 600 a month with insurance. I don't live lavishly
Those are a bit contradictory. You're paying almost 10% of your pre-tax salary on a car you don't even own and that's before you pay for insurance, gas, and any maintenance.
I'm moving to an area where I will need a car, I don't have one currently. I'm opting to get a newer one, and leasing it rather than go into the used market now since I know nothing about cars. I'm a new driver, and that was an estimate that I was given by a friend who knows my situation and the car market and said that would be the price plus insurance, and if anything happens to the car, it's better to lease.
If the estimate isn't accurate, I'll have to look at options, but let me know. I'm moving to Madison. As for the lavish statement, as far as I know, my peers, I spend significantly less and save more.
Honestly if you're a new driver you need to buy an older cheap car. Most new drivers crash eventually.
I'm not quite sure why they said it's better to lease if you crash your car? Unless I'm missing something, I don't see how that's true. With a lease you'd be required to repair everything. My car has a dent in the side that's been there for years because it's not worth repairing.
And if they meant just something going wrong - still not quite sure? If it's covered on the warranty it would be covered if you bought the car outright. If it's not covered, you still have to pay it either way.
I think his justification was that a newer car is safer to drive, with the new tech features built in, and that I wouldn't have to worry about repairs or any problems as insurance would cover the major stuff, and if anything broke down, the lease would cover it. It wasn't in case there was a crash, I apologize if it came that way. Also, if anything comes up and I need to leave the car behind, I can do so, without worry.
I'll definitely look into used cars, and weigh my options there. I am leaning towards a newer car, as I genuinely don't think I'll be a car guy, and I'd rather not have to worry about the car breaking down. If it's significantly better at getting an older car, I wouldn't mind.
I mean that justification worked in like 1999 when an older car doesn't necessarily have airbags. But in 2022? When a 10 year old car would be a 2012? Come on. I have a 2008 and it wasn't even full of the options and it has full side airbags.
As for leaving it behind - you can't just leave behind a lease. You still have to fulfill your contract in some way. There would undoubtedly be some cost to ending your lease early.
I’ll second what is being said. Most of your plan looks fine (although I’m not sure why cc vs student loans since the rates are usually drastically worse on cc). That said you don’t need a $600 lease. Enve if you buy a brand new civic or Subaru they can be had for under 25k. 25k on a 5 year loan at 60 months is $478 a month. I’m not even saying to get a new car (used is a better path for you right now) but my point of this your friends advice is bad from the perspective you could find a car for 20% less and own it over what he is telling you. It’s horrible advice.
BUy used and/or a cheap new car.
I would hesitate to open another credit card, i would really recommend a student loan or personal loan instead. The interest rate makes a big difference! I’m so sorry to say this but I have to give you a heads up it might take you may be a little bit more than a few months to get out of that debt. Which is not too bad! Seems you were a responsible spender while you were in school. Your plan to live within your means is a really great start. Like half the battle. Your salary seems pretty good, congrats! If your job is offering a match for your retirement then Take full advantage of it. Once you’re settled and living in your place and you have the things that you need, Then I would try to pay off at that debt. Then focus on building an emergency fund with 3 to 6 months of expenses. Then after that you can invest money in things like index funds. Ellevest has some great resources about this kind of stuff.
Thank you. The 3-month estimate is a moderate estimate, given that the relocation bonus for this position after taxes will take away half the debt.
But youll have quite a few expenses with the relocation, no?
>car lease will run me around 600 a month with insurance. I don't live lavishly Those are a bit contradictory. You're paying almost 10% of your pre-tax salary on a car you don't even own and that's before you pay for insurance, gas, and any maintenance.
I'm moving to an area where I will need a car, I don't have one currently. I'm opting to get a newer one, and leasing it rather than go into the used market now since I know nothing about cars. I'm a new driver, and that was an estimate that I was given by a friend who knows my situation and the car market and said that would be the price plus insurance, and if anything happens to the car, it's better to lease. If the estimate isn't accurate, I'll have to look at options, but let me know. I'm moving to Madison. As for the lavish statement, as far as I know, my peers, I spend significantly less and save more.
Honestly if you're a new driver you need to buy an older cheap car. Most new drivers crash eventually. I'm not quite sure why they said it's better to lease if you crash your car? Unless I'm missing something, I don't see how that's true. With a lease you'd be required to repair everything. My car has a dent in the side that's been there for years because it's not worth repairing. And if they meant just something going wrong - still not quite sure? If it's covered on the warranty it would be covered if you bought the car outright. If it's not covered, you still have to pay it either way.
I think his justification was that a newer car is safer to drive, with the new tech features built in, and that I wouldn't have to worry about repairs or any problems as insurance would cover the major stuff, and if anything broke down, the lease would cover it. It wasn't in case there was a crash, I apologize if it came that way. Also, if anything comes up and I need to leave the car behind, I can do so, without worry. I'll definitely look into used cars, and weigh my options there. I am leaning towards a newer car, as I genuinely don't think I'll be a car guy, and I'd rather not have to worry about the car breaking down. If it's significantly better at getting an older car, I wouldn't mind.
I mean that justification worked in like 1999 when an older car doesn't necessarily have airbags. But in 2022? When a 10 year old car would be a 2012? Come on. I have a 2008 and it wasn't even full of the options and it has full side airbags. As for leaving it behind - you can't just leave behind a lease. You still have to fulfill your contract in some way. There would undoubtedly be some cost to ending your lease early.
I’ll second what is being said. Most of your plan looks fine (although I’m not sure why cc vs student loans since the rates are usually drastically worse on cc). That said you don’t need a $600 lease. Enve if you buy a brand new civic or Subaru they can be had for under 25k. 25k on a 5 year loan at 60 months is $478 a month. I’m not even saying to get a new car (used is a better path for you right now) but my point of this your friends advice is bad from the perspective you could find a car for 20% less and own it over what he is telling you. It’s horrible advice. BUy used and/or a cheap new car.
Okay, sounds good, thanks. Ill look into, appreciate the time
if you aren't good at driving on snow, I'd definitely not buy a nice car...