It's only student loans and mortgage and I locked in the mortgage debt at the bottom of the interest market. I'll definitely do better maxing my Roth contributions first
Same items, alternate order. Pay off debt, upgrade house, max IRA. Residental Real estate seems to hold value better than money at the moment. I think we are gonna get hit with a massive recession when the bubble finally pops. NFA just my crystal ball theory.
Believe me I understand. I wear my socks until there are holes. Most of my socks I actually bought like 14 years ago because I got a uniform allowance. I used the entire amount on socks because I knew I was about to quit and wouldn't need the new shirts/slacks.
I currently make an eighth of what I made in 2021 and 2022. Even if my wage was doubled today, I would still only make 25% of my former salary. Currently, I’m just holding on until a couple of my bills get paid off, and then I will be able to stop worrying about needing any money for things like a new tire or mechanical failure on my car, an emergency medical bill, etc.
If my salary was doubled, I might be able to stop begging family members for enough money to make it until payday, or actually be able to tell the debt collector, “sure, I can pay my bill on time this month.”
Ours tripled and the only thing I have splurged on is food. As in I'm buying name brand chips and super, extra sharp cheddar cheese. Ok ok, I go a little nuts buying clothes from the thrift store on military days where everything is 30% off. But instead of a $150-$200 trip, it's $250-$300.
Once we pay off our credit card (next month) since we had to get a new toilet installed and a new spare fridge and new deep freezer while hubby was unemployed, we will refill our emergency fund and start paying more on our house.
Well I'm 2 months away from a extra half on top, so I guess I'll find out.
But it's going to be pay off debt, actually save for retirement, car payments as my car is about to die, and mortgage because fixed term is coming up and about to skyrocket.
Yay for way more money and almost same standard of living!
Fix everything wrong with my Jeep. Buy a recliner, get new clothes and shoes. Pay my daughter back for helping me out. Save some certainly. Start Christmas shopping now.
Straight to retirement or as much as you can afford with a nice annual vacation stashed away. getting out of the workforce when you can still enjoy life is a joy.
Pay off the loans I have for house repairs and start putting money into new repairs. Deck needs to be redone, lawn needs to be resodded, gutters need replacing, there's a bunch of stuff that I could get fixed sooner than later.
If I discard taxes and it's just doubled, it would be about an extra 10k$.
For the first two months I would fill back my emergency fund that is empty.
For the next 3 months I would pay off my car loan (28k$ remaining)
Then I would budget it something like so:
* 2k$ into college savings for my 3 kids
* 3k$ into investments and crypto
* 1k$ into vacations
* 2k$ into other savings (new car, new electronics, furniture, etc...)
* 1k$ into a personal loan to build an extra room in my home and possibly finish my basement
* 1k$ into misc for me and my wife every month
Save more. Hoard cash for the eventual real estate pullback. Get a multi-unit, put enough down for positive cash flow. Repeat. Until I don’t have to work.
-Pay off debt
-buy a house
-invest
-get the medical care I deserve
-invest in a service dog
-become a consistent donor to local non profits and charities
-help people
-buy all the fucking vintage Pyrex I want
-strip clubs
Save it but treat myself better too. Sometimes it's ok to splurge a bit if you can afford to. My salary has doubled over the last 3 years between job changes and going from 30 to 40 hours a week but I still live the same 95% of the time.
Travel more.
Treat my family.
Pay all the bills in the house for few months and let my family enjoy their salary and extra income.
Buy things I want but are not a need.
Pay off my school loans (down to my last one), get medical care (to rich for discounts or help but still far to poor to pay what the US wants for medical), I nearly had a heart attack with my last medical bill. Go to a dentist for my luxury bones. (At this point I'm almost willing to go back into debt to do something)
see to it my dad is taken care of properly and can live out the rest of his time in some peace (he is disabled, can't remember what it's called, something with the spine and spinal cord, always in crippling pain).
if anything was left then invest it for a hopeful future.
I would continue to invest more, I’d probably attempt to max out my 401k, take a nice week long vacation, buy better parts for my car, but still live below my means and use the additional income to ensure a better future.
Probably try to get into a home I could see myself living in for the rest of my life. The house we have is fine and we are locked into a 2.5% interest rate, so that is amazing. But I’d rather live in a single story house in a slightly different location.
Make sure your retirement contributions are sorted out and keep extra savings in a high yield savings account. Come on over to r/money and ask the same question, or r/personalfinance
Pay off debt, increase my IRA contributions, get some work done on the house. Riveting I know.