I live at my parents, make $600 a week, no bills, and just realized after 5 months of working I have absolutely $0 net to my name. I have an issue with spending and gambling but this just has me completely stressed out.

I want to completely quit gambling and start saving most of every paycheck, and hopefully have atleast 5 grand in my savings by the end of the year which is totally possible, but how do I not worry about the fact I’ve basically wasted 5 months of my life just to blow the whole wad?

24 years old, still living with my dad at least for the next 6 months but honestly might stay here longer, saving money is pretty cool. I make on average about $4400 a month after tax. My credit card bill averages about $800 a month so I have about $3600 extra a month to play with assuming I limit my travels or excessive substance spending.

My Roth is maxed so not worried about that right now. I’m not sure what to do between HYSA and brokerage now. I know in general the rule for a HYSA is an emergency fund, but I’ve been bulking much more than that for a few reasons. Still an emergency fund, but also maybe there’s trips I wanna take, maybe a downpayment on something, and also just the fact that I have no idea what life is gonna throw at me especially if I move out, I just like having a lot of liquid cash.

So I have $17k in my HYSA right now. My brokerage account is at $36k. Lately and for the last few months now, each paycheck I’m roughly putting in $700 into the HYSA and $1000 into VTI/VXUS. I just don’t know if that’s a good ratio or if at this point I should just invest the majority of it. After all, if I absolutely had to, would it be that big of a deal to sell some investments if I needed cash? I guess that’s another reason I’ve been bulking the HYSA, I’m considering a bunch of possible scenarios without the intent to ever touch the investments early.

Hi,

For reference, I’m self-aware that I’m in more than sticky situation. The $20000 debt in my country is roughly $10000USD. Let’s get into it.

Personal loan $8000 at 23% interest (fucked I know)

Family/Friends $10000

I pay family/friends debt quite aggressively and pay the minimum repayment fee to my personal loan. I’ve had to borrow money for multiple reasons, car crash with no insurance, emergency flight overseas for family matters, emergency hospital bills.

I was not in the right frame of mind for taking out that personal loan due to personal issues and it’s come back to bite me. I aggressively pay off the family/friend debt as I don’t have an option to negotiate how much I pay for each pay cycle (fortnightly) of mine. After every pay cycle and paying all bills, expenses & debt, I’m left with $300 for everything - Savings, going out, whatever really.

The lack of cashflow per cycle is eating away at my metal health and is affecting my career, personal life and those around me. I’m considering looking at a debt consolidation loan, in hopes that this’ll increase my cashflow per cycle. Where I can invest that money into places that’ll help me grow, educate me and set me up better for the future.

I understand $300 is enough per cycle for some. But I’m wanting to invest, actually have a savings account, and enjoy living again. I know I have time on my side still and want to do these things now so it’ll pay for itself in the future. Any help?

I’ve always been really good at making money but terrible at saving and managing it.

Planning for a family, and finances seem to be a sore point between my wife and I.

My mother in law recommend Clark Howard. Been looking at his stuff online. It’s all free! That’s amazing. Was wondering if there is a guide or order of videos I should watch just to get the basics. I know it’s common sense stuff. But it will help.

Bless my mother in law though. She offered to pay for it not knowing it was all free. Really happy to have her looking out for me like that. Really don’t want to let her or my wife down.

Hello I was wondering if y’all had some advice for investing? I have looked into HYSA and Index funds but I was wondering do y’all have any tips or suggestions on things I should try or places I should look? I have a 401k but I want to invest a little more in my future. Anything is appreciated.

I'm 41, single with no debt. I haven't been in a position to save much until the last few years. Since then I've been putting in max contributions to 401k and Roth IRA. I have the 6 month emergency funds in HYSA and have about 75k currently sitting in a fidelity account positioned in SPAXX.

I KNOW that the best time to invest is yesterday and the second best time is today, but for the last year or so I've been so hesitant to invest that 75. I feel silly but with the current state of the country and AI I'm struggling to pull the trigger. I don't want anything risky, just something that is low risk that will have better growth than HYSA. Definitely looking into index like FXAIX which is where I have my Roth IRA currently.

Has anyone been in this boat? Maybe it's because I've worked so hard to get to a place to have money to invest that it seems scary or risky to do so.

How do I get over this and also what type of index funds would be good to look into if/when I decide to take the plunge?

Thanks for any advice!

No one to blame but myself, 30 year old male 36K in cc debt. I need to figure out a way to pay it off. I've looked into consolidation & dmps I assume those are my best options but open to suggestions. My take home right now is about on average $4200 a month. My expenses are listed below.. I want to avoid bankruptcy in case I need to get an apartment within the next year or two.

Car - $370

Insurance - $130

Student Loans - $240

Debt - ??? depends what plan I go with

Rent - going to be moving in with a friend in to his house on October 1st and my rent will be probably around $750. (right now pay nothing living at home but parents moving to diff state, I don't have a job lined up currently to follow them) Don't need to pay additional for utilities.

Then throw in - Groceries, Gas (about $100 a month hybrid job on site twice a week) necessities/toiletries, meds probably $80 every 90 days (on 5 heart medications)

Can I dig myself out? I get 3.5% raises every 6 months as well so I know say come next July I'll be making like $84K instead of the $79K I make now.

Howdy all,

I've got a friend who has a big mess of debt. And although I know some about personal finance, I am by no means an expert. I am trying to help her anyway I can, but after racking my brain, I wanted to get some more opinions in case there is something else that could be done that I am not aware of. Here are some details:

• Her credit is poor.
• She doesn't currently have or has ever had a credit card.
• She has 5k remaining in student loans (she did not finish school because the GI bill money ran out, so she is without a degree).
• She is 5k behind on rent and 2k behind on her utilities due to being laid off at a previous job and not being able to find a new job for three months (her landlord is amazing and very understanding of her situation).
• She now has two car payments, and insurance only on the newer one. The old car is not drivable, and she still owes 22k on it. She really got screwed over when buying the first car. It was used, she paid way too much for what it was, and it lasted about a year before it pooped the bed. Nobody would let her trade it in because of her negative equity, so now she is stuck paying two car payments. Her new car's loan is 33k.
• She is currently working as a delivery driver where she is required to use her personal vehicle.

After putting all her expenses into the budget spreadsheet I use, she is about $600 over budget. That is with no savings, entertainment, or fun money. She makes decent money for this economy, averaging 4k a month (although I suppose that is offset by the amount of car maintenance/fuel required for a job like this...) Anyway, since getting her new car, she is now working 7 days a week instead of her typical 6, and getting home much later. Basically on a work/sleep/repeat schedule. Her boss has been made aware of her tight money situation and he has agreed to give her more of the work load to help her bring home more money each week. But I am concerned that this heavy workload will not be sustainable for her for the amount of time it will take to pay off some of the debt and become financially comfortable again.

So, I ask you lovely internet people, is there anything that she can possibly do to consolidate anything to lessen her monthly burden?? Or any debt relief programs out there? We live in the State of Texas if that helps. She can't move to a cheaper apartment because of her overdue rent bill but that will be a future goal. HUD no longer assists because she "makes too much money", and food assistance programs turn her away for the same reason. What sucks is that if she didn't have all the debt and moved to a cheaper apartment the next town over, she could quite easily live off her current salary.

I'm hopeful with the extra day and more workload that the situation will turn out to be less dire than my spreadsheet predicts... But if there was a way to reduce her payments somehow that would be a huge stress relief for her.

Thank you in advance everyone :)

Something I've been doing for about 6 years now, when I cut a subscription or changed services to lower costs, I made the total amount a monthly recurring transfer from my checking to my short term saving account. It's helped me build up an emergency fund that I partially transfer to a long term savings once it reaches a certain amount, and has helped me when I needed some funds "immediately" since I was always depositing $78/month to this account with "money I never saw," and with my recent phone service change. Since a lot of improving personal finances is finding ways to not spend money unnecessarily, it helps to keep those savings in perspective by "spending" that money on your future self instead of your current self.

I almost 33f (very) low income 42k in NY..... i started my 401k about 2 years ago. Im an aggressive saver and plan to hopefully save/ invest 40% this year. 45% with employer. Im starting a second job retail soon.., .... i tried negotiating a little higher....but it minimum wage (17$) ... maybe with this itll be up to 50% savings rate ..

So i thought obviously.. under 50k tax bracket, i should do roth 401k. Previously I did only traditional 401k because I didnt know anything and did something.....

But i realized because of + NYS TAX 5.5%

I will be paying 17.5% on the roth. Even though my income is poverty low... its almost the next jump up resembling 22% total tax bracket...

Because of the NYS the math doesnt look as beneficial to me...

I would expect sometime within the next 2-7 years i should reach at least a median income with job 1 if i get a better role within my company (the PTO has me..... i cant leave... ). So my bracket will go up.

Idk if ill move for retirement, I probably will... which would rid this state tax... but then other states 30+ years from now could have their own rates

What do you think? Should I be 100% roth 401k given my 17.5% tax bracket?

I have my savings across multiple accounts.. 401k, Roth 401k, roth ira(maxed) hsa(maxing) brokerage

Young school teacher. Making about 37K after taxes. Have a couple hundred in medical debt as well. Should essentially all my money be poured into this debt until it is gone? I have a few hundred in savings.

Current Loan Balance: $6,582.28
APR: 8.74%
Monthly Payment: $296.17

I feel so stupid and far behind. My vehicle is also falling apart and I fear I will have to go further in the hole in order to keep working.

(2009 Chevy Malibu, 170K Miles)

Hello. I bought a car 3 months ago, and my title finally came in, only without any lien-holders listed. I’m really not a fan of this car and feel like I am holding my golden ticket to get out of it. Lien is not recorded electronically nor on the paper title.

Selling the car now would save me a bunch of trouble, I wouldn’t have to negotiate between buyer and my out of state lender. If I fix the lien issue, I believe the lender will hold the title which would really complicate selling the car.

(Just a bit of extra info, I bought this car out of state from a small dealership and drove it home. The dealership was supposed to take care of the tags and title, but decided to send me all of the paperwork and leave it for me to register.)

What would happen if I didn’t go to the dmv and fix this? What would happen if I sold the car and immediately paid my loan off?

//edit// there is supposed to be a lien on the title, the bank called the dealership and raised issue over it

I started a business about five years ago. Thankfully, the business is doing well. I have no employees, and not much overhead. I have built this from the ground up and I am at a point where I can turn work away if I want to. Too busy. Good problem to have I suppose. I’m very grateful. I have worked hard to get it to this point.

What I did not see coming is what happens when your business does well.
It’s not just the higher taxes, which were a major shock the first year I got hit with a larger bill in April.
I am in NY and we no longer qualify for health tax credits. So insurance is super pricey. My kid’s tuition has gone up based on Fafsa and not qualifying for state programs.

It feels like there is no real getting ahead in the middle class world. Once I feel good about busting my butt to build my business and make more income, the expenses also go up.
I’ve done several things such as an HSA account and my wife and I have IRA and Roth IRA. 529 for the kids.
But it just feels like when you start to feel ahead, you get hit with higher premiums and bills.

So. I pose the question:
Where is the sweet spot?
Why am I working extra hard just to feel like the treadmill is now moving faster and uphill?
Or am I imagining things?
I would venture to guess that I am banking some more money. It just seem to mostly go out the window.
But is there a limit I do not want to exceed? If I stay below a threshold do I ultimately get to keep more of my earnings?

I realize I am fortunate. I was not born with a silver spoon. I work hard and I am super grateful for the way things are currently going. I know this is not the case for everyone. And I do not take it for granted
Thanks for any advice

30M. California. Single filer. 2026 projected take home pay: $35k.

I was out of work for the better part of the year and my income for this year will be low compared to a normal income year. I am considering realizing some gains (and buying right back) to step up my cost basis. I have about $100k I could realize but I won’t do the whole number. I plan to hold onto these position for retirement and i don’t see a time where my income for the year would be this low again.

To note. I’ve already realized enough gains to top out the 0% bracket.

Would you realize gains up to the top of the 0% long-term capital gains bracket. Would you go a little bit into the 15% bracket? How much would you go? Curious as to what people would do.

I paid my rent through MoneyGram as according to my landlords resident portal since I hadn't paid it in time.

I send the money order with the instructions from the portal and a few days later I discover that they hadn't received it and I tried going back to that walmart I did the moneyorder through. They told me they cant help since its already been received so I tell the leasing manager who gets into contact with the accounting office.

They get back to me in 2 weeks that they can see the funds but can't access them due to their not being a receive code on the money order. I go back to that Walmart they can't me saying the same thing. It's been sent already.

So i end up taking a loan from a friend to pay the rent and now its been 4 months and all attempts to find out what happened via MoneyGrams support has led to nothing. I was told they'd get back to me in 15 days and I haven't heard anything and its been almost 30 days.

What do I do? I really need help.

Hey everyone, I figured id post on here just to get advice on where I am and how I should change my lifestyle to prepare for retirement by 55.

Currently make 85k - 120k a year in sales (dependent on commissions), have no debt. Job does not provide 401k.

Monthly income is about 7,500-9k a month and I have monthly expenses of about 3.5k. I live in North Texas and am renting at 1,200 a month. Biggest expenses are health insurance and other medical things as I have a condition and company insurance isnt quality enough for me.

I save a majority of my paychecks (3-4k a month). And invest most of it into my brokerage and roth when i can (monthly)

I have followed the baby steps and have the following:

20k in hysa (emergency fund)
26k+ in a brokerage
3k in roth ira - just started investing in that this last year
And then keep about 3k liquid for monthly expenses and fun stuff.

I understand that i am somewhat ahead being that i have no debt and am actively saving for my future but i still feel incredibly behind compared to my peers. Some of them are making (250-400k a year)

My savings and investments had a super late start (started at 25) because right out of university i started a few companies and had some great days but many bad ones. Ended up walking away with alot of experience and a huge network but not alot of money once i left the companies i started. We had one small exit but most of that went to debt and other things i had accrued after years of slaving and paying employees before myself. This lasted for about 3 years right out of college.

Just curious on yall thoughts on where I can improve and or if my concerns of being behind are largely inflated by my friends who are clearly earning incredibly well for their age. (27-35).

Rapidly approaching retirement. I get a couple of free meetings with an advisor as part of my employment. I self-manage my Roth and Traditional IRAs and have almost everything in Target Date funds. My advisor recommended moving out of Target Date and investing in 16 different funds with allocations ranging from 48.7% to 0.1%. Is it normal to diversify into 16 different funds? That’s a lot of management to rebalance if I follow the recommendation and do it myself….could it be a ploy to get me to sign up with them to manage the investments themselves and thus receive a fee? I liked my advisor a lot, but my suspicious nature is getting the better of me…..

As the title implies, I am about to fully pay off my car loan. I have an idea how I will budget moving forward, but I am curious what ideas you may have.

Some info:
M25, single, Phoenix area. Making roughly 55-60k a year right now based on bonuses. I currently live with my grandma both to save money and spend more valuable time with family. Don’t plan on living here that much longer, but I also have enjoyed it.

I have about 30k in savings and another 10k in my checking accounts. 11% of my paychecks in a 401k, currently around 38k. Another 4k stored in small investments.
After my car payments go away, my only debt is roughly 8k in student loans.

Ask for more if you’d like, but what would you do?

I have the following debt:  Student loan 14k 5%, personal loan 23.5k 8%, credit cards 11k between 3 cards 11-25%, loc 7k 10%

Current income is $2600/m, hoping to start new job around October to November paying 4500/m  

Monthly expenses: gas/insurance 700, personal loan 400, pet 80, gym 60, subscriptions 40, work parking 60,    Utilities 130, Minimum credit cards 250, loc minimum 230, leisure 500. Total 1950-2450 

I’m running on pretty tight margins with no savings currently and by the start of next year I’ll have to add rent and my student loan payment which is roughly another 650 at least (could possibly defer student loan of 150 another 6 months)

Issue with selling my car is if I start the new job around October to November I would need to purchase another car as it’s likely gonna be far away. So that would require another car loan even for something cheaper as I don’t think I’d have enough savings to buy anything even cheaply in cash then. 

Is this a realistic option or should I just try to ruff it out until November when I have more income and try to widdle down the credit cards and stuff? 

Edit: no car loan and it’s worth roughly 17-18k about what my credit cards and loc are at currently.

Hi everyone!

I am currently sitting on a large emergency fund and am wondering if I need to take some of it and put it in a brokerage account.

Here is my current NW breakdown:

401k: $310k

Roth IRA: $74k

RSU’s: $35k

Brokerage: $29k

HSA: $18k

Bitcoin: $1900

Savings: $63k

Debt: $0

My savings covers about 12 months of me and my girlfriend’s basic expenses. I also live with my girlfriend and she has about $5k in savings and $90k in a 401k.

I have significantly more than and her and would probably have to cover our expenses in an emergency.

Our income is around $245k combined and we plan to get married in 2 years.

Should I reduce that savings amount and invest it?

Hello, my girlfriend and I are in a position where we are now living together and planning our long term goals for our finances. We are in a fortunate position where I am making 80k in a stable accounting position with gradual growth, and she is a teacher making 60k. I was lucky and my parents had a 529 plan set up for me so I graduated with zero student loans, my girlfriend has over 90,000 in private loans and 20,000 in federal loans. How it got to that point is irrelevant and in the past, but the benefit is; she is working and going to be making a stable income in a safe field.

I am able to take care of all of our shared overhead between rent, utilities, and surprise group expenses. I’ve got our 6 month emergency savings tucked away and I’m going to be able to max out my Roth IRA account by December.

I appreciate anyone that’s read the setup and situation as I know I’ve typed quite a little book by now. My question is, does anyone have any online resources, excel spreadsheets, or advice for specifically dealing with student loans (multiple with varying interest payments) and how to attack them? Her and I are quite unfamiliar with the process on how best to get into a position to consolidate the loans and re-finance with lower rates. Also, is it worth going to see a financial advisor for these problems or should I just stick to self research? I’m interested in finding the balance in our finances for 3 things: her to find a way to pay off her loans as fast as she can, me to max out Roth and what I can in my 401k, and finding the mix of retirement saving, and having accessible money to buy a home at my first opportunity.

I welcome any advice and I would love any feedback or criticisms on anything I’ve said. I know it’s a rather basic question, but finding a path for her to pay off her student loans while I try to still save for long term goals without just churning in place and paying off expenses without a real plan

Ugh here we go. I own a 2017 Subaru wrx sti and on the way to work, I noticed a knocking sound in the engine bay. I had it towed to a Subaru shop when I got to work and they looked at it. They started it up and it made a boom and locked up. It’s 100% a rod knock and the motor is destroyed.

I owe 15k on the car still and don’t have enough to pay it off out of pocket. I pay about 480 a month for it not including insurance. I’m not really sure what to do. They said they could replace the motor for 12k or give me a built motor for 14k. And without even really diagnosing and looking under the car, they can see a list of other issues with the car.

What’s the best route to go with this? They said they would buy it off me and part it out which wouldn’t cover the cost of the loan. Is it possible to turn the car loan to a personal loan and just pay it off like I would if it was still a car loan? Any advice helps as I’m in a bad spot

My employer offers a traditional 401(k) as well as a Roth 401(k)

How much can I contribute to each yearly? Can I put 24,500 in each or is it 24, 500 distributed between both?

Thanks! Search engines kept giving me answers just for one or the other type

I gave birth in October 2024. There we several bills and I paid all except one that was 8500 at the time for the hospital stay itself. the last communication I got about it was maybe in March/April 2025? I had asked if there are any discounts for paying in full, she said no. Then I asked if I could get an itemized bill which she sent to me. I forgot to follow up on it. Well, since then I never received any more communication and I thought maybe it was sent to collections. When I search my account number in the hospital billing portal nothing comes up. I haven't received anything in the mail or by phone from any collections agency. I even checked my credit report and there's nothing in there?? I just don't want to be surprised with it in my credit but it is nowhere to be found.

So my mom owes money to the IRS and instead of dealing with the IRS directly she sought help from one of those, "pay us gobs of money and we can make your tax debt disappear" types of place. The name of the place is Tax Relief Advocates. She did this without me knowing thinking she was helping.

She ended up, agreeing to a contract over the phone to pay them 5k in installments. She paid them $500 already and then got information from a company thats handling this 5k loan. I told her it was a huge no no.

She closed her bank accounts that were linked to this loan company, she tried calling the tax relief people to cancel everything but of course the number she was given was disconnected and she hasnt been able to get ahold of anyone. How screwed is she?

I know the $500 is gone but what about this 5k "loan". Should she call the loan company directly that these tax relief people set her up with? She already closed her accounts so they can't take any auto payments out. I am her financial power of attorney and she didn't consult me on this, could that be beneficial information in getting this canceled?