Can you buy a used cheaper car and sell your current one? Enough to pay off the car loan.

You most likely don’t have time do add to the 403(B) plan for the 2022 year if you do you should add it their first. However if you don’t you should open up a Roth IRA with and big brokerage eg. Fidelity, Vanguard, Schwab, TDAmeritrade you should then max out the contributions. If you are not an experienced investor you can always invest in a target date fund just like your 403(b) plan should be invested in eg with vanguard a Vanguard Target Date 20__ (insert year of retirement)

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As the person below me said their is no risk involved. Same FDIC insurance up to $250,000. I will say I don’t personally have SoFi but know others who do and they absolutely love it. You could always give both a try and close the account you don’t like.

Had to make this choice at beginning of COVID when cars were scarce. Our Odyssey blew a cylinder. Since we couldn’t find one, we repaired the engine. It kept crapping out in different ways for a couple years till we bought a new one.

It's Hawaii, but the credit sites are pretty generic, like "checkfreescore"

Not disagreeing at all. I’m glad I made this post, honestly. I’ve spent too much time arguing myself into accepting that cost.

> Spend 10k on something used and decent.

This just doesn’t exist anymore.

I definitely need to be more realistic about this, and I’m sure I can find something in the middle if I keep looking. Fortunately, I’m really not in a rush.

The “shopping” item is for things that aren’t groceries, so it’s a wide category

When I moved into my last apartment, the only thing that was available was Xfinity and I was sucked into the highest plan bc I was a dumb 22 year old who didn’t know anything.

My gas payment is part of my rent, so I can’t do much about it. My electric budget is from my old apartment bc EVERYTHING was electric so my bill was higher.

I moved from my old apartment to this one to be in a more walkable neighborhood. The rent was comparable but I lost in unit laundry :/ so now the laundromat

Well, I guess since you're in the unique scenario where it will become impossible (must be illegal in your area now) to find shared housing in July, and there are only brand new cars available to purchase, I guess you have no choice here.

You're going to be in a bad financial situation, I'd start cutting other spending drastically immediately. You "one month unique" situation cost you an entire month of income in credit card debt and you have very low savings for all the things you need to accomplish. Hopefully you can cut most of that $1,100 in general spending, because you're choosing an expensive car, expensive housing and whatever you bought for the holidays over those items.

Quick thoughts:

• You already know that your car loan is the killer. You need a car. You probably don't need THAT car. A 4 year loan on a $15k car will come out to about $350 per month. And if your car is worth more than you owe, you could push the purchase price up with a larger down payment.
• Your cell phone bill seems high. Your home Internet bill seems high.
• What is your income? How tight is your budget? If you're having issues balancing things, then maybe you don't have $50 for coffee.
• You made a very telling comment. You said you lived in an area that might not necessitate a car. You said you could cover essentials by walking locally. Does this include work? But your comment of "but I fear my social life will tank" is the telling comment. I'm not saying you should be a total shut in....but are you allocating around $800 per month for a car just to maintain a healthy social life?

Yeah my car payment is crazy. I got the car shortly after I started my first “adult” job after college as a present to myself. At the time I was living at home and could afford it. I had done some napkin math when I had to move out of my aunts house and I could still swing it then.

Assuming you have maxed out tax advantage account you can always deposit more into a taxable brokerage account. That is the simplest way.

The problem you'll have with this question is that you don't state any specific goals. Financial freedom is pretty vague. If you have goals then you can make a plan. If you have no goals then it's tough to advise. House? Kids' education? Big wedding one day? Tons of travel? Form goals then work backwards to create a plan.

If you just mean early retirement then the math is actually fairly simple. Estimate the length of retirement, estimate a safe withdrawal rate (4% is often used as a starting point), estimate required income in retirement.

So, say you need $40k/year as income. A 4% withdrawal rate means you need $1MM (40k/0.04) in retirement accounts for an approximate 30 year time horizon. That's a rough picture. You can look into specifics like tax strategies, etc.

6k/year in car payment - probably closer to 9 or 10k once gas and insurance is factored in - is ludicrous on a 40k/year salary. You're going to be spending a week every month working to pay for the car you use to take to work.

Spend 10k on something used and decent.

This is fair and I need to hear it

Nope. In some states you have to pay an application fee, but the prospective ll is the one that should be running the credit check, not the tenant.

Might help if you named the site and the state you're in.

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I just dont follow how you're landing on a $500/month vehicle. A 2022 Hyundai Ascent is <$17k and they offer financing deals but even if you got a 4 year loan, zero down, at 6% that's $400/month, worst case.

So saying you are planning to buy new, and put money down, and pay $500/month just tells me you want more car than you can afford.

In three years you'll have a 3 year old car, paying for maintenance, and kicking yourself for still paying 500/month that is interfering with your ability to fund other financial goals and leisure. This is a lesson a lot of people learn the hard way, I'm just trying to help you learn it now.

The 1099k is sent to both you, and the IRS. If you don't get a 1099, the IRS doesn't know about the income... If the IRS doesn't know about the income, they aren't going to know if you fail to declare it when you file; if you catch my drift.

Sorry if I misrepresented anything. My credit line does not affect my spending at all. I did a bit extra this month, but that was a unique case, which I am more than equipped to pay off quickly. I use a CC to spend based on my income, not my limit. Overall utilization is 44%.

>Right now, you've said nothing about costs other than groceries, rent & bills and debt. Most people also buy household goods, clothing, medical care, and they certainly have to maintain a vehicle if they have one. Those gaps make this decision impossible to evaluate.

This is a fair point. I budget $1,100 for general spending per month. This is an aspect I need to tighten up on more properly, as you're saying.

>That's a huge range and for some reason, you've only considered only the extremes.

As for the car, there aren't many great options between. I do see your point, but I want this car for 10 years. I want it to be worthwhile.

>You probably need to stay in your shared housing situation (or find another with similar costs)

Not an option. That said, I don't plan on moving until July. Which is why I'd rather get the car now and have some delay between.

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>Mobile Phone: 151

I assume you owe money on a phone? You want to free up cash flow... Pay off the phone and just pay the normal payment on your car note until you do...

>Eating Out: 200 Shopping: 200

What? cut these out and you gain $400 extra in cash flow per month... Or you bump your grocery budget up to 300 and free up 300...

A budget is an outline of how to properly spend your money... It is giving yourself permission to spend on what you deem necessary. The goal when you have debt like your car should be to throw as much as possible at that debt to get it gone, or continue paying the bill and invest more than you're paying for the car. A budget is only as good as the person making it. Live like you are broke until you don't owe anything on the car.

Or just sell the stupid car.

Also wanted to add that I know you have to invest the money after adding it to the IRA (don’t know much about it yet). Would it still be worth rushing to adding it before the end of the year if I haven’t fully educated myself on it yet?

I'm not facing any interest issues with my credit. Nothing significant. This is the highest my CC debt has ever been because I splurged a bit on Christmas gifts for family. I'm going to aggressively attack it in January. Putting $1500 on it tomorrow.

A part of me wanted to zero it all out with my savings, but that would delay the purchase of a car by a few months. I don't need a car asap, but I need one soon. I can see an argument for both options, but realistically, which is better?

>The two options you have are not "500/month new vehicle or $3000 beater" -- you are choosing not to see the options inbetween.

Honestly, after all I've seen of the used car market this past week, none of it feels worth it. I'd be paying minimum $350 a month for 6+ year old cars that have flaws. I recognize $500 is high, but everything is high for cars right now. 3 year old used cars are as or more expensive than brand new cars. Same exact make/model.

I don't want to finance a car that will require a lot of maintenance. I don't want to deal with for-cash craig's list vehicles (which would be the cheapest solution) given the sketchy nature.