Tax brackets are marginal. They don’t start withholding a ton more because you’re paying a few extra dollars from increased income. Yes if he got a 30k raise he’d notice but not going from 25 to 27 an hour.

What would the loan be for? Would it be to consolidate the credit cards into one payment? Depending on what the minimum payments are for the cards and any other consumer loans in relation to your income your DTI may be too high to get a loan. I wouldn't entertain this idea in your situation.

If I were in your shoes this is what I would do.

1. Cut up the credit cards and toss them
2. Debt snowball. List them in ascending order and tackle the smallest balance first and close the line once it's paid off. Move onto the next and so on and so forth.

Do you have anything that you can sell on ebay for some extra cash to throw at the credit cards? Are you open to getting a weekend or afternoon job until you can get the cards under control.

Wishing you the best.

I would run an amortization calculator on your base case. And then look at the actually amortization table (where there’s a line for every year)

I would then Recreate that table in excel w formulas

And then add a column for “extra payment”.

Should just be basic addition, subtraction, and multiplication

No, that’s way too much of your income. Roughly 30% of your income should go toward housing. Less than 50% is essential if you don’t want to be house poor

Yea - there’s no such thing as a smart and safe approach to buying a home with somebody you haven’t married

Honestly-are you even out of the 'probationary period' on your job???

It's too early to be looking at houses. Way too early. I can't even believe a reputable mortgage broker gave you time of day with only being at your current job 2 months.

If you really needed to leave yesterday, find a rental situation. You are not ready to buy.

I’m glad I could be some help!

It won’t matter for the terms of the loan offered. It could speed up the underwriting bc they already have access to certain information

This is the key

With larger layoffs coming later then those that were forced out withing a certain number of days of the layoffs (changes based on state) may be considered part of that layoff

Buy a house already , you make too much money to be paying somebody else’s mortgage

This is one of those things I t makes no sense to do in excel. Plenty of calculators online: https://www.bankrate.com/mortgages/mortgage-loan-payoff-calculator/

You need a budget.

It's impossible to give you advice without knowing you income, other debts(student loans, car loans, etc.) As well as any assets.

Create a budget with how much money you bring in and then see where your money goes(bills, food, retirement).

Your comment has been removed because we don't allow political discussions, political baiting, or soapboxing (rule 6). This includes questions or discussions about proposed legislation or government policy changes.

I would try to open a managed retirement account or 401k type account through your primary job. Most jobs offer you matching of some sort. As for me I have most of my money in HYSAs at the moment. Around 3.8% apy. For awhile now that’s looked more attractive than letting it to the whims of the current market. I also bought some us government I bonds while they were paying 9.62% apy. I don’t know if that was a good idea yet or not because they won’t mature til the fall. They’re still paying around 7% because they’re indexed to inflation, so slightly better than hysas

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The pension plan is like buying membership each year with that 8%. Until you have the minimum years needed, the money is just held in an interest bearing account. If you leave before you meet the minimum years you can request it back. When you reach the minimum or when you max it and retire from the government you will receive a monthly payment based on a calculation. This calculation varies based on your pension plan.

The 401a plan is where the money you must contribute and the money they give you sits and can be invested. If you leave before you reach vesting, the amount your employer has contributed can be reduced and taken back, the amount you pay in will always be yours.

Usually with government jobs you will also be offered a 457b or 401k type plan. If it's a 457b plan, you can contribute up to $22500 each year pre tax(traditional) or post tax (Roth). Ask your HR about this.

Of course you always have access to a Roth IRA up to 6k per year separately of your employer options. You would not be eligible for traditional IRA tax deductions since you are offered an employer plan.

So you could do the minimum of 401a contribution, pension plan, employer contribution, 457b or 401k, and Roth IRA. Whether all or less is what you need in retirement is up to you.

Your plan options should be spelled out in your handbook as far as if you have the 457b and/or 401k option.

Oftentimes you’ll see language for either or or lesser of. I’m guessing that may be what applies here. Start with a question, you’re more likely to get someone to help you out than if you come in hot

I doubt they would qualify for a mortgage…

You jumped a tax bracket I'm assuming resulting in higher taxes being taken hence the loss in, income and you lost 10 extra hrs of pay which shouldn't seem like much but if you make 50 an hr thate 500$ less youd make

It’s more about the risk profile than the level of investment. More risk equals more potential rewards. But you want something moderate risk like VOO which is an S and P 500 tracker. Meaning it’s made up of a mixture of s&p500 stocks.

Maybe you can check the correct answer with an online Amortization calc or with chatgpt

Edit: sorry, i just stumbled on this post but dont know much excel formula

Fighting yes, unlike the other response. HOAs, specifically the property management side of things are scum and they don’t impact property values like people claim too, especially in the housing market today.

I would simply respond back, with screenshot, stating that the posted fee structure and what you are changing is not correct. This is not an agreed too transaction cost and you wish for it to be remedied with a refund and a correction in the communicated fee structure.

There’s also the scotch earth approach which my dad has taken before and actually lowered HOA fees for a 10k home community over excessive fining by the property management company.

No remedy? Contact board

Boards and useless? Run for president.

Fire property management company.

Attend the next HoA meeting to complain

3.25% for echeck is robbery. The bank the HOA uses doesn’t charge them that high of an amount for ACH debits. 3.25% makes sense for credit card payments due to credit card processing fees, but I’d be willing to accept $3.25 for an echeck since the HOA mgmt company is probably paying ~$1 for each transaction.

That's what I'm thinking too. Maybe we if move more into the country, but then again getting more land than what we have now will probably counter any savings not living in a nice area of the city.

Depending on homeschooling etc., wife may not enter back into the workforce for at least 17 years.