Hey financial planners!

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So, even though I realize that I haven't paid off my last gear purchase or spent my christmas money on, say, a flight to go visit friends cross country, it still seems like I'm doing a pretty good job of living within or just beneath my means. Would a better way to put extra money to use be:

a) buy myself more presents!
b) start putting some money into my pathetic little savings account
c) make larger monthly student loan payments
d) look into those weird things on the car before they get weirder

or some combination of a few/all of these?

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

I'll just point out that the interest you pay on the student loans is a tax deduction. And with how low the interest rates tend to be on student loans, it might not be worth tossing more than an extra $10 or $20 a month towards until other things are taken care of. (They always say take care of short-term stuff first, then the long term stuff.)

I'd put some in savings for emergency monies and get the car checked out. This way you have money when you really need it (to tide you over if $$ doesn't come in at work and you don't get a paycheck or to help float the deposit on an apartment if you move or for whatever emergency that comes up). And the car gets fixed before it's really bad or so urgent you end up having to pay more for towing and/or parts.
And once you've got enough socked away to cover your expenses for a couple-few months, then either pay bunches more towards the student loans or start looking at an IRA or something for long term savings.

[lostbutton.livejournal.com]

d'oh, that was me :)

[hexagonalcarbon.livejournal.com]

I like this advice the best. Having a buffer of a few thousand dollars is pretty critical in case your vehicles suddenly have hugely expensive problems or you lose jobs or have some other emergency. You won't make any real money off of it, but the stress it will remove from your life will make you live years longer, so it's a good investment.

After that, r0ckc4ndy gives very sensible advice. (See? I figured it was just a matter of time.)