Hey financial planners!

[spacebug]

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

[riotdorrrk.livejournal.com]

b primarily, and a little bit of d. you should always be paying at least a little bit over the 'billed' amount on the student loans, anyways, but that's not too concerning - you will be much better off if your savings account interest rate is higher than the interest rate on your loans, and putting into savings as much as you can set aside.

[omaha.livejournal.com]

a!

[tho, i guess b & d would be wise]

[jodi.livejournal.com]

b, c, and d for sure. try to balance a little of all them. make any presents small as airfare and gear and gifts that keep on giving.

[dangerdhotrod.livejournal.com]

b and d are pretty much the same thing. so do b and eventually all that money in b will end up going to d.

sorry, i've been infected with the negatron virus.

[jodi.livejournal.com]

actually, if you have a reasonably medium to small amount left on your loans, i would give more towards that because in theory the interest you save by paying it off early is like presents in the future.

[r0ckc4ndy.livejournal.com]

You should pay off student loans or anything with interest as fast as possible, start a roth IRA, and take care of D. Presents are cool, but so is transportation and not living on the street when you are old. I think.

[(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.)

[alisgray.livejournal.com]

presents are always good, but ignore your savings account if you still have student loans. But first priority, get your car taken care of. Next, loans. And a few presents.

[birdfigment.livejournal.com]

d)
or d) and something else, like a little more fun stuff.

[azure-armand.livejournal.com]

Oh, hey, can you lend me some money for some weed?

(just kidding)

[ilexcassine.livejournal.com]

I'd save some money for an emergency cushion, so b (which also serves as default d, in a pinch). Also, I agree with the others, start an IRA. If you start them when you are younger they can rack up money better than if you wait till you are forty. And most of them can be used for house down payments for your first house and (I think) emergency health payments (with the caveat that you have to pay the amount back in at some point).