Hi, I haven't posted in a while so here's the basic rundown. I am 33 and recently got married. My H is 36. I have an almost 13 yr old DD who lives with us about 25% of the year. I filed for a chapter seven bankruptcy last year due mainly to medical bills and it was discharged in Feb. I have a private student loan from 14 years ago that is currently in default and with a collection agency. It's around 18k. I also have a federal student loan that is at around 1,500 and in good standing. I recently took out another 13k in both federal and private loans to go back to school for massage, and I have just about three months left before I am finished.
H makes about 35-40k a year before taxes depending on bonuses. I am currently working 30 hrs a week at a nail salon and make 1600-2000 a month take-home depending on the time of year. I give my H 870 a month. This covers rent, all utilities, cell phones for dd and I and health insurance for dd and I. I also pay 300 a month in child support for the nine months that dd is with her dad, and most of the transportstion costs for her visitation, which averages at least 2500 a year. The remainder I use for food, bus fare, any additional school expenses, gifts, haircuts, clothing, etc. We do not have a car. My income pretty much covers all my expenses with a small cushion. All of my student loans are in forbearance until I finish school, exfept the defaulted one. They are pretty much leaving me alone for now. I only heard from them once right after my bankruptcy was discharged.
Once I am done with school and have my license my plan is to get a second job doing massage, keep working at the nail salon as much as I can, and pay off the decaulted loan as quickly as possible. I am also trying to rebuild my credit score which is currently just over 600. I have one credit card with a 500$ limit which I use for a couple things each month and then pay the entire balance every month. The defaulted student loan has dropped off of my report, but the others are on there as well as the bankruptcy. I don't have any other credit.
Payments for the three smaller student loans will be just over 250$ a monthwhen school is over. I am considering just paying off the 1500 one first to get it out of the way, especially if the collection agency for the defaulted loan is still not bothering me. The only reason I wouldn't is because the interest rate is really low, and since it's federal I have a lot of flexibility with payments, but it would be nice to just get it paid off. The defaulted loan will be my next (or first) target, followed by the 5500 private loan I recently took out for school. The last loan, around 7500 is also federal, so I'm not too worried about paying that one off as fast as I can.
I have some other financial goals as well. I will need to budget in about 400 a year for continuing ed requirements and license renewal. I currently have no retirement savings (H has some, around 3-4000 right now) and my employer doesn't offer it. DD will also be finished with high school in less than six years and I currently have only 300$ set aside for her college.
I need to figure out my plan. My goal after school is to gross 5000 a month. About 1000 of that will have to go to taxes, 1800 for my regular expenses, and the remainder can go to debts/savings. I am not sure how long I will realistically be able to keep up that kind of work schedule though. I will do it as long as I have to to pay off the defaulted loan, after that I may have to cut back some.
I am also trying to decide if at some point I want to try to buy a car and/or home. My H is too blind to drive, and I don't know how much I would use it, but it might be nice to have, and a car loan could help my credit score. I don't really know if buying a home would be worth it.or not either. H has no debt and never has. He does not have a credit score. I don't really know how much I should save for dd's college and retirement either. Any help sorting this out would be greatly appreciated.
H makes about 35-40k a year before taxes depending on bonuses. I am currently working 30 hrs a week at a nail salon and make 1600-2000 a month take-home depending on the time of year. I give my H 870 a month. This covers rent, all utilities, cell phones for dd and I and health insurance for dd and I. I also pay 300 a month in child support for the nine months that dd is with her dad, and most of the transportstion costs for her visitation, which averages at least 2500 a year. The remainder I use for food, bus fare, any additional school expenses, gifts, haircuts, clothing, etc. We do not have a car. My income pretty much covers all my expenses with a small cushion. All of my student loans are in forbearance until I finish school, exfept the defaulted one. They are pretty much leaving me alone for now. I only heard from them once right after my bankruptcy was discharged.
Once I am done with school and have my license my plan is to get a second job doing massage, keep working at the nail salon as much as I can, and pay off the decaulted loan as quickly as possible. I am also trying to rebuild my credit score which is currently just over 600. I have one credit card with a 500$ limit which I use for a couple things each month and then pay the entire balance every month. The defaulted student loan has dropped off of my report, but the others are on there as well as the bankruptcy. I don't have any other credit.
Payments for the three smaller student loans will be just over 250$ a monthwhen school is over. I am considering just paying off the 1500 one first to get it out of the way, especially if the collection agency for the defaulted loan is still not bothering me. The only reason I wouldn't is because the interest rate is really low, and since it's federal I have a lot of flexibility with payments, but it would be nice to just get it paid off. The defaulted loan will be my next (or first) target, followed by the 5500 private loan I recently took out for school. The last loan, around 7500 is also federal, so I'm not too worried about paying that one off as fast as I can.
I have some other financial goals as well. I will need to budget in about 400 a year for continuing ed requirements and license renewal. I currently have no retirement savings (H has some, around 3-4000 right now) and my employer doesn't offer it. DD will also be finished with high school in less than six years and I currently have only 300$ set aside for her college.
I need to figure out my plan. My goal after school is to gross 5000 a month. About 1000 of that will have to go to taxes, 1800 for my regular expenses, and the remainder can go to debts/savings. I am not sure how long I will realistically be able to keep up that kind of work schedule though. I will do it as long as I have to to pay off the defaulted loan, after that I may have to cut back some.
I am also trying to decide if at some point I want to try to buy a car and/or home. My H is too blind to drive, and I don't know how much I would use it, but it might be nice to have, and a car loan could help my credit score. I don't really know if buying a home would be worth it.or not either. H has no debt and never has. He does not have a credit score. I don't really know how much I should save for dd's college and retirement either. Any help sorting this out would be greatly appreciated.