Am I able to manage this?

Submitted by [deleted] t3_z5qpbq in personalfinance

Ho I'm just wondering how feasible this all is. I'm seriously freaking out that I've made a mistake. My damn job decided to force us back into the office with three weeks notice. That's wasnt enough time to find a new job but I would also be forced to pay back a pretty significant sign on bonus if I also left now anyway. I ended up signing a lease for 1300. I'm getting worried that I'm not actually going to be able to save money while paying off my loans. No one was willing to give me an idea of what water, electricity, gas utilities would cost a month.

Rent + the Internet that comes with place is 1391. I've been paying 1000 a month in student loans. Car insurance is 100 and phone bill is 100. Before taxes I get 6.4k a month . After taxes, 401/hsa, benefits, I maybe get 4k a month. The rent and student loan payment alone are already over half of that and I'm not even sure what utilities will look like.

Student loans are federal, so I don't have to pay 1k, of anything right now. Now I just trying to knock as much as I can out interest free while possible

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micha8st t1_ixxkb4q wrote

I'm a little confused. 3 weeks notice to work from the office? Have you been living too far to commute? Is the 1391 rent place too far to commute to the office?

My rule of thumb I heard way back in the dark ages was no more than 1/4 of gross salary for rent. 1/4 of 6.4k = 1.6k.

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Novax___Djocovid t1_ixxkkqq wrote

they gave us 3 weeks to return to the office. yeah I was almost 2 hours from the office. The 1391 is the place I moved to that's close to my office.

>My rule of thumb I heard way back in the dark ages was no more than 1/4 of gross salary for rent. 1/4 of 6.4k = 1.6k.

makes sense, but why gross and not net?

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9pmt1ll1come t1_ixxlc24 wrote

25% tax, 25% savings/retirement, 25% housing, 25% living expenses.

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ITinMN t1_ixxl03q wrote

Ah, I've done 2-hour commutes before.
Granted it was via public transportation (and something that only would have been around 40 minutes otherwise), but still, it's not like you're in Kazakhstan or something.

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micha8st t1_ixxlqsv wrote

The idea of the rule-of-thumb is to use as a guide - as an upper bound. Lower, of course, is better.

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[deleted] OP t1_ixxkhw5 wrote

[deleted]

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Novax___Djocovid t1_ixxksbo wrote

Yeah that makes sense. I just don't like making decisions with money without knowing exact numbers. Google utilities give a range all over the place.

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livingfree789 t1_ixza26w wrote

Call the utility companies. They can give you the average for the last 12 months.

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SilverRadicand t1_ixxmsv6 wrote

You should be fine. Might not be super free with money until the loans are knocked out, butt you should be living decently.

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Imaginary_Shelter_37 t1_ixxojzb wrote

Stop paying federal student loans since the pause has been extended. You could save several thousands or more before you have to start paying again.

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SpeakerClassic4418 t1_ixxp9qf wrote

So what I'm hearing is worse case at the moment is you can't pay stuff off as fast as you would like while there is no interest. On top of thst you are contributing to your retirement (401k) amd a HSA.

Step back a minute and realize youre in a good place. This isn't a problem, unless I missed something.

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Space_-_Trash t1_ixxkj16 wrote

Stop 401k until you get expenses/liabilities in check.

Saving doesn’t just happen. You have to force yourself. Set up direct deposit of 10% of your take home pay to a savings account. That’s about $400/ month.

How much do you owe on SL?

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Novax___Djocovid t1_ixxkyr0 wrote

Right now I do 6% 401k just for the company match. I do 100 dollars a paycheck to savings account.

i have 52k in student loans.

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SilverRadicand t1_ixxn4d2 wrote

If you don't have it already, make sure you get your emergency fund of three months of expenses set up before you go ham on the loans. That way, you won't be scrambling when your car inevitably breaks down or you get laid off etc. Once you have that minimal amount of emergency fund, then you can go ham on the loans and get them knocked out.

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SnooBananas5673 t1_ixxls05 wrote

I personally would not move, and either pay back the bonus, or sort out the commute if possible. But, if you’re stuck and unable to pay it back you’re kind of in a tough spot if you want to quit.

A lot of companies are doing this, shocking, but they also are working with people. Could you ask if you could come in 2-3 days / week until you found housing? If you like your job, and it’s just an issue of distance I feel like there’s a pretty easy path forward if they will work with you on moving closer in.

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HappyPersonHere t1_ixymsu9 wrote

I’m in Northern VA (M-HCOLA) in a 2B/1b and our utilities average $60 for water/sewer/gas/trash (more in winter for heat), $50 for electricity (more in summer for AC), and $40 for internet. I consider these very manageable!

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