Two weeks ago I paid off my $7,500 credit card debt. While it put a serious dent my cash reserves, I know it was the right thing to do because of the monthly interest I no longer have to pay.
I'm now working on paying off my student loan. I've set a goal of paying it off before the end of 2015, and I believe that to be realistic, and something that might be accomplished by the end of summer.
The only other debt I have is my car. That thing is a headache because it's starting to have small issues that could become big issues. It's 7 years old, has about 75k miles on it, and I'm thinking I should trade it in for something that I will have more confidence in. Smart money says to stay away from a new car since it will loose it's value quickly, but I also don't want to purchase an old car that could have lingering issues I'm unaware of at the time of purchase. Should I settle with a car that's a year or two old?
Now that I have a job again after a lengthy layoff due to an injury that wiped out our previous savings, my wife and I have decided to begin saving for three different things...vacation (to keep us sane), our son (he's 3), and emergencies (like a future layoff or other disaster). Beginning in June, we're going to sock away $1k for each of those three things. Once our vacation savings plan hits the goal we've set, that $1k will be split equally into our son's account and the emergency fund. Anytime the vacation fund dips below the amount we've decided on, we will resume the $1k deposits into the account until it's back to the set amount.
After putting away $3k a month into the various saving plans, I will still have some money left over that isn't earmarked for anything. What should I do with that? I could just let it accumulate, but I'm thinking I should buy some precious metals...something that we can hang onto longterm. At current prices, I could swing a 1 oz AGE per month, or 60 ASE.
And finally, I do have a 401k, but it's not got a lot in it and I've not added to it in the past two years. My current employer will not match funds until I've worked here a minimum of 2 years and I've only been here since January, so I've got some time until that takes effect. Should I hold off until the employer will match funds, or should I go ahead and throw some money in there as well? If so, what percentage of a paycheck is ideal? 20%?
Thanks for any options those of you with financial know-how can provide me with.
What now?
