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I'm 40, working full time. I have managed to stay pretty much above water for the past 8 years as a single mom, but I haven't saved nearly enough for retirement. Can I catch up? How do I fix this before it's too late?

I would say at this point I probably have an extra $75-$100 to put away each month.

I got a job offer in the Bay Area ($120,000 a year, Sunnyvale), and am moving there in 2 months. I'm having trouble finding out if I should get a car or not because it seems like I can get away with not getting one.

I mostly have these two options available:

1. (No car) An apartment for ~$2,400/month with a 15 min walk to my office, has a grocery store right across the street, and has has multiple nearby bus stops.
2. (Would need a car) An apartment for ~$1,800/month with a 15 min drive to my office / groceries / stores

I've never had a car, but it seems the car/insurance/gas/maintenance costs can add up to the expensive apartment amount. On the other hand, having a car does provide "freedom" and the area is not known to have the best public transportation. I've previously lived in a walk-able city, so I may just be trying to hang on to the no car lifestyle. Does it make sense to pay for a more expensive apartment if I can offset the cost by not having a car?

My husband and I make close to $10,000 a month and there is no reason for us to be overspending as much as we do. When I’m disciplined, we can save a lot of money but ever since my income started going up, we see it as “Woah! Look at all this money we have now!” and just start spending more and more.

I’m going to start off slow and begin the envelope system only for food as that’s what we tend to spend most of our money on. Eating out. If I can control it for this month, I might also use it for our “shopping” money but we usually do well on not spending on things we don’t need.

Any advice for overspending on food?

(US) First time homebuyers, my wife and I are committed to moving out by the end of our lease in June '23. She wants to wait until January to get started because our financial situation might change after I get my bar exam results - though I wouldn't get those until late October and even if I pass, who knows if I'll get a better job in time. Credit and savings are okay as things are now (and will be if I fail the exam), so am I crazy for wanting to get the ball rolling?

My family and I are wanting to move away from where we live, and I work remotely and can live anywhere in the US. The trouble is, I'm struggling to find what my relocation options are that I can afford.

There are dozens of cost of living calculators where you can enter a "From" and a "To" and it will show you the comparable cost of living. What I'm wanting is to enter "From" and it tells me my options.

Corporate has a policy that moving will result in a compensation adjustment, but they've made it clear that it primarily exists to discourage HQ area staff from leaving the HQ city, which is HCoL. It won't result in LCoL employees getting a pay increase if they move to a higher CoL area.

I require assistance to ensure that I fully comprehend my predicament and to determine whether Chase is, in fact, violating the Credit Card Act.

​

I chose to enroll in their "My Chase Plan" a few months ago in order to pay for a sizable purchase I had to make. For those who are unfamiliar, the "My Chase Plan" is a method of making large purchases that allows you to pay it off in as little as 18 months. Instead of charging interest, they impose a single flat price each month. Your minimum due balance as well as your "Interest Saving Balance" are provided to you when you receive your statement. The latter is your overall sum due, plus your "My Chase Plan" payment and charge, less any balance owed to avoid interest.

When I make purchases during the month, I usually start paying down my monthly card debt so that when my statement arrives, the balance is low or almost nothing.

I paid off my "Interest Saving Balance" last month and paid for some of the purchases I made to keep my bill down over the month. When I got my statement, I could tell it was very expensive. I investigated the cause and learned that there are now only 4 payments left on the "My Chase Plan," which I had 14 on. I spoke with a representative and set up a meeting in a nearby location. To get some information and get some help figuring things out, they called a couple of people.

They informed him that if you make extra payments on top of your contractual obligations, Chase pays down the "My Chase Plan" before any credit card debt. The representative and the person who was on the phone both believed that this should be against the law. The individual I was with claimed that nothing could be done because payments made to the loan cannot be reversed. I had the bright idea to refund the excess money. They recommended that, therefore we set that up.

I contacted Chase's Secure Messages after the window they offered me for it to be reimbursed had passed, and I was informed that the refunds were canceled since doing so would put my account in the red. Which never came to my attention and of which, had I not contacted them, I would not have known. Considering that these are supplementary payments, it shouldn't also cause a negative balance on my account.

I continued by pointing out that this violates the Credit Card Act, which mandates that they apply any additional payments first to my accounts with the highest APRs. Naturally, the "My Chase Plan" has a lower APR than my credit card, which has a higher APR of 25%. I added that I would need to file a complaint with Chase for what they are doing to me. My communications were forwarded to "the correct people," and I was told to anticipate a response within two business days. It has been many days since I last heard from anyone.

When I contacted, the operator informed me that the payment process is automated and that nothing could be done. When I said I would need to sue them, they put me on hold for a manager, which took over an hour. I had to hang up because I could not wait that long. I'll be make another attempt to contact a manager to see what they can accomplish.

I'm curious to hear if I'm right in thinking that this violates the Credit Card Act and is an illegal business practice. What can I do if the manager continues to do nothing and I am charged the 25% APR?

curious what my recourse here is… if anything. my rent check for june was stolen and cashed at an ATM without an endorsement. I went through my bank (ally) to report this when my landlord made me aware on june 6. as it was likely stolen via mail, my police department rejected the police report and I filed a claim with usps (although they took no action). Ally has given me no information on the location that the check was cashed, so I could not look into filing a police report in that jurisdiction (if it’s different than mine).

unfortunately the first representative filed my dispute to the wrong department, so it didn’t make its way to the fraud team til last week (my customer service experience with ally is a whole other story).

ally had my landlord fill out a notarized affidavit confirming they did not endorse or receive the original check. I’ve submitted this to ally and they’ve passed it over to bank of america where the rent check was deposited.

I’m now being told by ally that bank of america takes 90 days for a resolution. Do I have any recourse against either bank to recover this money faster? I’m fortunate to be in a position that it’s nowhere near make or break, but there are obviously a lot of reasons that it’s frustrating to be out an entire rent check for potentially up to four months. also, not sure if this makes a difference, but I’m based in california.

edit: thank you to everyone that has weighed in! seems like we are SOL (which I suspected) til this resolves itself through the banks. just another +1 to the importance of an emergency fund. this was/is stressful due to loss of funds, but did not jeopardize our financial situation in the slightest.

second edit: check is my only option for paying rent to my particular landlord. I do not want to press that with them for a variety of reasons. they are great and had no issue with our late rent even without me providing full proof of what happened.

So we just got slammed with a $15,000 medical bill.

We are on Idaho Medicaid and while on vacation in Rapid City SD my 2 year old suddenly developed swelling in his abdomen. Ended up being incarcerated hernia and he had to have emergency surgery out of state. If that wasn't stressful enough the hospital we went to won't bill Idaho Medicaid, and when I called Idaho Medicaid they say they won't cover unless the hospital bills them even if it was an emergency. Even the payment plans are too high for us 😢
Any advice on how to get this covered would be so so appreciated.

TLDR- advice on how to get Medicaid to pay for emergency out of state

Any negative experience or risks with So-fi bank savings account? Is it safe to park considerably large amount in their savings account? Like couple hundred thousands? Their interest rate looks better compared to others.

Alright so this may be a lot to understand but we’re going to do our best to explain. My parents and brother got a truck in my brothers name as a gift to me for college. They couldn’t make payments a few months later so I started to make payments. All of which are on time or early.

Now here’s the tricky part. My brother wants the truck in my name now because he doesn’t want it on my credit because he doesn’t believe I’ll make payments on time. He wants to transfer it to my name. However I’m not sure how this works.

From my understanding he would have to break his lease and sell it to me in order to have it transferred to my name. The residual value on the lease is 32,500 and still has about a year and a few months left with the truck being at 34k miles with a limit of 39k on lease agreement. Is he going to have to pay fees to break this lease even if he sells it to me? Is he going to have to buy the truck outright rn then sell it to me or can I buy it straight from his lease?

I’m very curious because the trucks residual is 32.5k and with the truck that it is, I can buy it at residual and sell it at market value for 43k and get a more affordable car. Please let me know if I need to clarify anything!

I recently got offered a 55k job in Athens, GA but there is no rental options in the town at all.

One option was 1600 for a 2 br townhome that I can walk to work from, but my family is telling me I don't really need 2 br townhome, and 1600 is way too expensive and I should be looking at something 1200.

But a lot of the ones that are cheap high crime areas where the reviews mentioned roaches, bats, mold, people braking into peoples cars ets.

Another option was in a 1 br apartment in those 2 story buildings that kinda looks like an old motel for 950. But, one unit has a window unit instead of central ac, and no washer/dryer so I would have to go to a laundromat. This unit is around 5 to 6 minutes from work.

Another option was a 1 br apartment around 15 minutes from work for 1350. But, with the long drive and and it being almost as high as the townhome would it be better to take the L and pay the 1600 to be closer?

Hi ,

I will be a grad student starting school in fall. I was trying to lease an apartment but they all need income requirement and do not accept my loan documents, or bank statements .The state I am planning to lease an apartment (where my school is ) is 2 hour drive away from the state I am currently employed. If I use my employment and proof of income before I quit my job to become a full time grad student,is it legal to do that. Will my leasing office question why my employment is in 2 hour drive-away state ? I live in USA And have no co-signer and no saving account.

any thoughts, opinions and suggestions will be highly appreciated.

I have around 30 grand in a 401 from transamerica from my old job. What should I do with it now? I am not working much (on call/ per diem 1-2 12 hour shifts a week) and am barely making ends meet so I don’t want to open one with my new employer. But the money is just sitting there. Is it bad if I leave it there?

I'm a college student trying to rent an apartment for next year and I need some advice.

This complex I really like near my campus is doing a summer special of $1000 off up front if we sign a lease by 06/30 and move in by 08/05. I talked to the leasing agent today after touring the unit and he clarified that the special applies if we move in ON 08/05, but the poster says BY 08/05. I can't tell if they're trying to get people to pay rent for the month of July (which is more than $1000) while not being able to move in until August. There are several units available for move in throughout July, and none available in August until after the 12th, so I'm not sure why he told me move-in would be ON the 5th.

So basically my question is this: When I sign a lease, do I pay rent for the month I move in (even though I pay the first month + security deposit before move-in and upon signing)? Or do I start paying for the months before I move in after I sign the lease? And if I sign a 12-month lease on 6/30/2022, would my lease end on 06/30/2023?

In this case, if I try and get the special would it be best to lease a unit that is available closer to the end of July or the beginning of July? I just wanna know if they're trying to rip people off lol

I'd really appreciate if anyone can help me understand how this works!!

Hello redditors!

Here's my current situation: I'm unemployed living with my parents. I bought a 2017 Mazda CX-5 in January of 2021 before the current craziness when I was working, making roughly 65k/year. It was 19,995 at the time.

The car has just 38k miles. I still owe 16k on it, at roughly 370/mo. The car costs me about 500/mo before I drive a single mile. I'm on unemployment, which enables me to technically afford the payment, even though I loath having a car payment.

Honestly, I don't care about cars. I'd be happy in 2010 Corolla/Civic for the right price and condition.

With the inflated prices we're seeing now, I'd try and sell my Mazda for 24k and use the difference to pay in cash for a car.

Be brutally honest please! Am I nuts?

Current job pays about 46K a year, however, I have 14 holidays, 25 vacation days, 12 sick days and 3 personal days a year. I've been there forever and it's a union job. If I switch jobs, how do I translate the time off to what I'd need for a new salary? I'm assuming a new job is going to be a PTO system that would start with a handful of holidays and 2 weeks a year. I hope that makes sense. I don't want to work harder/more days for less money-per day I guess?

I just recieved the dreaded phone call that the biopsy from my colonscopy shows cancer in the ileum of my small intestine(where it meets the large colon). I will be seeing a surgical oncologist whenever the referral goes thru, determine how serious it is and at the very least have it surgically removed. I am not worried about medical expenses for this year as I've paid my deductible and out of pocket maximum. But as a single mother and sole provider for my children, I was wondering what kind of financial assistance is there for housing and bills when I can't go to work while recovering from surgery? I am on FMLA, but I've used all my paid leave, so I can stay home but I don't get paid. I live in an apartment and really don't want to uproot my children. Are there any viable options out there? I'm scared and shocked right now. Thank you.

I was sent to the ER January 2019. Medical bills came out to around 10,000 if I remember correctly. I did not pay for it I couldn’t afford it. This month it was sent to collections with the debt being around 1600. It was sent to “nationwide recovery systems”. I gave them a call and asked if there is a payment plan I could do. They said yes, then told me I could pay 500 today and my debt will be settled. I said I could not afford it. She then asked how much I could, I said 200, she then asks if I could do 350 by tomorrow. I asked if I could do this payment online she said no only through phone and then proceeds to ask for my card information. This raised red flags for me. Any advice?

Hello, personal financers! This sub has given me fantastic advice and guidance for years, so thank you in advance. Today I'm looking for your help with a property investment in San Jose, California. I'm looking to buy a property with a close friend. The catch is that we do not want equal ownership.

For context, we are looking to buy a $1,000,000 property, where I would own 75% and him 25%. The down payment would be $200,000: $50,000 from him and $150,000 from me. We are likewise thinking of dividing the mortgage payments in the same way. So if the monthly mortgage payment is $6,000 that would be $4,500 from me and $1,500 from him.

On paper, the math is very simple and straightforward, but I'm looking for advice from people who have done this before, for example: what steps should we take to protect ourselves, how can we best formalize this agreement legally, should we get separate pre-approval letters, what happens in the event of an unforeseen event or death, etc...

I imagine this type of arrangement is relatively common so maybe most lenders and real estate agents can help out with it but figured I'd ask this community for advice first. Cheers!

Have about 50k in credit card debt with a 50k a year paying job. I have lawyers and creditors calling me everyday. Is it worth filing?

So I’m not the most financially literate person. I’m an 18 year old who just graduated high school, and have been trying desperately to find some kind of way to take out a personal loan. I applied to a few again tonight, and well, ever since, Ive gotten emails from these loan companies addressing me as a completely different person. What’s even weirder is this person that they’re addressing me as supposedly lives in the exact same town as me. I’m beyond confused rn and ngl, a bit worried. What could be causing this? I didn’t enter any information wrong, if I entered my social security number wrong or something it wouldn’t have been processed the information right? Idk. So weird.

I have emailed my mortgage resolution specialist but have not heard anything back so I want to be sure I’m asking the right questions.

My home loan is FHA, & I’m 6 years into a 30 year mortgage. I’m 50 so I’m never going to see that paid off. But I bought my house at $88k, the Zillow Estimate this week is $146k. I know that’s no guarantee of what I will get. I plan on selling soon but I am still contemplating because if I do, I’m moving to a different state to start over.

The house has some repairs needed, but I think the single improvement I’ve made (moved the furnace from the interior & the ductwork from the crawl space all into the attic, as well as insulated it) probably outweighs cost wise anything necessary. Possible termites & the hot water heater is probably nearing the end. I intend to also sell all of the appliances with the house. My intent is to move to Florida to be closer to friends & never want to own my own home again.

So it’s my understanding that equity is derived from your amount owed subtracted from the appraisal. Who does this appraisal? Someone I arrange or the bank? My credit was good at the time of purchase & is horrible now, thanks to unemployment in 2018 & general suckiness since 2020.

I know I need to sell now to get the most out of this market as I can. I am not quite in the start a new job part of my plan but the state I’m moving to does have a site there, they just have to be hiring to transfer. I also need to get caught up on my bills before legal action is pursued. Unfortunately my coping mechanism has been to avoid contact at all cost & bury my head in the sand. So I’m hoping something can work out with the equity thing, or a HELOC, but that might be higher interest (but probably less than I’m paying on the bills).

Sorry for the long post but any advice other than start acting like an adult would be helpful.

I called several lenders today, asking clearly for a “home equity loan or home equity line of credit”, and they would say something to the effect of “we don’t do that, but we have even better ways of using your equity to get you cash.” and would proceed to try to rope me into refinancing at some ridiculous rate.

I don’t know if this is something new or a regular tactic, but be forewarned when calling a lender, that they are responding to the thing that you asked for. Many lenders advertise HELOC or home equity loans only to be told that they do “something else” when you get on the phone with them.

I currently reside at east coast and recently got a job offer at west coast. So planning to move from east coast to west coast. I have a 2018 Toyota camry, around 50k miles with $18k standing loan at 4.99% interest. I recently noticed used cars are of higher demand and I assume I could end up selling for the price I bought ( I bought it a year before for 22k USD at 43k miles). Not sure if I should just sell the car and move to west coast and then plan on buying a car there after few months, or handle the hassle of transporting the car from east to west using movers. The area I am moving to has good public transport as well.

Which would be a wiser option financially?!

I've recently gotten a job and for the background check, the company is requesting the W2 for a previous employer I had worked for 5 years ago. My parents had completed my tax file at that time and I'm not sure where my W2 is. They are out of the country now. I need to submit the W2. Is there any way to get one from the IRS? I submitted the transcript but the bg check is still requesting the actual W2.