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$10,000 in 1 year

However much you were planning to do in savings per month, push towards the car payment. Once that's paid off, then redirect that entire amount to savings.

For example (using your $10k/year, saving $800/month)

Rather than a $250 car payment and putting $400 every two weeks into savings, pay $1050 towards the car payment with $0 to savings. Once you're done, then do $1050/month to savings. That will reduce your debt and put you above $10k/year once you achieve the car payoff.

After that, anytime you get a pay increase at your employer or change jobs, determine how much more you're making after taxes, then divide that by 12 to determine how much more to increase your savings payment. I do mine every two weeks, so I would also suggest the same.

I got as high as $2500 every two weeks for a while before I did a change of lifestyle and built a new home. I've reset that figure to something a lot lower, but will continue to increase the amount each opportunity that I get. Most important, stay debt free (less mortgage).

Also, something else I do - when I buy something big (like a car), I technically "finance myself". What I mean by this is, if I spend $30k on the car, I determine what the payback amount would be over 4 years. At 0% interest, its $625 month. So, I'll add another $650/month to my savings payment (which is $325 every two weeks) to pay myself back the same amount plus a bit more.

Works like a charm and most of all, I feel financially secure.

Ah! Umhm. An excellent piece of financial wisdom. But, if I do this, it will take me two years to pay off the car and I won't have anything saved up at the end of my one-year. I also plan on applying my tax return (last year's was over $8,000) toward the car.

The exact take home figures from my new job are not worked out yet, but, it's looking like we will have approximately $2000 month of disposable income :)rolleyes:what a stupid term). So after one month, my own car could be paid off entirely. I could push that payment (a modest $116 a month, since I only financed less than half of it) toward my wife's car, as well as all of the money that we are currently paying towards our credit cards, which we used to move out-of-state. That brings us to an additional $316/month (nearly doubling our monthly rate). On top of that, there will be about $1200 left over after $800 savings. I figure I can put a portion of that toward the car also, and then dump any additional monies into the savings on top of the $800.

Although, Hijacker, I do see your point clearly, and as an argument, I find it insurmountable other than the fact that I want to position myself to move into a house ASAP. I will have access to the VA 0% option. But even if I do that, I want to have some money to either put into the house if necessary, or else start up a solid nest egg (or retirement fund or whatever... more research needs to be done in this area. This first 10K is both a goal and an experiment).

Finally, I would be less than honest if I denied that I'm also working toward that NSX (which I'm sure we can all understand :biggrin: ).
 
In the vein of what HIJACKER said, eliminating debt should be a priority.

I just read that the Chase Slate credit card has 0% APR on balance transfers for 15 months and 0 balance transfer fee (usually 3-5%). For anyone with credit card debt or needing debt consolidation this is effectively a 15 month interest free loan.

An added bonus with Chase is their "FEE" is only 1% sometimes. Most 0% CC's charge you 3-4% these days as a transaction fee so for $10k, that's 300-400 bucks right there. I agree this is still a good tool if used properly.

It's not hard to save $10k a year but..........if this means you need to live poorly I dunno if this is the best time for you to save. I don't know your situation and everyone has different obligations such are you living with parents, medical bills, child support, etc?

Also are you saving for a material purchase ~ aka car? Or have a higher notion?
 
lots of good advice,the best thing is you are taking control of your finances.Too many young people today spend and borrow more than they make.Personaly i think it takes alot of will power to live below your means in america.
 
Quit going out to eat.
Stay home and eat Mac&Cheese and Ramen everyday.

During my senior year in college my main meal of the day was Ramen.... lol. Not a healthy thing to do but hey you got to do what you got to do right.

Whether or not you pay off your debt fast I think really depends on how good is your job security at your current employer. If you have very good job security go ahead and pay off you debt, if not then it would better to build up a cushion for when that "what if" moment comes.
 
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If live a life that is basic then it will be easy to do. What I mean is don't eat out at work and but crap for your nsx you do not need. When I want to save money fast I basically cut out everything I want and just buy things I need.
 
You said your tax return was $8k last year - no bueno. Change your W-2's to have $500 less taken out every month (say you have 10 dependents or whatever it takes) so your not giving uncle Sam an interest free loan.
 
^
I disagree. Obviously you are in a position where you have to be planful to save money (or at least a considerable amount of money). If your life circumstances mean you might have to dip into the money you pull from your tax return, then are you really gaining anything? 8k will earn you no more than a couple hundred/year @ 2% (I'm to lazy to do the compounding math). I'd rather get 8k in a tax return all at once, then have an extra 600 each month, as I can always find something that needs fixing or replacing (or it finds me). Also, not having the money each month makes it much easier to live with in your means long term as you don't see the extra income every month.

If you changed you deductions to increase your 401K contribution my opinion would be different, as you would be lowering your tax burden. That money is not accessible short term, so I'd say that's not the avenue you take this year given your goals.

Pay off debt and sock away a safety net. Once you've done that go after your 401K and set up automatic ways to save, like auto transfers to savings, or having your job direct deposit your pay into multiple accounts.

My wife and I take no deductions, and we got back 12K last year. Yeah I missed out on some interest but getting a large lump sum payment feels good. Once my savings account is closer to 6 digits then 4, I'll change my deductions and funnel all that extra income into my retirement plan. I have however used my tax returns to pay off a considerable amount of student loan and credit card debt my wife and I accrued getting through college without any family or financial support. By using no interest balance transfers I've paid off close to 30K in debt in the last 2 years and paid about 700 in interest.

As a side note, look at your spending patterns for savings. Digital cable, fancy cell phones, etc. add up fast. By getting rid of cable and going prepaid I went from 220/month to 115. We both have smart phones (Droid 3's) and still watch most of our favorite television. Sports are the most difficult, but it's really not that bad.
 
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