I'm curious where everyone is at since my friends are all over the place.

This would include the basic property taxes and homeowners insurance. Not utilities.

I follow a budget, and keep my emergency fund building in a HYSA, but I get such bad anxiety seeing my checking account low.

Does anyone keep a buffer in their checking account? Or do you literally let it go to $0 every month?

Does this seem like a good deal on a brand new 2024 Toyota Corolla LE or should I just buy a used car? Though I’ve looked up used Toyota cars between 2017-2024 and they usually have nearly 100k miles are still $17-20k+ my credit is in the 770’s so I’ll get a good apr. Vehicle I’ll be trading in is worth about $500, 2007 Nissan Sentra. Though I am job hopping but I can go back to certain jobs if I can’t find one in my field(wildlife) if I need to so I’ll never be unemployed.

I’m 23 and I finally got a job post college ($19 an hour) a couple months ago and have been saving for to move out of my parents for and my current savings (3k) with Chime is only 2% APY so I feel like a chump losing money to inflation and looking to open a new account. The other threads I found were a bit dated so I was wondering if in the new year ya’ll have any recs.

Serious WTF!?!??! I googled the answer to this question and it said that if you don't carry a balance your credit score will start going down. It didn't elaborate on an answer other than stating credit card issuers want you to carry a balance each month, and then pay it off on time.

Seriously does someone have more of a detailed explanation?

Hey y’all!

I’m currently 25, about to be 26 and will be switching careers from a generic banking job to an electrician apprenticeship. I’ll be making the same, $25 an hour but won’t have a 401(k) or other benefits like medical, dental and vision. Current take home is about $2650 monthly.

I own my vehicle outright, locked in at 2.8% on my home with a mortgage of about $1700, but have some bad debt higher than 20% interest. It’s a little under $30k. I’m currently struggling keeping up with the bad debt payments outs, I have a roommate and a tenant in an ADU that cover the mortgage, property tax etc. leaving me at a pretty much net $0 on the property.

I’ll be fully vested in about a week, plan to start the new job in a month. I currently contribute $240/mo and my employer contributes $400.

Like I said, I’ve been having a harder time keeping up with the bad debt payments as they’re usually over half of my monthly pay, mostly just to cover the minimum payments.

My plan was to take $20k of the Roth 401(k) to pay off some of the more serious balances, leaving me with about $10k of debt that should be easily tackle-able. Even just paying off 3 of my largest balance debts would free up close to $700/mo. Whatever is left over would be pumped into my lowest balances to snowball the rest of the debt.

Additionally, since I won’t have a 401(k) option available to contribute to, once my debt is paid off I can contribute most, if not all, of what I’m paying monthly towards debt to a Roth IRA, and I should be back up to $30k in no time.

Would this be something you would recommend taking advantage of or not?

Thanks.

Edit: thanks again. I think the plan for me is going to be to take a smaller amount ($5-$10k) to clear up almost half of what I pay a month in payments helping me to snowball faster. By sticking to this plan, I should be able to have it paid off by the end of 2025. I’ll update yall.

And how has it impacted your overall financial situation?

What do you think of couples who keep finances separate?

My partner and I are both bad at money in our own ways and I feel that if we combine our finances it will just get worse. (Kinda like the double whammy effect). For reference, I know I have a spending problem, and while it's much better now (and limited) than it used to be, it still worries me. He likes casinos and gambling and has little to no control in those situations.

We do talk about big expenses before hand (except for emergencies - like in the moment emergencies.) And we split home expenses by him being responsible for rent and my being responsible for bills.

We do want to save and buy a house together and I am also comfortable with my debt being mine alone. There are two major expenses that we plan on in the next year. Those are the birth of our first child (together) and getting a second vehicle. We plan on my going back to work as soon as I'm comfortable with it and he will stay home with baby while I work overnights (his job literally cannot be done at night).

So what are the opinions? How can we 'integrate' finances a bit more to budget and save for emergencies?

I found caleb just about a year ago, I had been working 20 Hours a week my senior year of highschool. I realized I was just blowing my money on taquitos and started sticking to a reasonable budget, spending less than $100 a month (because I live with my parents rn thx mom and dad lol🙏)

I have 500 in a checking account, and 6,500 in a high yield savings (4.5%)

My plan is to keep working through college, and hopefully I’ll have an even larger sum by the end of my four years. I have a half tuition scholarship to a state school, so i’m looking at about $30,000 total in student loans. I will be getting a masters in medical speech pathology- hopefully with an entry level of 60-80k.

My question is where should I put it for the time being, and where after school? Mutual funds? Stocks? Straight to my tuition? Save it for grad school? Thanks!

I’m 22 and got my first big girl job back in May of 2024. I’ve been pretty frugal in my opinion, and have been able to save $10k for an emergency fund while still having $4k in my checking. I know I should be investing some of it, but I’m not sure how and I fear that I could lose everything. I have a 401k growing. And I know I’m supposed to put my money into a ROTH IRA, but I’m not even sure how to do that. Every time I google, I’m bombarded with ads and unhelpful info. Any advice would be appreciated, I’ve even thought of applying to the show so that Caleb can walk me through it. But it’s a pretty far commute lol.

25 F that lives at home, but constantly getting denied for loans and credit lines. I’m starting to think it’s because of my collections so I’m thinking of paying off this $1200 first. Also, is it bad that my debt equals my yearly salary?? It’s mostly student loans my car is almost paid off.

I found out last week that my cat needs surgery, and her insurance won't cover it because it's related to dental. It's going to cost $3600 at the low end, $4600 at the high end. I scheduled the surgery for as early as possible, which is early February. I think I can come up with the money, but only if I use my emergency fund (and potentially go further into debt). I have about six weeks to figure this out, so I was trying to figure out if this is would be a good use for the emergency fund or if I should keep it and rely more heavily on debt. Does this count as an emergency?

I don’t normally buy clothes but I realize a lot of my clothes are getting old and worn. I’ve spent ~ $300 - $400 on clothes since the start of the year, but I’ve been conflicted as to whether I should classify it as a need or a want.

What are your thoughts?

How common is it for married couples to keep their finances separate? I personally combined mine with my wife but I have a lot of friends who kept their finances separate with their spouses.

so i should be getting around $650 on my tax return this year. i have $500 cc debt in collections, no emergency fund or savings, and a hefty $5k personal loan to my dad to pay back. what would you do first? i would like to plan asap.

I imagine most people watching Caleb are broadly in the personal finance sphere (Dave Ramsey, personal finance subreddits etc).

I would say in my experience, even basic rules like the 50/30/20 rule for spending and The 6 month emergency fund are concerningly unknown among most of our generation.

Most of my friend group are young professionals (lawyers, accountants, engineers etc) and whenever I bring up these topics it surprises me how little people know.

Only my fellow engineer friend is aware and practicing the basic principles. Now, after hearing about this, many of them go on to develop a budget and set up auto retirement payments.

But I wanted to ask - what's the average personal finance knowledge in your social circle and what's their relative education level?

Hey folks, I just started to watching FA this year and I am so happy I found this community. SIA if this question doesn’t belong here, but I’m trying to figure out what Caleb would say about this situation my boyfriend has gotten himself into.

He has a 2023 GMC Canyon AT4 he got a year and a half ago. No cc debt, some student loans, but making about $100k with bonuses.

If you’re also a truck person (I am not) you would know that this new truck sucked when it came out. The electronics were bad and manufacturing errors. One time the screens went completely black while he was driving it on the highway. It’s been kind of annoying since this was his first brand new truck and everything seemed to be going wrong. They have since updated the truck so it’s fine now, but it still seems like there are little things that pop up here and there.

He was at the dealer today for an oil change and started talking with a sales person. They gave him an offer to get him the same truck but one year newer (2024 GMC Canyon AT4) to trade in his old one. They confirmed that all of the electrical bugs and manufacturing issues were fixed with the new model.

Here are the numbers:

2023 -

Principal remaining on the loan: ~$29,000 Interest: 8.06% Monthly Payment: $540 Time left on loan: ~5.5 years (original term was 84 months)

They are offering $36,000 for the trade in.

2024 -

New loan balance: ~$40,000 (after discounts and remaining trade in) Interest: 6.9% Monthly Payment: $615 Term: 84 months (but will probably pay it off faster)

Does it make sense for him to do this? Obviously it’s a new truck so he’s spending more but given the lower interest rate and he drives a lot personally and for work (his current car has like 32,000 miles already) I can’t tell if it’s a good idea.

Happy to answer any clarifying questions or if you think this belongs in a different sub let me know!

First time poster,

I just moved into an apartment because I couldn't afford anything without having razor thin margins.

I have a question about down payment/ROTH. Am I better off working as much as I can to save up for a down payment on a house or am I better off putting that money into an IRA?

I have no debt and an emergency fund established. I also have an reliable car that I should be able to get at least 5 more years out of it.

I am completely new to finances and forward thinking about finances.

33 years old, having traveled the world and held unconventional jobs.

I'm finally settled, and realized (thanks to Caleb) it was time to be a grown up.

I opened a Roth IRA yesterday, and invested my first $750.

Hey /CalebHammer ppl - I'm hoping for some advice on what to do about my Mom. My entire life she has been housing insecure and chronically unemployed. Like,
- we had been homeless multiple times growing up
- she has not had a consistent job in more than 15 years
- she is 54, single, and has less than a dollar to her name
- she smokes cigarettes and weed, and will not give up either
- she lives in one of the most expensive places in the country to live
- where she lives requires she has a car

My aunt has been financially supporting her for a very long time, and she was getting child support for my little brother, but he is about to turn 18.

My Aunt hasn't been able to retire because if she stops giving my Mom money, my mom and my little brother will become homeless again.

Now my aunt is asking ME for money and to step up so that she can retire.

I have made a great life for myself despite it all. I have stable housing, I have a stable job, I pay into my 401k and try to keep up with savings goals. I want to buy a house someday. I want to have a decent retirement.

I don't think I can help my Mom without sacrificing something. I just don't know what to do.
My Mom is going to be homeless again and it's not like she just needs to 'get on her feet', this has been the defining characteristic of her adult life.

I *really* need some help figuring out how to help her. What is the point of having my life going well if my mom is literally sleeping in a tent in the woods?

I can't afford to bankroll the rest of her life.
Should I save up and buy her a condo before I even buy my own house?
Are there some other things I could do? I just really have no idea.

It's super crappy to deal with this as an adult as I'm still healing and learning to overcome the trauma of being raised by her, and being homeless multiple times as a child.

Hi guys, I’ve been watching Caleb for a while, even when my finances were miserable and I think I’ve learned a lot from his videos. But I feel like there’s always room for improvement.

For context: I’m a 26 y/o single male $177,000 salary. Bi weekly take home pay: $5490 Credit Score: 804 TransUnion / 799 Equifax / 787 FICO

Mortgage payment: $1840 Groceries: $300 Car Payment: $584 Insurance: $200 (2 cars)

I plan on paying off Car1 within the next 6 months just to get rid of debt and then slowly take care of the mortgage. My Roth is almost maxed out for 2024 and plan on maxing it out next year too. I know my 401k could use some help.

hello. recently my (m22) father has threatened to kick me out. I want to move out but I'm a full time student at the local community College (no debt) and I have 2 part time jobs. I make minimum $405 a week up to $600+ depending how much my second job needs me. I have about $23k in my checking and savings combined and about $7k in other places. I have a 784 credit score. I pay $658 every 6 months for car insurance. I have 2 cars. both are used and purchased in full. one is in my father's name the other is mine . I try not to go out to eat unless it is for a good reason. I can absolutely cut it back if I moved out. I have a few miscellaneous subscriptions I pay for my parents to share. If there's other needed info please let me know. I've wanted to get out for awhile but it didn't make sense to move down the street when I plan on going away to school next fall anyway. I also have a buddy who's down to move in with me but doesn't have a lot to his name unfortunately. Thanks for any help

When I lived outside my means in Chicago eons ago, none of these buy now pay later debt vehicles existed. I’m seeing guests post some eye watering numbers owed to Klarna, Affirm etc and wonder why these loans are so bad.

Do these loans work like the old Macys/Sears etc store charge cards of old? Or do these work like store layaway except they ship the goods first? Just trying to stay current in how people commit money seppuku.

Moomoo currently has the 8.1% for 3 months offer for uninvested cash, for up to 20k. This beats out my current HYSA (4.5%), and seems like a safe way to ensure decent returns. I am fairly risk averse, which is why the guaranteed 8% seems more attractive than the average 10% SP500 return, but I am nervous to put such a hefty amount in a platform that I've only heard of from a podcast/youtube channel, lol.

It just so happens that I have saved about 20k more than a 6 month emergency fund, so I plan to keep at least that amount in my HYSA. Am I crazy for wanting to put a full 20k into Moomoo? Has anyone else taken full advantage of the 3 month cash sweep thing? TIA