Madison MoneySports - Personal Finance Thread

[Sijray21]

Let me tell you, these past 4 months have been tough as hell, more so emotionally than financially, for me. I'm one of the "lucky" ones that works in an essential industry (I guess candy-making is essential?) so I've been swamped with work plus 20% hazard pay. BUT all the other external stuff makes falling into old habits (retail therapy) hard to avoid.  I'm staying strong, but I'm like, one steam summer sale away from going back to the mindset that got me here in the first place.

I'm struggling with the "I really want a fun car" thing right now when I'm still behind on maxing out my Roth contribution, necessary home repairs, and investments. I've read through all of this thread again and all of the "right" things to do but when the hell do you actually build up some money for a big unnecessary purchase like a track car?  Even after I get out of debt and start investing my money properly, I just don't see where I'll be able to have the cash to spend on an expensive racing hobby, or even a decently nice car anytime soon.   How do you guys fund this stuff or budget for it.

One thing to remember is balance. If you're struggling a bit mentally offer yourself an outlet, one based on your goals and allowances. Ultimately you're the one setting the restrictions, so you can set the relief valves; no point in a plan if it blows up in your face. I think almost all of us struggle with the same predicament and it is especially difficult when your friends are spending a lot of money around you. Taylor's right to not compare yourself to others no matter how difficult that is to do. I feel most people also struggle a bit to fully commit to the 'maxing out 401(k) IRA contributions' thing since that's usually a lot per year when compared to income/expenses for most. I've put in quite a bit, but I've actually never done it (i'll be 37 this year); i'm on track this year.

Refinanced my house though and shaved off 7 years off of my expected pay off date, which is good. Working nearly every weekend for some extra dough to continue to pay off my high interest debt. It's taken its toll but there's not really much else to do until recently because of COVID. I think I've paid off 30k this year in debt alone already and I'll have a 3 month emergency savings by December, assuming no surprises. Also, my credit score jumped like 60 points in 4 months putting me over 800 for the first time. Good shit. 

This is fantastic! The paying off the house debt is a marathon and paying off high interest debt is great/important; keep it up. I was so relieved when we paid off my wife's student loans. We did have some windfalls though (Dieselgate and a small inheritance also helped in our case).