conversation: User (Favour_for_the_King): "I'll say I'm using a new account because my other account has some doxxing information on it with the sub I post to. But I'll try to be as clear as I possibly can.\n\nMy situation currently is I'm living at home with my parents.  They told me specifically they do not care if I live with them and I don't have to pay rent, electric, food, or any of the major costs so long as I can cover my bills and I'm working full time. I've held a job every year out-of-school. Graduated in 2011 with a degree in liberal arts.  Right now I'm making ~34K with benefits, I have about ~15K in a 401K and ~$450 in a savings account with the bank.\n\nFew years ago I foolishly bought a PC which I thought I could pay off (I didn't) but I never missed a payment, but now I'm stuck paying what was originally a ~2K debt (I splurged) which now has become a $4,372.69 debt on a Capital One card with 18.15% Interest Rate.\n\nMy student loans were going well I originally started out with 21K worth a debt.  I was working 2 retail jobs before 2013, making annually 28K and I was making the minimum payments.  Then in 2014-2015 I started paying off the loans aggressively.  I managed to get them down to collectively $8,706.26.  (I'll give a break down of each loan at the end I have 6 separate loans from Stafford/Unsub Stafford)\n\nBefore 2016 I couldn't drive.  Then I got a license.  I got a free car from my grandparents, who no longer can drive.  Unfortunately that car is 18 years old, and needs repairs ranging from the 2K-5K range.  Which I don't think it's worth repairing (although it has only 70K worth of miles on it).  My expenses each month are as follows:\n\n--------------------------------------------------------------------\n\nCC Monthly Pay Off--$150.00\n\nCell--$118\n\nGym--$20\n\nEntertainment (Netflix, Hulu, Paper, Spoitfy)--$51.02\n\nInsurance--$151\n\nGas(I fill up once a week)--$100\n\n--------------------------------------------------------------------\n\nNow on the New Year in February my car won't pass inspection because of the need for repairs.  I don't live far from work, but I do need a car of my own. I don't feel too comfortable having another $400+ bill with a loan, not to mention I'm guessing my Insurance will go up because it's a more expensive vehicle. \n\nJust a last few notes--I stopped paying my loan back in May/June because I couldn't afford the payments I was making.  For almost a year I was paying $600 dollars split between the Unsubbed Stafford Loan and the Fed Stafford Loan.  Since then I haven't been able to save money, because frankly I suck at being frugal.  I'm not sure what my budget should look like and I don't know what target I should be aiming to save.\n\nNow my parents would sell me their house they said for $200K.  Now mind you we live in a city on the East Coast (won't say where) but $200K is completely undervaluing the property. But I don't see how I can save for a down payment for that house with the current debt I have plus the little amount of money I make. I'm currently looking for a new job, preferably one that pays in the mid $40K range within my field.  But until then I could use help with coming up with a budget because I'm not sure how to tackle this.  I would like to have my debts under control in a few years and I wanted to tackle this starting next year.\n\n-----------------------------------------------------------------------\n\nMore info about the Fed/State loans\n\nAES Loan Break Down\n\nFed Unsub Stafford--$892.94/IR:6.8%\n\nFed Unsub Stafford--$1,649.81/IR:4.8%\n\nFed Stafford--$1,766.30/IR:5.6%\n\nMYFEDLOAN Break Down\n\nDirect Sub Stafford Loan--$2,030.84/IR:4.5%\n\nDirect Unsub Stafford Loan--$884.47/IR:6.8%\n\nFederal Unsub Stafford Loan--$1,481.90/IR:6.8%\n\n----------------------------------------------------------------------\n\nLast note--If you're wondering how my CC bill jumped by 2.3K after the computer, over the summer I put a vacation hotel room/concert festival ticket on that bill which was ~$500.00 and I purchased new suits for interviews for $1.2K. \n\n----------------------------------------------------------------\nEDIT::Added lines for formatting purposes."
  Self: "You don't "suck at being frugal." Be honest with yourself. You don't want to bother with a)paying your debts b)acquiring a decent savings balance and c)repairing a free car that will allow you to drive it for, what? another 50K miles till the rest of your finances are in order?\n\nDo what others are telling you. Start with paying your bills. All of them. Find out exactly how much it will cost to repair your grandparents' car. Find out the average life expectancy of such a make and model, and THEN decide if it's worth it.\n\nCompare that to making car payments and higher insurance payments on a newer car. But holy cow! you need to get seriously expensive, if you are looking at $400 payments. I'm driving a 2014 Prius V, and my payments, if I weren't already over a year ahead on them, would be right around $300. \n\nYou don't "gotta" figure out a budget. You MUST do it. For a week, write down everything you spend, every penny. Dictate it to notes on your phone, whatever is going to get you to do it. \n\nOnly then can you see where you are wasting money.\n\nYou have been given an enormous gift, that you are squandering, of being able to live with free room and board. The people who are giving you free room and board are offering to let you take over their home for well under market value because they love you.\n\nGet your finances in order, and demonstrate to them that their faith in you is justified."
  