Hi all. Apologies if this is not allowed here. I know people out there are struggling, but I just want to share my good news with someone.
It’s a big milestone of accomplishment in my life, but I feel weird just telling family members or my online friends about it. The only other people who know are my coworkers because we all got the same raise. Money doesn’t go as far nowadays due to crazy inflation post COVID and my area has higher cost of living than where I grew up, but I’m still very happy about this. I remember back when I used to only make minimum wage. All those years of schooling eventually made their way back to me. I’ll never make as much money as someone like a doctor, but it’s definitely enough for me to live comfortably as a single person.
Anyway, I’ll delete this in a bit (or sooner if it gets removed by a mod), but I hope you guys out there have a good weekend.
Edit: Thank you guys very much :)
Edit 2: Jeez there are so many more comments than I expected. You guys are so nice!!
Might be worth working with a financial advisor, we just got one and I feel much more comfortable with my money stuff
Wwell I know at the very least, a financial advisor probably would tell me not to invest it in my home like that. That part would be me weighing doing something for myself that isn’t totally necessary vs. the more responsible financial decision. But a financial advisor might not be a bad idea in general!
Any discouragement about upgrading your home should be taken in the context of you living in your home. If you are going to move in the next couple of years not spending 20k to upgrade your kitchen when you can apply that 20k to your next house is a good choice since it probably won’t increase you sale price. But if you plan on staying a decade, get the upgrade and enjoy yourself.
Yeah, living space upgrades are not a good financial investment.
I would suggest you pick a few smaller or low cost upgrades to get the most bang for the buck, for example, fix up your entryway, fix up your curb appeal a little. Make your space a little more pleasing to walk into.
Get some savings going for emergencies, and start paying down your loans from highest interest or lowest interest. You may be able to look at consolidating the loan with a private bank to get a better interest rate.
I guess my point is that just because it’s not technically a good financial investment doesn’t mean that it’s necessarily always a bad idea. You have to do things for yourself now and then too. We only have one life on this planet and living like you’re homeless just so that you can pay some giant corporation off slightly quicker isn’t necessarily the right move for mental health and general life happiness, even though on paper it’s the best move financially.
In general, I would consider myself to be fairly cheap compared to some others I know. I don’t have a ton of expenditures and I don’t carry any “bad” debt like credit card debt or anything. My loans are only my mortgage and federal student loans.
