New grad nurse -- need some financial advice

[USAmma]

Okay all you financial experts-- I have enjoyed reading your posts and advice and was wondering if I could get some input here. I just graduated from nursing school (!!) and the job market is tough right now for new grads, but eventually I will get a job. A local hospital paid my way through school and they are committed to finding me a position but it will take a few months probably.

So here's our current situation:

--dh has a modest income that covers our expenses but we have almost no savings and we are very frugal to save on costs.

-- our home is 1/3 paid off (we owe less than $100,000 on it). It needs some work that we have been putting off, esp. a new coat of paint, some landscape work in the backyard, and would eventually like to put a back porch on. Probably $10,000 worth of work total.

-- Our two cars are both paid off but they are more than 10 years old. We maintain them very well and they are both for now in good running condition. We plan to drive them as long as possible, but I anticipate that one may need to be replaced in the next couple of years if the repairs cost more than it's worth.

-- we have a very small amt of credit card debt that can be paid back within two months of dh's current salary as long as no other expenses come up.

-- we have very good health insurance, and dh has good life insurance and has worked for the govt for nearly 15 years and has a decent retirement pension. He is not putting anything into 401K since our child was born 7 years ago with major medical issues and we had to pay for a lot of her care needs. She's better now.

Now, I was wondering, when I do get a salary, what % of it should I put towards which financial goal?

--I would like to spend some on the home improvements, kids need braces, and maybe one vacation a year-- nothing huge but just a little more freedom than our current situation. Also to continue the kids' piano lessons which are not cheap.

-- The rest I am committed to putting away to savings- college fund for kids, retirement, paying off the mortgage. 

Suggestions?

[Knittin' in the Shade]

once you get a job, I'd pay off the CC's first thing.  Then, establish an 6mo emergency fund.  Once that's fully funded, I'd start a new savings for vacation as well as retirement savings.

[EmsMom]

I pretty much agree with the above poster.  As soon as the credit card is paid off and you have a nice emergency fund, you can readjust your savings goals so a "car payment" goes into one account to help you prepare for a replacement vehicle, some goes into the "home improvement fund", some into retirement vehicles (you should have retirement in your own name), some into a vacation fund.  If you don't have disability insurance you should get it for anyone working. 

If there are home improvements that are really repairs such as a badly needed paint job, they should be prioritized so there is no potential damage from water leaks, etc, because of not doing them. 

Sounds as if you are a pretty good place.   Just watch out for lifestyle inflation and you could possibly be set up for a pretty good financial life. 

[SuzyLee]

I would put all the money to one thing at a time personally.

1. CC
2. 6 months efund
>>>>>start retirement savings at this point.
3. Save enough for a frugal vacation.
4/5. Either house repairs or car. Depending on how dire the car is at that point. Either way I would aim to pay cash on the car, or at least ahuge dp.

When you hit #3 I would divert maybe 100$ each month towards braces.

[redvlagrl]

Originally Posted by SuzyLee 

I would put all the money to one thing at a time personally.

1. CC
2. 6 months efund
>>>>>start retirement savings at this point.
3. Save enough for a frugal vacation.
4/5. Either house repairs or car. Depending on how dire the car is at that point. Either way I would aim to pay cash on the car, or at least ahuge dp.

When you hit #3 I would divert maybe 100$ each month towards braces.

This. I would also keep living on DH's salary, maybe even putting your salary in a separate account. Don't treat yourself until you're up to #3. Does your health ins not cover braces etc?

[USAmma]

Thank you!! I just needed a clear plan! :-) I agree with this-- it makes a lot of sense to have the savings started before we plan any fun things. How much % of my income do you think we should put into savings?

We do plan to live off dh's salary for the most part-- we are comfortable but mindful of spending. When I was working before I was a SAHM we put my entire salary as the down payment for our home and we also bought a car with it. So we are used to living on one income-- but now of course we have two kids and that adds to the financial juggling.

[lmonter]

Well first, congratulations!!!!  I know it's been a few years in the making.  :D

Have you two sat down and fleshed out and written down your goals?  Like where you want to be financial/personal-wise in 5 years?  In 10 years?  In 20 years?
Once you've decided what's most important to you/your family, kinda go backwards to see what you need to do to make it happen and work.  We're still in the 5-10 year outlook, not ready to hit the 20+ head on until a few other things are taken care of first.

Would definitely pay off the credit cards first, and probably simultaneously save for a new-to-you vehicle and slowly hammer out the home improvement projects. 
Fwiw, we had a big bump in pay recently, and we're bulking up our savings for a rainy day or busted car (ours are 27yo, 16yo and 10yo - something's going to die at some point) and I'm simultaneously working on parts of our house because we never really, truly moved in and made it ours (repainting the homeschool room tomorrow, yay!), then finish off the student loans in 1-1.5 years, zero out the mortgage in 5-6 years after that, then we'll be able to do a ton of savings or live off very little money if we had to at that point.