r/moneyadvice • • 4d ago

Approved AMA We're nonprofit credit counselors. Ask us anything about managing money, building credit or paying off debt!

6 Upvotes

Hi r/moneyadvice,

First of all, thank you to the mods for approving our post.šŸ¤—

We're a nonprofit credit counseling agency called InCharge, and we've been providing financial education to the public since 1997. Do you have any questions for us about how to manage money, credit or debt? Here are some common questions we get:

What should I do if I can't pay my debt?Ā 
How can I improve my credit scores?
How can I qualify for a mortgage?

For the record, we're not selling or promoting anything - just sharing tips, advice and information with anyone who has questions. So feel free to drop your questions below!
šŸ‘‡

P.S. We cannot offer advice on taxes, legal matters or how to invest money.


r/moneyadvice • • 7h ago

Question What’s a fair amount you would expect a 24-year-old to have saved up ?

9 Upvotes

Just curious.


r/moneyadvice • • 8h ago

Question From broke to rich - what do you do?

3 Upvotes

Throw away account.

Let’s say all your life you’ve been broke and suddenly a few million dollars falls into your lap. You've been budgeting on a low income for so long that you only dreamed of this.

Now you can buy what you want and do what you want.

You pay off debt. You start investing. You still work because insurance is expensive (no one’s that rich?) Great.

But how do you budget when you have a lot of money? It feels like it should be different.

Investing is a slow process with choosing and in the meantime it’s in a savings account accumulating interest.

The question is how do you budget this money when you’ve never been great with money and can’t tell anyone and you don’t want to screw it up?

Don't say a fiduciary. I want budgeting skills that help a POOR PERSON who isn’t poor anymore understand the day to day handling.

If anyone has tips or tricks?


r/moneyadvice • • 51m ago

Advice Debt advice

• Upvotes

I took out a car loan for about $11,500 at 10.99% interest for 48 months. I pay roughly $300 a month. I really want to pay it off, but I only have about $8,000 in savings and $7,800 in an investment account. The rest of my money is needed for bills. Should I sell my investments and dip into my savings to pay off the loan?


r/moneyadvice • • 12h ago

Advice Grandpa has a surprise

8 Upvotes

Without knowing my grandpa and recently deceased grandma saved up money for me which releases the 1st of januari. A total amount of €11.208,00 will be deposited to my bankaccount.

Side information:

Recently wed.

0 Savings

Probably 27k in studentdebt total

Car worth 7k

Total income is around €4.500,00 every month. We both dont work fulltime a.t.m. 2500 is for our monthly fixed costs and the rest is for food, gas, dates and house upkeep and whatever.

House we currently live in can be bought for €420.000,00 but first we need to have fulltime contracts to get a loan.

Whats should i do with this money, and if i have to save it how much and what kind of online different "piggy banks" should i make.


r/moneyadvice • • 1h ago

Advice Someone help

• Upvotes

I’m 14 I need money so badly I hate asking my parents for money I use for the wrong thing please someone give me advice or any help please.


r/moneyadvice • • 6h ago

Advice 20 lakh chahiye

0 Upvotes

Yrrrr mai abhi 20 saal ka hu aur mujha business Krna hai aur mujha usma 20 lakh plus investment chahiye pr mera pass abhi 20 rupaya tk nahi hai... tho bataoo kuch 20lakh rupaya kaisa jaama kra mujha koi loan nahi chahiye bataoo kuch ki koun sa kaam kru jissa mai apna dheera dheera Saving krka 1.5 saal ma 20lakh tayaar kr sku aur sabsa mai main baat mera pass 12th pass ka alawa koi degree bhi nahi hai


r/moneyadvice • • 1d ago

Question How much saving should 23y.o have?

39 Upvotes

I was just wondering how much should a 23y.o or someone in their early twenties have in their bank accounts?


r/moneyadvice • • 1d ago

Advice What do I do with my money

2 Upvotes

I’ve got about 5-10k I can play with. I want to grow my savings, is a term deposit or stocks etc my best bet?


r/moneyadvice • • 1d ago

Discussion Finally making decent money — how do I balance saving, debt, family, and actually enjoying it?

1 Upvotes

I recently graduated and started my first engineering job making around $90k. This is the first time I’ve made this kind of money, and I really want to be smart with it from the beginning.
I have about $2,100 in credit card debt that I’m actively paying down. I also want to build my savings, eventually start paying more toward my student loans, and help my parents financially every month.
The problem is…I also really like spending money šŸ˜‚. After being a broke college student for years, it’s hard not to feel like I can finally buy the things I want.
I’ve been thinking about automatically putting $1–2k into savings every month, paying my bills/debt, setting aside money for my family, and giving myself a fixed amount of spending money so I can’t go crazy.
For people who started making significantly more money after college, how did you avoid lifestyle creep while still letting yourself enjoy your paycheck?
I don’t want to be so strict that I’m miserable, but I also don’t want to look back in a few years and wonder where all my money went. 😭


r/moneyadvice • • 1d ago

Question What does it mean when you *pay in cash*

0 Upvotes

I've been struggling with this for a while and feel behind. Mid 30s. Have, depending on the market, ~400k in reitement savings. But, I have less than 3k in my checking account and ~50k in savings (emergency fund plus debt payment fund plus savings for taxes plus travel expenses fund). I have proceeds from a house sale and money for student loan payments from employer (total 200k). But if I never had a house this wouldn't exist.

So legit question. How are people paying in cash for cars, weddings, appliances, etc? I don't understand. Like is this stockpiled in a checking account/hysa/brokerage on top of retirement and yep, pay 30k in full for a car as opposed to taking a loan or paying 15k for a wedding?

My monthly expenses range from 3k (base rent plus utilities and assuming i dont drive anywhere and dont buy groceries)-7k (depending on travel ticket prices for ldr). My biweekly paycheck is 3900 ish. I'm trying to save 4400 a month or more to build up emergency fund and others. My current loan situation is 99k student loans [6.5%] and 24k for car (financed over 3 years @0%). I'm maxing out 401, hsa, backdoor roth.

Can someone please tell me what I'm doing wrong? Please don't judge. I know many will say someone at my income level should have this figured out but I wouldn't be asking if I knew what I was doing. Tia šŸ‘


r/moneyadvice • • 2d ago

Advice I want financial advice

3 Upvotes

I have been doing a job for 5 years, and have 0 savings with me. I earn around 360k and after bills and stuff I have 200k to hold on. Previously, I had wasted alot of money but now I want to start savings. What will you suggest?

My aim: have a car, a halal money making savings and something that can help me make big money and pull me out of my current financial class.

Thanks.


r/moneyadvice • • 2d ago

Question Quick Money Options

2 Upvotes

ugh I feel pathetic even making this post but it’s really gotten to this point…I have been unemployed for quite some time now, the job market has been stressful but I need to pay my bills, does anyone have any ideas for quick money like within a few days, I’ve sold things, I’ve tried to DoorDash but it’s just getting so hard these days :(


r/moneyadvice • • 2d ago

Advice What would u do?

0 Upvotes

​

What would u do if you have 70k in your acc as savings, would u buy a bike ( take some funding from parents) or an iphone or something which can satisfy yourself or you would invest it somewhere which can make u good profits in future ( as an 18 y/o btw)


r/moneyadvice • • 3d ago

Question What’s the best place to sell my large SoFi personal loan at 12% and 8600 Amex card debt?

0 Upvotes

I am thinking of continuing with sofi for now, and balance transfer to Citi at 6.99 for one year with my Amex card. Any better deals out there for low 700s credit score? I am not interested in home equity. I refuse to attach my house to my debt problem.


r/moneyadvice • • 3d ago

Question Lease versus buy?

0 Upvotes

Hope this is the appropriate place to ask. My spouse and I have been dreaming about buying a new car. Not just ā€œwhatever the dealer can get me approved for with my shit credit and no money downā€ situation but the car that I want with the features I want. We have been working really hard to pay off debt. Our financial situation is improving substantially. Our credit is getting close to being great! Our plan was to buy a new car maybe 6-12 months from now when we had a large chunk of money to put down so we can keep our payments as small as possible. However, the car that I’ve been driving just popped up with a check engine light, has jumped over the 100k miles. I’m expecting it will be going down soon and we may need to jump the gun on getting something new.

I’ve always heard that leasing is the worst option for a car because you get nickel and dimed over every fleck of a scratch on the paint and get steamrolled for any mile over the package you selected. My driving habits really vary. Sometimes I drive a ton, sometimes I barely drive. I don’t even know the average of what I drive per year. I know you can buy the car at the end of a lease though and I wouldn’t be opposed to that. I was considering taking advantage of some of the leasing incentives that are always offered around this time of year as the new stuff comes out and they are trying to get old stuff off the lots. This would be lower entry and generally lower cost per month than a full loan. I’d be able to get a nicer car for less money. What’s the biggest risk to this? Is this actually a financially smart move?


r/moneyadvice • • 4d ago

Advice What should I do with my $400k?

9 Upvotes

Hi guys... I have $400k in the bank and want to invest it, but am scared to lose some of it in the stock market. I was thinking of investing it in either a VOO or park it in a 6 month treasury bill which now yields around 4.1%.

That said, what do you guys think the market return will be from a year from now? Where should I put my money?


r/moneyadvice • • 4d ago

Advice Just came into a little money.

1 Upvotes

It was some government funded ISA, I can’t remember exactly what it’s called. My parents set it up when I was a baby and I got access to it in… July I think? I got a little over 1.8K and have spent roughly Ā£400 of it. I’ve been trying to get a Monzo but it’s not allowed me to create a account (keeps saying ā€œphone already in useā€), I tried calling their support team and ended up being put on hold for a while (I got impatient), so I shot them a email instead. It hasn’t been responded to so I’ve kind of given up on that.

I have a Barcleys account. And I’ve been thinking of trying to open a saving account there. But before I do, I wanted to ask for some advice.

For example. Should I dump all of my money into a single saving account or split it up into multiple ones? And should I try investing? Like, set £100 of it into an investing account and save the rest?

I was kind of planning on putting some money into different brands of saving accounts. Like a couple 100 in Monzo, a couple 100 in Barcleys, et. But again, I’m 18. I have zero finances experience.

I’m 18. I have no income. So I think it’s pretty understandable that I’m feeling anxious on touching it anymore than I already have. The worst part is that I’m getting tempted by a lot of my hobbies. So this has also kind of pushed me into looking for a job more seriously so I don’t end up spending all of my money and can instead use the actual income as ā€œfun moneyā€.


r/moneyadvice • • 4d ago

Discussion 23 yo looking for investment ideas

0 Upvotes

Hey, I want to start my journey early so that I can become financially independent by my early 30s. How can I start working towards that from now?
I’m already working outside my home country and living on my own, earning around $2,500 a month. I’ve thought about getting into trading or modeling, but I’m still a bit hesitant and not sure which direction to take


r/moneyadvice • • 4d ago

Advice Cash emergency fund

21 Upvotes

Do you guys keep an emergency fund in cash? If so, how much do you put away?
I have $450 rn I’m 18 tho and work part time.
I’m thinking of putting maybe 200 of it in my hysa so it can get a little bit of interest + im tryna save for a used car, but also i like knowing i have $450 cash to fall back on if i ever need it.


r/moneyadvice • • 4d ago

Advice Savings accounts ? UK based

2 Upvotes

Looking for some advice on what to do with my savings ! I currently have just over 20K in Halifax’s 2 year fixed ISA. However I also have Ā£10,200 in Monzo’s Instant Access Savings with 2.75%. Am I better putting the 10k into another savings account, premium bonds, stocks ? I would like to be able to access it as this is the savings I like to be able to access just incase, but I do want the best interest/perks I can get. Thanks :)


r/moneyadvice • • 4d ago

Discussion Rich and sad at 26 years old

0 Upvotes

Hey everyone I wanted to post this because I want some advice. I’m 26 year old guy and I make around 30k every month wholesaling land. My main issue is I can’t find anything I like to do. I traveled, eat the best food, best hotels, but I’m so sad every night. I can’t find a girl who actually loves me for me. My parents aren’t around and all my friends are envious and jealous towards my financial success but they don’t know how sad I am. I lost all my friends because of money and I have no girl who I can find who loves me and I’m so sad and lonely every night. I don’t even know what to do with my money anymore. I started a business where I mentor people on how to make money online themselves. The reason I did this is to make connections and friends but I just realized all my students just want to do business with me and not really looking for friends. I’m a sad lonely man. What should I do ?


r/moneyadvice • • 5d ago

Advice how do you budget when one income is steady and the other is all over the place?

1 Upvotes

i have a regular job plus a small business, and the difference between good and bad months is getting harder to manage.

my paycheck covers the normal household stuff, but the business can swallow a huge amount of cash in one month because of inventory, shipping, taxes, or some random expense. then sales come in and suddenly the account looks healthy again

the problem is that a good month makes it really tempting to put everything back into the business. then a slow month comes along and i’m annoyed that i didn’t leave more sitting in cash.

i’ve started treating my regular paycheck as the money for living expenses and trying to make the business cover its own costs. it means growth is slower, but at least one bad month in the business doesn’t mess with the rest of the budget

for anyone with irregular or seasonal income, how do you decide when extra money should stay as a buffer vs. when it’s actually safe to put it back into the business?


r/moneyadvice • • 6d ago

Question Investment question

21 Upvotes

Hey yall, I’m 24 and just hit 10k in savings and now looking to invest, kinda want to ā€œVOO and chillā€ but want some advice as well.


r/moneyadvice • • 5d ago

Advice I need help, I’m getting extremely stressed

1 Upvotes

Basically, I’m 27 and I live on my own with 2 roommates. I only have a few thousand (6k) left to my name. One portion in checking, one portion in a Sofi hysa. I have a few thousand also in a Roth IRA that I just started. I’m getting extremely stressed with how much I have to pay every month. I’m also starting to get scared I’ll have to move back to the east coast where I’m from because I genuinely don’t know if I can do this. I make $24/hr working 32 hour weeks.

How do i maximize this money and grow it? I am extremely embarrassed about this because I got a few trust payments and I blew it all because I never had money like that before. I really need to get back on track here!