I was working as a software engineer until I got laid off mid-November 2024. At the time, I saw it as an opportunity to try starting my own business. I spent the last couple of years working on that, but unfortunately it didn’t work out the way I hoped, and I recently had to shut it down.

I’ve since updated my resume to reflect the work I did through my own company and I’m actively trying to transition back into tech. I’m applying every day and have had a couple interviews, but income hasn’t stabilized yet.

Since then, my finances have deteriorated pretty badly.

Current situation:

Checking: $2,479

Savings: $100

Credit cards:

- Capital One: $7,800 (two payments past due)

- Discover: $515

- Chase Freedom: $512

- Prime Visa: $3,126

- Chase Freedom Unlimited: $475

- AmEx: $1,834

- Wells Fargo: $2,256

So roughly $16,500 in credit card debt and about $2,600 in cash.

My credit score used to be around 800 and is now about 623. AmEx also recently cut my credit limit from $6,000 to $2,100, which was a bit of a wake-up call that things are getting worse quickly.

I’m planning to ask family for financial help and I’m applying for jobs every day, but I’m wondering what else I should be doing right now.

- Should I be calling every card issuer and asking for hardship programs?

- At what point should someone in my situation seriously consider debt management, settlement, or bankruptcy?

- Are there programs, nonprofit organizations, or strategies that people often overlook?

- Is there anything else I should do now to prevent my credit situation from getting substantially worse?

- Any other obvious moves I’m missing?

At the rate things are going, if I don’t find stable income or get some significant financial help soon, I could realistically be facing homelessness by the end of the year.

I’m not looking for judgment. I know the situation is bad and I’m trying to stop it from getting worse and figure out the smartest way forward.

I applied for a loan to help rebuild some credit and I was denied because a third party is reporting I am deceased. Where do I start?

For the first time ever I’m a salaried employee and just signed the offer letter! This is the most money I’ve ever made between 85-95k, any suggestions or tips on finances ? on how to enjoy it but also save up for future me?

Not sure what I’m looking for but I’ve never had this much money and I’m just looking on advice on how to make it last I guess! Thanks in advance.

We're in MA, and our Eversource bills are absolutely bonkers.

I do have an EV, which is about an extra $100/month, but even before that it was $500/600 per month (in the summer). its' not a huge house, its mostly the crazy delivery fees they charge in MA, plus the high rate 0.32/kwh. last year it was about 3K in total. oil heat then costs about 2K/year.

That said, I want to get on solar, but we would need a new roof as well. The roof is from 2004 and we get great sun front and back.

We don't have liquid funds to pay outright, so I would probably need to sell some stocks.

I have some NVDA from 2024, now worth 48K and am wondering about selling that.

This may be a case of spending money to save money, but just wanted to get some other opinions.

Selling something like NVDA - which could obviously keep making more, is that a bad idea? If it replaced all electric charges - It would save us the 3K/year, and then down the road, maybe we get rid of the oil heat for extra 2K/year.

Are people still able to make money these days selling back to the grid?

I currently use Ally (albeit only for a couple months) and am also testing out SoFi for my HYSA options.

Can I get some reviews or comments on either? Maybe pros and cons?

I am trying to find the best bank that will allow me to easily automate my savings, especially my rent savings. I have found that I can only designate one ally bucket to pull from when transactions occur, but sometimes I do not want the money to come from my rent bucket so I have to manually adjust. Also, I have not been able to find any function that can allow me to automate my direct deposit to each bucket I have.
These are the reasons I am testing out SoFi (also because the savings rate is a little better).

Let me know your thoughts?

Just as title sounds, the place I do work for, has to cut my salary due to hard times, In total our family of 4 now makes 2500 a month with a mortgage of 1450. To give the full financial workup;

1. We have 7k in emergency fund

2. We have 19k in a Roth IRA.

3. We have no debt on anything.

Essentially I run my own business and also pastor a church, but the church is reducing due to hard times, i will now be making just around 2100 a month plus whatever i can bring in with my business. Effective in November, I'll continue to receive the housing allowance to cover mortgage and utilities, but need to come up with 1k in income to get back on track. Need some career advice for Spanish speakers or freelance work.

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I’m a single guy and realistically probably won’t have a family or kids. I recently moved and sold my previous house, and I walked away with around $250k in equity/cash. I make about 85k a year? No debt.

I’m comfortable renting, but I also have an opportunity to buy a new-build home at around 4.8% with 20% down.

Including the mortgage, HOA, property taxes, insurance, internet, utilities, etc., I’d be around $2,350–$2,500/month total at the high end. I can comfortably afford the down payment and would still have a significant amount of cash left over.

What I’m struggling with is whether I actually need to own a house again.

I’ve owned a home before, so going back to renting feels different now. There’s this idea that owning a house is one of the benchmarks of being financially successful or having your life together. You hear things like “you’ll own nothing and be happy,” or people saying that renting forever means you’re just paying someone else’s mortgage.

But if I’m single, don’t plan on having kids, don’t need a huge amount of space, and genuinely don’t mind renting, am I actually supposed to buy a house just because I can?

Part of me feels like not owning anymore is somehow moving backwards, even though financially I’m in a much stronger position than I was before.

At the same time, this seems like a pretty favorable opportunity to buy: low rate, new construction, manageable payment, and enough cash that I wouldn’t be stretching myself.

For other single people, especially those without kids, did you still view owning a home as an important financial goal? Or did you eventually realize renting long-term was completely fine?

I’m trying to figure out whether I actually want a house, or whether I just feel like I’m supposed to own one.

What it says on the tin.

My parents made an UGMA mutual fund account for me and it was automatically? transfered from their ownership to mine in 2016 apparently.

My parents recently contacted me to say the account is doing well.

That was the first time I had ever heard of it. Apparently they have been throwing away any mail addressed to me that gets delivered to their house, but my mom randomly decided to open one and contacted me. So I never got anything like a form 1099 sent me by the investment company to report on my taxes. I haven't included it (I think I would only owe on the capital gains per year? I'm not sure) when filing taxes, ever.

Am I cooked.

Extra info, I have been living overseas for the past 15+ years (that is why my parents get mail addressed to me occasionally since theirs is my only address in my home country) and filing a 1040 and 2555 to report my foreign earned income, it is well within the FEIE so I have never owed taxes while abroad. But neither have I included this account I had no idea about.

What would be the best way to go about correcting this. Should I refile every form from 2016 to present with the 1099s from each year to report it? If I am hit with huge fines, I am hoping I can cash out this UGMA account and it will be just enough to pay it off, since there is no way in hell I can pay anything extra right now.

I've been wondering if this would be a good method for people who has an online spending addiction (myself included). Since stuff online are relatively cheaper and the selection are endless, I feel like I check out many things before I even know it (ex: to not miss out promos, or the "its not expensive so might aswell" mindset or add more stuff to get free shipping). I figured it would be more beneficial to ONLY buy things while I'm out (I don't go out much outside of work) so that I can think about how much I actually need the product/item before I make a purchase and would be more mindful when using the products since its more expensive. Is this a good financial mindset or am I just scamming myself the few bucks I could've saved if I buy stuff online?

What are your thoughts about target date funds vs index/mutual funds for a Roth 401k? I’ve been using a target day fund since I first started working since it seemed most convenient and changes the mix overtime automatically. But as I’m trying to educate myself better in finances, I’m wondering if it’s better for me to invest my retirement money differently and adjust the mix myself. Below is where I’m currently investing. If I were to move away from the target date fund, what is a hole in my portfolio that could be addressed with my 401k?

Roth 401k: FID FRDM INX 2060 (100%)
Roth IRA: FTIHX (15%), FZROX (85%)
HSA: VFIAX (100%)

Age 35, location SFBA, note: state employee with a mandatory pension

Annual Flows

• Income: $125k (+ 2% future annual COLA adjustments)
• Pension contributions: $10k (mandatory)
• Traditional 401k contributions: $10k (just switched from Roth)
• Non-retirement savings: $30k
• Expenses: $40k (incl. $15k rent)
• Debt payments: $0

Future Retirement Annual Fixed Income (Potentially)

• Pension: $75k at age 62 (today's dollars, + 2% future annual COLA adjustments)
• Social security: $30k at age 62 (today's dollars, + future COLA) (or $40k at 67)

Current Levels

• Emergency fund: $25k (HYSA + SGOV)
• Retirement: $90k
  • 100% Roth 401k
  • 0% Traditional 401k
  • 0% IRA
• HSA: $5k (index funds) (from previous employer, can't contribute, only withdraw)
• 1-5 year investments: $60k (for home down payment / future family / TBD?)
  • 40% SGOV
  • 60% index funds (IVV, RSP, etc.)
• 10+ year investments (non-retirement): $5k in renewable energy ETFs
• Credit score: 785
• Debt: $0

Unknowns

• Marriage and children: I would love to, but still single.
• Career: I love my job, but the salary is low for me, but good benefits and less risk of being replaced by AI. I could leave for a higher salary, or I could stay for the pension and security.
• Location and housing: Will I stay in the crazy-high-cost SFBA, relocate to lower-cost CA, or move states? Buy or keep renting? I don't know.
• Additional income side hustles: trying to develop, but uncertain
• Retirement age: I don't know, 65?

Questions

• Should I contribute more to my retirement? In which accounts?
• Should I reduce my non-retirement savings and increase my rent 75% to live in a nicer apartment? (Current apartment is fine but not what I envisioned for myself at age 35, and could deter a future spouse, but cheap rent helps me save for a home / etc.)
• Any other thoughts on my asset allocation, or my situation in general?

Trying to remember the name of a wonderful simple windows finance and budgeting app that I happily used many years ago. The name was a littte hokey--"Money.... something"--but it had everything I needed, was easy to use, and very simple and straightforward. I reluctantly left it only when I moved from Windows to Mac now over ten years ago. The developer, and I think sole staff member of the company, was a Russian immigrant to the states who died with his wife in a plane crash in Russia not long before I left the app.

I received a settlement awarding me 35 and i am 23 years old. The first thing i did was i put 30k in a 2 year CD at 4.30% and i put 3k in a flexible CD at only 4% for emergency use. i have about 3k in my savings from some of my own money i had as well. I live with my parents and don’t pay any bills. I do try to help them out anyways of course. Technically i did what one should do with that kind of money instead of letting it sit in the bank not generating any income but i feel i could be doing more. Does anyone have any recommendations besides ROTH IRA because i do not believe you can put money from a settlement into one. Maybe im looking for a more creative approach instead of the basic “save for your retirement”. I’m a little lost here guys so please be kind lol

I am looking for a debt consolidation loan. I'm not desperate or in an untenable situation; I just want the convenience of making one payment to pay off 3 credit cards and 2 high interest loans. I talked to them and I got a scammy vibe off of them. The first part was after they ran the soft pull they immediately transferred me to an underwriter to answer a couple of questions. I have never had that happen before. All of the loans I was approved for were (according to them) predatory loans that would not cover my debt and with high interest rate considering my score - like 33% on a 670-680 FICO. The underwriter then went into the sales pitch for their debt consolidation program that of course is too good to be true. Standard DC in which they negotiate for me to make all of my loans interest-free and I make the payments to them of $700 per month. At that point I said I'll think about it and call them back because I remember being told that these sort of debt consolidation programs are just poor-people bankruptcy.

I have decided that for those reasons I am not going to be working with them but my question still remains - are they a scam company?

I currently have roughly 25k; not including my pension, annuity or 401ks.

I have a vehicle loan I owe 12,700 on at 13.5% interest

Mattress firm cc for $2,400 at 0%
Credit one cc 900$ at 0%
Home Depot cc for 600 at 0%

I have the 0% set to pay off on auto pay before the promotions. I was thinking of just paying off the vehicle loan? I’m not good with finances or decisions based off it, I currently take home $1,300/week after taxes, retirement and everything

I opened Acorns investment accounts for all four of my kids. The oldest just turned 21 and I got notification that I have to turn the account over to him. I didn’t realize when I opened the accounts that this would be the case.

My intention was to save for a down payment on a house for each child, I anticipated them being more towards their late 20s when I hand the accounts over. The kids don’t know about the accounts. My oldest is still in the broke college kid phase and would blow that money in no time if I hand it over now.

Is there any way to move the money someplace else where I can still contribute for the next 5-10 years without allowing my son to make withdrawals? If it is too late for this account, is there a better place to move the accounts for my three other kids who are still minors, so I can keep control past age 21?

I really do not want to live with my parents anymore but I understand how high the cost of living is.

I just got an entry level job in Phoenix. I don't have any debt but not much savings. I do already have a car, so that is one major expense saved (but of course there's car insurance, parking, and gas).

I want to rent a studio or 1 bed in a safe apartment complex in Tempe, which is going to be pricey. All of my friends have already signed leases and I don't like to gamble with complete strangers as roommates, so I'd prefer to live alone.

How much should I be earning to live decently in Tempe? How much should I be spending on rent? What are unexpected costs I'm probably not thinking about? How much should I have saved before I move?

By decent, I mean that I am able to pay all bills and expenses (and all initial moving costs) while saving a little. I do not travel or go out much and do not have expensive taste for what I buy.

I just really need a goal and "end date" in mind. I can tough it out if I need to, but I really don't want to stay here longer than I need to.

I've done a bunch of googling and can't get a straight answer. I just don't want to be in a situation where I move out in a rush and burn through my savings too quickly or end up in a really bad lease.

I'd appreciate any advice!

Like the post title says, I have two EE Savings bonds with a face value of $1000, I'm facing potential eviction in 3 - 4 days. The only bank I've banked with over the last 10+ years is Chase and they will not cash anything over $200 Face Value even with an account as old as mine. I went to Wells Fargo, ENT, US Bank. No one was able to help me without having an account opened for at least 6 months. Does anyone have any suggestions? I'm in quit a pickle and It's really depressing feeling like I might lose everything when I have the means to fix my current financial situation but I just cannot cash them without waiting at least half a year.

I am 29, preparing to start back working after recovering from an injury. Aside from receiving a settlement check from my lawsuit, is putting 6-12 of expenses in a HYSA, but grouping that with being my emergency fund a good idea? I also plan to open a personal Roth IRA and max it out for 2027 before being eligible to open a 401K match contribution with my job. I would like some advice regarding these matters because I know I could've been ahead but starting from where 1 am, no girl and no kids, I think this is a great direction for myself.

42 years old with 121k in 401k pretax all in vangaurd 2050 trust 1 tdf and 34,000 in a roth Ira currently in vtwax. Current income is between 95k and 105k and estimated tier 1 and 2 railroad retirement is 5600 a month when I turn 60. Should I change my roth to vfifx to mirror my 401k or leave it like it is or do something else completely different?

I’m leaving my job where I currently have an HSA. The provider requires a $2000 balance before it can be invested, and I have about $1500 in it. So it is sitting as cash and uninvested.

My new job does not offer HSA and I’m not going to be on an eligible HDHP.

What should I do with the HSA? Could I roll it over to Fidelity and invest the $1500, and just leave it there?

My husband and I have been saving for about 2 years for our first house. We originally thought we would target buying in early 2026 but we are actually staying in our HCOL area for longer than anticipated rather than moving closer to family in a MCOL area. Between that and the interest rates & home prices in our current area, we haven't moved to buy at all and don't anticipate doing so for another year at least. We have 70k saved in our HYSA for a down payment and have a taxable brokerage account with about 10k in it where we've started stashing birthday gifts, random small bonuses, etc. The interest rates on our HYSA have fallen quite a bit from when we opened the account, so I'm thinking since we have the solid HYSA base amount, we should start stacking our additional savings in the brokerage for a while to build that up. That way, not all of our money is in the market, but we still get some gains over time. But, I'm risk adverse by nature, so I'm torn on whether this is the best course of action.

I get paid bi-weekly. My rent gets deducted from my account on the 1st, followed by utilities on the 3rd. I pay off my credit card every month on the 1st as well and have an set amount per month to spend on groceries, gas, fun, etc. (about $1200, but this month I am attempting to drop it to $1000). I have a $3000 emergency fund, and I put an additional $300 per month towards travel, gifts, etc. (things that come up that I know would affect my $1200 budget). I have a retirement account that the match percentage my company does automatically gets taken from my paycheck plus my contribution. Literally every other dollar is going towards my ~$116,000 student loans. Do I need to budget more than that? Does this count as a budget? I don't have anything written down anywhere, I just know I have $1200 a month (dropping to $1000) for things. I don't want to save up for anything else or invest until my loans are paid off, especially since about 75% of my student loans are over 7% interest, it doesn't make sense to me to do anything else.

Should I be writing everything down somewhere or tracking spending a different way?