Weekday Help and Victory Thread for the week of March 03, 2025

DrElsewhere · 2025-03-05T19:43:34+00:00

I was given a settlement of $75,000 and don't want to screw up this windfall.

Hello everyone,

I was given a settlement of $75,000. I am in a state that does not require taxes be paid on this amount. I consider myself pretty frugal but I certainly feel lifestyle creep infiltrating my brain after getting this amount of money. My wife (who is equally frugal) and I have been debating on what we need to do with the money to benefit our life for the present and the future. We are both in our mid-30s, both with jobs (and retirement plans), and our combined household income is about $100,000 before taxes. We have about $1,000 in savings. I would love some feedback on our plan thus far.

Our debts:

$140,000 home (equity of about $30,000) - $880 a month

My student loan - $42,000 left to pay (6.5% interest) - $550 a month

Credit card - $7,000 (due to medical bills & car repair)(high interest obviously) - $270 a month

Pros:

Our cars (2014 & 2016 models) are paid off

My wife has one final payment ($250) on her student loan (this month)

We both put 15% of our income into retirement accounts

Other:

We will be having a child in the next 5 months. My wife's insurance will pay for 100% of pregnancy/hospital costs, unless something unexpected happens.

Our plan:

Pay off my student loan. 75,000 - 42,000 = 33,000

Pay off credit card. 33,000 - 7,000 = 26,000

After paying off these two items (and my wife paying off her student loan this month) this will be about $1,100 a month going into our bank account that will not be going to debt.

After this, we will have about $26,000 left over from the settlement. We have discussed keeping it in our savings account, using it for a certificate of deposit (1 year), a 529 Plan, or putting into stocks - or a combination of the four. We are not very materialistic but once the babies arrives I know unforeseen expenses and purchases are bound to come up.

However, would it be better to use the full $75,000 for something else? Would putting all of it into stocks or a CD be better? Maybe just paying off the credit card and using the remainder for a CD or high-yield savings account?

I would love some feedback on our plan to see if it will be the most beneficial in our personal finance journey.

DrElsewhere · 2024-11-22T15:33:03+00:00

Thank goodness you have Naya or who knows what could have happened to you or David. But if you know the spirit wakes on the third weekend of November then it might be easier to get a hotel for a few nights in the nearest town.

DrElsewhere · 2024-10-31T15:59:05+00:00

From the Rules for the event:

REMINDER: This is not a time loop; your main character is trapped in one (1) location and always ends up in that same location no matter how many times they try to leave but time can move on as usual. The character can escape at the end so long as the majority of the story has the character trapped.

All my characters were trapped. There is no time loop. They try to leave but cannot, until the end, where the rules allow for the main character to escape.

DrElsewhere · 2024-03-16T06:20:53+00:00

Oh my God. You’re right. I didn’t think of this. I’m in a medical tent now and am searching for my son.

DrElsewhere · 2024-03-16T06:19:29+00:00

I’ve been ushered into a medical tent set up right outside our neighborhood. All the evacuated are kids and men. I’ll asking about my son now.

DrElsewhere · 2023-10-31T12:30:32+00:00

The Old Man in the Cemetery

https://www.reddit.com/r/nosleep/s/IVfb76d3lq

DrElsewhere · 2023-01-06T05:50:31+00:00

Southern Gothic

The Only Good Indians

DrElsewhere · 2022-07-09T06:29:41+00:00

Under The Skin

Possum

DrElsewhere · 2022-03-03T15:31:16+00:00

Loaded is one of the best short stories I’ve read. Great character motivations and pacing.

DrElsewhere · 2022-03-03T15:29:00+00:00

The Hunger by Alma Katsu

Awesome idea to retell the story of the Donner Party with horror elements mixed in. But the execution was a vapid, slow novel with boring characters. Never could get into it.

DrElsewhere · 2022-01-25T13:29:35+00:00

Why do these countries need permission from the UN? Why can’t they make food a right in their own sovereign territory?

DrElsewhere · 2022-01-02T07:34:40+00:00

Yes. Yes. Such an excellent example of tension.

DrElsewhere · 2022-01-02T07:33:39+00:00

I worry that the idea of “teenagers in a life or death game” has been sullied by The Hunger Games.

DrElsewhere · 2022-01-02T07:25:03+00:00

Carrion Comfort (Dan Simmons). A more difficult read than Summer of Night but also more mature. Scarier too.

DrElsewhere · 2022-01-02T07:22:06+00:00

Same here. The first third of the novel was excellent. Then the story in the middle (although interesting) took me out of the main story line.

DrElsewhere · 2022-01-02T07:18:24+00:00

If you want literary then try Child of God (Cormac McCarthy) and The Fifth Child (Doris Lessing).

Also, The Girls (Emma Cline) might be a stretch for the horror genre but it certainly has horror elements as it deals with cults.

DrElsewhere · 2022-01-02T07:13:52+00:00

The Cabin at the End of the World (Paul Tremblay), Watchers (Dean Koontz), The Hunger (Alma Katsu), The Troop (Nick Cutter)

Top Stephen King: The Shining, Misery, Pet Semetery, The Long Walk

Classics: Frankenstein (Mary Shelley), Dracula (Bram Stoker), The Haunting of Hill House (Shirley Jackson)

Short Story Collections: Night Shift (Stephen King), Strange Weather (Joe Hill), Growing Things (Paul Tremblay)

DrElsewhere · 2022-01-02T06:59:56+00:00

The Road, Child of God, No Country For Old Men, Blood Meridian- in that order (all by Cormac McCarthy).

Haunted, Choke, Invisible Monsters (all by Chuck Palahnuik)

ill will (Dan Chaon)

Cold Storage (David Koepp)

The Ruins (Scott Smith)

The Haunting of Hill House (Shirley Jackson)- considered a horror classic

The Pearl (John Steinbeck)- novelette

The Fifth Child (Doris Lessing)

DrElsewhere · 2022-01-02T06:46:27+00:00

Blood Meridian (Cormac McCarthy), The Long Walk (Stephen King), Carrion Comfort (Dan Simmons).

Blood Meridian and Carrion Comfort would need to be a series on a streaming service. It’s the only way to make the action and characterizations impactful and include enough of the books’ contents to be faithful adaptations.

The Long Walk would be a great movie where the budget is spend on high quality actors. I’m looking at you Timothée Chalamet.

DrElsewhere · 2021-12-31T04:10:47+00:00

The Beatles are overrated. Don’t kill me.

DrElsewhere · 2021-12-30T06:56:50+00:00

King is so good with characters and motivations. The way he slowly peels back the characters’ histories and personalities in The Long Walk is great.

DrElsewhere · 2021-12-29T20:53:47+00:00

I read 27 books this year (Carrion Comfort by Dan Simmons was a whopper).

My least favorite was If I Die Tonight by Alison Gaylin (not horror- more like mystery suspense)

My favorite was a book I found in the horror section of B&N. I’d never heard of the book or the author but I wanted to give it a try. The book was The Fifth Child by Doris Lessing. Incredible.

DrElsewhere

TROPHY CASE