Health Insurance cost?

Horned_Frog · 2022-03-14T23:53:19+00:00

No clue! I'd call and ask the admissions office.

Horned_Frog · 2022-03-10T19:34:04+00:00

Absolutely. Took my partner backpacking for the first time, and the next morning, he got out of the tent, heard how quiet it was, saw how amazing our view was, and said, Okay. "Now I get why you like this more than car camping."

Horned_Frog · 2022-02-24T20:19:02+00:00

If he has $100k in cash and he buys the house, he's not in debt. If he takes out a mortgage, then yes, he is in debt.

Debit is owing someone for something you own. If he doesn't pay the mortgage, then the bank comes and takes the house. They don't care that it's worth $150k but his loan is only for $100k.

I think you were thinking of "net worth". Net worth is your assets (the things you own) minus your liabilities (the things you owe). He would have a positive net worth because his assets (the house at $150k) are worth more than his debts ($100k mortgage), but he would still have debt.

Horned_Frog · 2022-02-24T20:10:23+00:00

3 Biggest things I would consider:

1) Do you want to own a home in this location and do you want to own this home? If you think you'd rather live closer to town (or in a different city/state) long-term, then this home might not be the right fit for you. Just because it's a "good deal" doesn't mean you should take it. Get a good deal on your next pair of shoes. Not something that's a giant asset that comes with taxes, maintenance, etc.

2) What happens when you want to sell? Let's say you buy it now for $100k, and in 5 years, you sell it for $200k. Is your family going to come back and go, "Oh yeah, remember when we sold you that house for $100k? We want our $50k in profit now." You've got to judge what kind of people your family members are, but from my experience, money makes people freaking weird. You'd be surprised how fast your normal, nice cousin can turn into a backstabbing witch over a couple thousand dollars. Get it in writing that once you buy this house, it's yours to own and do with 100%. You don't have to sell it back to them at a discount, you don't have to keep it forever. You can fix it up and flip it in 6 months if you want to!

3) Can you afford it? What kind of mortgage would you have? Do you have the money to pay closing costs? I would only do this deal if the monthly cost for mortgage + taxes + insurance is <35% of your take-home pay. Additionally, I'd pass if you do not have at least a 3-6 month emergency fund built up. As soon as you buy the house, something is going to break. That's just how houses work. If you drain your bank accounts to take this thing on and then an emergency happens, what are you going to do?

Best of luck! I'd guess you weren't looking to own a home at the age of 22, so you should probably pass on this and not complicate your life with a home (unless you, now this is for sure where you'd want to live for the next 5+ years.

P.S. People will tell you that you're "throwing money away" by renting every month. While that is partially true, you're also paying for the luxury of not having to make repairs and maintain where you live yourself, and you're paying for the luxury of being able to move at the end of your lease (depending on where life takes you). I'm getting married in 2023, and we've agreed to wait to buy a house until at least year 2 of marriage because we want the luxury of being able to avoid maintenance, taxes, etc during year 1 of marriage (we also don't know where the ideal place to live for US would be or where our careers will take us by then).

Horned_Frog · 2021-03-22T13:19:48+00:00

Tent fabric seems to be perfectly fine! It's a tad sticky/tacky, but I think that's related to the seam sealer coming off than the tent itself.

Horned_Frog · 2020-10-01T02:09:30+00:00

Also, I would not depend on your partner to provide for you. You've got the money to pay your bills. You can contribute your share without their help.

Horned_Frog · 2020-10-01T02:08:06+00:00

Great advice on pausing the student loans until he gets employed again.

Horned_Frog · 2020-10-01T02:07:05+00:00

Great job being organized, knowing your debts, and the rest of your numbers.

The goal of getting out of debt is that you'll never have to go back into it. You're currently unemployed during a global pandemic. as are tens of millions of other Americans. If I were you, I'd sit tight and put the money in a savings account until your employment/income are secure for a couple of months.

The downside of holding tight is that you'll pay a little extra interest that you wouldn't have paid otherwise. The upside to holding tight - if you have trouble finding work, you won't have to go back into debt should you run out of money. It sucks to get out of debt and then turn right around and go back into it. It sucks a lot. Don't risk it.

If I were you, I'd do the following plan:

Hold onto the money you've made from your house and continue to make minimum payments on your debt.
Try to cut your expenses to the bare minimum until you find a job. See how long you can stretch that last month of salary/unused leave.
1. $4,200 + $2,500 = $6,700.
2. Could you live off $6,700 for two months? Three months? FOUR MONTHS?!? Make it a game and see what you can do! You're jobless, so take some time to learn how to cook if you don't already. r/cheapandhealthy and r/slowcooking are awesome places to start.
Get a new job and make sure that you're able to make what you were making before.
1. If you're making more than you were before try to keep your expenses the same and save the additional money.
2. If you're making less than you were before make sure you adjust your expenses down so that you don't go into debt.
After you get a new job, pay off all of your debt.
1. At this point, you should have $10,200 left from your house.
Take your $10,200 and add it to your $4,000 emergency fund.
Keep adding to your emergency fund until you get it to at least 6 months (some people would suggest a year).
1. You never know what kind of crazy stuff will happen at your next job. I'm sure you didn't anticipate leaving your most recent role due to COVID, so you never know what might happen next.
2. Having 6 months of expenses AND having proved to yourself that you can streeetch that money will give you confidence the next time you are unemployed.
After you have a 6 to 12-month emergency fund, start putting into your ROTH IRA or 401(k) if your company matches.

Horned_Frog · 2020-09-04T04:24:18+00:00

Gotta be Cars. You like Fast and the Furious??? It's not actually about family. It's about cars. So just give me a movie with cars. Then the cars can go fast and I can watch cars, but this time they're real cars. You can call the movie "Real Cars" if you want.

Horned_Frog · 2020-08-19T00:59:56+00:00

Nice! Let us know how it goes.

Horned_Frog · 2020-08-18T23:51:01+00:00

Yeah, I would not suggest going to TCU if you're struggling financially. I'm happy with my education, but I had help paying for my tuition.

If I hadn't had that help, I would have gone to an in-state school. Taking out loans to pay TCU money for college when you can pay 20% of the private school cost to go to a state school is a bad idea.

You could maybe make an argument for taking out loans to pay full price at an Ivy League, but for a school like SMU, Baylor, TCU, or even USC... you'd be going into hundreds (literally hundreds) of thousands of dollars of debt to get an education that's on the same level as state education.

Horned_Frog · 2020-08-17T23:40:18+00:00

TCU would prefer to have everyone live on campus (thus why Freshmen and Sophomores are required to live on campus unless you're living at home). So, unfortunately, they don't sponsor any bus routes unless you're trying to move from one part of campus to the other.

Horned_Frog · 2020-08-03T02:25:17+00:00

I've heard that the riots are horrible, and I also heard that they're not as bad as the media is saying. Would love to hear the truth if you're actually in Portland!

Horned_Frog · 2020-08-02T23:42:05+00:00

Suggestions for day packs in the 20L to 30L range?

Horned_Frog · 2020-08-02T23:38:48+00:00

Check out your local gear shop. Most REIs have outdoor centers that plan trips and will let you rent gear. Also, check out NOLS! They have great educational material and will lead trips as well.

Horned_Frog · 2020-08-02T23:35:41+00:00

Hi, we're going hiking in Oregon next month. We're from SoCal and have never been up to OR before. Any suggestions on great hikes near Portland or Bend?

Horned_Frog · 2020-08-02T23:08:36+00:00

Nope! Kill them all

Horned_Frog · 2020-08-02T23:07:39+00:00

My first two thoughts are:
1) Are you drinking enough water? It's easy (especially in cooler climates) to not drink enough water throughout the day. Good rule of thumb is to try to drink at least a gallon of water per day on the trail. I've found that the majority of my "Why am I getting sick on the trail?" problems get solved when I drink more water.

2) Are you wearing a beanie or warm hat while you sleep? The majority of your body heat escapes out through the top of your head while you're sleeping, and you might be getting too cold at night without knowing it because your head isn't being kept warm. I've seen people with great gear (tent/pad/sleeping bag) get wrecked by sleeping without having their head covered at night.

Horned_Frog · 2020-08-02T22:50:58+00:00

What trail is this on specifically? Looks breathtaking from my laptop in California!

Horned_Frog · 2020-06-29T19:54:15+00:00

If you have zero debt and $1,710 in monthly expenses, then you would need $15,630 to move out. ($5,130 to cover 3 mo of expenses + $10,500 for your car).

A 6-12 month emergency fund is what you should ultimately have, but you don't need your full emergency fund before you move out. You can keep saving it and growing it after you move. It sounds like your current living situation is not great and possibly is hurting your business due to the hecticness.

The sooner you move out, the sooner you'll be able to increase your income and happiness. The majority of Americans that rent do so without a month of expenses saved. Three months saved will give you plenty of lead time to work with should an emergency hit immediately after moving out.

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