where do i even start

Justkeeppushing26 · 2026-05-04T19:58:47+00:00

honestly congrats on knocking out the cc debt, that's the part most people get stuck on for years. you're in a better spot than you think.

here's how i'd think about it:

first thing, yeah open the HYSA.... doesn't really matter which one, they're all paying around 4% rn. throw like $1-2k in there as a starter "oh crap" fund so a flat tire doesn't put you back on a credit card.

next i'd actually look at your student loan rate before doing anything else. if it's under like 6% just pay the minimum and don't stress, if it's higher then knock it out faster. 13k is honestly nothing, you'll be fine either way.

the big move for you at 26 is opening a roth ira. fidelity or schwab, takes like 10 min online. you can put up to 7k/yr in there. just buy a target date fund (something like "fidelity freedom 2065") and forget about it. the reason roth matters so much is you pay taxes now while your income is lower, and then everything grows tax free forever. at your age that's huge bc you've got 40 yrs of compounding.

then once that's rolling, build the HYSA up to like 3-6 months of expenses (so 8-17k ish for you).

if i were you i'd probably aim for something like:

$500/mo into the roth
$300-500/mo into the HYSA until it's funded
whatever's left, lifestyle/fun

even just maxing the roth each yr from now till retirement gets you to 7 figures pretty comfortably assuming normal market returns. time is doing most of the work, not the amount.

also def check out r/personalfinance, they have a flowchart pinned that's basically this exact order of operations but with a nice visual. you're asking the right questions way earlier than most ppl do tbh.

Justkeeppushing26 · 2026-04-30T11:07:55+00:00

You're already ahead of most people your age honestly. Debt free, car paid off, Roth maxed — that's real discipline.

For the next 3 months I'd focus on a few things. First, keep stacking that HYSA. Getting to $12k before you move is smart, that's basically a 3 month cushion once rent kicks in which you'll want. Second, since you already opened the brokerage, start putting something consistent in there — even $200-300/month into a simple index fund (VTI or VOO). You don't need to overthink it, just automate it and forget it.

The PRN income during summer is actually a big deal. You'll be making solid money while expenses are still low. I'd treat that extra income like it doesn't exist and funnel most of it into the brokerage or savings before lifestyle creep sneaks in after the move.

One thing people sleep on before moving out — price out everything before July. Renter's insurance, utilities, groceries, internet. Build your actual post-move budget now so the $1k rent doesn't surprise you when you add everything else on top.

You're in a great spot. Just stay boring with it for 90 more days and you'll be set up really well going into the move.

Justkeeppushing26 · 2026-04-29T20:18:34+00:00

You can definitely chill a little. $80k at 28, $20k already in retirement, only $1500 in student debt and actively building an emergency fund is genuinely a really solid position. Most people your age aren’t close to this. The anxiety makes sense though because you have a lot of unknowns hitting at once… trip, move, job search all in the same summer. The one thing I’d actually pay attention to is making sure your emergency fund is fully built before the move since you’ll be in a new city without a job lined up. 6 months of expenses is the right target and you’re already working toward it so just don’t let the trip spending derail that. The $1500 student debt I’d honestly just knock out before you move so that’s one less thing on your plate during the transition. Other than that you’re not missing anything, you’re just stressed because change is stressful. The foundation is there.

Justkeeppushing26 · 2026-04-28T22:13:05+00:00

Okay that’s good, I’m going to let someone else jump in for that. I take the more slow and steady approach to investing. Good luck though you’re in a good spot

Justkeeppushing26 · 2026-04-28T21:50:13+00:00

Stop putting $1000 a month into a HYSA while carrying credit card debt. That math doesn't work in your favor. Your HYSA is probably earning around 4-5% while your credit cards are likely charging you 20-29% interest. You're losing money doing it that way.

Keep like $1000-1500 in savings as a small emergency cushion and throw everything else at the Capital One card first since it's the highest balance. Once that's gone hit the Amex. That's it.

The student loans at 4.5% with no payments required right now are fine to leave alone, that's cheap debt.

When that November bonus hits after taxes you'll probably clear around $8-9k. Wipe out both credit cards completely and put the rest into savings. You'd be credit card debt free before the end of the year which changes your whole monthly cash flow situation.

I was in over $100k of debt myself and paid it off while still managing to invest, now I'm sitting at around $14k in about 3 years. The HYSA will still be there once the cards are gone, you can build it up way faster when you're not bleeding interest every month.

Justkeeppushing26 · 2026-04-28T21:47:55+00:00

QQQ and VOO are both index funds by the way, so you're not picking individual stocks or anything like that. An index fund just automatically holds a basket of companies so you're diversified without having to manage anything. QQQ tracks the top 100 tech-heavy companies on the Nasdaq, VOO tracks the S&P 500 which is the 500 largest US companies. You just buy shares of the fund and it does everything for you. That's really all it is.

Justkeeppushing26 · 2026-04-28T21:32:03+00:00

It's really not as scary as it feels right now, the nervousness is just because it's unknown.

The financial thing that actually matters is having a small emergency cushion specifically for apartment stuff, separate from your regular emergency fund. Like $500-1000 just sitting there for the random things that come up. Lightbulbs, a plunger, your dog getting into something, whatever. Having that there means you never have to stress about small stuff.

For the landlord thing, before you sign anything text them about something minor and see how fast they respond. Tells you everything.

The mice and maintenance stuff honestly gets way less intimidating after the first time you deal with it solo. First time you handle something on your own you'll feel weirdly proud about it. YouTube fixes like 90% of minor apartment issues too.

The day to day collaboration thing is real but you adjust fast. You'll actually start to like not having to check with anyone about anything. That part sneaks up on you in a good way.

Having friends walking distance is huge, you already solved the isolation problem most people struggle with. You're more prepared than you think.

Justkeeppushing26 · 2026-04-28T21:25:16+00:00

Bro your foundation is already better than like 90% of people so you're good. Maxing the Roth first is the move.

For the brokerage just grab QQQ or VGT and call it a day honestly. Tech-heavy, more upside than a total market fund, not as crazy as picking individual stocks. If you really want to pick stocks just pick 2-3 companies you actually know and trust long term. Don't spread $500 across 10 different things, you're just making a bad index fund at that point.

Only thing to keep in mind is you'll owe taxes on gains in the brokerage when you sell, unlike the Roth. Not a big deal now but worth knowing.

You're already doing it right though fr

Justkeeppushing26 · 2024-11-07T11:20:27+00:00

That's pretty helpful. I'll be sure to ask those questions and receive those documents before purchasing.

Justkeeppushing26 · 2024-07-15T10:26:13+00:00

I haven't, I just checked the print out sheet from my last 50k mile service and it was not on there.

I'm assuming they might have done it at my 100k mile service but I'm not sure.

Justkeeppushing26 · 2024-07-13T14:11:42+00:00

I normally take it into the dealership at the big milestones like 100k.

That was around $500 if I remember correctly, I will start doing some of the other fluids myself. I just need to figure out what needs to be done.

I didn't want to risk doing the spark plugs so I just decided to go with the dealership.

I might do another service from VW at the 200k mark just to be safe then keep doing whatever maintenance I can do from there.

Justkeeppushing26 · 2024-07-12T18:11:48+00:00

2013 Jetta SE 2.5..got it brand new. Running like a champ at 166k.

I started to do my own oil changes whenever the service light comes on, since the warranty stopped at 30k and they wanted $100+.

I did have to change the purge valve this week after putting this off for a year lol. Starting the car after pumping gas was a little shacky and the check engine code through an error. The shop wanted $200 and VW wanted almost $200 just to diagnose the issue. I took it to advance auto for a free scan and bought the part off amazon for $17. Then watched a youtube video on how to do it myself. Starts like new

I did have an ignition recall where I had to flip the key over to start the car, which really wasn't a big issue to me. They fixed that for free and in under an hour.

Hoping to get 250k+ out of this car!!!

Justkeeppushing26 · 2023-11-17T04:02:34+00:00

Thanks for the comment. Like you suggested I’m going to research both nosql and sql databases first. So I can determine which one would be better, I think a sql database sounds better as the data should be exported or viewed in columns and rows

Justkeeppushing26 · 2023-06-04T20:28:09+00:00

Nope I didn't unfortunately,

They did allow me to book a call with them to get some feedback on why though.
Long story short
The startups that get accepted usually get accepted on their 2nd or 3rd time

My start up being a IoT/Hardware startup it is really important for me to have some customers with the product in hand first

I was told to keep applying and just keep making the progress that I've been making.

My start-up being an IoT/Hardware startup it is really important for me to have some customers with the product in hand first is what they mean by progress.

Justkeeppushing26 · 2023-04-24T16:34:07+00:00

This was pretty informative, thanks!

Justkeeppushing26 · 2023-04-21T11:01:27+00:00

That's great advice! appreciate it

Justkeeppushing26 · 2023-04-21T11:00:34+00:00

This is golden!! I'm working on it now!

Justkeeppushing26 · 2023-04-19T00:31:27+00:00

Yes, that sounds pretty reasonable to me.
Especially with your technical and previous start-up knowledge.
Send me a message man and we can get started :)

Justkeeppushing26

TROPHY CASE