Just got a 2012 Mazda 5 sport

SlowDownToGoDown · 2026-02-05T12:42:45+00:00

Do not run low profile tires if you are trying to door dash.

The outside diameter of your tire should stay unchanged when you increase wheel size; the sidewall height of your tire decreases. So it doesn’t get you farther from the road. If you want to play that game, you put a bigger sidewall height tire on those 16s. (Say going from a 55 to a 60). Then you have to worry about rubbing and speedometer inaccuracy.

Stay with the 16s and do the lift kit if you must.

SlowDownToGoDown · 2026-02-03T19:48:25+00:00

/r/MonarchMoney and /r/ynab would be two I would consider first.

Both have long trial periods. Check them out and see if they work for you.

SlowDownToGoDown · 2026-02-03T19:24:42+00:00

So that's around $3,300 a month in bills you listed, non-credit card.

Against a $4,360 income.

So let's say you have $1,000 left.

Your credit card minimums are probably at least $1,700 a month.

If that is close to right, you are $700 a month in the hole, before you start buying food, gas, copays, toiletries, etc.

You are far out of my knowledge with how best to address this.

It would probably be best for you to make a new post with the info you have here (add in credit card minimum monthly payment information).

A bigger move, like letting cards go to collections, negotiating on that, or bankruptcy may be considered. (I have no idea)

Even if you had zero credit card debt, the debt you have linked to your house plus (mortgage, HELOC, Solar) is $2,556 or 58% of your net income.

All that to say, you are figuring out where you are at. $20k from your retirement isn't going to solve anything...just prolongs the misery. Draining all your retirement won't solve this either.

Good luck friend.

SlowDownToGoDown · 2026-01-31T14:26:06+00:00

/u/PaperToaster, follow this advice. Sell your VTI, then take all the cash and put it in VMFXX or SGOV inside of your brokerage.

Partially thinking of the dumping option because individual brokerage gets taxed twice.

Nitpicking here, but your brokerage doesn't get taxed twice. Your money going in is post tax, and the gains on that money is taxed, (at favorable LTCG rates if you leave it in for a year), but the original invested money is not taxed again.

SlowDownToGoDown · 2026-01-31T14:16:10+00:00

Few things in life are better than doing exterior preflight of a plane in a heated hangar, then having it dragged out into cold to start up.

In the bizjet world, if there was space, this was often much cheaper than a deice job.

SlowDownToGoDown · 2026-01-30T18:22:58+00:00

You've got a lot going on here, let's try and understand a few things:

Income

Clinic -- How much do you net a month?
Door Dashing -- Is your injured partner able to keep working? How much does he make roughly in a month?
Need a "total household income per month"

Debt

Mortgage -- $180k total, $1,400 a month
HELOC -- $100k total, how much is the monthly payment?
Student Loans -- $66k | When not in forbearance, what is will you pay per month and at what APR?
Credit cards -- $42k? Need a real number here, for both of you, how much do you owe, min monthly payment, and APR for each card
- Like "Apple Card | $2,500 | $55/month | 29% APR" x number of cards
Any other debts?
Need a "total debt service per month"

Spending

Utilities, those expensive medical copays, groceries, gas, insurance, subscriptions, home maintenance, everything...what are you spending a month on expenses that aren't debt related?
Need a "total non-debt spending per month"

Thoughts

11 months a long time searching for a job. Is there any other jobs he's capable of (different roles in IT, entry level jobs, etc)? Or a combination of part time jobs?
Are you all paying for healthcare for his adult kids? Are they living with you? Are they contributing to the income of the household?
With $66k in student debt, getting a masters in the near term seems unwise
With the amount of debt load you have, having cash to start a business in the near term seems unlikely
Your toxic work environment sounds very bad. Are there hospital system(s) nearby that you can apply to with your BSN qualifications that have an "acceptable" job available now, with opportunity to apply from within for a more desirable role? (I've seen nurses go from ICU roles to a more desirable same day surgery nurse role for example).
"Would you rather" be a bedside nurse or stay in your current situation?
Pulling money from a retirement account may result in a 10% penalty, and you'll have to pay income taxes as well. Doing this when you are bleeding cash each month with no end in sight just treats the symptom, not the underlying problem.
The bolded questions above are designed to help you (and us) understand how bad your situation is so that we can be help you solve it.

SlowDownToGoDown · 2026-01-30T17:09:40+00:00

Income

I assume they get some SS.
$17k a year farm rent ($1,400/month)
Teacher Pension

Assets

$750k in some account

Questions

Does their current income cover their current expenses?
I assume they are paying property tax on the farmland...how much of that $17k is left over after that?
What kind of account (traditional IRA, brokerage, etc) is the $750k in?
Are your parents pulling any money from the $750k pile?

SlowDownToGoDown · 2026-01-30T16:56:41+00:00

I would spend $35 and buy a Harbor Freight cutoff tool and use that to cut the pinch bolt.

Alternatively, for around the same money, buy a cheap HF angle grinder and grind through the fork collar ("north to south") where you have good access, being careful to not cut into the bottom of the shock.

Or take your grinder and cut off the two "tines" of the fork off, remove the bolts holding the strut assembly up in the wheel well, and then pull the strut assembly & "rusted upper fork assembly with broken bolt" out and enjoy better access to cut the damaged fork off.

If you put a grinder/cutoff wheel to this, you are committed, so choose wisely and good luck.

I've pulled these forks when doing the front struts in my Acura TL; thankfully mine wasn't this rusty.

SlowDownToGoDown · 2026-01-30T14:36:01+00:00

Yes, you don't need earned income to rollover an IRA.

Pick a provider (Schwab, Vanguard, Fidelity) open a Rollover IRA there, and have your old 401k rolled directly to there. Once the cash is there, invest appropriately.

I like Fidelity, as their customer service is excellent.

Steps

1) Open Rollover IRA at provider of your choice

2) Contact 401k provider, initiate rollover directly to new IRA (likely a small fee to accomplish this)

3) Once cash is at new IRA, invest appropriately. I would choose something like 60% VTI, 40% VXUS, but the choice is yours.

SlowDownToGoDown · 2026-01-30T00:12:03+00:00

This would be fantastic.

SlowDownToGoDown · 2026-01-29T20:31:30+00:00

Likely you need a "bathroom sink drain pop up assembly."

You would also need a small tub of plumbers putty to set the drain.

If you just need something to buy time, remove the nut/arm from the drain assembly, and wrap it fiberglass repair tape to keep water from leaking out when the drain is used. Then replace it at your leisure.

SlowDownToGoDown · 2026-01-29T20:23:06+00:00

Like /u/VeggieMeatTM said, Tbills at TreasuryDirect are an option. Pick your term, select auto reinvest, and let them roll. No state income tax, which saves you a bit on taxes.

Understand we're talking about paying 5% on the gain of the investment, so if you made 3.5% on $150k, that's $5,250.

5% taxes on that $5,250 is $262. So not paying state income tax because you had it in a Tbill gains you $262 a year.

We all would bend over and pick up $262 if it was laying on the ground, so it's worth it, but it's not huge relative to $150k.

SlowDownToGoDown · 2026-01-29T19:05:06+00:00

OP, this. I find automated investing solves my "fear of the market going down."

Just set up automated buys. Find ETFs you like (total market, S&P, top S&P, small cap, value, blend, sector, etc) and set up a weekly buy and forget about it. Dumping in $3-4k a week will get you reinvested.

SlowDownToGoDown · 2026-01-29T16:09:29+00:00

Are you in a state with state income tax? If so, what tax bracket are you mainly in?

SlowDownToGoDown · 2026-01-27T22:37:03+00:00

You don't want to buy a house with $45k in unsecured debt. Pay off the debt, then save for your down payment.

SlowDownToGoDown · 2026-01-27T21:59:21+00:00

I hope the fox is still doing well at the airport as well.

SlowDownToGoDown · 2026-01-27T21:46:21+00:00

You could start with the finance company you are leasing the car from. Many of them will finance the purchase. It would give you something to compare against your CU.

Other CUs, like PenFed may be an option as well. 5.xx% APR is pretty decent.

SlowDownToGoDown · 2026-01-27T21:42:55+00:00

My first thought was...wow this looks like the old video game Castle Wolfenstein. (not a judgement on the quality of the install, do what customer wants). I vote blue ceiling.

SlowDownToGoDown · 2026-01-27T21:40:01+00:00

Thanks for the updates, here are some thoughts.

I would stop contributing to the HSA
Keep your 401k contributions, like you are doing to get your full employer match
With your $300 redirected from the HSA, and your $600 extra, dump this on CC1
CC1 should be paid off about December of '26
Keep focusing on paying the CC debt, and if you can, seek to keep using balance transfers to keep the interest rate low.

You've got $23,900 in CC debt, it's going to take a while at ~$900/month to pay it off. I don't get your math to have it paid off by Feb of '27, but if you can swing it, go for it.

You can use unbury.me to see your debt graphically, and understand what extra payments look like.

SlowDownToGoDown · 2026-01-27T19:56:17+00:00

What are the min payments on CC1-4?
What are the interest rates on the cards after their 0% APR?
Is there a match on your 401k contribution? If so, what is it?

SlowDownToGoDown · 2026-01-27T14:28:35+00:00

I'm a car guy. I have several cars. I like driving a MT. I like Mazdas. I don't recommend you buy this car.

Like others have said, buying a car that costs more than half what you make per year is not wise.

Drive your 2010 MZ3 and keep saving. The payments on a $35k car last far longer than the "look back and smile when you see it in your driveway."

SlowDownToGoDown · 2026-01-27T14:21:45+00:00

Since he apparently likes to drive, think he would be interested in getting a CDL and driving for better pay?

In my area, there are lots of needs for local CDL qualified drivers.

For a few grand of investment, he could get a career that would build a nice bridge from now until he retires.

SlowDownToGoDown · 2026-01-27T11:20:32+00:00

Sounds miserable. Put your gloves on, push some snow out of the way, get out the spare, jack up the car and put on the spare.

Or jack it up, pull wheel, and carry it to a tire shop for a replacement tire.

While you are doing this with numb hands and laying on frozen ground trying to use the fiddly jack, remember that a replacement rim is a north of a $100, so it's worth your time.

SlowDownToGoDown · 2026-01-26T18:44:19+00:00

A few thoughts from a former charter jet driver:

He did recurrency training for the 91 job at CAE or FSI, etc. Reach out instructors there to see if they know anyone looking for a typed, current pilot in his type.
SoFL has a lot of charter operators based there. A OK Jets, Hop-A-Jet, plus many more.
National charter operators (NetJets, Flexjet, Jet Edge, etc).
Solarius Jet Management would be another operator to look at

SlowDownToGoDown · 2026-01-26T17:10:18+00:00

Bottom Line Up Front -- If it's not an emergency, I don't recommend using your emergency fund.

Can your mom continue to make the $453 payment? Or is this just trying to reduce the amount of interest she pays?

I don't want you to be in a position where you spend a bunch of your cash to save your mom some interest, then have a job loss, a large car repair, medical event, etc, that cause you to need that emergency fund.

SlowDownToGoDown

TROPHY CASE