How did you save for your Tacoma?

probably the same as mine, roughly 7%

 

ya know, since you're smart with money, you should probably start a webcam business, those things are goldmines. Best of all, you can work from any room in your home, you get to do lots of auditions if you choose. After a year you could buy multiple Tacomas

 

It's a god damn Cult is what it is. Jesus, throw a Dave Ramsey fan and crossfit dude into a room and neither of them will shut the fuck up.

 

lol.

I did the course (it was free) and he does teach a lot of good stuff. Most of it is discipline and common sense, but that’s pretty funny and relatively true.

 

I do agree with you there, but some people take it to the extremes. No credit cards, cash flow only, absolutely 100% against any kind of debt (even good debt), etc. It's pretty annoying haha

 

That's why I went with Clark Howard instead

 

I agree. That’s one thing I don’t like about Ramsey (I also sub teach his course) is the credit thing. Cash is great but it doesn’t suit everyone’s needs. Reasonable debt can be good for thinks like approval to rent a house or apartment. When it comes time to get a house loan. Dude is smart as hell with finances but you have to pick and choose what’s best for you.

 

Like the duck? Otherwise, never heard of him.

 

Same boat as you, OP. Graduated college in May with a decent job. Did the stereotypical college grad thing and bought a brand new truck! Granted I had enough money saved up for a healthy down payment. It was also something I had wanted since high school so I figured, why not.

 

Some debt is necessary to build credit nowadays, anyway. The problem is every retail establishment selling credit cards and people not keeping the debt down.

He focuses on practical advice, less culty bs. Gordon Dave Ramsay is fine, but not for everyone. TBH haven't thought about any of that in a long while, ever since I've climbed out of the low credit score hell many years ago.

 

How are you doing now? Able to put away good money into retirement and back into savings?

 

Yeah, I’ll probably google him later. I only know Ramsey because we were offered a free course over a year ago. Wife was curious so we took it. We do some of the stuff, not all. In a strange coincidence, they asked me if I was interested in helping the org that did the course part time. It’s not really Ramsey affiliated but we have a grant to teach it and now I fill in from time to time. Kinda odd train of events.

 

This is the first time I've ever bought a new vehicle, and I'll be 35 this year. I have driven vehicles that were 10+ years old that I owned outright for almost my entire adult life. When my career finally got to a point of a little more luxury, I was able to really put a lot more into my retirement, paying down my mortgage, and finally looking into buying a nicer vehicle. I don't like credit, got in a lot of trouble when I was about your age and I paid for it dearly. Took 5+ years to dig out. I only spend money that I have. Some would not agree with that strategy, but it has worked wonders for me personally. It's also a Biblical principle so something that I believe in as well. All depends on how patient you can be, IMO.

 

Drive the beater for as long as you can. Easy peasy to save that way.
DONT buy it in a pinch though, always have an eye out, learn the market, and get ready to buy when you think your car is on its way out.

My now husband drove a Grand Am that was always breaking down, but we were able to keep fixing it, so we started looking and were lucky to find a deal pretty quick. I'm a stickler with finances; we keep our money kinda separate but together. I don't have a job anymore due to a disability, but when I was working, he would pay most of the bills (Rent, electric, etc) We didn't really have any bills besides where we were living, I paid for my phone an did all of the grocery shopping. I do a lot of cheap, large, hearty meals that we can prep which saves so much more money than you'd ever realize. And I shoved the rest of my money away. I used to put away probably half of my income, and let him spend and save whatever he wanted (which means he wasn't saving really, lol). So, we saw a couple of trucks, got certified pre-owned (I'm not one to believe in buying a new vehicle myself, but there are merits to it, I just don't personally). No warranty bs. In our area, the Tacomas were selling REALLY fast, I mean, 2 of them sold on our way to the dealers fast. We got this one like 2 days after pictures were put up at a Chevy dealership. Our debt to income ratio was really good, our only barrier to entry was I was the only one with credit, he had nothing. I was only 19 at the time, and had a credit card since high school, so I had good credit, but not for long enough. So, luckily his parents are in his life and were willing to co-sign.
Definitely shop for loans a bit. Look up who's offering what, etc. Make sure your credit is built up. If you're paying student loans, you should be pretty good. Unfortunately, I paid all of his off with my savings 6 months prior a month before he finished school; didn't realize I had kind of screwed us there, lol.
I would have put a larger down payment on it, but I was saving for our honeymoon at the time, so I put 4k down, and we got a 5 year loan, and pay enough every month we will have it knocked out in 3 1/2 years. Totally recommend that tactic btw if you can. It was a good thing I kept that "Wedding" money too, because a month after we bought the truck is when I got sick and ended up in the hospital and needed the money for all of that mess.
At the time, I made about 20k a year, I was in the middle of transitioning into a managerial role at 30k but that was just going to mean faster savings accumulation rather than a change in lifestyle.

Now, we only have the one income, but I watch it a little more closely. Lots of luxury stuff we can't do. I was able to make a budget so we could save for and buy a house last year (it was cheaper than our rent situation) but its been a little tough. I'm still driving my beater, but my sister desperately needs a car, so when the truck payment is done, I'll be getting another Corolla. I have enough in savings still to pay one in my price range off in full (I save our taxes every year) but I'm looking at the 12k range and planning on putting half down, then using the difference from the truck loan towards our mortgage, which will shorten the home loan by about 8 years.

TL;DR save in every aspect of your life that you can. Expect the unexpected first. If we weren't careful, at any point in there we would have gotten ourselves into big trouble. There are so many ways to save in every day life; use your goals to control yourself, and you'll get what you want in time. This is probably the extent of this 21 year old's knowledge

 

Yeah been working for the past 8 months, been able to contribute to my 401k (whatever that is lol).

I chose to do high monthly payments and I am also saving up to aggressively pay off the truck ASAP.

 

I agree with this.

More importantly, build up your savings first. As an adult, you need to have contingency plans in the event you ever lose your job. It's very important.

I'd be putting away 1/3 to half of your paycheck each pay period into savings for at least two years (preferably 4-5 years). Ideally you want to have enough in savings to support you for at least one year with no income at all (IMHO), not including retirement funds.

So I would advise holding off on the new truck for now. Wait a few years. You'll feel much better about getting one at that point.

 

Great input from someone still kinda starting out. I’m sure a lot of us wish we could’ve or had thought this way at that age. Took me and my wife a long time to learn to be disciplined with finances.

 

That's where growing up in a rough family came in handy, haha. Even as a kid, I was really into saving money though.

When I told my Dad I was going to be moving out a couple of days after high school was over, he told me he thought it was a dumb idea, and that if I left, I couldn't come back. He didn't really do that out of spite or anything, I think he did that to make sure I was actually ready, and I don't think he thought I was going to be able to do it, because he got pretty angry about it after and we don't really talk unfortunately.

Proving people wrong is probably another reason we have a Taco; my stepsister's husband was getting a Tundra from his parents for free and offered me his 2000 Tacoma for 2 grand, and I saved and planned around it, then before I moved he found out it was worth more than that and decided against it, so I moved across the country without a freaking car. I wasn't into Toyota or cars at that point, but I had molded my ideas of my future around having the pickup so when I got my Corolla and began to research and like Toyota, I was like "I'm getting my damn Taco, and no one can stop me this time" lol.

 

Can't stress how much you save not eating out. Most people clearly lie to themselves about the cost of it. Could easily be $600 a month per person vs. $200 to $300 or less at grocery store. And the best thing I ever read regarding food, do you remember the food you eat later? Like really remember it as you would like a trip to the mountains or whatever? I mean we eat like 1,000 to 1,500 times every year. Its more a matter of convenience. And quite frankly, I care even less about my lunch at work. I'm at work. Its not fun anyway. Some Taco Bell won't change that.

Saving can be fun and a pile of fall back cash is nice. Allows you to take some risks and opportunities such as a new job opportunity that can be riskier and less stable. Or move across country.

Also another point I learned, if you operate under the rule that as long as my checking account has X number of dollars I'm fine, you will always have that same X number of dollars. Learn how your brain works and tricks you and fight against it.

 

Little Cesars is $7 a pizza.. that’s a $210 grocery bill. Just saying.

Even cheaper option is Ramen for $6 a month.