Hey guys, I would really appreciate some help from all of you with real world experience. Like I stated in the title, I’m 25 years old and have been working for 3 years. I used to make 90-100k and I still live at home with my parents, so I managed to save a little over 100k for down payments and whatever else I need. I just landed a job that I start in January and it pays 300k gross, but I have no real world experience and don’t know how to manage that kind of a budget. Aside from college, I’ve lived a sheltered life at home my whole life and don’t know the reality of moving out and living within a budget. I would like to know people’s advice for basically how to manage a salary as a whole but I do have some priorities. I want to buy a house in the Bay Area, but is it worth it over renting on my salary and what would my budget look like? How much should I spend on a car? I have a girlfriend of 3 years who I want to make my fiancée soon. How would the cost of making that happen (ranging from ring to wedding to budget differences having a dependent for all bills) affect my budget? How much should I be putting aside for savings? How much should I be spending on food? How much can I spend on entertainment and luxuries or vacations, etc. I know I’d be able to comfortably afford to do all these things, but I don’t know how to allocate my budget for my priorities of buying a home, buying a car, and getting married. At the end of the day, I do want to live a nice and comfortable life with some luxuries, but I don’t know the reality of what it takes to make that happen, so I’d really appreciate any help or feedback that you guys can give me. Thank you in advance.
Just curious - how did you land this job paying 300k without any real world experience?
Kai said:
Just curious - how did you land this job paying 300k without any real world experience?
I have a BS in computer science and was in technology sales for 3 years while working on my MBA. I was in the top 10% of performers according to my stack ranking, and even with the MBA, I’ll agree that I had a good amount of luck involved in getting my next job as a director of sales for an AI SaaS company. But yeah, to sum it up, 3 years of work experience and 5 years of education.
Kai said:
Just curious - how did you land this job paying 300k without any real world experience?
It’s called SWE (just a guess).
Kai said:
Just curious - how did you land this job paying 300k without any real world experience?
Good guess, but no. I graduated with the intention of becoming an SWE, but it just wasn’t what I enjoyed doing.
Hey! First of all, congrats on landing a very nice paying job. That’s impressive for only being 3 years out of school. I know you are saying you think you got lucky, but I’m sure your hard work and smarts contributed significantly to that too. Also, definitely a wise idea to make some proactive plans about your budget and finances, as well as focus on building some good habits. Even though your income is high enough to cover everything, the truth is that your financial habits and relationship with money are far more important than just the level of income. Toxic relationships with money will just amplify the worst money habits people have, whether they have a lot of money or a little. This is why you hear about all those sad horror stories about lottery winners who ended up worse than where they used to be. In any case, I do budgeting and financial coaching on the side, and have helped a few Redditors recently. Would be happy to help, at least as a starting point. Some people can learn this by reading or consuming content, but others need some 1-on-1 guidance. Depending on which camp you are in, if interested, please feel free to DM. I don’t charge anything. By the way, I’m also coming from the tech world, have been a real estate investor for almost 20 years, and have also done some premarital counseling for young couples in my life, so hopefully I have some relevant perspective that you find useful. No pressure whatsoever, just wanted to offer support if you think talking through some of it with someone might help. Otherwise, keep up the good work!
@Wynn
Thank you so much! I appreciate it. And yeah, I don’t want to have a bad relationship with money, which is why I want to cover my priorities and still have enough to be able to live comfortably with some luxuries, of course. Nobody wants to live so minimally that they can’t enjoy life, right? My main issue is I just don’t know what the realistic numbers would look like for my goals, so I just need to figure out if my ambition is still outweighing my means to make it happen, if you know what I mean.
With such an enormous salary, you have the opportunity of your life. But be patient and conservative, accept to do sacrifices for 5 years. DO NOT buy a house in California (huge mistake), do not buy an expensive car. Rent a small inexpensive apartment and buy a 5-year-old Toyota. Do not spend a dime on the wedding. Work like crazy for 5 years, save 200k per year that you invest in stocks, like S&P ETF. US only stocks, as Europe is going down very fast, and super socialist Canada also. In 5 years, go to a far less expensive and capitalist/freedom supporting state and make your real life there (not too far from retirement if you played it well). Consult a financial advisor (beware to be scammed or tricked).
@Jamie
Hmm, I didn’t think about setting up for a super early retirement, so that level of saving is not a bad idea either. I’ll take my time to reconsider buying a home considering I have a month before I even start the new job. But for the car, I was thinking about a Kia Telluride which would cost me around 30k secondhand. Is that a bad idea? For the wedding though, I wish it was that simple for me. I’m Hindu and she’s Buddhist, so it would mean two separate marriage processes and on top of that, she wants a wedding with all her family and friends, and I want her wedding to be the happiest day of her life, so I’m willing to make it happen as long as it isn’t unreasonable. Do you think that would set me back too far for an early retirement? And we both want to stay in California, though, because everyone we care about is here. If we want to stay, do you still recommend not buying a home?
I would do more research into the Kia you want to buy. They have been known to not be reliable cars for many reasons. Some good cars include Toyota, Honda, Subaru, Mazda. All of those have bigger models that you are looking for.
@Oakley
Really? I’ve only heard good things about the Kia Telluride. I’ll keep actively searching since a new car is one of the first things I need right now.
Peyton said:
@Oakley
Really? I’ve only heard good things about the Kia Telluride. I’ll keep actively searching since a new car is one of the first things I need right now.
I was talking about Kias in general - my bad, I should’ve specified. I know there’s a recall on the Telluride, but a lot of cars have them. Good luck on the car search 
You can pay cash for that, or get a loan and pay it off quickly (between 1 to 3 years). All extra $ you spend now will delay your retirement.
Wren said:
You can pay cash for that, or get a loan and pay it off quickly (between 1 to 3 years). All extra $ you spend now will delay your retirement.
Ok sounds good. Thank you for the feedback.
Why do you need such a big car? A small 5-year-old Corolla will probably completely be satisfactory for you at your age. Also, financial freedom does not necessarily mean stopping working (on the contrary). It gives you total flexibility to do whatever you want (e.g., start a business, become a consultant, take a lot of risks on new weird jobs, help financially people you know, etc.). For the marriage, may I suggest this is all illusion: why spend so much money on such a thing, and for others? Invest the money instead and with the dividend every year pay your wife a gift. For the honeymoon, well, go 1 week on a cheap sunny resort, just the two of you. This is what managing our money means. For California, the state is in serious financial trouble, and they are coming after you with high taxes. Some even talk about an exit tax. You are very young, still plenty of time to move elsewhere. If you still want to stay, I would suggest not buying a house: they are extremely overpriced, renting is far better and gives you the freedom to flee to a better state. Good luck, bro!
@Jamie
We have 2 huskies at home that I would be taking with me when I move out, so having good trunk space for them so they don’t shed all over is a factor I look for in a vehicle. As for the marriage, I could personally care less about having guests other than close family and friends, but if that’s what my girlfriend would want, I’m more than happy to do that for her. And yeah, from what I’m seeing, people are telling me not to buy a home just yet, so I’ll reconsider doing that and look into renting more before making a final decision. I guess unless I can get a killer deal, renting might be more suitable for me if there is the possibility of me needing to move within the next few decades. Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts; it all helps!
No problem, bro. Good luck and be happy