I’m 19, living at home, and have been working full-time as an EMT for about a year since high school. I’m enrolled at community college and plan to pursue nursing.
Current situation:
Take-home pay right now: about $3,700/month
Likely going part-time in the fall for school, so income will probably drop to around 2/3 of that
~$4,500 left on a car loan at 14% ( I know it is stupid high)
Car is a 2009 Mercedes E-Class wagon that I genuinely love and want to keep through college
~$2k invested in index funds
Grandmother is giving me ~$8.5k specifically for future tuition/school expenses
Very low living expenses besides gas, food, insurance, and the car payment
I live at home with my parents and I have a beautiful relationship with both of them and my family .
Main goals:
Become an RN
Own a home by 30
Be financially independent
Travel while I’m still young
Eventually own fun German cars responsibly (dream car is an RS5 V8 someday)
Avoid making stupid financial decisions early in life
Big problem:
I feel like I’ve worked a full year and don’t really have much to show for it financially. I spend too much on random stuff:
road trips
gas
eating out
car stuff/maintenance
random impulse spending
I’m trying to lock in before school starts because I know once I go part-time, life gets more serious financially.
Right now I’m aggressively working OT to pay off the car within the next 1–2 months using a Dave Ramsey-style debt payoff approach.
My biggest question is honestly this:
How do you balance enjoying your youth/travel/cars/etc while ALSO building toward long-term goals like:
owning a home
having financial stability
avoiding debt
and not feeling trapped later?
If you were in my position, what would your plan look like over the next 5–10 years