There isn't enough info here to make a determination.

We don't know what's wrong with the current truck other than it's 3 years old, and pretty low milage for it's age. It's likely just out of warranty depending on what the factory warranty was., nor do we know what it will cost to fix. That said breaking even after 3 years is pretty good. Upgrading to a $52k truck is questionable for sure although it appears you can afford it. To me it sounds like you are trying to justify an upgrade here that you know you don't really need and likely isn't the smartest financial decision. It's ok to have fun and enjoy life by buying things as long as the rest of your financial ship is on course, but we can't see that it is or isn't.

We have no idea what your other expenses are, or the state of the rest of your finances. However, with your income, I question why you have so much financing on recreational things, and at what rates? I would expect to see substantial retirement savings and other investments most likely too.

/r/ukpersonalfinance can probably better help you.

Double return after each item in your list will give it a new line and make it much easier to read.

You list $1880 worth of monthly expenses without food, fuel for the car, insurance, clothes or any personal or household items, and your income comes to $2083 a month (Assuming that's gross so take-home is likely less). That's before taking into account the mechanic or anything else.

You need to reduce expenses everywhere you can, and increase income however possible. Not sure how child support works in the UK but you need that income. As for the car you need to determine what all the warranty covers and doesn't cover. There should be a contract associated with this. You should also look into any social services to help support you, food stamps, welfare etc.

No, but you are close and doing most things pretty well.

The general recommendation is to save at least 15% to retirement. With your income you should aim for maxing out your tax advantaged accounts before taxably investing. Your close on your 401k before the match but not quite there and this doesn't bring you to 15%. Many people are suggesting this 15% number be bumped up to 20% these day too.

The other general recommendation is to have 1 years income saved by the age of 30. So you are behind, but I'm guessing you haven't been making $178k for 5+ years either, so this isn't unheard of at this age. The important part is to catch up and keep lifestyle inflation in check.

You should probably look at doing a traditional IRA (no income limit) to increase your tax-advantaged accounts before taxably investing. You maybe able to convert this to a backdoor roth IRA too.

How did you come up with the $25k need for an emergency fund?

I would redirect your taxable investing to tax deferred accounts until those are maxed out, and take a look at your fun spending each month to divert some of it into increasing your ability to invest. The prime directive in the wiki has a great flowchart you should follow for the order of operations on your money.

Your system sounds like it will work but I think it's more complicated than it needs to be. Something like YNAB would make this easier in my opinion and less accounts to deal with too.

Short answer is, that it changes nothing on your actual budget.

Longer answer: I would recommend using a credit card like a debit card, so that for any purchase you make, you are setting aside money so that you will 100% make sure you have the ability to pay the bill in full for the spending you did last month.

Your wording scares me a bit that you might not be a good person to use credit cards responsibly, and that's ok. If that's the case just use the credit card to buy gas or a cheap subscription service, set the bill on auto pay and be done with it. This will build your credit just as fast as if you were to use the card for the majority of your monthly spending.

The back looks so short, uncomfortable in a way

Ya an expensive area. Since you are remote moving not just to apartments but to a less expensive area would help you out substantially.

Ya I'm a Costco fan too, but Sams just has a lot better website to actually see what things cost vs Costco's that doesn't list everything, doesn't tell you what's in the store, or what things that are in store might cost without adding on instacart fees.

Uh, https://www.freddiemac.com/pmms disagrees. 1%+ year over-year change isn't uncommon at all, ofttimes it's been larger.

How do you think dividends would help you hedge against inflation?

East bay? San Fransico?

That's good news, and helpful for sure in this process.

Rent of 56.5% of your take home pay does seem to be the major factor here as far as spending goes. It sounds like you have a plan for that, and it sounds like roommates or living at home should be what you are looking for.

You should be pushing for your partner to pull their own weight if at all possible, as it's hurting you. No idea what they are going through but 10+ months is a long time for a lot of things especially if it was unemployment earlier in the year.

Assuming you are splitting your utilities internet bill $70 a month seems high.

$90 a month for dog food is high. You can buy 50lbs of name brand kibble from Sams Club for $60 or 38lbs of BlueBuffalo for $60. So probably worth shopping around a bit.

The spending doesn't change your savings rate though.

You can export YNAB data but I get it no everyone one wants to pay too. They are both zero based budgeting though.

Either way you replicate a similar process. I think Wereworlddad found the root of your issue and what was throwing you off and that should fix it.

Might be time to consider suggesting that your cousin hire an estate attorney paid for by the estate, to help navigate all these issues in a unbias and informed manner. Make sure things are done correctly and fairly, with as little stress as possible.

Was the property split evenly between all parties? If so I'm not sure I understand the issue of potentially owing others. Also keep in mind for the future that someone will need to pay property taxes (assuming your state has them) on the property and deal with any income it generates. Some a trust or something might not be a bad idea to deal with this. That's where a professional could give good advice as it sounds like it's more complex than anyone's experience level.

I use YNAB, and have savings accounts for home maintenance. I contribute to it each month, and then when I have an expense in the home maintenance category, I categorize it as outgoing from that category. Another way to think about it might be a sub account in a way that rolls up further into your budget.

I get what you are saying, the debt is known as principal and that's debt amortization, all pretty standard stuff. I would disagree though that that's a good reason for waiting in the long run if you do the math. You are right if you were only refing for a small rate drop though.

Highest to lowest interest rates. It doesn't have to be more complicated than that.

You should add in to your book of debt, the loan from Dad since you intend to pay it back.

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Do you have a budget?

Do you know where all your money is going now?

You mentioned $492 in monthly debt payments, which isn't crazy for someone making $64k a year at your age, leading me to believe there is more to this story. Increasing income is going to be big for you here. Better job, second job, overtime, etc it all needs to be on the table.

It's bad advice to wait 10 or 15 years without major caveats. Refinance when it makes sense financially is a lot better advice.

The first time I refied was a year after I bought my house, I went from 5% to 4% interest rate, and the change in payments paid for the refi cost in less than a year, and I knew I was going to be living there for past that time period.

I would agree it's generally not a good idea to keep adding time onto a mortgage and prolonging interest but you can accomplish that and still lower your overall borrowing cost.

I think that's the angle you have to play on this. Especially with FDIC insurance or Credit union insurance even if a bank fails he won't lose his money if it's under the limit. If it's over spread it to more than one bank if he wants to be extra careful.

I would focus on putting that extra money into caching up for retirement then. 4% is kind of middle to low interest.

You have a lot more threats than just fire, you have mold, rodents, moisture, theft, floods, other acts of god, inflation, etc

What is his reason for not using a bank?

If the money is legitimate, taxes are not a worry.

Making big deposits won't raise red flags with the IRS, but the bank may want some proof that it's from a legitimate income.

What's his plan for using the money? Is he going to pay his mortgage, electric bill, or the doctor in cash? Is he planning to burn through it all?

401k's are employer sponsored plans, so you can't do one on your own easily. You can and should have an IRA.

Are you on track for your age for retirement? One years income by the age of 30, 3X by age 40?

Personally, I would probably wait till she's done with the master's program so you make sure she can get a job in the area you want to live in and you will have her income to put onto the mortgage as well. That will make it a lot easier to qualify for homes that you want to live in longer most likely. Until then invest in retirement and build that downpayment as it sounds like you are a bit short to start buying soon. Waiting might also give the housing market time to stabilize a bit and mortgage rates to decrease. Who knows.

If he wasn't at fault the other party's auto insurance may also pay some of the bill.

Given what interest rates are right now on 30 year loans, 5.375% is a really good rate. I would personally rather take the fixed rate and then refi if things drop later (and you are still in the house), than gamble with an arm for a difference of 0.375%. The Fed hasn't exactly singled rates would be going down anytime soon.

Are the fees and closing costs the same between the two?

Is that the only insurance plan your employer offers?

Why are you earning so little?

It sounds like about $1000 a paycheck?

How many hours are you working?

The minimum wage in Florida is $11 an hour. So 40 hours 4 weeks a month is $1760 gross, or about $1470 after tax.

Have you considered other jobs or a second job?

I think your plan of gambling without insurance and hoping to qualify for assistance through the hospital to cover all your medical bills is an incredibly large gamble that is almost sure to backfire somehow and end you up in medical debt. If you were young and healthy it's probably less of a risk but still not a great idea. Have you looked into any state based aid programs you might qualify for instead?

Edit: OP replied to this comment and you can read it in the post history but it's not showing. It seems they are only working about 30 hours a week. So step one is to work full time 40+ hours a week.

It sounds like a new, better job might be in order to help fix the income problem and hopefully find a company with better benefits.