askchapo

The 1099 income requires you to pay employment taxes so make sure you track your expenses as they pertain to your work and you may need to make quarterly tax payments on that income. W2 income should have all of the withholdings so you should be ok with that.

After you cover your expenses then you can put amounts for savings and investments like a Roth IRA ($6,500 max per year) and the rest of it can be “living” money with which you can do whatever you wish. The more automatic the savings is the better to reduce the friction of additional tasks.

There is no “good” bank unfortunately and while credit unions are preferred they have geographic and/or membership constraints. If you don’t deal with cash then you can just use an online bank like Schwab where you can manage your checking and investment accounts.

Going back to your budget you should get an accurate picture of your recurring expenses including rent, food, utilities, insurance, phone, etc. then put several months (3-6 months is the standard) worth of those expenses aside in a savings account. I would add more for potential tax liabilities.

You said $1200 for expenses without rent. With rent if the average is $2400 total per month, then you should set aside 3-6 times that amount: $7200 - 14400. Seems crazy at first especially since it mostly just sits there but it means you can basically make any vehicle repair, cover most minor medical emergencies, pay deductibles, even supplement income if you become unemployed. Think of it as self-insurance where you pay the premiums to yourself. The balance can be built up over time.

After that you can see what is remaining and plan accordingly. You’ll have to revisit your plan periodically to make sure you’re reaching your savings and mutual aid goals.