Saving Money?

Right now, I'm currently unemployed. Due to a medical reason, I got fired from my job. Against the law, I know, but I've chosen not to fight it. Too much time and money involved. I'm in the process of finding a new job.

Anyway, I'm broke. I have about $50 in my pocket. Once I get my new job, I want to start saving money.

I have $4000 in credit card debt and $55,000 in student loans. I won't have to pay my student loans until I finish school ( i have another year). But I want to start saving now. In addition, I want to move out of my mother's house. Yet, I do not want to pay rent. I've done that in the past and it was a huge waste of money. I would really love to buy a house.

I hope to have my finances stable within the next 1-2 years. I know my student loans won't be paid off in that time, but I'd like to have a grip on them so they aren't causing me debt.

When I get a new job, I hope to make about $500-$600 a week after taxes.

What is a good savings plan, so that I can pay off my credit card debt and have a good payment plan for student loans.

I'd also like to have at least $10,000-15,000 in 2 years or so.

First you probably need to prioritize your desires. Is saving money, paying down your debt, moving out of your mother's house, not paying rent or owning your own home the most important? What's the next most important? Because you likely won't be able to do all of them at once, so prioritizing them, and sticking to that priority is more likely to help you meet all of your desires.

And remember, when you buy a house with a mortgage, you are still paying rent - the interest on the money that you have borrowed to buy the house is the rent that you pay on that money......so that can be just as wasteful, if not more so.

As far as saving money, a great way to do so is to pay yourself first.....every paycheck, have some money direct deposited to an account that is at a different bank from your regular bank. That way, it's less accessible, but you can still get to it in a pinch.

You also need to ensure that you are spending less than you make. You don't say if most of your credit card debt came since you became unemployed, or was there before you lost your job. Assuming that it was in place before you lost your job, your expenses/outgo was more than your income, and you used the credit card to create the feeling of additional income. When you are doing that, saving becomes impossible.

To help understand where your money is going, start tracking your spending, and every time you want to buy something, ask yourself if you can get along without it for another day - if the answer is yes, don't buy it.