Our advice columnists have heard it all over the years—so we’re diving into the Pay Dirt archives to share classic letters with our readers. Submit your own questions about money here. (It’s anonymous!) 

Dear Pay Dirt,

By most of the world’s standards, I have a terrible relationship with money. It’s in my hands, then it’s out of my life. I pay my bills, I pay my rent, I travel, I treat friends to meals and gifts, and I donate to political causes and charities. But I am over 40, and I have credit card debt (though all current with a good credit rating), and absolutely no savings to speak of. But I am happy! I have no kids to worry about supporting. Am I really in that terrible of a position?

—Money Isn’t Even Real Anyway

Dear Money,

You’re not in a terrible position, with one small caveat: You should have something of an emergency fund, or you may end up dependent on others if something unexpected happens. This doesn’t have to be anything extraordinary. Most Americans would have trouble covering a surprise $1,000 expense if they had to, and it sounds like you’re not in that boat. A month’s worth of expenses would be a minimum, and three months’ would be ideal.

That said, you seem to be asking whether it’s OK that you spend your money how you do. If it’s not, your columnist is in trouble, too. I’ve never had much of an inclination to accumulate things, so I don’t dream of second and third homes or nice cars or yachts or whatever it is we’re culturally told we should build wealth in order to acquire. I’m the only New Yorker I know whose eyes glaze over when people talk about real estate.

You know what makes you happy—experiences, being able to be generous to friends, supporting causes you care about—so you shouldn’t feel ashamed about spending on those things instead of socking it all away or buying things for their own sake. Money is an instrument; it frees people in poverty from suffering, helps people spend time doing more things they want to, with people they want to, and yes, sometimes buys them comfort in the form of fancy houses and possessions. For you, it buys a higher quality of life in specific areas that you appreciate. A lot of people don’t know that these things make them happy until late in life when they’ve spent money on the wrong things, so consider yourself lucky that you already know what you really care about. But for your own sake, open that emergency savings account!

—Elizabeth Spiers

From: I’m Embarrassed to Tell My Girlfriend the Truth About My Financial Situation. (June 30th, 2021.)

Please keep questions short (

Dear Pay Dirt,

I finished graduate school last year with about $50,000 in student loan debt, including the loans from my undergraduate degree. My loans were put on hold while I was in grad school, and then again during the pandemic, so I haven’t made any payments since 2018. I’ve been living at home, working full time, and saving money since graduating college six years ago, so I’ve been able to save over $60,000—enough to pay off my loans in one lump sum!

Here’s the problem: My family thinks this is a bad idea and that I should pay it off in $300 payments every month instead of emptying my savings all at once. I understand their concerns. I plan on moving out soon, so it would be nice to have this money just in case. I make about $40,000 a year and live a in a pretty expensive city. But I also feel like the money isn’t really mine—it belongs to the Department of Education. I’m proud of myself for saving this money, and I think it would be a huge relief to be completely debt-free after making one big payment. Is that irresponsible? Is it better to pay it off monthly over the course of several years? I’ve been waiting to see whether the new administration would forgive a big chunk of my debt, but this seems unlikely now. What should I do?

—Torn Over My Loans

Dear Torn Over My Loans,

Kuddos to being able to save $60,000! That is such a huge accomplishment, so pat yourself on the back.

I think you should pay your student loans off in full. Explain to your family that paying off your student loans early will mean substantially less interest, saving you thousands of dollars over the course of your loan. (A simple loan calculator can help you estimate just how much you’d save in interest, depending on your interest rate and loan term.) It’s common for people to make the minimum payment on their loans and years later be worse off than where they had originally started. Some people might argue that paying off your loans early could affect your credit score, but unless you’re imminently planning to buy a house, this shouldn’t be an issue.

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The bonus here, too, is that even if you pay your loans off in full, you still have an emergency fund of $10,000. If you aren’t in a hurry to move out, ask your family if you could stay longer and build that number until you’ve saved six months of expenses, plus whatever cash you’ll need to move. If you don’t know what your expenses will be, check out Zillow for an idea of what rentals go for in your area. This will keep an unexpected expense from derailing your financial journey and going back into debt. And in a high cost-of-living situation on a $40,000 salary, you’ll want to have a healthy cushion, since rent will eat up a lot of your paycheck.

The other option is to split the difference. Find out what your minimum monthly loan payment is, then figure out how much extra you’d want to pay every month—maybe you double it, or $300 extra, or whatever feels right. Then put the rest—including your emergency-fund money—in a high-yield savings account. This will allow you to pay extra toward the principal but still collect interest on the original amount you saved and have a healthy emergency fund. But even though there’s no dollar amount attached, being debt-free can feel like it’s worth a fortune.

—Athena Valentine

From: My Husband Makes Me Show Receipts For Everything I Buy, Even Coffees! (June 14th, 2021).

More Money Advice From Slate

My partner and I have recently begun running, which feels huge for me because I haven’t ran since high school. As a reward for my progress, I usually stop by a local tea shop and buy an iced tea, which is never more than $5. This really bothers my partner, who has suggested that I should just bring my own tea on my runs and save some money. But it’s just not the same.

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