<prompt> Human: Long time PF reader, first time poster throwaway, too many personal details. The ink is still fresh on the job offer I signed: 90k base, yearly bonus of between 7.5-10 of my salary, and 5000 shares of stock options that do the usual vesting cliff 25 after the first year, etc. I have a lot of upward potential career-wise, in five years I could easily be making 120k or more.Me - late 20s, healthy, living in a big west coast city but Ive never made more than 30k a year so Im used to a very spartan lifestyle. Cohabitating with wildland firefighter boyfriend late 20s, healthy who works his face off half the year making good but unpredictable hazardOT money, he takes unemployment during the offseason. This is his chosen path and he will never make more than 58k a year. During fire season, he lives in a different city and has a second set of expenses.This is a complete game-changer transition for us. I have no idea what to do so far except say wow a lot and buy myself an expensive shot of Pappy Van Winkle to celebrate. Part of me wants to hoard all this money in mattresses because I have some real serious poverty PTSD, and there will probably always be Kraft dinner and ramen in the pantry, but there are also a lot of things boyfriend and I want to accomplish together that are now finally possible thanks to the magic of an actual living wageNew Monthly Income after taxes 7,100 - 11,600 Me: 5600 Boyfriend: 1500 6 months offseason or 1600-6000 6 months workingSavings 1,500We emptied the coffers to pay for our Christmas vacation and are in the process of replenishing, usually hold onto about 1 month of emergency funds plus 3 months of living expenses. Weve talked about how this might not be enough if he ever gets injureddisabled but no plans for it.Monthly Expenses 2,225 - 2,775 Rent plus utilities: 1065 plus 550 when boyfriend is working Electricity: 25 Internet: 50 Insurance: 200 for both car, renters, healthvisiondental Cell phones: 100 for both Groceries: 400 Incidentals or whatever: 300 CC1: 25 if we use it CC2: 60Debt 1,500 CC1: 01000 utilized CC2: 15002200 utilizedStudent Loans all me 31,848.23 1: 5,999.29 at 4.5 2: 3,241.54 at 5.6 3: 6,020.67 at 6.0 4: 394.12 at 6.8 5: 2,886.21 at 6.8 6: 5,953.76 at 6.8 7: 6,077.68 at 6.8 All are in forbearance until July 2015Personal priorities for the next two years: Get hella married in Hawaii, 25-30 people tops Pay off my student debt in full Buy a second car beat up older manual truck Start saving for retirement Pay off CC2 in full and close the account, it was a mistake from a previous chapter in life Upgrade from our studio apt to a 1 bedroom so I can have a home office area New desktop computer Get ready for kids? oh god Im so oldBeyond that, we like and prioritize traveling and spending time with friends above all else. We dont buy toys, we buy experiences. Huge on backpacking trips and hostels. Would like to fly to Europe, MalaysiaSingapore, Japan, etc. No real desire to own property but I was thinking now we could buy a house for boyfriend to live in the town where he works the fire seasons, and then rent it out the rest of the year, or something.Longer long-term, would like to invest in 1 tech companies, since I work in the industry, and 2 multi-family buildings - my father does this hes in commercial real estate and told me I can throw 50-60k in on a building with him when Im ready. How else can I invest at this stage in life CDs? bonds? guh and whats the wisest way to approach this area that I clearly know fuck all about?I understand the general basics: emergency fund and savings. We were just barely able to accomplish that between the two of us this past year. But now were playing a whole different ballgame.Is there a smarter way to save for weddings than just letting it sit in a savings acct with a shit rate? How quickly could I be able to pay off my student loans? We were thinking it might be smart to use all of boyfriends upcoming work season income to do that. Is it worth it to get a credit card for the flyer miles? Can I control what my IRAs are invested in? What are the tax benefitsdrawbacks to getting married with our incomes? Lots of possibilities, I want to set myself up for success as best I can right now. Thanks for your help.  <response>: Short term: if you can live like you did at 30k salary and use the remainder to pay off your debt first and foremost and fund your wedding, youll be alright. Avoid the temptations of, I make a lot now, I deserve a nice carjewelleryclothesfine diningnicer hotels on vacay. You say you dont do that now, but it gets harder as you make new friends at work to keep up with.Longer term, investing in your own industry is generally a bad idea because your investments will go up and down as your job and company will. Diversify. Pay off your debts first and then look at what your next 1-5 years look like at that point before investing. If you need money for a family or home, your investments will be very different than if you dont need the money for 15-20 years. 