Hi Everybody, ;tldr

I'm new to this forum and came looking for some advice. I'm a 30 year old man who just turned 30, lives with his live-in girlfriend for the past 3 years (as of July). I graduated college with Computer Science degree late, although graduated thankfully. Initially upon graduating, I immediately moved in with my girlfriend who I was with 2 years beforehand (bad move financially with no savings. should have lived home at least a few months to save). I started my job in IT, at that time making $47,000 a month with zero in the bank. It was very stressful, living paycheck to paycheck, with barely any room to breathe. I worked my way up a bit in the corporate world since then, getting my income from $47,000 to now $84,000 annually in New Jersey. Every year, I also in my current role receive a 15 - 19% bonus of my annual salary (12,600 - 15,120 before taxes, depending on the year). This brings up my pay to around $95K before taxes.

So my income, before taxes, is about $95,000 bare minimum on a bare year. We moved out of our $1300 apartment into a larger one that is $2625 per month. I recently lost $4,000 gambling like a moron trying to make bank so I can get a nice ring, but I cut my savings in literal half and while my credit isnt shot, my savings went from $6,000 to $2,500 Here is our financial breakdown currently:

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Current savings account balance: $2,700

Current Bi-Weekly Pay Net amount ($2110) ($4220 per month after taxes, health care, etc)

I usually have around $500 - $700 left after spending, paying my bills every 2 weeks in my checking.

Had stocks, sold them and lost the money gambling (never again, learned my lesson).

Credit Card 1: Owe $300, $13,500 credit line, lots of available credit).

Credit Card 2: Owe $1,600, about to charge another $1,600 for a 95,000 mile tuneup to keep the car running (tires, brakes, etc). This will bring the balance up to $3,000. Won't use the card anymore after that and intent to pay it off over time.

I have no other assets to my name, basically, besides a car loan, that is about halfway paid off, with another $9800 to go.

Weekend Expenses: $300 a weekend (I am working to get this number down)

Week day expenses $150 a week (Could creep up more with returning to office soon, need to pay for train again soon

No college loans, or anything. Only loan is for my car, which is $363 monthly. 2 and a half more years to go.

I know I could have a lot more saved up at this point in life, unfortunately I just don't. But I am serious about my financial future, and intend to save a lot more aggressively, not piss away money on useless things and get a nice home. On my salary, I should be saving. I hope to save up money, make a few investments in the coming years, and maybe have a house in 5 - 6 years via a mortgage.

Here's my dilemma, I have decent credit (over 750) but little savings, no stocks, and I want to get her a ring...possibly in a few months. I was thinking I have no choice here, maybe get my savings up to $5,000, take out a personal loan for another $5K to get her a decent ring for $10K, then use my bonus money this year (6-7K after taxes) to pay off $1000 in credit card debt, then shift the rest off to savings. Pay off the personal loan for the ring monthly if I need to over time.

I recently turned on auto saving, so I save $250 a paycheck now going to savings as long as I have a job, no matter what.

Any tips/tricks? How would you guys handle this financial situation? When I Graduated college back in 2018, I had $10,000 I owed in credit cards with no savings. While I'm not great now, at least I have something saved, and $3000 in debt is nothing compared to $10,000. I do have the option of taking a "Flex Loan" against my credit card with a very low current balance, I was thinking about taking a $1,500 loan to give more padding in my savings, add a few to my checking, to at least get my savings up to $3500 and another $500 in my checking. Is this a waste of time? Should I do it? It would provide some padding against my current tight financial situation, but it feels like robbing Peter to pay Paul, as all this would really be doing is shifting assets, and giving me more debt in the long term.

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I was thinking at this point, knowing I lost $4,000 and engagement ring money gambling away money in a casino playing blackjack, best to bite the bullet, don't take the loan out even though its tempting, get my savings up to $5,000, then maybe get a personal loan for the ring? Once bonus time comes around in December, this financial stress will get easier.

Feel free to let me know of how you guys would handle this. I appreciate the help, thank you everyone. I am committed to a secure financial future.