Hello from Ohio!
I’ve been keeping up to date with the MMM blog since my friend got me hooked on it about a year ago. I recently moved out on my own after college (stayed with the family and commuted to work while I got my student loans paid off) and I’m finally looking to start investing my way towards FI. I’ve attached an excel sheet with my budget, but I’ll post some numbers here regardless:
(I apologize in advance for the poor formatting/columns not aligned for those with OCD)
Yearly Income (Pre Tax) $46,000.00
Monthly Income (Pre Tax) $3540.00
401K Contribution Per Month $300.00
Take Home Income Per Month $2464.00
(After 401K & Taxes)
Food $250.00
Internet $40.00
Phone (Work Issued)
Netflix + Amazon Prime $20.00
Utilities $200.00
Rent $550.00
Insurance $200.00
(06” Honda Civic I own)
Gas $100.00
Maintenance Budget (Oil Change, etc.) $25.00
Misc. (Clothes, TP, Soap, etc.) $100.00
Presents (Christmas, Birthdays, etc.) $60.00
TOTAL EXPENSES PER MONTH $1,545.00
Investments $400.00
Savings Account $519.00
As for today I have $11,000 in an “Emergency Fund” Savings Account and ~$14,000 in my checking. For FI I like the idea of the 4% rule and ideally would like an income when retired of around $35,000-$40,000 not counting what my future wife would be contributing (no GF as of right now, but here’s to optimism.......ladies!! haha). As for buying a house someday, I figure most of what I would pay for rent would go into Mortgage Payments; down payment would come most likely out of savings or sell off some stock.
I want to start putting that money to work for me but I’m unsure how to start and how much to put towards each. Roth? Stocks? 401K? Invest heavily in one or split it up evenly? For modeling what would be a conservative ROI percentage for stocks or Index funds? I don't want to overestimate my saving potential and get caught with my pants down. If any fellow mustachians would like to give a 24 yr old some advice I’d appreciate it as well as any places I could “cut the fat”.
