IncomeGood details on your spending - I'll let others pick on that. :)
Paycheck 1: $1,160.00
Paycheck 2: $1,160.00
Paycheck 3: $5,875.00
Total Paychecks: $8,195.00
After-Tax Monthly Net
About $2,815.00
Retirement Savings
401(k) 1: $1,458.33 monthly ($17,500.00)
401(k) 2: $750.00 bi-monthly ($17,500.00)
401(k) Contributions: ~$6,500.00 to both.
Roth IRA 1 – Fully funded for 2013/2014 ($11,000), will pay for 2015 on/about January 2nd with Bonus money
Roth IRA 2 – Fully funded for 2013/2014 ($11,000), will pay for 2015 on/about January 2nd with Bonus money
Category | Monthly amt. | Comments | Annual |
Salary/Wages | $8,195 | $98,340 | |
FICA base salary/wages | $8,195 | $98,340 | |
401(k) / 403(b) / 457(b) / etc. | $2,917 | At maximum | $35,000 |
Income subject to IRS tax | $5,278 | $63,340 | |
ESPP/After-tax 401k | $1,083 | $13,000 | |
Paycheck income before tax | $4,195 | $50,340 | |
Federal Adj. Gross Inc. | $5,278 | $63,340 | |
Federal tax | $462 | 2014 rates, stand. ded., 2 exemptions | $5,548 |
State/City tax | $290 | Guess, using 5.5% * Fed. AGI | $3,484 |
Soc. Sec. | $508 | Assumes 2 earners paying | $6,097 |
Medicare | $119 | $1,426 | |
Total income taxes | $1,380 | $16,555 | |
Income before other expenses | $2,815 | $33,785 |
Im confused.
8k in paychecks, but 2.8 net?
Regarding motivation to exercise, consider a home gym if your lease will allow it. Personally, my biggest obstacle is driving to the gym. It's a lot easier to walk into your garage and lift some weights than it is to allot time to driving to the gym. I'm sure you share the same obstacle with your long work hours. Weights can be purchased dirt cheap if you negotiate on craigslist, as most people have failed their workout goals and want to dump the stuff, or they are moving and don't want the hassle of transporting heavy weights.I'd like to get myself in the habit of being more physically active and eating better. From when I've been temporarily successful in the past, it always seemed like the biggest thing was just doing something physically exerting everyday and the benefits came from that. After awhile, I would start eating better, then I'd start losing weight, then I'd end up exerting myself more, and it was just a good healthy cycle. I don't have a ton of time to exercise and I've never been huge into free weights (in the past doing things like pull ups, dips, push ups, lunges, sprints always seemed to do a pretty good job anyway). It's the waking up early and staying committed part. . .
MDM: I'm not following your table. I think my numbers may have been confusing. The paycheck figures I posted have already had FICA, Federal Withholding, Health Insurance, and 401(k) withholding applied. The paycheck figures I used are the amounts that get deposited into the checking account on direct deposit day.
How much is in your retirement accounts, and do you have any savings outside retirement accounts?
Are your student loans paid off?
You are both young and making good money, but you haven't had a lot of time to accumulate yet. However, I see that you fully fund two 401ks and IRAs. On top of that, you have more than $33,000 surplus per year with your current spending. If you changed nothing else, you could have a 120K down payment saved in four years. If you work on your budget, you could save a good deal more.
Opening a brokerage account is super easy at Vanguard or Fidelity. Start it tomorrow (OK, Monday) and start feeding some of your surplus into a money-market account, until you feel more confident about investing.
Don't rush into a house now. First accumulate some more savings--and perhaps work on adjusting your perspective so you aren't comparing yourselves so much to the neighbors. You are only 26; you will reach your aspiration of home ownership, just not tomorrow.
The table assumed, based on the un-edited OP:
- the $8195 was total gross income,
- you each contributed $6500 after-tax to 401k plans, and
- your state/local tax rate is ~5.5% based on federal AGI
Result was exactly the $2815 "After-Tax Monthly Net" in the OP. Merely coincidence.
It actually can be helpful to start with total gross income and enumerate all pre-tax deductions (e.g. Health Insurance and 401k) and taxes. That way one can calculate the marginal tax bracket, evaluate "traditional vs. Roth," estimate whether withholding amounts are appropriate, etc.
See http://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/ask-a-mustachian/how-to-write-a-'case-study'-topic/msg274228/#msg274228 for a version of the spreadsheet that produced the table.
...this year we increased our 401k contributions significantly to counteract the pay increase.Well done!
One other item: do you have a High Deductible Health Plan (HDHP) and the Health Savings Account (HSA) such a plan allows?
You mentioned "have children." That can be expensive, so a low deductible plan might still be better for you - but you should at least run the numbers, because 28% savings on your HSA is worth investigating.
Lifestyle Related: I feel like I’ve been trying to get healthier for forever. I always end up getting nowhere. I’ve tried to establish habits and write down goals, but I end up never getting anything done. What kinds of motivational tricks have worked for others? Has anyone here successfully ever gotten up early for exercise before work and made that a long-term habit? As time goes on, I feel like that is probably the only way, but man is it hard to plan around getting up at 4:30 in the morning to go run or bike or swim or do pushups or whatever.