I guys and gals, I just recently found the MMM way of life and I love the site. After doing some reading I figured the best way to introduce myself and get involved with the community is to jump right in with a self case study.
No debts.
Assets:
Fuel efficient car, worth $1,500
Not so fuel efficient car(28 city 34 highway), worth $1,500
Home with ~36% equity, worth about $146,000, owe $96,000
IRAs (Roth & Traditional) worth ~$60,000
Checking(3% interest up to $25,000) $26,500
Checking(2% interest up to $10,000) $11,500
Household Income:
My Salary, $31,212/year
My Wife's Salary $32,700
Annual bonus ~$3,000/year
Wife's summer school earnings $2,500
TOTAL: $69,412/year, or ~$5,784/month before taxes and other deductions
Expenses:
Mortgage, Insurance, Property Tax, $746/month
HOA fees - None
Utilities (all electric, no gas), ~$200/month
Internet - $60/month
Netflix - $8/month
Gas, ~$200/month - expecting this to drop significantly, my wife just got a new job 2 miles from the house dropping her commute by 36 miles daily
Car insurance & maintenence, ~$131/month
Groceries & household items, ~$300/month
Restaraunts, ~$100/month
Lunch at work (days I don't bring lunch), ~$5/month
Alcohol at home & at meetups - ~$30/month
Gym membership, $60/month
Haircut, $35/month
Clothing, ~$40/month
Vacations/weekends away, ~$50/month
Gifts, special occasions throughout the year - ~$40/month
Marathons and other distance races ~$25/month
Funding for wifes retirement account outside of work $125/month
Funding for my retirement account outside of work $50/month
TOTAL: $26,460/year, or $2,205/month
A few expense notes:
The gym membership is something I plan on keeping. I need access to the pool for ironman training.
I could bike to work in the summer but I have two issues, 1) my bike is worth about $1,500 and I have no place to safely store it while working 2) I sweat heavily and do not have access to a shower at work so I am struggling with the logistics of this.
Other Notes:
We are both on board with a frugal lifestyle and I'm sure there is plenty of excess in our spending. I'm looking for ways to trim fat and possible expenses I could be forgetting as this was just a quick inventory off the top of my head. We currently do not have a formal budget or track expenses all that closely. We also use a rewards card that gives 5% on some expenditures and 1% on the rest. I'm also looking for good invest options to invest our cash into. I am not familiar with investing and I don't really know where to start so any advice or direction regarding investment opportunities would be greatly appreciated! Also note we have our first child on the way so our expenditures are going to change greatly very soon.