n00b Here, How am I doing so far Mustachians?

[Pelican123]

Hello MM community!

Long time lurker, first time poster here. I've been studying the MM  blog for quite some time. It has drastically changed the way I think about money, debt and consumption in the past few months.

After years and years of working, and having nothing left over to show for financially (although I don't regret the "experiences" and lessons I learned) I've decided to buckle up and start planning my financial life out better.

I'd like to share my budget with everyone and get your feedback on what I'm doing right / wrong. I also live in Miami, FL, a city I feel that is extra consumerist so it is hard to pull this off here but I'm trying my best!

Yearly base income: $39,000
Potential Bonus "Windfalls": (based on quarterly performance) $17,000 - these will go straight to savings if I earn these bonuses

Age:
27

Monthly base income after taxes:
$2,406

Budget:
Housing (rental split w/partner): $600 water included
Health insurance (Employee contribution): $120
Electric bill: $50 (my share)
Internet bill: $20 (my share of Comcast)
Groceries: $150 (my share)
Cell phone: $50 (tmobile unlimited internet, txt)
Spotify: $9.99 (huge luxury for me that I cnt live without...working on getting it lowered to $4.99 student rate thru my GF)
Monthly alotment for bars / restaurants / clothes / records (i love music): $200.00
Haircuts: $50 (twice amonth)
Transportation: $0 (work paid transit pass)
Pet food: $25 (bought in bulk for 2 cats lasts a month)
Cat Litter: $20 (also bought in bulk)

Total expenses:
$1300

Cash left over:
$1,108.00



Debt:
Amazon store card - $450 (paying this guy off ASAP)


All cash left over is going straight to my personal coffers which will eventually hit index funds, other investing strategies, etc

Am i doing anything wrong? I want to build a huge money mustache but I also don't want to go crazy being inside my apartment 24/7 so I have alotted a very frugal amount of money for bars/restaurants/clothes to enjoy myself with. Once I hit that budget, I can't buy anything until next month.

So far after reading MM for 2 months, I've hoarded $2,500 in my personal coffers. My long term vision for this year is to have saved up at least $12-13k. Rinse and repeat Year 2.

I work for a tech company in a junior managerial position that I have moved up in really quickly and headed for senior management positions long term. I am also trying to finish up my BA in computer science in the next 2 years or so for personal betterment / long term career growth potential. I will NOT rack up any student debt or any other debt along the way.

What else can I do? I don't want to work until I'm 70.

[mozar]

You could do better with restaurants/ bars. You can eat or drink alcohol before you go and just get something small. Otherwise you are doing fine.
Using this calculator with saving $12,000 a year it will take you 18 years to get to 325k which is $1,300 X 25.
http://www.investor.gov/tools/calculators/compound-interest-calculator

[humblefi]

Budget:
Housing (rental split w/partner): $600 water included
Health insurance (Employee contribution): $120
Electric bill: $50 (my share)
Internet bill: $20 (my share of Comcast)
Groceries: $150 (my share)
Cell phone: $50 (tmobile unlimited internet, txt)
Spotify: $9.99 (huge luxury for me that I cnt live without...working on getting it lowered to $4.99 student rate thru my GF)
Monthly alotment for bars / restaurants / clothes / records (i love music): $200.00
Haircuts: $50 (twice amonth)
Transportation: $0 (work paid transit pass)
Pet food: $25 (bought in bulk for 2 cats lasts a month)
Cat Litter: $20 (also bought in bulk)

Total expenses:
$1300

Cash left over:
$1,108.00

....
....

What else can I do? I don't want to work until I'm 70.

Very nice to see such financial maturity in the twenties...I wish I was that smart hey... Nice foundation. Keep up the good work.

I will list a couple of mistakes I made in my life...see if it makes sense for you.
+ First, define what Financial Independence means to you....it means diff things to diff people. It took me a year to come to this conclusion, but once I did, I really got 
   focused on FI. Take a peek into my blog...it may give you a framework for defining what FI means to you.
+ When young and health, get a good term life insurance policy. Health issues build up and so does the cost.
+ Along with working hard, work on building up a couple of passive income streams...dividends, rental income, etc etc.
   The passive income streams buy you "time"....one of the most important goals in life!
+ Build up a strong emergency fund. This will not only help you tide over difficult times, but also help you take some risks like an unpaid internship for a career change,etc.

I wish I had known what financial independence was in my younger days. But, better late than never hey :-) I am happy to see you start so early. Best of luck on your journey.

Hope this helps.

[rmendpara]

For basic living expenses of 1.3k per month (~16k/yr), that's not bad at all!

You could shave a few dollars off the budget here and there, but the impact likely wouldn't be more than a few thousand per yr, and would probably affect what you want to do with friends. A budget is the best starting point, since it forces you to think about what's most important (e.g. 5 parties in the next month that you know about, but you know you can only realistically go to 3 and stay within your budget).

I'd focus all extra efforts on your education and keeping to low/zero student debt. It will allow you more freedoms. It's great to think about investing in the markets, but I'd have you think carefully about investing in your education/career first.

CS is a great field with strong earning potential... especially in certain sub-fields. You're well on your way. so long as you avoid getting caught up in consuming in the next 5 years, I can't imagine you having much of a problem building up a sizable nut in within a decade.

What exactly do you want to do in the medium/long term? Retire early? Just have more freedom with a nice stash of cash (and investments.. mostly investments)? I'd encourage you to think about that as you work toward finishing your degrees andcontinuing the early part of your careeer.

[firewalker]

I didnt see any comments about 401k offerings at work. If theres a company match, dont leave the free money on the table. Plus the tax benefits.