Author Topic: New member looking for advice, 401k, roth, refinance, where to put savings...?  (Read 9554 times)

Mama Mia

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So far I have been reading tons on MMM blog & these forums!  A little background I'm 34 married to DH, he is 36.  We have 2 girls DD15 & DD9.  We just finished paying of all of our CC debt!!!  We are very excited to be done with that chapter of our lives and moving to planning ahead for purchases & growing our savings, but we have certainly wasted many years taht we could have been saving!  We used the snowball method but we paid in the order of highest to lowest interest rates.  DH has a 4o1k through that his company matches.  We stopped contributing for a couple years because when his company was doing lay-offs they stopped matching.  They have since started matching again & now that we are done with debt we just signed back up.  We currently have $54,000 in this account.  This is really all that we have besides small amounts of savings in local accounts.
Our options were to contribute:   

% of pay          Company match
3%                       1.5%
6%                       3%
9%                     3% max

We chose to do 6% for a 3% match.  Was this a wise choice? 

I have been snowballing what I was paying on the credit cards to save enough to fully fund a Roth for myself for 2012 with Vanguard.  Then save monthly to fund Roths for both of us for 2013 & beyond.  I have recently read that it makes more $ to fund the roth upfront for the year.  So now I'm debating if I should just fund it for 2013.  I just hate to lose a whole year, I wish I started sooner!  I will have enough by April 15, but what do you suggest?

I have set up a Christmas savings account (since the CC has bailed us out too many times for gifts).  A vacation fund since we have not had a vacation in over 5 years, and we vowed that once the CC's were paid we would take a reasonable family vacation.  And a sinking fund, since we will now plan for these things that are really not emergencies. 

DH has a car loan that is almost paid off.  It will be paid off in 3 months.  My vehicle is has 0% loan through a family member who fronted me the money.  I want to pay him off in 18 months.  He is fine with me taking my time, but I don't want to take advantage.  I especially want it paid off before we take a vacation!  When DH's car is paid off I want to start a sinking car fund & make at least the minimum car payment that we have been making.  All of my savings accounts are not making crap!  Where should I be putting these funds to get the most interest?

We also have a house with a 30 year loan from 2005.  We qualify for the FHA streamline refinance, however it is only available with no fees/closing costs & no appraisal, but it is a new 30 year loan.  I don't know how to figure out if this is better than just paying down the loan faster.  I don't want to add 8 years on to the mortgage!  I don't even know where to begin with this!

Any other advice for this newbie?   THANKS!!!!!
« Last Edit: March 12, 2014, 05:34:03 PM by Mama Mia »

TN_Steve

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*** [snip]

I have been snowballing what I was paying on the credit cards to save enough to fully fund a Roth for myself for 2012 with Vanguard.  Then save monthly to fund Roths for both of us for 2013 & beyond.  I have recently read that it makes more $ to fund the roth upfront for the year.  So now I'm debating if I should just fund it for 2013.  I just hate to lose a whole year, I wish I started sooner!  I will have enough by April 15, but what do you suggest?  The benefit of front loading a Roth (or any other retirement account) assumes that you have already funded the prior year.  Think about it:  Whether your deposit is denominated as a "2012" or "2013" deposit, it is going in at the same time.  You should, all else being equal, etc, go ahead with the 2012 contribution, then if possible, also fund 2013.  Timing of funding is less important here than getting both years' contribution in.

*** [SNIP]  All of my savings accounts are not making crap!  Where should I be putting these funds to get the most interest?  You cannot make more interest without taking on some risk of loss.  Sounds like you are going great in getting your feet firmly on the ground, but are you in a position yet to risk losing even a little bit of what you deposit?  We use Vanguard Short-term Investment Grade in lieu of savings/money market to get a little yield.  But the value will fluctuate a little, which can be problematic if things are tight.

We also have a house with a 30 year loan from 2005.  We qualify for the FHA streamline refinance, however it is only available with no fees/closing costs & no appraisal, but it is a new 30 year loan.  I don't know how to figure out if this is better than just paying down the loan faster.  I don't want to add 8 years on to the mortgage!  I don't even know where to begin with this!  Easiest/cheapest thing to do would be to take advantage of that streamline refinance and then continue paying the same amount as you presently pay.  Be aware, however, that most streamlined programs will give you slightly higher interest rates as the price of that convenience; still, you would be better off than you are now, for little effort and no out-of-pocket cost--and make sure that FHA loan isn't padding the loan balance with a fee for the process!

Any other advice for this newbie?   THANKS!!!!!  First--Keep striving, looks like you are on the right track.  Second, many of the questions you raise are going to be best answered by folks who've been in your position with reference to your entire balance sheet and monthly spending budget; generally, it seems like the more detailed postings get higher quality responses.   

Mama Mia

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Thanks Steve!  I'll have to work on getting my balance sheet/monthly spending on here.  You have helped!

SunshineGirl

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Welcome, and congratulations on your hard work in getting to where you are financially.

I'll look forward to your more detailed post re: expenses, but in the meantime, I want to echo the earlier poster - you should put as much as you can to the maximum in your Roth and designate it as 2012, then start putting in for 2013. As far as how to make more on your savings, you might want to invest in a Target Date fund, which automatically adjusts your asset allocation. Having said that, my Roth money all goes to Vanguard's Wellesley fund.

Another big expense you might have coming up is college for the kids. I think the message parents send to their kids can really impact the price they end up paying. For instance, the expectation we're setting for our kids is that we hope to be able to help them pay in-state tuition (half), and it might be a good idea to take a semester off here and there to earn money, AND that funding college through debt is not a good way to go. That's if they go, which they almost definitely will. Now, if they want to go out of state or to a private college, it will be dependent on full-tuition scholarships. "We probably will be able to help with some of your college, but we won't go into debt to do it, and you shouldn't, either."

Mama Mia

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Thanks Sunshine, we have already discussed the local community colleges as the only affordable option currently.  If they want more than that, they will have to get the grades or help pay.  It is a little bit difficult to post our income, because I started a new job in December & the hours have been slowly increasing.  I'm estimating on the lower side but I feel that we have potential to make more if more hours become available to me.  I'm also keeping my old seasonal job but will have less hours than previously.  I'm basing my assumption of hours on my husbands hours from last year as I will have the same schedule as him this year, so I should get pretty close.  We grossed $80,000 in 2012 and if my estimates are correct with the job change we should gross roughly $95,000 for 2013.  Our 2nd jobs are seasonal with the the extra money coming in, in the summer & fall months, this is also when we have to pay for childcare.  We pay our older daughter to watch our younger daughter which means that we can't deduct it from our taxes, but she is saving for her first car!   
 
Where can I learn more about investing?  I want to get my Vanguard Roth IRA opened soon but I'm hesitant because I'm pretty clueless!!!!!  My Dad suggested using stocks for this account but I hardly know where to begin.  I already started opening the account but once it asks what kind of funds I'm lost!  Help!

These are our current monthly expenses:

$1353 - mortgage including pmi, homeowners ($800/year, taxes $4,000/year) (22 years left currently 4.78%) (we want to refinance &/or start paying more aggressively once we both establish Roth IRA's)  I just called our lender & they no longer offer the lender closing cost credit!  We will only save 1% with an interest rate of 3.78%.  Closing costs are about $2000.  We also would have to front the taxes & insurance, but would get it back after closing ($2,400),  so a total of $4400.  We would have 1 month that we don't have to make a mortgage payment.  I could coming up with the upfront fees, by robbing my savings account designated for Roth.  Also we do not have enough equity for a fixed 15 year loan....I almost feel like refinancing isn't such a good idea right now unless I find a lender that is still giving the closing cost credit.  Thoughts?
 
$550   - food
$200   - gas   I work about 25 miles from home & I drive the civic.  DH works 2.5 mi from home.  He is in great shape & spends hours in our basement working out.  I have discussed him biking to work weather permitting & but he has not been on board.  How do people deal with showing up to work sweaty?  Or if it starts pouring during the commute?  Those are his major issues...We do need the 2nd vehicle regardless because he has to play taxi to the kids when I'm at work.     
$321   - 2005 Honda Pilot ($2,000 left will pay off after Roth is fully funded for 2012)
$300   - 2012 Honda Civic (personal loan from Dad 0% owe $17,800...After Pilot is paid will start paying $1000/mo)
$154   - car insurance
$130   - electric
$210   - oil
$100    -wood pellet fuel
$130   - cable, phone, internet
$45     - cell phone
$50     - Kids sporting activities

$3,103 Total monthly expenses

Savings per year

$11,000 for Roth IRAs in 2013 ($5,000 for 2012)
$2,500  - Christmas Club
$3,500  - Vacation
$2000   - Cash
$3000   - 401k 6% of pay   ($1500   - company matched 3%)

$27,000 -total

I must start a sinking fund as well... Once all of this is established what is the next step?  How do I determine what makes most sense to pay down mortgage or invest more?  I've read so many arguments going both ways that I don't know what to do!

TN_Steve

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[snip] ***
 
Where can I learn more about investing?  I want to get my Vanguard Roth IRA opened soon but I'm hesitant because I'm pretty clueless!!!!!  My Dad suggested using stocks for this account but I hardly know where to begin.  I already started opening the account but once it asks what kind of funds I'm lost!  Help!

[snip] * * *


Mama Mia, when you have time, take a long, slow cruise through the Boglehead forums.  A google search of that site for "Beginning investor" gave me a ton of links.  Here is a very good thread to start with, initiated by one of the pillars of that active community, and (of course) vigorously debated:  http://www.bogleheads.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=88005

icefr

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Where can I learn more about investing?  I want to get my Vanguard Roth IRA opened soon but I'm hesitant because I'm pretty clueless!!!!!  My Dad suggested using stocks for this account but I hardly know where to begin.  I already started opening the account but once it asks what kind of funds I'm lost!  Help!

You can always open it, deposit the contribution into a money market fund, and then leave it alone until you figure out what to do with it. I wouldn't recommend holding static for too long, but then at least you don't miss out on the 2012 contribution room (if you're shooting for it).

Mama Mia

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Thanks again Steve!  The 3 fund approach seems simple enough for a newbie.  But are these mutual funds or stocks.  My Dad was pretty strong in his advice that stocks have greatly out preformed mutual funds in his experience. 

NumberCruncher

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Thanks again Steve!  The 3 fund approach seems simple enough for a newbie.  But are these mutual funds or stocks.  My Dad was pretty strong in his advice that stocks have greatly out preformed mutual funds in his experience.

The three fund portfolio is talking about index funds. The Vanguard Total Stock Market (VTSMX) tracks the total US stock market - so it's like owning a very small amount of every publicly traded company. Likewise the total international tracks all the international stocks, and the total bond market tracks the total US bond market. This takes the guesswork/gambling partially out of stocks as people (even people in finance) are bad at knowing what will succeed. The cost of owning these index funds are very low compared to that of an average mutual fund, too.

Mutual funds usually have a mixture of assets (stocks, bonds, money market, international stocks) and are managed by people (and thus have higher fees for you to pay for those people!).

TN_Steve

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Thanks again Steve!  The 3 fund approach seems simple enough for a newbie.  But are these mutual funds or stocks.  My Dad was pretty strong in his advice that stocks have greatly out preformed mutual funds in his experience.

The three fund portfolio is talking about index funds. The Vanguard Total Stock Market (VTSMX) tracks the total US stock market - so it's like owning a very small amount of every publicly traded company. Likewise the total international tracks all the international stocks, and the total bond market tracks the total US bond market. This takes the guesswork/gambling partially out of stocks as people (even people in finance) are bad at knowing what will succeed. The cost of owning these index funds are very low compared to that of an average mutual fund, too.

Mutual funds usually have a mixture of assets (stocks, bonds, money market, international stocks) and are managed by people (and thus have higher fees for you to pay for those people!).

NumberCruncher nailed it.  Your dad is (or should be) talking about managed funds, which sometimes have expense ratios of more than 1%, as compared to Vanguards "all US Stocks" index  (VTSMX) at 0.18% (and the latter has fewer trading costs to boot).

Historically, I was in your dad's camp, especially when I was SAHD and had the time to spend on individual stock investing.  Had good results (statistically, this was probably luck, but I try to flatter myself), but now that I no longer have the time, I've embraced vanguard.

The boglehead folks are far from newbies, and their approach is consistent with the bulk of academic research.

Steve

Mama Mia

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I meant myself being the newbie!!!  I'm in the process of setting up my account & there is a $3,000 minimum for each of 3 those accounts.  How should I handle this?  Should I start with $5,000 in one of the above 3 options?  Or should I start a Vanguard Target Retirement Single fund (with the same 3) based on my age?   Differences in these options?
« Last Edit: February 14, 2013, 10:24:48 AM by Mama Mia »

icefr

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I meant myself being the newbie!!!  I'm in the process of setting up my account & there is a $3,000 minimum for each of 3 those accounts.  How should I handle this?  Should I start with $5,000 in one of the above 3 options?  Or should I start a Vanguard Target Retirement Single fund (with the same 3) based on my age?   Differences in these options?

I would start with a single target retirement fund based on your age. They have only a $1,000 minimum and do all the rebalancing for you until you have the time/interest in rebalancing on your own. Plus then you won't have as much of a heartache as the stock market goes up and down since you're using a balanced fund :)

TN_Steve

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+1 for icefr.  The fee is still really low and it makes it carefree.
« Last Edit: February 14, 2013, 12:34:34 PM by TN_Steve »

NumberCruncher

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+1 as well.

I've put my last three years of IRAs into the target retirement date option at Vanguard and have been happy with it. Now that I have a little more IRA money to throw around, I might mix that up into different indexes, but it's definitely a good starter!

Mama Mia

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Okay thanks guys!  That is my plan! 

sherr

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We used the snowball method but we paid in the order of highest to lowest interest rates.

Congratulations, you are officially smarter than Dave Ramsey. :)

It sounds like you have things progressing nicely and other people have already given you lots of good advice, so all I can say at this point is good luck!

COguy

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If you are looking to learn some on investing I suggest Jim Collins.  A Boglehead, Mustachian, and overall entertaining author.  He has worked in the investment industry and has many years of being a frugal saver under his belt.  Start at part 1 and read the whole series if you feel so inclined.  It is a fairly quick read and he addresses many subjects.

http://jlcollinsnh.wordpress.com/2012/04/15/stocks-part-1-theres-a-major-market-crash-coming-and-dr-lo-cant-save-you/

mm1970

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2.5 miles from home?

Your husband isn't going to get sweaty biking 2.5 miles.

I biked 10 miles for awhile.  I could avoid getting sweaty because:
1.  I biked early, it was cold
2.  I didn't bike hard.  I would get sweaty if I tried to do it in 40 mins.  But if I took 50 min (moseying), not sweaty.

As far as weather goes...you check the weather before you go.  If it's raining hard, you drive.  Again, 2.5 miles will take 10-15 minutes.

Mama Mia

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2.5 miles from home?

Your husband isn't going to get sweaty biking 2.5 miles.

I biked 10 miles for awhile.  I could avoid getting sweaty because:
1.  I biked early, it was cold
2.  I didn't bike hard.  I would get sweaty if I tried to do it in 40 mins.  But if I took 50 min (moseying), not sweaty.

As far as weather goes...you check the weather before you go.  If it's raining hard, you drive.  Again, 2.5 miles will take 10-15 minutes.

Yeah I know!  I've got to work on him.  And I'm telling you he is super FIT.  He works out twice a day most days, for at least an hour a clip!  I think he is giving me a hard time because it was my idea!  When we were dating & early in our marriage he was so into biking.  But it was mountain biking, he still has the gear.  When his buddy that he rode with traded in his mountain biking gear for street biking gear, DH stopped biking.  He talked about getting a street bike but never did.   I still have my 12 speed bike (that I paid half for when I was in 5th grade).  I rode it for the first time in years a few months ago & omg, my rear was sore for a month!  I have to practice more, that's what I'm told anyway!  Maybe if we start biking together he will get interested again.  Maybe I can find him one on Craigslist.

mm1970

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I don't even have a road bike.  I use a mountain bike with slick tires.  My biking friends give me crap when I do the triathlon in it.  But hey, it's a sprint, only 6 miles of biking, why get a road bike for that?

Dee18

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The one item that really struck me in your budget was Christmas $2500.  Perhaps that involves travel to visit family.  If it is for "stuff,"  you might want to seriously reconsider it.  As the parent of a teenage girl myself, I know the peer pressure to have the latest things.  But $2500 sounds like a lot, especially when college is not yet funded.

Mama Mia

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You are right the Christmas budget is high.  We tend to not buy much at all through the year for ourselves or the kids.  We buy many needs as well as wants for Christmas, like underwear, clothes, socks...But I do intend to work on getting that number down.   

jdchmiel

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you might want to reconsider your car situation.  You could sell both and get something smaller and more fuel efficient than the pilot, and something about the same age as the pilot instead of the civic as the long distance commuter..

Mama Mia

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Hi Op here.  I'd like to revisit this since it's been over a year since I posted this thread.  I've failed at many of my goals for the last year :(   I expect plenty of face punches.  I'm having a really difficult time getting DH to see what huge steps that we have to take to reach our goals!

1. We grossed $89,000 for 2013 so my estimate was off a bit. 
2. DH finally got his raise, but not until 2014.  I got my raise late in 2013. 
3. We did succeed at getting my Roth fully funded for 2012.  This feels great as it is my only investment/retirement in my name.   
4. We failed to get his Roth started...   
5. We contributed at 6% to his 401k for the last year and I just convinced him increase it to 9%, just this week!  I'd love to be maxing this account out for the tax advantages but, he is really not on board.  He hemmed and hawed over increasing it to 9%.  I wish I could get him to see the big picture.  I'm 35 he's 37 and we don't even have 1 year of income saved!  I'd love to try to get us living on 50% of our income this year.  I know it is a long stretch based on our past history.  But I think would be a great challenge and I do think it is quite possible.  I want to drop cable and home phone as our monthly bill has crept up to $163/ month!!!  If we did internet only with this company we'd loose the bundle package and it'd be $50/mo for internet, we could add basic cable for $13/mo dropping $100/month and I'd even be willing to pay for hulu to ensure that he and the kids wouldn't feel deprived but DH does not want to be without!  He threatens to cut internet if I cut cable since my entertainment involves sitting on my laptop and reading blogs and recipes and researching different things.  I feel so defeated and I just can't figure out how to get him to see what I see. 

6. I'd like to switch from ST to airvoice $10/month plan but this requires me to have wifi at home... 

Granted we were raised very differently!  My Dad is a MMM for sure!  He has been saving money since his very first job of a paper boy.  He just told my kids a story (our oldest just started her first job) he worked for a grocery store warehouse when he was in high school at $3 something/hour and he saved up $10,000 during his high school years by saving every penny.  He is retired a few years now and has a pension bigger than our income and very minimal living expenses still living like a mustachian.
 
We are brand new at saving and we did a suck-y job this year.  I had really high hopes.  I'd like to make our contributions automatic so that it is not up to us to make it happen.  I'd like to add that we were super duper young parents.  We had our first baby when I was only 18!  Neither of us went to college, I actually started taking classes at the community college in 2012 then I got my current job offer.  I planned to continue but it was way to stressful for me.  So my point is that we managed to get ahead of the statistics somewhat by purchasing our home and making a decent living without college educations.  I was a stay at home mom or part time earner for the most part when the kids we young and now I feel like we have to make up for it.  I think that part of the problem is that his parents struggled and until recently we always struggled.  $89000 is a huge number for us and I think that has a lot to do with the problem.  He thinks that we should be living large with earnings like that...and we are not.  However we don't have much to show for it either!  I'm in control of the bills.  This might be part of the problem too, he feels like her works and never sees it.  Just gets direct deposited and since I do the bills he feels like he has no clue where it goes.  But I'm not a spender so it goes to all our bills and lately I've been frantically paying down CC debt AGAIN!

7. DH does not want to ride his bike to work even though it could cut down his workout time.   
9. His car is paid off and we still have not increased my car payment or started saving more for his car replacement fund.   
10. DH went against our plan and used his CC for home projects that he refused to wait for.  Even with me pleading. 
12. We started using YNAB for our budgeting and tracking in January of this year.  I'm hoping it really helps us turn things around because I have no idea where all our hard earned money went (I could cry)!  I'm liking YNAB, but finding this new mindset a bit challenging as I used to use Mint to track and let it get away from me.  YNAB requires a conscious effort each week.  I'm hoping that this really gets things moving into the right direction quickly.  There are more house projects that DH is dying to do but I told him we have to put money aside and pay for it upfront.  I've created such categories but yet to fund anything as I'm still putting all the extra dollars to his CC.  He says he agrees and that he won't do what he did again...   
13. We started paying $1500/month on the mortgage
14. We saved for our upcoming vacation...Ik, Ik just punch us now. Priorities!

My biggest question pressing for right now is do we pay off his credit card or attempt to fully find my Roth for 2013?  My vote is 100% to fund my roth, since this is my only chance, use it or lose it.   Plus he's the one that broke the rules and overspent.  Since I have very little being that I just started my roth it last year!  If my retirement was automatic like his 401k there would be no question! We can have his card paid off the following month maybe 2 tops.  I then would like to set up his roth and set up some sort of automatic transfer so that we don't face this again next year.  He very badly wants to quit the 2nd job.  I don't!  This year our second jobs brought in $12,000 between the two of us that's more than enough to fully fund 2 roths and it equated about 25 Saturdays, it's fun and we work together!  Yes a one day weekend can suck at times during the summer.  But I can't give up that kind of money when I feel that we are so behind on our retirement goals.  I can't seem to get through to him!  Any ideas to help him to see what I see?   

lackofstache

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But I can't give up that kind of money when I feel that we are so behind on our retirement goals.  I can't seem to get through to him!  Any ideas to help him to see what I see?   

I think you need to align your goals and discuss what you're saving for. It's difficult to hear "Let's save more for retirement and spend less now, okay." It's easy to have a discussion about bigger goals, for my wife and I it was freedom. Saving more and needing less to get by ultimately means that we will have the freedom the choose what we want to do, when we want to do it. If we continued spending more than we need to on food, insurance, lattes, etc. then we would be choosing those THINGS over our FREEDOM.

You have to find your goals TOGETHER.

sherr

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I agree with lackofstache, it sounds like the biggest problem you have is not with the spending or the choosing of financial priorities, it's with getting on the same page as your husband. It sounds like he really doesn't know where the money is going, even if you're going to continue doing the bills maybe you could sit him down once or twice a month and show him in YNAB where all the money is going.

It also sounds like you two have very split finances. I realize that works for some people, especially when both spouses work, but I'm not sure it's working so well for you. It's not really "your Roth" or "his credit card", it's "the family's finances". And I'll disagree with your vote, assuming you have a normal credit card with normal interest rates, the priority absolutely should be to pay off the credit card before contributing more to a Roth.

I also see your husband's point about the Saturdays, working 6-day weeks for half the year certainly sounds very tiring to me. His goal (which is entirely valid) is to have his weekends back, and your goal (which is entirely valid) is to make / save more money. You need to discuss your goals and the reasons behind them and come to a decision together about how to proceed; ie if you have enough freedom / savings in order to not have to work the second job any more. Perhaps you can work something out with reducing spending in some other areas to compensate?

That's it, that's all the advice I have. You'll continue to fail to meet your goals unless you're both working towards them. I wish you luck. I wouldn't call it "getting through to him" as much as I would call it "sharing your knowledge and goals, listening to his, and then together planning out the path for your family." Easier said than done though.

Mama Mia

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I agree we both have to get on the same page.  I did try to sit down with him a week ago, to could show him the YNAB budget so he could see where the money is going but, he didn't want to see it!  I'm not sure why he's just shutting down when I bring it up.  I feel like I have to tip toe around talking about money with him lately.  Our finances are actually not spit at all, the only reason that I said his and mine in my post was to describe the CC scenario.  All of our income gets direct deposited into our joint account and all bills are paid from there.  The only separate accounts that we have is, we each have a credit card as we each got 50,000 bonus points when we opened them.  In order for YNAB to work properly he really should be looking at it before purchasing anything.  I know just how valuable it would be for us to sit down and create our budget together that way it's not just me saying we don't have any money left for restaurants this month it's on YNAB and we both decided it.  I think as it is now he's feeling like I'm making all the decisions and he wants to rebel and make his own decisions.  I'd like him to participate in goal setting so that it actually means something to him to stay on track.  For instance he really wants to have our driveway done and I fear that he is going to hire someone and just do it and not wait until we have the money aside.  So this is a goal category that we should start automatically saving a certain amount each week or month towards.  I think he would value this goal and he'd want to watch that number grow so that he can finally have the driveway done (all the pits in it make it really difficult to shovel snow).  He wants us to be able to retire and travel some day and he has fantasized about having a second home in a warmer climate.  I think that he gets that we have to save our asses off for any of that to happen, but when it comes down to it and I try to tighten up the budget he says that he works his ass off all week so be it if he spends $2 on a drive through coffee, or our cable bill is our entertainment we are not down grading.  Last night I was looking into Hulu Plus as an alternative to cable and he was getting worried and told me to give up on it, I said that they have a one week trial and we can try it out and see if it seems like it will work for us before we do anything.  We recently started counseling but I guess it's time to talk money at our next session...       

Mama Mia

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  • Posts: 38


My biggest question pressing for right now is do we pay off his credit card or attempt to fully find my Roth for 2013?  My vote is 100% to fund my roth, since this is my only chance, use it or lose it.   Plus he's the one that broke the rules and overspent.  Since I have very little being that I just started my roth it last year!  If my retirement was automatic like his 401k there would be no question! We can have his card paid off the following month maybe 2 tops.  I then would like to set up his roth and set up some sort of automatic transfer so that we don't face this again next year.  He very badly wants to quit the 2nd job.  I don't!  This year our second jobs brought in $12,000 between the two of us that's more than enough to fully fund 2 roths and it equated about 25 Saturdays, it's fun and we work together!  Yes a one day weekend can suck at times during the summer.  But I can't give up that kind of money when I feel that we are so behind on our retirement goals.  I can't seem to get through to him!  Any ideas to help him to see what I see?   
I'm looking for more input on what to do right now.