Life Situation: I知 24, single by IRS definition, 0 dependents, been out of college for a year now, and currently living in Charlotte NC working as a software engineer (specifically as a consultant). However, I am about to move to Richmond, Va at the end of the week (Family/girlfriend are there, and my employer let me transfer offices).
My goal is to become FI in the next 10-12 years, but I have no idea if I値l actually RE at that time. Since I知 not dying to RE ASAP, I知 mainly trying to find a good balance between frugality and controlled spending on things that are important to me. Regardless, I知 extremely grateful I found this movement at my age, and I知 slowly learning that excess material possessions and luxuries contribute nothing to my happiness.
Overall, I think I知 doing relatively well so far. I guess I知 really just looking for a few more eyes on this and welcoming any advice for next steps/areas of improvement.
Gross Salary/Wages: $76,500 ; I expect this to be >$90,000 within 5 years or so.
Individual amounts of each Pre-tax deductions:
401(k) : $18,500 + $3,060 employer match
HSA: $1,950 + $1,500 employer contribution
Adjusted Gross Income: $56,050
Taxes: $16,483 total
Current monthly expenses:
Rent: $1383 -> cutting my portion down to $700 when I move in with my SO in Richmond
Car insurance: $70
Car Maintenance: $100 (~$1200 per year averaged out)
Christmas/Holidays: $30 (~$360 per year averaged out)
Clothing: $40 (usually need 1-2 items per month. Want to get to a point where I can stop buying clothes regularly)
Dining: $150
Electricity: $50 -> Will be roughly the same after move
Gasoline: $80
Groceries: $300
Personal Care (Haircuts / etc.): $30
Internet: $0 now -> $50 when I move
Spotify: $10
Travel: $100 ($1200 per year averaged out)
Water/Sewer: $20
Wine/Beer: $30
Gym: $0 -> $30 when I move
Cell: $30
Total: $2433 -> $1820 after move
Assets:
Checking: $2,100
Emergency Fund: $5,500
Taxable account: $8,900
401(k): $16,000
HSA: $2,010
Car: $6,500
Total: ~$41,000
Liabilities:
None!
Specific Question(s):
Would it be wise to consider buying a home at some point soon?
I知 planning on moving most of my taxable assets into a Roth IRA. Is there a particular way I should go about doing this? I mainly haven稚 done this yet because I was saving for a down payment on a home in Richmond (though that ended up falling through)
I'm kind of hard on myself for spending on unnecessary things, even if they're small and relatively insignificant in the grand scheme of things. So I'm also working on being easier on myself as far as that is concerned, while also maintaining some sort of self-check on my spending. Any tips on tackling this?