Life Situation:
Single/Never Married, No depedents, NoVa resident, 30 is rounding the corner. Working in an admin/proj type role. $4k bonus in 2018 for 2017. Renting with a roommate.
Gross Salary/Wages
Bi-weekly paycheck: $2,624.76
Annual: $68,243.76
Pre-tax Deductions
-$157.14 (401k - this is low to get my full match but no more. Used to be a lot higher like around 20% but I figured I could pull back to the minimum contribution in order to beef up my cash savings, willing to bump it up to 10%)
-$66.12 (Dental+HMO)
Total Takehome
$1124.56 - checking, this is what gets spent
$400 to Ally Savings for House Saving Account
$250 to General/All-purpose Nest Egg
Total take home ($1124.56+$400+$250) = $1774.56
Taxes
-$626.44 (Fed tax, SS, Medicare, state, ltd)
Assets Total: $157,642 (does not include my checking account)
$13,316 (Ally savings - house downpayment)
$3,480 (Ally savings - general savings)
$104,897 (Fidelity 401k - Target 2060 fund - 70% VG Instl. 500 Index Trust 30% VG Instl. Total Intl Stock Market Index Trust )
$35,446 (Vanguard roth IRA - VTSAX, about 490 shares and VBMFX, about 289 shares)
$503.37 (Wealthfront - a whole mess of stuff, just started as an experiment for me to put in $500 and see what happens in a year, I think my allocation after their assessment put me at aggressive)
March Expense Total: -$2,610 (Ouch - facepunch deserved, but look at April!)
-$1,300 (Rent which includes all utilties, parking, cable/internet)
-$405 (Education - this might be expensed if I pass my exam)
-$232 (Gifts - Ouch, unforunately this was an expensive month with a wedding, birthdays, gift for my friend's baby, etc)
-$212 (Clothing - $110 at a thrift store and I'm not mad about the 5 pieces of clothing I got there, including a nice Banana Republic petite trench for $30. $100 spent at Nordstrom though and that is definitely punchworthy but most likely for shoes for m
-$136 (Groceries - didn't eat out for every meal but probably for most meals - ideal target number and I'm working to get it to this or lower)
-$88 (Gas)
-$80 (Travel - this is gas and tolls for the drive up to philly to see my friend for her birthday)
-$53 (Health - chelated magnesium and a bottle of b-complex, pretty important for my overall health since I've started taking them I feel better)
-$39 ($7 netflix AND chocolate tour for friends - won't be buying for people again, punch)
-$36 ($14 for bagels for the office/team, $22 for korean food for breakfast lunch and dinner)
-$26 (Electronics - punch, poor planning and ran into 7 eleven to buy overpriced cut up mangoes to eat on the way to Philly and a car charger so my phone did die while using GPS)
April Expense Total: -$1,703 (I saw Feb and vowed to do better)
-$1,300 (Rent which includes all utilties, parking, cable/internet)
-$162 (Groceries - yes this is probably kind of high for one person but I love fresh fruit and I already shop at a cheap grocer, I also cook almost every single meal)
-$73 (Gas)
-$70 (Exam re-schedule for a certification - if I pass this will be expensed)
-$34 (Classified as other in PC: a $5 payment to the what color is your parachute site, it sucks dont pay it; and fancy chocolates that I wanted to treat myself to $10 a bar and I bought three)
-$34 (Clothing - $19 for dry cleaning my puffy winter coat to put away for the season and $15 from the thrift shop for 3 sweaters)
-$12 (Restaurants - $5 mistakenly thought one training would provide breakfast and they didn't so I got McDonalds for me and the homeless guy who asked me if I could get him a McGriddle, I obliged of course. And then $7 for popeyes with my boss and co-worker at a different office because non-paid for lunches dont happen all that often at work)
-$7 (Entertainment/Netflix)
-$7 (Health/med - generic allergy meds from Target)
For my car insurance and cell, I'm still covered under my parents so I just pay a big lump sum every 6 months of about $200. I don't really keep track of this and actually forget the exact amounts but I'm ok with the amount. I should probably keep better track of this moving forward. Car is a 2004 Nissan Altima and I plan on driving it into the ground, had to spent $2.2k for some fixes in Feb which ate up most of my bonus but I preferred paying the $2k over a car payment).
I'm currently using Personal Capital to track all of this and this is where most of the information comes from. Last year it said I spent on average $1773 but this information is not reliable as I moved out of my parent's home in the middle of year. It otherwise would have been much higher. From January to April my total spend for the year is currently at $11,434 with an average of $2,876. OUCH. Feb's total was $4400 (the $2.2k car fix) and also I gave my sibling a cash gift of $300 for their engagement (which I'm not regretting at all and I'm not getting punched for that). Also had the annual chase dues and car tax hit this month. My groceries and gas were actually significantly lower than in April/March.
So I know I can knuckle down and get my expense lower if I stay disciplined. Other than getting cheaper rent (working on that) I don't think there's really much room for me to improve without sacrificing my sanity? I'm open to being proven wrong though.
Liabilities:
-$2500 at 0% on a credit card for the next 15 billing cycles - for lasik and not planning to pay off early bc of the 0 interest rate. Student loans of around 20 to 25k paid off after about 2.5 years from graduation. (Which, off-topic but I had a not so easy time completing the verification because the image was so grainy...)
Specific Question(s):
What else do I need to do to reach FI sooner? Do I need to open some other accounts? I'm certified to teach yoga and one day I'd like to be able to do this near full time without the need for a corporate job. Part time job... I've applied to Sephora for an overnight position, for an online beauty consultant, teaching english online overseas (thanks to the forum). I've been toying around the idea of making it a goal to get just ONE private yoga client, but I'm not sure where to start so any encouragement and direction would be much appreciated. I'm a pretty decent teacher! The aim is to have more of a cushion to regularly fund the IRA (For now, I just do lump sum out of one of my Ally accounts whenever I feel like making a decent in the $5500 limit) and for rent. My savings account also function as a general cushion even though it's split out.
I'm also planning to always work so FI is really more my goal than retiring early. Partly because I'm sure I'll have to support my parents as they age/retire and need care/money. This isn't really up for discussion, just something I keep in mind as I make career/financial decisions. Balancing my future needs, current needs, and my parents future needs.
I'm also trying to figure out my next living situation as I really hate living with my roommate. This person is inconsiderate (leaving laundry in the wash for a few days so I cant use it, cooking food and leaving it on the stove for a few days and it rots, etc). I'd really like to live on my own but I don't think at my salary I can afford to do so here in the DMV. I thought about buying earlier in the year but with the insane bidding and selling of condos approaching half a mil.. I don't think so. I'm fine with renting for now but eventually I'll want to put down more permanent roots and do my own homesteading. Right now I'm wondering if I should pay a little more ($1100 to $1300) to have my own studio apartment inside the beltway or slightly less (ranges from $850 to $1100 - depending on how far from DC) and try and find a better roommate. I feel pretty stressed and depressed (I have been diagnosed and suggested meds but I'd rather not and hence the vitamins) from having a roommate and I think my mental health would overall be better without one but that seems more like a luxury.
Thank you for taking the time to read and respond!
**UPDATE**
Looking for advice on what to do with my savings and where to put it to maximize. Not looking for suggestions to better track or budget due to using a thresh hold spending style (which yes, works for me and is how I can get to a lower monthly spend). Thanks!
**UPDATE**
My monthly cap is at about $1800 and this change was implemented following my March expense month. See April. It's in effect and effective.
**UPDATE**
Made allocation changes to 401k per the advice below from MustacheAnxiety and SuperSecretName.