Hey folks! You may or may not remember my
original case study topic. Well, we took your advice and I'd like some guidance again.
Who:29 M | 27 F | 6 F
Where:Seattle, WA
Income:$59,000
Because we work in tipped positions, this is an estimate. Last year, when our estimate was $54,000, we actually made $57,000.
Budget$1,745 Rent
$76.00 Power
$121.33 Phones
$60.00 Internet
$950.00 Savings for Moving Expenses
$500.00 Groceries
$30.00 Household
$75.00 Health & Toiletries
$40.00 Pets
$60.00 Entertainment/Dining
$40.00 Rideshare
$30.00 Secondary Transportation
$100.00 Bicycles
$8.25 Amazon Prime
$10.42 Renters Insurance
$4.58 CostCo
$10.95 Adobe CC
$500.00 Emergency Savings
Moving ExpensesWe took the overwhelming advice of taking our child out of Waldorf school, and are doing public next year. We just made our last tuition payment this month.
We currently live in a bad neighborhood for public school, so we are saving between April and September for a place in a better school zone. Fortunately, this also may mean lower rent, depending on the neighborhood. We've already scouted places out, gotten our names put on call-back lists at apartment buildings to call us between August and October with any vacancies they may have, etc. I have a note that has all of the properties with units in our budget, what school zone they're in, etc.
We're pretty bummed about moving, as we enjoy the comforts that this apartment provides, but education is important.
Phone BillI am actually working on getting us away from AT&T and on Google's Project Fi network. Just have to decide if we want to pay-off my wife's device ($266 pay-off, costs $13/mo), or wait it out, or somewhere in-between. For two years with Project Fi, it would even out if we paid-off her device.
SummerOver the summer, we shouldn't have to spend much on summer care/camp for our kiddo. If we do, however, we can purchase one-day passes instead of having to do an entire week of camp (90% of the summer camps here). She will be spending time with both sides of the family, and even going on her first out-of-state trips without us. :)
Healthcare None of us have healthcare. We all have dental and vision (and are really bad at actually using it...), but none of us have healthcare. I just found out about direct primary care, and we're be looking into that. That said, if we sign up for that ($150/mo seems to be the normal for three of us), this will come out of our monthly EF contribution initially, until we move.
RideshareBeing car-free, this $40 is for if we need to rent a Zipcar/Car2Go/ReachNow in a pinch. We haven't had to much lately, as we've gotten more racks for our bikes, and haven't been going to CostCo as much. Also, we can now make CostCo runs on our bicycles anyways.
BicyclesThis $100/mo is for bicycle maintenance. We've had several big ticket one-time purchases over the past few months that have sent this budget higher than I'd like ($100 repair stand, racks, etc.), but it should normalize over the new few months, back down to around $50.
All-in-all, we're on-track to be saving ~35% of our income!
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Life NewsMy wife recently moved on to a new employer and position, making significantly more than before. It's been a slow start (working four days a week instead of five), but she is taking on more hours starting next week.
The projected income is not included in the aforementioned budget.I am also moving on to another employer, for a new position, some time in late April - Early May. This will increase my income by roughly $600/month.
The projected income is not included in the aforementioned budget.I am also working on learning web development. I've actually been doing this for a couple of months now. I've created a few things, and am halfway through a "bootcamp" course. I intend to make this a career, which earns around $70,000/year starting out. I still have quite some work to do, however.
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I would love some suggestions. Maybe some words of encouragement.
