Me (32y), wife (30y) and 3 kids (4y, 2y and 0y). We live in Northern Jutland, Denmark.
INCOME
Gross salary: ~$140k
Kids: ~$7.5k (government pays aprx. $210 per child, depending on childs age, number of kids and parents tax bracket)
Rental income: ~$4k
Dividend income: ~$1k (reinvested)
Road shop: ~$500 (Selling rhubarb, plums, raspberry, apples, firewood and homemade crafts)
TAXES
Income tax: $46k
Rental income tax: $0 ($4k tax-free limit)
Dicidend income tax: $270 (27% tax for yields lower than $17.4k, above $17.4k 42% tax)
Property tax: $2k
ASSETS
401k: $100k (+$17.5k contribution yearly)
Post tax pension plan: $33.5k (+$850 contribution yearly)
Post tax index investment: $16.5k (+$46k expected contribution yearly)
Cash: $15k
Home equity: $250k
Cars: $8k (12 year minivan, expected to last until 2022 + 4 year old tiny car)
Company: 1/3 ownership (Generating a salary of $40k)
LIABILITIES
None
SPENDING
Housing: $6k
- Insurance: $300
- Electricity: $1k
- Water: $600
- Heating (natural gas): $1.9k
- Repairs and renovation: $1.6k
- Chimney sweeper and recycling: $600 (mandatory)
- Mortgage: $0
Cars: $7.3k
- Insurance: $600
- Road tax: $700
- Fuel: $4k
- Repairs: $2k
Other: $9.6k
- Unemployment insurance and union: $1.2k (covers expenses for 2 years in case of unemployment)
- Media license: $400 (mandatory if you own a computer, smart phone or television)
- Premium health insurance: $1k (Basic health care is paid by government)
- Child care: $6.4k (Will decrease to 0 by June, 2023)
- Personal accident insurance: $600
Groceries: $8k
Clothes, dental, health, shopping: $4k
Swimming, climbing, pets, gifts: $3k
Travel: $1k
Internet and cell phone plans are reimbursed by employer.
Life insurance, critical illness and loss of ability to work is paid by employer.
Total: $38.9k
We have been pursuing FI for about 6 years, before that I was trying to figure out how to escape the rat race. In the beginning the main goal was to lower expenses and eliminate debt. When I found MMM, I had already lowered expenses drasticly and we were in the middle of relocating to a smaller house.
I am looking for suggestions on how to optimize further, to reach FI faster?
Suggestions on additional income streams?
At the moment I feel like we have accomplished a lot, but at the same time feel that progress is stalling.
Patience is a virtue, but I keep looking for details to speed up the process.
Our priorities are as follows:
1. Health (without this, nothing is possible)
2. Family
3. FI
Upcomming milestones:
- June, 2018: I start 3 months unpaid maternity leave and will finish rebuilding an old workshop building on our property to become our home office.
- July, 2018: Wife quits her "real" job when her maternity leave is over, to pursue work from home in our company.
- May, 2019: I will reduce hours at my "real" job from 45 hours/week to 33 hours/week, to pursue work from home in our own company. Gradually work away from home will decrease further.
We have been tracking all expenses over the past 3 years, I expect the categories to change, but keep the total consistent. Child care costs will decrease as the kids grow older, while clothe and food expenses will increase. Car costs will decrease as we begin to work more from home. Travel expenses will increase as the kids get older, at the moment we give each other season tickets to a nearby amusement park as christmas presents. We go on bike vacation where we sleep in shelter or tent for free. Visit friends and family in the capital. Go swimming once a week and climbing two times (Yes, the 10 month baby is also learning to swim and climb :) )
We paid off our mortgage last month, not because it was a great financial decision, but because it will give us ease at heart. Besides from a few windows, all is renovated and we expect to live in that house for at least the next 20 years. I don't expect to save much on housing, as it generates $4k from renting out the workshop to our company. We are considering planting more trees on the 4 acre land, to eliminate some of the 2 hour/week lawn care required. Or turning it into a fruit farm, to sell the fruit at our road shop.
Car costs are going to decrase ~50% decrease, as we begin to work more from home, ultimately eliminating my 90 mile commute. When working 100% from home, the tiny car will be sold.
