Author Topic: Case Study: Lots of room for major improvement  (Read 3847 times)

MumRoars

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Case Study: Lots of room for major improvement
« on: June 14, 2017, 08:18:07 PM »
The Good
  • We have an energetic 1-year-old
  • Combined income is $148K in a LCOL
  • Contribute 24% of our gross income to 401k
  • Take advantage of $5K DCFSA pre-tax benefit
  • Try our best to contribute $5,5K each to Roth and tIRA
  • Live in a small home 4 miles from work
  • Mortgage payment is $196.64/week plus an escrow payment of $331.12/month
  • Husband has done a lot of DIY work on our home (replaced windows and trim, finished basement)
  • Our only debt with interest is mortgage and car payment (see ugly). We have a negligible amount of no-interest debt (see ugly).

Let's skip the bad and go right to...

The Ugly
  • We REALLY suck at budgeting. We spent about $970/month this year on average for groceries and eating out
  • We just got a brand new Subaru Forester. We have another car the is paid off.
  • We have no interest debt of $1,2K on a really comfortable sectional

Here is an example of our monthly budget. At the time of initial posting, this does not include home improvement and car maintenance costs.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Zod7JyDzeJRjsnjNwlpuUI6qbKok3e7F8CfRIiflHXM/edit?usp=sharing

We do realize of course that we have a lot of room for improvement. We don't have plans right now of replacing the new car or the couch. I do think that a couple of immediate things that we can do are: sell the other car immediately, stop dining out and start cooking more meals at home.

Tuskalusa

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Re: Case Study: Lots of room for major improvement
« Reply #1 on: June 14, 2017, 10:56:28 PM »
Nice first start!

Personally, I like to start with easy and then work my way to harder things. To that end, here are some first steps to consider:

 - Cell phones: switch to a cheaper provider like Ting. You could probably cut this expense in half
 - Little loans (couch, lasik): take you extra monthly cash and get rid of these. Save up a cash cushion to pay for these kinds of things outright.
 - Car loan: After you get the cell phones and the little debts out of the way, throw more cash at the car loan and get rid of that.

Once you see some upside, I'm sure you'll see more opportunity.

Good luck!

former player

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Re: Case Study: Lots of room for major improvement
« Reply #2 on: June 15, 2017, 12:29:22 AM »
I agree with Tuskalusa: you are not doing badly at all.

The biggest change in behaviour that you can make is to save before spending.  First put together an emergency fund for the truly unexpected.  Then start budgeting each month for future expenses and put that money aside into a sinking fund.  This fund should cover two things: 1) irregular but expected expenses, such as any quarterly or annual payments and house maintenance, and 2) future planned purchases, such as new cars, lasik or furniture.

If you can set up these funds, you should never again have to take out consumer loans, which gives you both security in future expenditures and great negotiating power.

zolotiyeruki

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Re: Case Study: Lots of room for major improvement
« Reply #3 on: June 15, 2017, 07:34:24 AM »
former player is spot-on with the comments about a sinking fund.  It's one thing that made budgeting waaaaay easier for our family.

Yes, your eating out is a major drain on your budget.  So is your grocery spending--that's awful high for a family of 2.5.  You're getting reamed on your cell phones as well.

But you're saving lots of money for retirement, which is great!

You have enough income that paying off the small debts should be an easy win.  What's the cost difference if you opt for an HSA/HDHP?  How much would you stand to save monthly if you opted for that?

Laura33

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Re: Case Study: Lots of room for major improvement
« Reply #4 on: June 15, 2017, 08:10:59 AM »
FWIW, your monthly budget basically double-counts your daycare expenses -- you are counting both the payments to the dependent-care account and the checks you write to daycare as deductions.  In reality, the "cost" of your daycare is the difference between the two (in your case, about $160).  So if you are feeling like the monthly budget is crunched, you can account for it as a net -$160 to give yourself more breathing room.  OTOH, if you *like* the feel of a tight monthly budget as a deterrent from spending, you can continue to account for it as you are and then use the reimbursement check as additional investment.

Given your ages, if you are in good health, I'd look seriously at the high-deductible insurance + HSA option.  The primary benefit of the HSA is to contribute and compile money over decades, so that by the time you are older, you have a big tax-free 'stache to use for future healtcare needs.  Check the terms of the high-deductible plan and check with your doctor's office about the cost of likely routine needs (physicals, immunizations, periodic bloodwork, visits for normal kid ailments, etc.), along with the downside risk if something goes bad (e.g., how much do ER + specialist visits cost if someone breaks an arm?).

aroberson77

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Re: Case Study: Lots of room for major improvement
« Reply #5 on: June 15, 2017, 08:29:36 AM »
We also were spending insane amounts of money on eating out.  We are going to cut that out completely.  You guys bring in more than twice of what I make so in a LCOL area you are doing great!  I used to pay what you pay for insurance, my new job has a HDP with HSA and I think we are much better off.  We have a two year old and even with her going to the hospital a couple times I do not feel pinched since we had the HSA money to pay it off.  I only contribute $40 a paycheck to HSA but with your higher income you could definitely do more and then just make sure you have enough saved in your HSA before the birth of the 2nd child.  It may be good to pay off the zero interest loans just so you have money to invest in something that will make you more money.

MumRoars

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Re: Case Study: Lots of room for major improvement
« Reply #6 on: June 15, 2017, 09:36:17 PM »
Oh wow! I've learned so much already! We will start implementing the following.
  • No more consumer loans, save before spending. We will, of course, keep using our credit cards, paid off monthly.
  • Believe it or not, I have not thought of a sinking fund before. We consider our Betterment account as our "liquid" cash for emergencies. We could take a portion of this as a sinking fund - but I think what I'll do is start on in our savings account.
All right. Here is more information.

  • I am 32 and he is 39.
  • We are not sure yet if we will have another child which in my mind will impact the HSA decision. We do still have some time until open enrollment comes around.
Here are additional numbers.

   Home Equity      $52,614.62   
   Checking and Savings      $1,055.33   
   Betterment      $46,853.58   
   529 Plan      $540.86   
   Vanguard 401K 1      $113,109.23   
   Vanguard 401K 2      $40,551.23   
   Vanguard Traditional IRA 1      $4,576.67   
   Vanguard Traditional IRA 2      $9,583.49   
   Vanguard Roth IRA 1      $12,782.89   
   Vanguard Roth IRA 2      $1,100.92   
   Vanguard Brokerage Account 1      $6,245.41   
   Fidelity 401K      $4,439.12   
         $293,453.35   
           
           
   Credit Card      $2,307.09   
   Mortgage Loan (3.19%)      $67,385.38   
   Car Loan      $25,249.94   
         $94,942.41   
           
           
   Net Worth      $198,510.94   

MumRoars

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Re: Case Study: Lots of room for major improvement
« Reply #7 on: June 15, 2017, 10:03:20 PM »
FWIW, your monthly budget basically double-counts your daycare expenses -- you are counting both the payments to the dependent-care account and the checks you write to daycare as deductions.  In reality, the "cost" of your daycare is the difference between the two (in your case, about $160).  So if you are feeling like the monthly budget is crunched, you can account for it as a net -$160 to give yourself more breathing room.  OTOH, if you *like* the feel of a tight monthly budget as a deterrent from spending, you can continue to account for it as you are and then use the reimbursement check as additional investment.

Hi there! Yes, it's definitely counting twice. My plan is to withdraw the $5K at the end of the year. First option is to fund Roth or tIRA if needed, put it towards the car loan or mortgage, or invest it in a brokerage account.

aroberson77

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Re: Case Study: Lots of room for major improvement
« Reply #8 on: June 16, 2017, 06:22:20 AM »
How are you guys doing on taxes?  Do you max out your 401K?  You can also use the HSA as a tax shelter, it can be used for any healthcare expense, even getting stuff at CVS and what not.  529 will also reduce your tax liability.